upworthy
Add Upworthy to your Google News feed.
Google News Button
Heroes

Meet 7 Families That Will Make Your Groceries Blush

The way people ration their food says a lot about our own habits of waste and overconsumption. I didn't think I wasted a ton of food because I always compared myself to people I know. And then I saw these families photographed with what they eat each week. Let's just say this was a wake-up call. My trash bin will be a lot emptier from here on out.

Shahveller, Azerbaijan

Vavuniya, Sri Lanka

Mecha, Ethiopia

Yegeghus, Armenia

London, U.K.

Kaftarkhana, Tajikistan

Gutu, Zimbabwe

Heroes
Culture

Woman gives tour of her $650 New York micro apartment and people were unprepared

Could you live in this apartment?

incognito7nyc/Flickr & Canva Photos

A woman ruffled some feathers with a tour of her $650 NYC micro apartment.

They say New York City is the City of Dreams. Young people all over the world flock to the city when they're ready to start chasing after their biggest ambitions. If you have a passion for theater, television, or the arts, there's no better place to be. Want to become a successful and prestigious stock broker, lawyer, or investment banker? It's all New York, baby. It's a city of immense opportunity and tough competition, but that's what makes it full of life and culture for those who choose to live there.

But all of that doesn't come cheap. The average rent in New York for even just a small, studio apartment is $3,264 per month. That buys you less than 500 square feet. And, even though it seems like you're really pinching pennies by living somewhere so cramped, that price tag is enormous! Even if you account for the higher-than-average salaries in New York.

Most young people just getting started in their careers can't afford that. Not to mention, the competition for good-quality apartments in New York is cutthroat. Still, people are desperate to live there by any means necessary, which has given rise to some really fascinating (and, in some cases, slightly horrifying) micro apartments.

In 2023, one woman went viral for showing off her New York micro apartment. It clocks in at just 80 square feet and cost her, at the time, a meager $650 per month.

new york, new york living, NYC, tiny apartment, micro apartment, apartment tour, budgeting, gen z, millennials, american dream If you like spending all your money on rent, New York is awesome! Giphy

YouTuber Caleb Simpson interviewed the woman, Alaina, for his channel that specializes in featuring interesting and unique living spaces. Alaina's apartment definitely qualifies, though technically the square footage is 80x150, because she's including the vertical space. Every square inch counts!

"So really it just feels like a walk-in closet," Simpson remarks upon entering through the front door.

Alaina shows Simpson around the apartment, which includes a tiny living room slash kitchen area with a mini-fridge, a small sink, and a small stove and microwave. In the main living area, she's placed a fold-out sofa of sorts. Alaina's makeup and pantry foods are all crammed into one small cabinet.

From there...well, there's not much left to see. But Alaina and Simpson check out the loft, which holds Alaina's bed and a little extra storage in the form of hooks where she hangs her bags and purses.

The apartment has no windows. There is a storage cupboard under the stairs, but it's hard to access.

"Every time I want to get something out, something else has to move," Alaina says.

As far as a bathroom, Alaina is lucky enough to have her very own private bathroom complete with shower! Many New York micro apartments feature communal or shared bathrooms, so the private bath is a plus for this tiny space. However, hers is located separate from her apartment, down the hall. And, you might be surprised to hear, it's extremely tiny.

Alaina admits she previously lived in a "luxury" apartment that cost over $3,000 per month, but she wanted to free up money to travel, which prompted her to downgrade.

Watch the whole tour here:

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Alaina says her tiny apartment was a "hot commodity" when she signed the lease, beating out tons of other prospective renters.

Commenters on the video, which has a staggering 24 million views, were more or less horrified at the conditions that New Yorkers were competing over:

"Firetrap . No exits , no windows with fresh air . Cooking with no air flow . Crazy this is even happening"

"I can't even breathe looking at this tiny apartment"

"'In a van, down by the river' has never sounded better."

"NYC should be ashamed and embarrassed to relegate people to live in this kind of space. Not only does it look uncomfortable / unhealty but It looks extremely dangerous. NYC should do better in providing affordable housing with decent square footage."

It's cool and scrappy that Alaina makes the pint-sized apartment work for her as she pursues her dream of living in New York City. We might find it claustrophobic, but the fact that multiple renters were fighting over this space really says a lot about the way our culture is moving.

Younger millennials and Gen Z are sick of chasing after the American Dream of the single-family home with a white picket fence and a golden retriever.

new york, new york living, NYC, tiny apartment, micro apartment, apartment tour, budgeting, gen z, millennials, american dream The City That Never Sleeps Giphy

It's hopelessly out of reach for many of them anyway due to skyrocketing housing prices and stagnant wages. So, they can work their fingers to the bone with multiple jobs and maybe afford a slightly better apartment, but still not be able to save enough for the future—or they could actually enjoy their life with the money they do have.

NBC News writes, "Several years out of Covid lockdowns, younger Americans’ outlays on things like travel, recreation and dining out have been outpacing their older peers’ even as the economy slows. As of last summer, the average Gen Zer or millennial was dropping over $400 a month on nonessentials, compared to about $250 for Gen Xers and less than $200 for baby boomers."

In another YouTube interview, Alaina admits to spending big money on her monthly gym membership: over $300 per month, to be exact. Commenters chastised her for having her priorities mixed up, but honestly, there's nothing backwards at all about wanting to relax at your gym's spa after a long day of work, or travel to the far ends of the world, versus spending all of your money on an OK-but-still-crappy apartment.

In an update in the YouTube video's caption, Simpson writes that Alaina chose not to renew her lease in the micro apartment after filming. But that doesn't mean she regrets her stay.

"It's an adventure," Alaina says. "People need a lot less than they think they need."

From Your Site Articles
new york
CultureJoy
Community

How do you know someone is incredibly intelligent? Here are 15 'subtle signs' people notice.

"They can change their mind when presented with new information."

via Associated Press/Wikimedia Commons

Albert Einstein using a blackboard.

Highly intelligent people come in all types. Some have no problem bragging about their smarts or accolades, while others are more humble because they don’t need to call attention to their brilliance. However, without tooting their own horn, certain hallmarks of intelligence are noticeable in how they approach people and situations. It seems that having a big brain is a hard thing to hide.

One of the undeniable characteristics of someone very intelligent is that they exhibit mental flexibility. They change their opinions when they don’t have enough information on a topic and can apply what they’ve learned from one subject to another. They also tend to have a great sense of humor, proving that their brain can easily connect different ideas.

A Redditor asked people on the ProductivityCafe subforum to share the “subtle signs that someone is intelligent.” It created great conversations about the characteristics of intelligent people and how their smarts seem to influence every part of them, from their personality to their ability to avoid unnecessary conflict.

smart, intelligent, smart people, gif, tony stark iron man maestro GIF Giphy

Here are 15 subtle signs that someone is very intelligent.

1. Curious about multiple subjects

"They like to learn about any and everything."

"And remember details and concepts later. A desire to understand and curiosity about the subject at hand."

2. They change their minds

"They can change their mind when presented with new information."

"This is definitely the best / most noticeable answer. Intelligent people agnostically process new information. They don’t just “automatically” deny anything that they don’t know or is inconsistent with what they already know. Intelligent people - it’s not what they know, it’s how they interpret / process new information."

"As John Nash, the mathematician allegedly once said; when the facts change, I change my mind!"

3. They process humor quickly

"They get the joke sooner than most people. Happens once in a while in movies or group settings: one person starts to laugh way ahead of everyone else. That’s one with a super fast processing mind (I know one). It is totally unconscious, so cannot be faked."

4. They like being corrected

"When you correct them, they're actually happy about it because they get to learn something new."

"100%. This is often referred to as growth mindset."

smart, thoughtful, questions, corrections, gif Well, actually gif

Giphy

5. Great sense of humor

"Humor is a marker for intelligence. Truly dumb people aren’t funny."

"Agreed but I would add that witty or dark humor is more intelligent than mean, cruel, gross humor. If someone’s 'wit' is just the same structure of putting other people down or being gratuitously shocking or gross, then no."

"A really good sense of humor. To be really funny, you have to be very observant and able to see things in ways that others don’t."

6. They make you feel smart

"They explain some things to you in a way that makes you feel intelligent."

"Einstein said, 'If you can't explain what you are talking about to a six-year-old, you don't fully understand it yourself.'"

7. They think before they respond

"They don't react. There is always a delay... and then, they respond."

"They observe, they pause, and then comes the long encyclopedic reply."

thinking, intelligence, being smart, smart people, thoughtful people, consideration, Think Sesame Street GIF Giphy

8. They know when to be quiet

"Yes, I have come across people with no filter, and have to argue about everything, and that can be exhausting."

"Never miss a good opportunity to shut the f**k up."

9. They're great at banter

"Yes, and quick word play/good puns."

10. They ask about your thought process

"If someone is inquisitive. They want to know how and why you think the way you do. Most people don’t do this."

11. They know what they don't know

"Even very intelligent people don't know about every topic. They understand this and don't pretend to be an expert or speak to things they don't specialize in. Or they use analogies to connect it to things they do understand. They understand that there is a lot they do not know, especially about their given specialties."

"Some people have so much ego, that they have an inability to say that they don’t know the answer to a question. They’ll either give a bullsh*t answer, or try to shrug off the patient’s concerns entirely. Nobody knows everything. If you don’t know, there’s no fault in admitting that, and then using resources to find the answer."

question, unsure, idk, gif, don't know, inteligence Who Knows Idk GIF by MOODMAN Giphy

12. Physical intelligence is important, too

"I wish people could understand intelligence in many forms—being good with your hands is intelligence. Being able to learn elaborate choreography is intelligence. Being emotionally responsive and understanding microexpressions is intelligence. It’s not just regurgitating facts. I’m a fact regurgitator myself, but I have a lot of respect for things I can’t do."

13. They don't get into drawn-out arguments

"Not raising their voice during a disagreement. Shouting over each other is to try and win an argument with intimidation rather than logic."

"Argue with an idiot and there's two idiots."

14. They think for themselves

"They don’t have herd mentality. Specifically in politics, religion, and pseudoscience."

"I remember the first time that I understood that not picking a side was a valid option for many situations. It was like a record skip moment in my head."

15. They use a bidet

"They own a bidet and don’t use toilet paper.

bidet, intelligent people, smart, gif, simpsons homer simpson episode 23 GIF Giphy

This article originally appeared this year.

From Your Site Articles
smart people
CommunityJoy
Family

Married couple says the '3-Hour Night' hack has totally improved their marriage

“It's been so fun and such...a game changer for how our evenings go.”

@racheleehiggins/TikTok

Want out of a relationship rut? The Three hour night might be the perfect solution.

Almost every long term relationship suffers from a rut eventually. That goes especially for married partners who become parents and have the added responsibility of raising kids. Maintaining a connection is hard enough in this busy, fast-paced world. Top it off with making sure kids are awake, dressed, entertained, well fed, oh yeah, and alive…and you best believe all you have energy for at the end of the day is sitting on the couch barely making it through one episode of your favorite show on Netflix.

And yet, we know how important it is to maintain a connection with our spouses. Many of us just don’t know how to make that happen while juggling a million other things. According to one mom, a “three-hour night” could be just the thing to tick off multiple boxes on the to-do list while rekindling romance at the same time. Talk about the ultimate marriage hack.

bored, couple, marriage hack, man ywaning, concerned woman A couple that has lost their spark.via Canva/Photos

What is the 3-Hour Night marriage hack?

The three-hour night was something that Rachel Higgins and her husband began incorporating into their lives at the beginning of 2024. And so far, “it's been so fun and such...a game changer for how our evenings go,” she says in a clip posted to TikTok.

Before using the three-hour night, the evening would look a bit like this: their daughter would go to bed, they would lounge on the couch, scroll through social media, then fall asleep. Sound familiar?

But with a three-hour night, Higgins and her husband divvy up the time before bed into three sections, each for a different focus.In the first hour, starting around 7 p.m., is what Higgins calls “productive time,” during which the couple sees to any household chores that might need to be done.

“So, start with like a quick cleanup of the kitchen or just like things that accumulated throughout the day, and then we try to do something that either ... has been being put off or cleaning the bathroom or like organizing the pantry or hall closet or something like, super random like sharpening the knives. Anything that's productive for the household,” she explains.


