Welcome to your Monday, friend.Remember when commercials were just those annoying things between Saturday morning cartoons? Today, they follow you like glitter after a craft project. You'll never be free. The average kid sees more ads in a year than your grandparents saw in a decade.
👁 Can you guess how many ads the average person will see in a single day in 2026? A) 500, B) 2,000, C) 4,000 to 10,000 or D) Over 20,000? Stay tuned. The answer's waiting to surprise you at the end.
🛑Don't let your email provider or Big Tech decide what you see! Simply reply to this email and say "Hi." That will tell the algorithm you want my content. If you can reply for a few days this week, I would really appreciate it. Thank you so much. — Kim
👉 Reading someone else's forwarded copy? Stop mooching. Get your own. It's free and you won't have to wait for your friend who never does anything on time. Sign up now. It's free!
TODAY'S DEEP DIVE
Phone plan scams
Image: ChatGPT
⚡ TL;DR (THE SHORT VERSION)
That $75 plan really costs over $100? It's not taxes. Carriers invent fees to pad your bill.
Verizon paid $100 million to settle a lawsuit over deceptive charges.
"Free" phones, sneaky insurance and ghost subscriptions drain your wallet.
📖 Read time: 2.5 minutes
📬 Reader Question
"Kim, I looked at my phone bill, and it's $40 more than what I signed up for. I haven't changed anything. What's going on?" — Dave from Ohio
Dave, you're not crazy. And you're definitely not alone. Here's what's happening.
You sign up for a $75 plan. If you're not watching, that bill creeps up to $115 and more. Sound familiar? Those extra charges aren't taxes. They're tricks. Let me show you exactly how they work.
1. The administrative fee game
Carriers tack on admin fees or regulatory cost recovery charges that sound official. They're not. These are made-up fees to cover their overhead while they advertise a lower price.
How bad is it? Verizon paid $100 million in 2024 to settle a lawsuit over deceptive charges. If they're paying that much to make it go away, imagine what they made.
2. The 'free' phone trap
Read the fine print. You have to sign up for the most expensive plan and stay for 36 months. Leave early, and you owe the full balance. It's not a gift. It's a three-year anchor.
3. Insurance overkill
Check your bill for protection or device security plans. Carriers often auto-enroll you at $18 to $25 a month. Over two years, that's $600, enough to buy a new phone outright.
4. Ghost subscriptions
That free streaming trial you forgot to cancel? It's now $10.99 to $14.99 buried in your bill every single month. They're counting on you not noticing. Go check your bill. I'll wait.
5. Paying for customer service
Some carriers charge for the privilege of talking to a human. Seriously. Want to skip the robot and speak to a real person? That'll be $10. Walk into a store? Some charge a $35 assisted support fee to help you in person.
You're already paying them monthly. Now they want more money to answer your questions.
🕵🏻♂️ Tired of playing detective with your own bill?
I was with a big carrier, looked at my bill one day and my jaw dropped. I shopped around, found Consumer Cellular and never looked back. I'm saving a ton, and that's exactly why they became a sponsor of my show. I know you like to save money, too.
Here's what you get:
Transparent pricing: No hidden fees. No predatory charges. What you see is what you pay.
Plans for real life: Starting at $20/month, pay for what you use. If you're over 50, you can get two lines for $30 each with unlimited talk, text and data.
#1 in customer service:Ranked #1 by J.D. Power 16 times in a row. And you can actually talk to a person without paying extra. Nice.
Your choice: Keep your phone number, or get a new one.
Reader Rebecca wrote in to tell me she's saving $800 a year since switching. That's a vacation. That's a new laptop. That's money back in your pocket instead of padding some carrier's bottom line.
✅ Switch now. Second month's FREE.*It's definitely worth checking it out now. Stop being a donor to the big carriers. You're too smart for that.
Share the savings: Know a friend who's always complaining about their phone bill? Use the icons below to forward this story to them. Their wallet will thank you.
THE KIM KOMANDO SHOW
China's plan: 200,000 satellites
China wants to launch a constellation that would dwarf Starlink and put tens of thousands of satellites over the U.S. Plus: GM kills CarPlay for paid subscriptions, AI translators that move your lips and smart cars that go dumb in seven years.
🎧 Or search "Komando" wherever you get your podcasts. I'm everywhere.
WEB WATERCOOLER
💥 Microsoft's update nightmare continues: January's Windows 11 Patch Tuesday update broke shutdowns and Remote Desktop. Microsoft's first emergency fix (Jan 17) fixed those but broke Outlook, OneDrive, and Dropbox. