TL;DR:

• AI is making us dumb

• 10 Cheapest Cars to Insure

• It costs $303k to raise a kid!

• Frugal Tip: Stop ordering labs through insurance!

Money Trends

AI is making us Dumber!

Harvard got a bunch of professors together to ask the big question: Is AI making us dumber?

The short answer is maybe, and the longer answer is it depends on whether you treat it like a calculator or a ghostwriter.

It kicked off because of the idea that leaning too hard on AI could cause something called "cognitive atrophy".

Basically, your brain is getting a little flabby from outsourcing too much of the heavy lifting.

One researcher makes the case that human brains are actually better than the math that powers AI. We make intuitive leaps, we catch exceptions to patterns, we have gut feelings rooted in lived experience.

Her point: students don't fully appreciate how powerful their own minds are, and they're underselling themselves every time they hand a question off to ChatGPT before even trying to think it through.

There's an analogy that really landed for me: GPS. Many of us know the streets of cities we learned before smartphones far better than the ones we navigate today with turn-by-turn directions.

The consensus? AI isn't inherently brain-rotting, but it can be. The difference is whether you use it as a tool to sharpen your thinking or as a replacement for it.

Stat of the week

64% of parents with Gen Z children (18 to 28) who claim their adult kids still rely on them financially in some way. More than half of that group (56%) “say that support is straining their own finances.”

Money In Real Life

Ten Cheapest Cars To Insure

There are lots of lists you can see that will point to specific models that are the lowest cost to insure.

But I’ll tell you what historically has been the cheapest: Compact SUVs.

There’s something about the buyers of most compact SUVs that people are not looking for horsepower.

The profile of those drivers tends to be a more careful kind of person.

Often, the compact and the next cheapest are historically mid-size SUVs, which tend to be popular among drivers with young children.

And that’s why many vans historically have also been more affordable.

However, insurance is just one piece of the financial puzzle.

To truly understand if a car fits your budget, you have to look at the total cost of ownership, which includes the purchase price, interest rates, and depreciation.

You can search any car on the Edmunds Total Cost of Ownership Calculator.

What if term life insurance didn’t cost a fortune?

Term life insurance starts at just $19 a month.

Coverage options range from 10–30 years with up to $3M in coverage on most products.

Parent Financial Tips

The Real Cost of Raising A Kid ($303k)

If you're a parent, brace yourself, raising a child from birth through high school now costs $303,418.

The first time the figure has topped $300,000 since LendingTree began this analysis.

That works out to an average of $16,857 per year over 18 years, and families are spending roughly 21.9% of their income on basic child-rearing expenses.

The highest costs include infant child care, food, and health insurance. And keep in mind this figure doesn't even include college, which could tack on another $152,000.

Bottom line? Kids are expensive, and costs keep climbing.

5 Tips to Help Parents Manage the Cost

1. Meal prep. Planning and batch-cooking meals weekly cuts down on food waste, takeout spending, and impulse grocery runs, one of the biggest budget drains for families.

2. Lean into low-cost and free activities. Libraries, parks, free museum days, and community events can fill a kid's calendar without emptying your wallet. Fun doesn't have to be expensive.

3. Use every tax break available. An HSA can help cover medical costs with pre-tax dollars, a Dependent Care FSA saves you money on child care expenses, and a 529 plan lets your college savings grow tax-free. These add up to real money over time.

4. Negotiate your recurring bills. Call your insurance company, internet provider, and other service providers at least once a year. Many will lower your rate just to keep you, you just have to ask.

5. Negotiate your salary every year. Your income is your most powerful financial tool. Even a 3–5% raise annually compounds significantly over your career and can make a major difference in your ability to absorb rising family costs.

Stop Using Insurance For Labs

You can order your own blood work directly through services like Quest Health or Labcorp OnDemand, no doctor's order needed.

If you’re in Austin, like me, you can even find smaller companies like Betterway, which on average are about ½ the cost of Quest and Labcorp.

Same lab, dramatically lower prices ($30–200 vs. hundreds through insurance). Most are HSA/FSA eligible.

Best for people with high-deductible or poor insurance. Bring results to your doctor as usual. I’ve been doing this to monitor my Triglycerides each month, and it costs me about $30.