@rachelleehiggins

if you’re stuck in a rut with your evenings try this! i saw someone do something similar to this a while ago but can’t remember who! #marriage #1sttimeparents #newyearsgoals

Next, the second hour is geared towards re-establishing a physical or emotional connection in their marriage. The phones go away, and they focus only on enjoying one another.

“So, that could be things like showering together or ‘having fun’ together, playing a game together, or just like anything that's gonna get you guys talking and connecting or like debriefing from the day or just like talking about what you're doing and like the plans for tomorrow or like how work's going or whatever. So, anything that's gonna connect and strengthen and build your marriage,” Higgins says.

Lastly, the final hour of the night is dedicated to anything Higgins and her husband individually want to do, any sort of personal recharge activity. Since this is a judgment-free time, Higgins states that “If you just want to lie on the couch and scroll your phone and watch TikToks or whatever, like watch YouTube videos,” it’s totally acceptable.

happy coupe, couple in bed, young married couple, man with beard, smiling woman A happy couple in bed.via Canva/Photos

Higgins’ novel approach definitely interested viewers, who chimed in with their own questions. One major concern was how the heck this could be done every night. But even Higgins admits that she and her husband don’t succeed at having a three-hour night every night—they usually try for about 3-4 times a week. And honestly, even once a week could still probably be beneficial in building intimacy.

"Such a good idea. Good for us empty nesters too! The phone scrolling is outta control!"one commenter wrote. "This is really cool. The housework is equal. The emotional connection is equal and the self care is equal. No room for resentment," another added. "We don’t have kids yet but I love this and want to do it because the nights slip away so fast!!" a commenter added.

Others wondered how to have a three-hour night when things randomly popped up in their schedule, like when kids won’t magically go to sleep promptly at 7pm. Higgins shares that in these cases, they tend to just shorten each phase. The point being: these can and probably should be customizable, even fun, rather than yet another rigid chore.

Plus, a three-hour night (or whatever your version of a three-hour night may be) is a great way to remind yourself just how high a priority your relationship has in your life, no matter what else is going on at the time. Odds are you'll probably find you do have more time for it than you previously thought.

This article originally appeared last year.

From Your Site Articles
marriage
FamilyModern Families
Culture

Retired teachers in their 30s live on cruise ships full-time for a little over $10K a year

“It sounds mad, but the numbers made sense."

via Matthew Barra/Pexels

A cruise ship could be your home for a way lower price than you'd expect.

You know that feeling toward the end of a great vacation when you stop and think: I wish I could stay here forever. It might be an all-inclusive resort, a secluded beach, or a fun-filled cruise on the high seas that you just don't want to leave. Of course, for most people, it's a fantasy. You can't just quit your job and live a permanent vacation. But what if you could?

Giving it all up and retiring to live on a cruise ship at 32 seems like a lifestyle choice only available to the ultra-wealthy. However, two financially savvy retired school teachers from Tennessee have managed to do just that, spending under $10,000 for the first eight months at sea.

Monica Brzoska, 32, and Jorrell Conley, 36, met in 2015 while teaching in Memphis, Tennessee. The following year, they booked a week-long cruise to Mexico, Belize, and Grand Cayman. After that, they were hooked on cruising together.

Eight years later, in March 2023, they booked a week-long Caribbean cruise and had the time of their lives. When it was over, instead of returning home to Memphis, they had a wild idea: Why not continue to book consecutive cruises? So, they did just that.

Monica was inspired to start living the life she always wanted after her father fell ill and her mother told her: "Don't wait for retirement. Follow your dreams."

The couple crunched the numbers and found that if they chose the cheapest cabins and used the deals and promotions they’d received from Carnival Cruises, they could book the first 8 months for just under $10,000.

That's not per month. That's the total, coming out to around $1250 per month. Not a bad deal whatsoever. Plus, the more cruises they book, the more perks and deals they get.

“It sounds mad, but the numbers made sense. Accommodation, food and entertainment would be included – we’d only need spending money,” Brzoska told The Sun. “And because we’d been on so many Carnival cruises, we’d earned access to some amazing offers.”

