• President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on Chinese goods, steel, aluminum, and more.
• Trump has also threatened to impose more tariffs on Chinese goods and imported cars from around the world.
• According to a report from the Tax Foundation, Trump's existing tariffs will cost every middle-class family $146 — and the threatened tariffs could push that to $453 in a year.
• The tariffs will also be a drag on the economy and cost tens of thousands of jobs.

President Donald Trump's trade battles are projected to hit middle-class families hard, according to a new study, especially if the president follows through on all of his threats.

According to a report from the conservative-leaning Tax Foundation, current tariffs will cause a squeeze for middle-class Americans — and lead to fewer jobs in the US. The think tank also estimated that the economic pain of the tariffs would get much worse in the event Trump follows through on all tariffs he has threatened.

"These tariffs will increase the tax burden on Americans, falling hardest on lower and middle-income households, and reduce economic output, employment, and wages," said Erica York, an analyst at the Tax Foundation.

While tariffs have the immediate effect of raising costs at a port of entry for goods, York said those effects can eventually filter to businesses and consumers purchasing imported goods.

• "Tariffs can raise the cost of parts and materials, which would raise the price of goods using those inputs and reduce private-sector output. Tariffs also result in consumers paying more for goods than they would have otherwise," York wrote.
• "Price increases such as these reduce the after-tax value of both labor and capital income; as tariffs reduce the return to labor and capital, they incentivize Americans to work and invest less, which leads to lower output."

Read more:Trump's trade war with China is the biggest threat to the US economy in 2019, and it's making economists the most worried they've been in years»

Here's a breakdown of some of the effects of the currently imposed tariffs, according to the study:

• A decrease in GDP by 0.12% over the long run — the equivalent of $30.4 billion lost.
• The elimination of 94,300 full-time American jobs.
• A decrease in after-tax income of 0.3% for all Americans — and a greater decline for the middle class. According to York, for Americans in the middle quintile of income earners, the after-tax wage decrease amounts to 0.33%, or $146 per taxpayer.

While the tariffs in place are expected to be a negative for the US, Trump's threatened tariffs on imported autos and the remaining $255 billion worth of Chinese goods would make things even worse.

If Trump follows through on his threats, here are a few of the downsides, according to the study:

• A decrease in GDP by 0.38% over the long run — the equivalent of $94.4 billion lost.
• The elimination of 292,600 full-time American jobs.
• A decrease in after-tax income of 0.92% for all Americans. For Americans in the middle quintile of income earners, the after-tax wage decrease would be 1.04%, or about $453.

Proposed tariff increases are on hold while the US and China try and work out differences and get a deal before March 1, but it's unclear if the two sides will be able to come to an agreement. The auto tariff proposal is expected to reach Trump's desk soon, but advisers have been urging the president not to move forward with the restrictions.

As for current tariffs, Trump has so far been unwilling to drop duties on imported steel and aluminum — even calling the measures a great success.

SEE ALSO: Trump is failing to achieve one of the biggest goals of his trade war, and he only has himself to blame

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NOW WATCH: Anthony Scaramucci claims Trump isn't a nationalist: 'He likes saying that because it irks these intellectual elitists'

• Pete Davidson made a brief appearance on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" Saturday night to introduce Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson's second musical performance of the night. 
• There was speculation the comedian wouldn't appear following a disturbing Instagram post he shared Saturday in which he wrote, "I really don't want to be on this earth anymore." He quickly deleted his Instagram account after posting the message.
• Actor Jon Cryer, Davidson's co-star in "Big Time Adolescence,"tweeted that Davidson was "at SNL and accounted for" Saturday afternoon.          
• The New York Times reported that the New York Police Department was contacted by an NBC representative that said Davidson was at work and fine.
• His only other appearance during Saturday's episode was in a pre-taped sketch on celebrity auditions for Oscar host. 
• Cyrus and Ronson performed "(Happy Xmas) War Is Over" with Sean Ono Lennon. 
• Watch the video below.

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Consumers having been “cutting the cord,” or canceling their pay-TV subscriptions in favor of internet-delivered alternatives, for years now, but the trend reached new heights in 2017. 

There’s little reason to believe that this phenomenon will slow down any time soon either, so pay-tv providers will have to find new ways to generate revenue as their primary source continues to erode. 

One of the most prominent ways media companies are recuperating cord-cutting losses is by launching their own direct-to-consumer streaming services. 

But what makes for a successful streaming video service? 

The Business Insider Intelligence Digital Media research team has written a note breaking down the evolving landscape of streaming video on-demand (SVOD). The note looks at which characteristics consumers care about most in a streaming service and which are just "nice to have." 

To get your FREE copy, click here.

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• Maria Hatzistefanis has been rejected hundreds of times in her career since founding the skincare company Rodial in 1999.
• She said she learned to turn a "no" into a "yes" by waiting a day after a rejection and then following up with a pledge to improve her business and try again in the future.
• Young entrepreneurs have a tendency to blame the other party for their rejection, but the ability to take criticism leads to more positive results.

Maria Hatzistefanis has been rejected hundreds of times in her career.

Since founding the skincare company Rodial in 1999, Hatzistefanis has heard "no" from countless stores that didn't want to sell her products.

But 20 years later, Rodial products are available in more than 20,000 stores in 35 countries. They can be found in stores like Ulta Beauty, Nordstrom, Bluemercury, and Bloomingdales. Hatzistefanis has parlayed her success into a book deal and a podcast, and even scored her company a coveted partnership with Kylie Jenner.

Hatzistefanis says she can attribute much of her success to an important skill she's learned over the years: turning a no into a yes.

"I've always been driven by a no," Hatzistefanis told Business Insider.

The key, she said, is the ability to reflect on what made you get rejected in the first place. That's a contrast from earlier in her career, when she'd deal with rejection by blaming the other party and even questioning their judgment. 

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"When you're a young entrepreneur, in the beginning you want to unpack the rejection and say, 'Oh no, my product is the best and you're wrong,'" she said. "But I've learned you shouldn't burn any bridges, even if you don't like what the other party says."

"Just try to learn from it. Try to look at it without emotion and just read and analyze, and see if there is anything with that rejection that I can learn from to improve myself, my product, my company, to take me to a yes."

Hatzistefanis said one rule of thumb she's developed is that after getting rejected by a prospective client, she'll wait a day, then write them an email thanking them for the consideration and pledging to try to earn their business in the future.

"I'll generally say, 'Thank you for your prompt response, I do understand your situation that there's no space right now, but I would love to keep in touch, and I'll be in touch in 12 months. I'll show you progress, and hopefully we can connect at that point,'" she said. 

Read more:A CEO who starts Monday mornings with her most 'boring and difficult' tasks says any chronic procrastinator should do the same

"Time can fix things," she said. "It is hard, but you have to give it a 24-hour window. You should never react there and then."

It's that kind of measured response that landed her products on the shelves of Harvey Nichols, the luxury department store in London that Hatzistefanis called her "dream store."

"It took me seven years of knocking on their door," she said.

"It's all about being persistent," she said. "You're going to get a lot of nos, you're going to get a lot of doors slammed in your face. But you have to be resilient and you have to keep going and believe in yourself."

SEE ALSO: A CEO who starts Monday mornings with her most 'boring and difficult' tasks says any chronic procrastinator should do the same

DON'T MISS: A man who's interviewed over 2,000 of the world's most successful people shares his 3 best pieces of career advice

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NOW WATCH: How this astronaut overcame failure and rejection to land his dream job

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VR headsets are on pace to become more prominent in consumer's lives: On average across 11 markets, 65% of consumers expect that VR will become a part of daily life, according to a recent survey conducted by Facebook.

For those who embrace it, VR can bring an added layer of convenience to daily life, from gaming to shopping to web browsing. The survey sheds light on two key areas in which consumers are most excited about using the technology:

• More than 6 in 10 (63%) consumers are interested in using VR to preview products. Among these consumers, 71% are interested in using VR to check out vacation destinations and hotels. That’s followed by entertainment (59%) and retail (58%) wherein consumers could use VR to watch movies or try on virtual clothing and lipstick. Previewing products in VR is appealing because it makes shopping more convenient — it can digitally arm consumers with a level of product knowledge previously available only through a trek to the store. For instance, VR could enable consumers to virtually sit in a custom-built car, allowing them to skip a dealership visit and still make an informed purchase.
• A majority (60%) of consumers are interested in using VR to socialize. Social interaction is considered a key use case for VR because of the tech's ability to place geographically dispersed users in the same virtual space. For instance, users could interact with each other in a virtual living room with avatars that represent themselves. Or, two people could sit next to each other at a live sporting event in VR and chat while watching the game.

The survey results highlight how critical it is for businesses to enter the VR space when relevant. Consumers are expected to gravitate toward VR for product viewing in the future, and brands should invest accordingly by providing a virtual clothing catalog, for example.

They should also invest as soon as possible — the demand is there, and the brands that move earliest will be rewarded for having their finger on the pulse of consumers.

And it's not just product viewing — consumers' growing interest in social VR offers several opportunities for brands to pursue. An NBA sponsor, for instance, could provide VR advertisements for an NBA game, or a game developer could launch a social game in VR in which users could work together to complete objectives.

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Barstool Sports is joining the stampede of publishers trying to drum up more revenue from readers.

The 15-year-old company known for its bawdy take on sports and culture is launching a new service in January called Barstool Gold. The existing content will stay free, but for $50, people will get exclusive material like new podcasts and documentaries.

The service will kick off with a documentary about Barstool founder Dave Portnoy himself and how he started the company as a print newspaper in Boston, supported by gambling ads, before expanding to the web.

Click here to read more about Barstool Sports’ new membership program.

In other news:

The co-founder of HQ Trivia and Vine has died at the age of 34.TMZ was first to report the death of Colin Kroll, while The Daily Beast and others confirmed the story with New York Police Department sources.

Facebook's latest privacy scandal: The private photos of millions of users were accidentally shared with 1,500 apps.The affected pictures include those posted on Facebook Stories and Facebook Marketplace, as well as those that were uploaded but never shared, Facebook said.

CBS is rolling out new sexual harassment programs following Les Moonves, Charlie Rose allegations. In an email to all CBS staff Friday, the company said it's rolling out new sexual harassment programs and urged them to fill out an anonymous survey about workplace culture.

Prada pulled monkey trinkets accused of using 'blackface imagery', and now New York's commission on human rights is investigating.The black and red figurines went viral on social media after a Facebook post by a New York-area lawyer compared them to "blackface imagery."

Google CEO Sundar Pichai's testimony to Congress exposed the abject failings and futility of Washington's version of tech policy. Republican lawmakers fixated on the unproven idea that Google and big tech is censoring conservatives.

Amazon's celebrity-filled Super Bowl commercial was this year's most-watched YouTube ad, reports The Wall Street Journal. Nike, Groupon and Apple also topped the list.

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NOW WATCH: The legendary economist who predicted the housing crisis says the US will win the trade war

• A recent story revealed the unlikely relationship between Charles Barkley and Lin Wang.
• Barkley and Wang met at a chance encounter at a Sacramento hotel, quickly hit it off, and became lifelong friends.
• The story comes from the "Only a Game" podcast from NPR's WBUR station and shows that Barkley's bubbly affability goes far beyond what we see on camera.

Charles Barkley is known as one of the most lovably bombastic personalities in sports.

Over the weekend, a story from the "Only a Game" podcast from NPR's WBUR station showed that Barkley's bubbly affability goes far beyond what we see on camera.

Shirley Wang shared the story of her father, Lin Wang, who developed an unlikely friendship with Barkley after a chance encounter at a hotel bar in Sacramento. The two hit it off over a few drinks and wound up talking for hours.

"And, before we know it, we looked at each other, like, ‘Yo, man, I’m hungry. Let’s go to dinner,’ " Barkley said. "It turned into a two-hour dinner. And then we actually went back to the bar and just sit there and talked for another couple of hours. And the rest is history."

When Barkley's mother passed away in 2015, Wang attended the funeral, leading to some confusion from others at the services.

"You know, it was obviously a very difficult time," Barkley said. "And the next thing I know, he shows up. Everybody's like, 'Who's the Asian dude over there?' I just started laughing. I said, 'That's my boy, Lin.' They're, like, 'How do you know him?' I said, 'It's a long story.'"

While Barkley and Wang led radically different lives, the two found common ground in their upbringings.

"You know, he grown up in the '70s in Alabama," Wang said of his friend. "His father left him and his mother when he was little. He grown up with grandma and mother. And the grandma and mother cleaned up houses for somebody else to make a living. Tough life for him. But he's well-respected professionally. And that's his story."

When Wang was diagnosed with cancer in 2016, he would watch Barkley on TNT as a comfort. When Barkley found out that Wang had not told him of his diagnosis, he was angry.

"I called him and got mad at him when I found out," Barkley said. "I was, like, 'Dude, we’re friends. You can tell me. You’re not bothering me. You know me well enough — if you were bothering me, I would tell you you were bothering me.'"

Wang died in 2018, just days before his favorite team, the Golden State Warriors, won their second consecutive NBA title. Barkley came to his funeral and spoke to honor his friend.

It's a beautiful story that can be read in full here or listened to below.

Read more:Charles Barkley and Shaq got into another mind-boggling argument about the best players in the NBA

Over the weekend, people from across sports shared the story, adding that Barkley's unlikely relationship was hardly a surprise.

SEE ALSO: LeBron James and the Lakers played defense with their hands behind their backs vs. the Rockets to protest foul calls

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NOW WATCH: The true story behind the name 'Black Friday' is much darker than you may have thought

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Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank), the largest of the “Big Four” banks in Australia, announced on Twitter that it will be adding support for Apple Pay starting in January 2019. The bank already offers other mobile payment offerings like Samsung Pay, Google Pay, its own Tap & Pay wallet, and wearable payments through Fitbit and Garmin, among others.

Apple Pay has been a controversial player in Australia since it launched in the region in 2015. Three of the four major banks, CommBank, National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac, have held off supporting Apple Pay because Apple restricts access to its NFC hardware, preventing third parties from building their own mobile wallets for iPhones.

Many Australian banks previously offered their own contactless options for Android phones or payment stickers for iPhones, and likely wanted to develop proprietary products for Apple devices as well because iPhones have a 66% market share in Australia. But the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) denied several major Australian banks the right to negotiate with Apple to try to access its hardware, forcing them to partner with Apple and pay a per-transaction fee if they want to provide service to Australians who have iPhones.

Holding off on adding Apple Pay was a risk for CommBank and the other major banks because it could have resulted in losing customers.  

CommBank’s decision to finally offer Apple Pay after holding off for almost three years suggests that there was significant pent-up demand among its customers.

• The popularity of contactless payments in Australia likely influenced consumers to want to use mobile wallets. Four in five consumers make contactless transactions every week as of 2017. And some consumers have said they’d prefer to switch banks so they can use their preferred mobile wallet, rather than switch to a phone that offers the mobile wallet, which could have caused some customers to leave CommBank for other banks to access Apple Pay. Many user reactions to CommBank on Twitter even said that the bank was “too late” and that they’d already switched banks. Other users had positive reactions to the news, further underscoring demand for Apple Pay — and customers of NAB and Westpac expressed they wanted to be offered Apple Pay as well. This demand is likely what influenced CommBank’s decision to offer Apple Pay and suggests that the mobile wallet will see substantial volume from CommBank customers, likely making it worth it for the firm to pay the transaction fees to Apple. 
• The addition of Apple Pay could be beneficial to CommBank’s other services overall. ANZ was the first — and until now, only — major Australian bank to offer Apple Pay, successfully capturing consumer demand for it: When ANZ added support for Apple Pay, it saw an uptick in account applications, a sharp increase in mobile payment volume, and stronger engagement with its services. CommBank could see similar effects to ANZ with a boost to its other segments — and might even see customers from Westpac or NAB switch over so they can use the mobile wallet. Adding Apple Pay can allow CommBank to better serve its customers’ needs, allow it to remain competitive and at the forefront of the banking space, and generate more volume. 

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SEE ALSO: Why are Apple Pay, Starbucks’ app, and Samsung Pay so much more successful than other wallet providers?

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• Kate Hudson is the latest celebrity to join Weight Watchers, which is currently known as WW to focus on overall health as opposed to just weight loss. 
• Oprah Winfrey, who has been an ambassador for years and a part owner of the company, FaceTimed Hudson to welcome her to the family.
• When asked why she joined the program, the mother of three said that she's doing it for her kids, her family, "longevity, and wanting to be here as long as I can."
• In her caption on Instagram, the actress went on to explain that health and wellness is her priority, saying: "This is not a community for people who just want to lose weight, although leading a healthy lifestyle lends itself to such, this is a community about supporting each other through a lifelong journey of wellness."
• Previously, Hudson said that her goal is to lose 25 pounds after welcoming her third child in October.
• Watch the video of Winfrey and Hudson FaceTiming below.

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The media landscape is almost shifting more quickly than consumers can keep up.

But certain trends have emerged that will carry the media industry into the future.

For the past eight years, IGNITION, Business Insider’s flagship conference, has collected the best minds in media and technology to share what they see as the future. Through unscripted interviews, cutting-edge demos, and insights from industry pioneers, attendees learn what key trends to be aware of and what they need to do to stay ahead.

Henry Blodget opened the latest sold-out IGNITION conference with a presentation entitled 14 Things You’ll Want to Know About The Future of Media. And he should know...Blodget is co-founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief of Business Insider, one of the most-read business and tech news sites in the world with more than 80 million visitors a month worldwide.

The presentation was put together with the help of the team at BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• We're nearing "peak media" in the U.S.
• This phenomenon will spread to the rest of the world as four billion more people come online
• Digital ad spending is still growing
• Video is not the be-all, end-all of media
• And much more

To get your copy of this FREE slide deck, simply click here.

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• The Federal Reserve is expected to increase its benchmark interest rate this week.
• President Donald Trump criticized the central bank once again on Monday for considering another interest-rate hike.
• The president has variable-rate loans linked to the federal funds rate.

President Donald Trump lashed out at the Federal Reserve on Monday, which is expected to increase borrowing costs this week in a move that could add nearly $1 million to his debt-service costs per year.

"It is incredible that with a very strong dollar and virtually no inflation, the outside world blowing up around us, Paris is burning and China way down, the Fed is even considering yet another interest rate hike,"he wrote on Twitter. "Take the Victory!"

The Fed is expected to increase its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point at a policy meeting Wednesday, which would raise borrowing costs for Americans.

Trump has about $340 million worth of variable-rate loans linked to the federal funds rate, Bloomberg reported last month. Since his January 2017 inauguration, hikes may have added a cumulative $5.1 million per year to his debt service costs. With Wednesday’s expected hike factored in, that could increase to about $6 million.

While presidents generally avoid commenting on monetary policy out of respect for the independence of a central bank, Trump has repeatedly blamed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for trouble on Wall Street this year. There is a consensus among economists and bipartisan lawmakers, however, that increasing the cost of borrowing can be necessary at times to avoid high levels of inflation.

Officials have hiked three times this year and eight times since 2015, most recently in September. Market watchers have been closely monitoring for signs of whether recent turbulence in equity markets or ongoing trade tensions could influence the Federal Reserve's rate path.

"It's sort of a catch 22 for the Fed," said Neil Dutta, head of economics at Renaissance Macro Research. "I think Trump makes very good points, to be honest. But if they skip a hike are they caving to Trump? If they do hike are they ignoring the data? Which of those looks worse for the Fed? I’d argue ignoring the data."

SEE ALSO: Trump keeps bashing the Fed, calling the central bank 'loco' and 'crazy.' An ugly economic lesson from the Nixon administration shows why his criticism is so worrying.

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NOW WATCH: The legendary economist who predicted the housing crisis says the US will win the trade war

• We use harmful, negative labels to describe ourselves and others.
• Words like selfish, stupid, spoiled, and lazy are all used casually.
• But they can be more damaging than we realise.
• Often, we use these words because they're easier than examining the real issue.
• Here are the six terms, and what they really mean when we say them.

It's a curse of humanity that we are often highly critical of ourselves. We don't tend to give ourselves the same sympathy and understanding we are willing to provide others.

For example, you might feel shame over something that happened way back in your distant past, when you were a child. Nobody else is likely to judge you for decisions you made in your younger years, but for some reason, you hang on to it for years, or even decades.

Read more: Being 'anti-fragile' in times of pain is just as important as being resilient — here's what that means

In a blog post for Psychology Today, psychiatrist Grant Hilary Brenner wrote about the corrosive habits people develop in how they relate to themselves, and others. Some labels, for instance, come from toxic places.

