Category: Government Rebates and Payments

The General Schedule (GS) pay scale sets base pay for roughly 1.5 million civilian federal employees. This page tracks confirmed raises and the latest proposals for each year. For 2027, the debate is almost over: President Trump's August 26, 2026 letter to Congress set a pay freeze for most civilian…

North Carolina (NC) calls SNAP Food and Nutrition Services, or FNS, and it loads benefits on a fixed day from the 3rd to the 21st. Your day comes from the last digit of your Social Security number, and it doesn't move for weekends or holidays. Since October 1, 2026, a…

Michigan (MI) loads Food Assistance onto the Bridge Card between the 3rd and the 21st, and your day comes from the last digit of the head of household's recipient ID. That's the eight-digit number on your MDHHS letters, not the number on the card. The top benefit for a family…

Ohio (OH) was supposed to stop SNAP from paying for sugary drinks on October 1, 2026. It didn't happen. In September the state put the ban on hold at USDA's request, and as of mid-October you can still buy soda with your Ohio Direction Card. What did change on October…

Alabama's SNAP benefits load onto your Alabama EBT Card 4th–23rd. The maximum for a family of four is $1,023 a month in fiscal year 2027, which started October 1, 2026, up from $994. But 2026 is a more complicated year than most for SNAP. The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB)…

New York (NY) runs SNAP on two calendars. In the five boroughs, the city's Human Resources Administration (HRA) loads benefits on dates that shift every month. Everywhere else, the date is fixed by the last digit of your case number. That split also shows up in the work rules, which…

California (CA) is still one of the only states where people on SSI can also get food benefits. Since June 2019, Supplemental Security Income recipients have qualified for CalFresh, California's name for SNAP, and that's still true for 2026–27. October 1 brought a raise, too. A family of four can…

Connecticut's SNAP benefits load onto your Connect Card (EBT) 1st–3rd. The maximum for a family of four is $1,023 a month in fiscal year 2027, which started October 1, 2026, up from $994. But 2026 is a more complicated year than most for SNAP. The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB)…

Pennsylvania (PA) is one of the few states where your SNAP payment day moves around. Benefits go out over the first 10 business days of the month, so weekends and state holidays push your date later, and the schedule also depends on which county you live in. The dollar amounts…

The federal minimum wage is still $7.25 an hour in 2026 — unchanged since July 2009, the longest stretch without an increase since the federal minimum wage was created in 1938. Where you actually stand depends entirely on your state. Washington, D.C. now has the highest minimum wage in the…

The 2027 Social Security COLA is 3.6%, announced by the SSA on October 14, 2026. The average retired worker's check rises about $75 a month, from $2,095 to roughly $2,170, starting with January 2027 payments. It's the biggest raise since 2023's 8.7%, and it landed at the top of the…

Bitcoin has traded above $99,000 for stretches of 2026 and also seen six-day runs of over $1 billion in spot ETF outflows in the same year. By the time you read this, both of those facts could be stale. That's exactly the problem with most "should I sell my crypto"…

Spot Bitcoin ETFs now trade on Fidelity, Schwab, and E*TRADE just like a stock — you no longer need a separate crypto exchange account to get exposure. That's the biggest change since crypto went mainstream, and it's worth understanding before you put any money in. This is the starting-point guide…