Hopping from ship to ship isn’t difficult for the couple because many disembark from the same ports. But they sometimes have to fly when they can’t walk to the next ocean liner.

The couple then quit their jobs, sold their possessions, and started a new life on the high seas. They rent out their 3-bedroom home in Memphis to maintain steady cash flow. The average 3-bedroom home in the area rents somewhere between $1200 to $1900 a month.

Over the first year of their new life, the couple completed 36 consecutive cruises.

They have already visited countless destinations across the globe, but they can’t choose a favorite. "For a cultural experience, we loved Japan," Brzoska told a Carnival Cruise director on Instagram. The couple also loved Greece for its “history” and Iceland because it was the "closest to being on Mars."

More recently, they've spent time in Amsterdam, the UK, Germany, Belgium, and more. What an amazing adventure.

One of the most incredible benefits of loving on a cruise ship is that so many things are taken care of for you. The couple never has to cook any meals, do any laundry, or drive. Every night, there is something to do, whether it’s checking out a comedy show or enjoying drinks and dancing in the nightclub. Plus, there are always new friends to meet on board with every new cruise.

Plus, on cruises, just about all the costs are covered, so you rarely have to open your wallet. It’s a stress-free, all-inclusive lifestyle. Brzoska says that when you remove the everyday stresses from life, it’s great for your marriage. “Without the daily stresses of life, we rarely argued, but always told each other if we needed space or more time together,” she said.

Brzoska and Conley were one of the first high-profile couples to get attention, followers, and media coverage for the permanent cruising lifestyle, but they're definitely not the only ones. It's an especially popular choice for retired adults and seniors, who find it cheaper and way more fun than living in a retirement community or nursing home. It's also a great choice for people who can work remotely and flexibly, or who own their own digital-nomad-friendly businesses.

The couple also makes sure to have one date night a week, during which they dress up and have a nice meal together.

As of this writing, the couple has been cruising full-time for over two years, or 916 days to be exact. They've been on 106 cruises and visited over 45 countries together. Absolutely unreal.

Most people may be unable to give it all up and live their lives hopping from ocean liner to ocean liner. But there’s a great lesson in the story of Brzoska and Conley: You never know how much time you have left, so don’t wait for retirement to live the life of your dreams.

This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.


From Your Site Articles
cruise ships
CultureJoy
Wellness

3 apps that quiet the chaos and help you feel on top of your life again

Without breaking a sweat.

Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash

Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash

Dread. Gloom. Horror. Tightening of the chest. Brain spinning on a hamster wheel.

That’s what a typical person — regardless of whether they are a millennial, Gen Z, Gen X, Gen Alpha, etc — feels when their phone buzzes with another notification whilst they’re already drowning in unread emails, half-finished tasks, and the growing pile of “important” stuff.

Here’s the thing: In our always-on world, feeling overwhelmed isn’t a personal failing — it’s practically a universal experience.

But what if you were told that the very device causing some of that chaos could also be your secret weapon for reclaiming your peace of mind?

These three apps aren’t just digital tools; they’re your new best friends in the fight against overwhelm and doomscrolling. (Yes, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook — we are coming for you.) They’re designed to do what you’ve been trying to do manually: organize the noise, save you precious time, and help you absorb the information that matters.

Because once you are able to hear yourself think, everything else starts to fall into place.

1. Accelerated: The Life Skills Course You Never Got

Be honest— Do you think your formative schooling years prepared you for the real world?

As an adult, can you handle stress? How do you negotiate salary at a new job? What about handling workplace conflict? Do you know how to grow your wealth in the next 10 years? What’s the easiest way to build good habits?

Non-fiction books are a great source for bridging the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge. The problem? Who has time to read entire books when you’re barely keeping up with everything else?

That’s where Accelerated shines. It’s a book summary app that takes those life-changing books you’ve been meaning to read and condenses them into 10-minute reads that actually stick with you.

The app covers everything from self-development and mindfulness to business and technology — all the genres that schools skip but life demands. Want to understand why you keep procrastinating? There’s a summary for that. Need to figure out how to set boundaries without feeling guilty? Covered. Trying to wrap your head around cryptocurrency or AI? They’ve got you.