Brenner identified six words we shouldn't use, because they are "accompanied by feelings of moral judgment, hatred and utter rejection."

"Rather than understanding the nuance and creating bridges for understanding and communication, such labeling reflects underlying either-or thinking, generally fragmenting us apart from ourselves and each other in an act of linguistic violence," he wrote. "These are dividing words, misunderstanding concepts, rather than language which joins and deepens mutuality and self-relationship."

Here are the six terms, and what they really mean when we say them:

1. Lazy

People use the word "lazy" a lot, Brenner said, when they haven't done something they think they should have. It suggests there's something fundamentally wrong with you if you can't work hard, for whatever reason.

By doing this, you avoid finding out what is really wrong. So if you start calling yourself lazy, ask yourself why you're feeling unmotivated. Procrastinators and do-ers have different brains, so the answer may simply be to give yourself smaller goals.

2. Bored

As Betty Draper said in "Mad Men,""Only boring people get bored." In reality, that's probably not true, said Brenner, because feeling bored may mean there are underlying emotions we are ignoring. Rather than facing their anxiety, for example, some people may jump to boredom as an explanation for why they feel stuck in a rut.

"Using boredom this way is usually associated with having one's mind go blank," Brenner wrote. "We become unable to think about anything other than being bored, effectively preventing us from getting out of the boredom and paralysis."

3. Hypocrite

This word assumes we cannot have two points of view, and can't have internal conflicts. People are sometimes genuinely hypocritical, but sometimes we use it because we refer to things this way because it's easier than dealing with the actual issue. 

Rather than jumping to this conclusion, you should look at multiple sides of the problem, and remember that there is a context, Brenner said. 

"Moral values and ethical decisions change a lot from situation to situation," he said. "Identify the different sides of the apparent hypocrisy, and consider in what contexts would those different perspectives apply."

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Amazon is reportedly ramping up its pitches to TV advertisers to buy on its Fire TV platform, according to Digiday. As part of that effort, the company is building a designated video ad sales team that will specifically sell video inventory rather than bundling it with Amazon search and display advertising across the site.

Isolating video as a standalone buy signals that Amazon sees Fire TV as a specialized ad product that could quickly start generating revenue in line with or beyond rivals like Roku. 

In particular, Amazon appears to be modeling itself after market leader Roku, which now makes more from advertising (platform revenue) than hardware sales: platform revenue increased 74% year-over-year (YoY) in Q3 to $100.1 million, up from $57.5 million last year in the quarter. Amazon could easily duplicate that success: 

• In September, Amazon said it would demand for itself 30% of the inventory that Fire TV apps sell. Roku also takes up to 30% of inventory for itself from the apps on its connected-TV (CTV) interface.
• Amazon is still expected to launch an ad-supported Fire TV app similar to Roku Channel that would feature licensed TV and film content from studios. Amazon will likely make smart acquisitions as it broadens and deepens its Hollywood ties.

While Roku still has the edge on Amazon — with about 32% share of US CTV users, versus 27% who have a Fire TV device — Fire TV could become a key driver of AVOD ad revenue growth if Amazon can:

• Demonstrate superior value (ad effectiveness) to advertisers via consumer data.
• Attract a greater share of CTV device users, e.g. by offering a cheaper or more advanced dongle.
• Provide better licensed content (film and TV) on its forthcoming ad-supported channel versus direct rivals like Roku Channel. 

CTV device platforms could become a key battleground for AVOD dollars because of their growing reach in TV households. As traditional TV usage declines among younger audiences, and cord-cutting escalates, we expect that TV’s loss will be AVOD’s gain. CTV devices are becoming a key gateway to TV content for many American households: 67% of US TV households now have a CTV device, up from 62% last year, per Nielsen.

And while AVOD’s slice of the total ad pie is still minute compared to linear TV, it’s growing at a considerable clip: Ad spending on OTT TV is projected to reach $2 billion in 2018, up 40% YoY, versus traditional TV with $63 billion, per Magna. We expect Amazon to further sweeten the pot for CTV advertising across the industry.

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• Getting married can be expensive, but there are some venues you can get married at for free. 
• Public parks are typically nearly free.
• Having a backyard wedding can be intimate and free.

Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life. It can also be one of the most expensive. The Knot's 2017 Real Weddings Study revealed that the average cost of a wedding in the United States is $33,391, before the honeymoon. And that cost gets even higher in cities like New York ($76,944), Chicago ($55,332), and Los Angeles ($44,142). Although the band, photographer, and dress can eat up quite a bit of your budget, the venue is often the most expensive part of your wedding, with a national average of $15,163.

But you don't have to break the bank when you say, "I Do." In fact, there are less expensive options that can be just as special and romantic places to tie the knot. With a little bit of creativity, there are places out there that will let you have your wedding for free.

Keep in mind, there is really no way to get away with getting married without spending a dime. You will have to incur the cost of a marriage license and an officiant to make the whole thing legit. But the money you save on the venue can be spent on an awesome honeymoon.

Get married in nature at your favorite local park.

Your local park can be a great option for a low-cost wedding. Just be sure to do your homework ahead of time to see if you will need a permit at the park you choose. For example, in most New York City parks, a permit is required for events with more than 20 people and comes with a $25 charge. 

