Hey Rebels! Let's dive into this week's issue to help you become smarter about money, investing and business in less than 10 minutes.
Weekly Intel
Stay current with top news from the business, money, and investing world.
Top Stories
✈️ Travel plans? Congress just cancelled them: The U.S. government will shut down on October 1st if Congress can’t get its act together, costing the travel industry alone $1 billion a week. (more)
🥺 Please cry for me, Argentina: The Argentinian president, Javier Milei, took a chainsaw to the economy, but now he’s asking Uncle Sam for some duct tape and a loan. (more)
🛠️ Renovation Stagnation: Homeowners are taking on smaller reno projects as they face tariffs, inflation, and high labor costs. Looks like “open concept” just got downsized to “open that one cabinet door we can afford to fix.” (more)
🏠Bonus!!! Are you overpaying rent?: Use this tool to find out.
By the numbers
🌯$12.5 billion: the amount of money Uber expects customers to spend on non-restaurant deliveries by the end of the year. This equates to about 625 million Chipotle burritos.
☕400: the number of stores in North America that Starbucks closed this week, with about 900 employees losing jobs. That’s a latte people.
🌎$338 trillion: the world’s current debt (a record!…yay?), and also the number of times I have deleted and reinstalled Instagram this year.
The Financial Rebellion Way
Knowledge and action to help you achieve a life you desire.
“Financial freedom is available to those who learn about it and work for it.”
Credit Unions, baby!
Why they’re different: While big banks treat you like account number #472913, we know credit unions treat you like what you actually are—a human with a name, a story, and money goals that matter.
The rebellion blueprint:
You’re an owner, not a customer: Every member literally owns a piece of the credit union. That means profits flow back to you through better rates and lower fees, not to some yacht-collecting CEO.
Local money stays local: Your deposits fund your neighbor’s home loan, not some hedge fund’s risky bet. It’s community wealth building that actually builds communities.
Humans answer the phone: Call with a problem and get Sarah from downtown, not a bot from who-knows-where.
Big picture: Credit unions are financial rebellion in its purest form - people pooling resources to help members build wealth. It’s not trendy. It’s just a bunch of locals who decided their money should work for them, not against them.
You when you start using credit unions
Markets - stocks and crypto
In under 3 minutes, start investing spare change, saving for retirement, earning more, spending smarter, and more.
Click the image above or this link to earn a special $40 bonus.
Prices for the week ending September 26, 2025:
▼ S&P 500 | 6,644 | - 0.15% |
▼ NASDAQ | 22,484 | - 0.61% |
▲ GOLD | 3,780 | +.49% |
▲ FORD Motors (F) | 12.01 | +3.27% |
▲ ELECTRONIC ARTS (EA) | 193.35 | +11.79% |
▼ BITCOIN (BTC) | 109,490 | - 5.20% |
▼ ETHEREUM (ETH) | 4,017 | - 10.0% |
Stock Moves
No fall this equinox: US stocks stumbled mid-week but rallied to end strong, surviving what’s historically the market’s worst week of the year. (more)
Gas-powered growth: As the end of the electric vehicles tax credit looms, gas-powered auto makers Ford and GM reach 52-week highs. (more)
EA Sports - it's in the gain: Shares of the video game company Electronic Arts closed up 15% on Friday as they near a $50 billion deal to go private. (more)
Crypto Moves
Interpol crypto sting: A recent Interpol operation seized $97 million in cryptocurrencies (among $439 million in total criminal assets) across 40 countries by freezing nearly 400 crypto wallets and cracking down on cybercrime schemes (more).
Buy the rumor, sell the news - Bitcoin is experiencing a decline, as the rapid exit of investors from risky bets causes a sharp drop in prices this week. (more)
CryptoPal: Crypto will soon be built right into PayPal’s peer-to-peer payment program, letting U.S. users send Bitcoin, Ethereum and more directly through its app. (more)
Coming Soon: The Financial Rebellion investment portfolio. You will see where we invest our money via stocks, bonds, crypto and other opportunities.
Real Money Moves
Austin, 28 - Raleigh, North Carolina
Each week, we feature a reader’s smartest and dumbest money moves. We’re all in this together; let’s learn from each other.
Best Money Move - Multiple Savings Accounts at My Credit Union
“I opened an account at my credit union and made multiple savings accounts. I named each account after what I’m saving for—‘Italy Trip,’ ‘New Laptop,’ ‘Oh Sh*t Fund.’
“My credit union lets me auto-transfer $50 to each account every payday. I don’t even see the money leave, but I definitely saw Italy for two weeks because of it.”
“I thought having one savings account was enough until I kept raiding it for everything. Now my vacation fund can’t touch my emergency fund, and I actually have both.”
Worst Money Move - Not negotiating my salary
“When I got a job offer, I was so grateful I just said yes to everything. I found out later that the person next to me earns $8k more for the same work.”
“I thought asking for more would make me look greedy. Now I realize staying quiet made me look like someone who doesn’t know their worth.”
“I accepted their first offer because negotiating felt scary. That 10-minute conversation I avoided? It’s costing me $500 every single month. Fear is expensive.”
The bottom line: Every money move teaches you something — whether it builds your net worth or humbles your ego.
Got a story? Send it in. You might help someone dodge a mistake or make a smarter call.
Side Hustle Differently
Each week, we focus on money-making opportunities for a side hustle that could potentially become a full-time venture. No MLM schemes, no “passive income” lies, just real strategies for stacking cash outside your 9-5.
A Flipping Good Sideshustle
What it is: Transform beat-up thrift store furniture into profit using basic tools and the skills you already have (even if you think you don’t).
Your refurb roadmap:
The “Ugly Duckling” Hunt: Target solid wood pieces with good bones and bad paint jobs. Skip particle board dreams and trendy junk—focus on timeless shapes that just need love.
The 3-Hour Glow Up: Sand, prime, paint. That’s it. No Pinterest perfection required. Clean lines and neutral colors sell faster than your artistic vision ever will.
Price Like You Mean It: Your time has value. That $20 dresser you spent 3 hours fixing? It’s worth $200 now.
Big picture: This isn’t arts and crafts; it’s rebellion with a paintbrush. Every piece you flip is proof that you can create value from nothing. That dresser isn’t just furniture; it’s freedom you built with your own hands.
Check out the Financial Rebellion podcast to learn about how to turn your passion into profit.
Word of the Week - Liquidation
💦The forced selling of assets (often automatically) to pay off debts or cover losses.
Trusted Partners
Where you bank is a big deal. We are big fans of credit unions to help you become financially rebellious. Here are some of our current partners that we work with around the country, so you can get to know them and the value of becoming a member to help you achieve your financial goals and dreams.
Did you know the myths about credit unions versus banks? Debunked here.
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Interested in becoming a Financial Rebellion Partner? Reach out to [email protected]
We’ll catch you next week. Rebels OUT.
Todd Romer: Founder and Writer
Corinne Clarkson: Writer and Editor
Dallin Merrill: Editor
Disclaimer: The advice provided in Financial Rebellion is not considered to be financial or legal advice of any kind. It is your responsibility to dig deeper on any opinions or recommendations given.