The real game changer is the AskTed chatbot, which acts as your personal tutor. So, if you have ever read something profound and thought, “but what does this actually mean for my situation?” Now you can literally ask! AskTed can answer your questions about the summaries, abbreviations used, technical jargon, etc — helping you connect those insights to your real life.

But how does this app help with the chaos? That 10 minutes you spend mindlessly scrolling through TikTok or Instagram during lunch break or before bed? Do you really think it is relaxing you? Not really!

If anything, you probably feel more scattered afterward, just like the guilt you feel after eating junk food. So instead, why not spend those same 10 minutes on something that could make you smarter, more confident, and better at your job? Now that’s the kind of screen time that truly serves you.

2. MeetingLog: Your Personal Meeting Whisperer

Remember the last time you sat through a two-hour meeting, frantically scribbling notes whilst trying to participate in the conversation at the same time? Chaotic, I know! Or when you wanted to watch that brilliant TED talk everyone was talking about, but couldn’t find 18 minutes to sit still and focus? Yeah, we’ve all been there.

MeetingLog app is a super-attentive assistant who never ever misses a detail, yet somehow manages to turn even the most rambling conversation into clear, actionable notes. This AI-powered Voice Note-taker can transcribe anything with spoken words — your personal meetings, that inspiring podcast episode, even that YouTube video you bookmarked six months ago but never got around to watching, and last but not least, your very own voice recording.

Here’s how it goes one step further. Instead of dumping the raw text from the content on you, MeetingLog creates easy-to-digest summaries from it, the key points are highlighted, and action items are pulled out. In short, all the verbal vomit gets transformed into neat bullet points that convey the key message from the content.

It is also super-inclusive and supports 100+ languages and accents. It offers unlimited cloud storage, i.e., unlimited audio can be transcribed and summarized. It is able to identify who said what and tag the notes appropriately, even if there is more than one speaker involved.

Finally, MeetingLog isn’t just for work stuff. If you are open to being a little creative, it can also act as your own personal journal. Simply record your thoughts before bed — talking through your day, your highs and lows, or what you’re grateful for on those particularly challenging days. The app transcribes everything, so you can build a personal journal — without the pressure of finding the right words on paper — and reflect back on it on the days you need to the most.

3. Podurama: Your Antidote to Doom-Scrolling News

Picture this: instead of starting your day with “BREAKING NEWS: The World Might Be Ending (Again),” what if you could listen to two economists having a fascinating chat about inflation trends? Or a climate scientist explaining recent findings in a way that’s informative but not anxiety-inducing? Wouldn’t it be 1000 times better if you could feed your brain the same information, but without the cortisol spike?

Podcasts are a perfect way to stay up to speed on news topics ranging from parenting, technology, AI, plants, health, and pop culture. There’s no shortage of smart people (podcasters) who have found their niche and enjoy discussing their topics of interest with even smarter people (guests). Podurama offers the convenience of listening to 2.5 million podcasts and 50 million episodes under one roof. What’s even better is that their recommendations help you discover hidden gems tailored to your interests.

But the true game changer is the auto-chapters feature. It automatically breaks down lengthy podcasts into smaller segments and offers concise summaries for each segment that you can read while sipping your coffee. So even if you were unable to listen to things end to end, you’ll know enough. So much so that when your friends start asking where you heard that fascinating perspective, you’ll have an intellectual answer that doesn’t involve an Instagram comment or a YouTube meme.

Final Thoughts

These apps are by no means a magic pill. In simpler words, the noise doesn’t disappear completely — life is still life, after all. But these apps help you sort through it all without feeling like you’re drowning.

MeetingLog means you’re not frantically trying to remember what was said in that important call three days ago — it’s all there, organized, timestamped, and clear. Podurama keeps you informed on the current affairs without the anxiety spiral, so you can have meaningful rather than passive conversations where you just nod along. And Accelerated fills in all those life skills gaps, giving you the confidence that comes from actually knowing how to handle whatever comes your way.

In the end, remember that your phone is still going to buzz. Your calendar is still going to be full. But now you have a way to turn all that noise into something useful, something that helps you grow instead of just survive. And honestly? That makes all the difference.


From Your Site Articles
WellnessHealth
Trending Stories