An all-inclusive resort lets you have your wedding and honeymoon in one.

If you're planning a destination wedding, check out some of the all-inclusive resorts that offer free weddings for resort guests. For example, Beaches resorts in Jamaica and Turks & Caicos offer free weddings for a minimum three-night stay at one of their properties. Just be sure to read the fine print about what is included in your wedding package so that you know exactly what to expect.

Bring family and friends together in your own backyard.

There's no place like home to have a wedding. Not only will you save money on renting the space, but you can also create a beautiful, intimate experience by holding your wedding at a place that has special meaning for you. And you won't have to worry about being late to your own wedding if you're already on site.

If you don't have a backyard big enough for all of your guests, think about close family members or friends who may want to offer their home for the event in lieu of a gift.

By late 1944, Allied forces had pushed Nazi Germany back in much of Europe, retaking Paris and Rome.

US Army intelligence determined that the thick evergreen forest of the Ardennes in Belgium would be a good place to rest and reorganize combat units, as enemy forces in the area were largely low-quality troops.

The Nazis, however, were preparing a great counteroffensive, forming up 30 crack divisions that would cut the Allied army in two and push for the Belgian port of Antwerp.

On the morning of December 16, 1944, more than 200,000 German troops and almost 1,000 tanks drove into the Ardennes across an 85-mile stretch of the front line, running from southern Belgium to the middle of Luxembourg.

Stories abound of German paratroopers dropping behind the lines, of English-speaking Nazi troops impersonating Americans, and of massacres of US prisoners of war at Malmedy.

Bad weather held Allied air power in check, and many US troops were caught off guard. The US 106th Infantry division was encircled in hours, and two out of three soldiers were caught or killed. US forces settled into wholesale retreat, save for pockets of soldiers who fought on but were quickly isolated, though they held crucial road junctions.

Allied troops from all over the Western Front rushed to the 50-mile bulge the German offensive pushed into the front lines. Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army arrived at the end of December, and weather improved, but it took until January 28, 1945, to return the front line to where it was on December 15.

Below, you can see photos from the first weeks of the frigid six-week battle that caused 67,000 American and 100,000 German casualities.

SEE ALSO: Here's how the US pulled off a daring mission to take out the mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor

German soldiers, wearing heavy winter gear, walk past a burning US half-track during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, December 1944. This photo is from a batch of film captured from the Germans by American forces.

German infantrymen pass burning captured US vehicles during the drive into Allied lines on the Western Front during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. This photo is from a batch of film captured from the Germans by American forces.

An unidentified young US soldier, captured by Germans during their counterattack in the Belgian Ardennes region, leads a march of prisoners at an unknown location in December 1944.

• High tech, at-home fitness companies are gaining ground and putting traditional players under pressure. 
• Peloton, which is widely considered to be a pioneer of the home fitness industry, was valued at $4 billion in August after raising an additional $550 million in venture funding. 
• These are some of the most exciting at-home fitness innovations to come out over the past year. 

America is exercising more than ever, but people are becoming lazier when it comes to where they do it. 

Home fitness has become one of the biggest trends of 2018, as a series of high-tech fitness companies have swooped in to create more advanced ways to replicate a boutique class-style workout from home. 

According to insights firm Alpha, the home fitness equipment market is currently worth $14 billion and is gaining more traction among traditional gym-goers. Of the people it surveyed, 54% said they would be interested in buying an at-home fitness system, Fast Company reported earlier this year. 

By comparison, the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) estimated that 60.9 million Americans have a gym membership, which generates $30 billion in revenue annually. 

Peloton, which is widely considered to be a pioneer of the industry, was valued at $4 billion in August after raising a further $550 million in venture funding.

Recent data released by analytics firm Second Measure, which tracks the credit and debit purchases from a pool of four million US customers, showed that Peloton is increasingly stealing market share from the traditional market leaders. According to the report, during the third quarter of 2018 Peloton overtook SoulCycle for the first time ever, drawing in 4% more customers, though SoulCycle strongly denied this analysis in a statement to Business Insider this week. 

These are some of the most exciting at-home fitness innovations to come out over the past year:

SEE ALSO: Peloton is accusing Flywheel of copying its hugely popular at-home fitness bike

Peloton Tread

Peloton is best known for its wildly successful exercise bike, which paved the way for other high-tech at-home fitness options. 

Its new product — the $3,995 treadmill — launched this fall and works in a similar way to its indoor bike. It has an HD touchscreen that streams thousands of live and on-demand classes, which users can join from home.

Classes cost $39 a month and include high-intensity boot-camp routines, running drills, and mat work. 

When Business Insider trialed the treadmill in February, we were impressed by the style and range of classes but were overwhelmed by the size of the machine. 

Read more:We tried the new $4,000 treadmill from the billion-dollar startup that could be 'the Apple of fitness' — here's the verdict

Mirror

New York-based startup Mirror launched its $1,500 interactive mirror in September. 

The machine looks just like a standard mirror but has an LCD screen that streams live and on-demand workout classes into your home. These classes cost $39 per month.

Customers connect to the Mirror using a Bluetooth heart rate monitor or an Apple Watch.

Read more:We tested the $1,500 mirror that streams exercise classes into your home and saw how it could upend the fitness world

Flywheel — FLY Anywhere

Boutique indoor cycling studio Flywheel made the move into home fitness in November 2017 with the launch of its FLY Anywhere bike.

The bike starts at $1,699 and functions in a similar way to Peloton's version: it allows users to stream on-demand and live classes from their home. The main difference is that customers have the option to stream classes from their own device or pay extra to have a screen included on the bike itself.

In September, Peloton filed a lawsuit against Flywheel accusing the bike of being a copycat version of its proprietary bike.

Read more:Peloton is accusing Flywheel of copying its hugely popular at-home fitness bike

• Fatigue can be a symptom of many vitamin deficiencies including iron, vitamin D and vitamin B. 
• A vitamin A deficiency can result in poor or worsening night vision. 
  
• Pale skin and hair loss can result from an iron deficiency. 

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can be more common than you think and some of the most common deficiencies concern vitamin D, iron, and calcium.

In addition, experts suggest that some vitamin deficiencies can be more on the subtle side, meaning there may be little to no symptoms you’ll be able to detect without doing proper blood work. Although a doctor's visit is the best way to determine if you have great levels of all of the vitamins you need, sometimes deficiencies can show themselves through symptoms. 

Here are some subtle signs you could have a vitamin deficiency. 

You may experience fatigue if you are deficient in iron, vitamin B12, and vitamin D.

"While this symptom is very broad and could be caused by a wide variety of factors, a nutrient deficiency could be playing into it as well," said registered dietitian Autumn Ehsaei, MS, RDN. Common nutrient deficiencies associated with fatigue include iron, vitamin B12, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids.

You may experience muscle cramping if you are deficient in magnesium.

According to WebMD, a long-term magnesium deficiency can cause nausea, muscle spasms, bone weakness, and muscle cramps. 

Many people do not consume the recommended amount (4700 milligrams) of potassium in their diets daily, said Ehsaei. Fortunately, there are a variety of tests that can determine if your magnesium levels are too low or too high. 

You may experience slow wound healing, bleeding, or swollen gums if you are deficient in vitamin C.

"Vitamin C plays a vital role in the ability of the body to heal from any kind of wound," Ehsaei told INSIDER. A deficiency of vitamin C is fairly rare today, but it is higher in those who smoke, as smoking can greatly decrease your ability to absorb this vitamin.

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Ride-hailing company Lyft recently rolled out an update to its app that effectively makes it a one-stop transportation shop for residents of Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C., according to TechCrunch. Via the update, when Lyft users in these three cities open the app, they see personalized mobility recommendations based on the user's location, past preferences, and other data.

Outside of ride-hailing, users can see recommendations for bike- and scooter-sharing and public transit services. Over the course of this year, Lyft has gradually diversified its portfolio of services. It now has scooter-sharing services up and running in six cities, a footprint it hopes to double by the end of this year, and the firm bought Motivate, the parent company of bike-sharing service Citibike.

Lyft's app update caps off an impressive year for the firm, during which it drastically grew revenue, expanded its market share, and prepared to go public. In the first half of this year, Lyft earned $909 million in net revenue — nearly double its earnings over the same period in 2017.

This higher top line translated to a larger market share too — in late 2017 Lyft controlled only 22% of the domestic ride-hailing market versus Uber's 74%, per estimates from credit card data aggregator Second Measure. Now Lyft has 29% of the US ride-hailing market, according to estimates from Second Measure, with Uber sitting at 69%.

To continue this momentum into 2019 and beyond, however, Lyft must press forward on several initiatives:

• For additional near-term gains, Lyft needs to extend its subscription offerings to other segments of its business, like scooters and bikes. At the same time that Lyft is advancing its services beyond ride-hailing, so is its primary rival. Uber bought JUMP Bikes earlier this year, has rolled out scooters in certain locations, and is reportedly considering a further commitment to micro-mobility by acquiring either Lime or Bird. To beat out its longtime rival, Lyft will have to out-maneuver Uber on the price or the quality of its services. Price-wise, Lyft could expand its existing ride-hailing subscription services, which gives consumers discounts on rides in exchange for a monthly fee. Lyft could, for instance, extend the subscriptions to Motivate bikes and its scooters, which could make its offerings more affordable than Uber.
• To position itself for the long-term, the ride-hailer should advance its partnership with Alphabet's Waymo as soon as possible. Nearly a year and a half ago, Lyft and Waymo announced a wide-reaching partnership. At the time the companies said they planned to utilize Lyft's wide footprint in the US to expand the tests of Waymo's self-driving minivans. But thus far, the companies haven't collaborated on any self-driving tests. Given Uber's myriad of self-driving struggles and Waymo's recent commercial launch of its autonomous taxi service, now is an ideal time for the firms to push ahead on this partnership. That could ultimately help Waymo scale up its self-driving project. There's just one major sticking point: Waymo just launched a ride-hailing service of its own — the first autonomous one — and it's unclear how Lyft will figure into its plans going forward.
• Lastly, Lyft may need to accelerate its international expansion efforts. The company's most important market is the US by a wide margin — Lyft's first and only international expansion was last November's move into Canada. To build a viable business in 2019 and beyond, Lyft should set its sights on other international markets.

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SEE ALSO: By the end of 2019, Waymo, Uber, and GM all plan to have fleets of autonomous cars providing on-demand rides — here's how automakers can compete

Join the conversation about this story »

• After eight years in New York City, I quit my corporate job and bought a one-way plane ticket.
• I've been traveling around Asia with my partner for the past five months.
• We've had to fine-tune our travels and adapt to changing circumstances. 

Mt. Fuji from above was my first glimpse of Japan. A few weeks earlier I quit my corporate job in television, packed up my apartment after eight years in New York City, and sold pretty much everything I owned in a giant stoop sale.

Throughout the past year, I put my insanely expensive journalism degree to good use and started freelance writing on the side as a second source of income. After building up a good portfolio and trusted relationships with my editors, my partner and I decided to take the plunge and book one-way tickets to Japan.

Traveling around Asia

For the past five months, we've been traveling around Asia with two suitcases and our laptops. We're part of the millennial trend of digital nomads (commence eye-roll). We've been to five different countries, and the experience has exceeded all of our expectations. Much to my parent's chagrin, we see no end in sight.

Before leaving, I was concerned I would miss New York, one of my favorite cities in the world and the place that taught me what real pizza was and how to navigate the world's worst public transport system. I had built up a close network of friends, and worried that spending 24/7 with my partner would eventually get on my nerves. But to be honest, no offense friends, it wasn't that big of a deal. I knew New York would always be there when and if I decided to come back and now my friends are all planning their vacations around our next destination.

Read more:I'm a burned-out millennial who quit a high-paying 9-to-5 job to travel full time

Of course, my friends and family think I'm on one long vacation, but I work every day. Working remotely and working for yourself especially takes levels of discipline I wasn't sure I had. I was also worried that I'd immediately jump into vacation mode and not want to do anything. But I've been able to pitch editors, get assignments, sit down and write. It doesn't hurt, when your office views are of a volcano in Japan or a perfect white sand beach in the Maldives.

Having to fine-tune our plans

One thing that's been more difficult than I expected is planning everything and keeping track of all the information. We spend at least a month in every country and move around every other week to get a feel for the different cities and islands. So my partner and I use a Google Doc that includes dates, city, country, hotel, and the flight info. There have been multiple times I've gone into my emails to confirm my flight time and date, and it's been wrong. So we've had to fine-tune the way we keep track of all our plans.

And don't forget visas. I'm American, and my partner is Australian, so we each have to check the official government sites for our own countries because they're not always the same.

We're lucky we haven't had any major issues like losing our passports or getting into a motorbike accident. One of our biggest mistakes has been with luggage. It's hard to fit everything you own into a checked bag and a carry-on, so mine is always bursting at the seams — literally. We made the mistake of booking with Air Asia, a budget airline, and not reading the fine print. It turns out they only allow 7 kgs of carry-on luggage. We each had about 20 kgs. So instead of paying a $600 fee, we had to get rid of our carry-on suitcases. So we were down to one. We learned our lesson and started buying extra kilograms of space in advance from then on.

But we don't regret our decision to book a one-way ticket. I won't be one of those annoying people who say they wished they done it sooner, because I don't. I needed time to secure another means of income for myself and live out my final days in the city that I love surrounded by the people that I love. There may come a day where we want a real closet to store our clothes, but until then it's off to our next destination: the Philippines.

SEE ALSO: I've been successfully self-employed for a year — here are 9 things I wish I'd known before starting

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: History of the Christmas tree: Evergreens were sacred to ancient Egyptians. Then people started decorating them.

• DJ Khaled's waterfront Miami home has been listed for $7.99 million.
• The waterfront mansion has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, and an enormous sneaker closet.
• The home is flush with luxury amenities, including a boat lift, an elevator, a wine cellar, and an outdoor entertaining area.

DJ Khaled's home is the stuff of sneaker-lovers' dreams — and it's now on the market.

The Miami villa is listed at $7.99 million by Janet Ben Zvi of ONE Sotheby's International Realty.

DJ Khaled, 43, is a DJ and producer. He also, as Business Insider's Angela Johnson previously reported, launched a luxury furniture line called We The Best Home in September; the line includes lots of "leather, gold, and high-end features."

A similar attention to detail — and appreciation for the shinier things in life — can be seen throughout his home.

Read more:A new report reveals the 17 most popular housing markets for the world's richest people, and a notoriously expensive city is missing from the list

According to a new report from Knight Frank, Miami is one of the world's most popular housing markets for the world's richest people. It's a growing market in which many of the top real estate sales come from penthouses in residential developments. Khaled's house now joins the likes of a $68 million penthouse, which could shatter the state's record, as some of the Miami area's glitzy real estate offerings.

Here's a look inside the mansion:

SEE ALSO: Tour the most expensive zip code in Florida — the mysterious members-only island where millionaires pay $250,000 for access

READ MORE: Here's what the most expensive house for sale in every US state looks like

According to The Wall Street Journal, the home sits on a half-acre of property on Dumbfoundling Bay in Aventura, about 20 miles north of Miami.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Google Maps

The home is located in an ultra-exclusive gated community ...

Source: Janet Ben Zvi of ONE Sotheby’s International Realty

... and has unobstructed views of the bay and city, according to Janet Ben Zvi of ONE Sotheby's International Realty.

Source: Janet Ben Zvi of ONE Sotheby’s International Realty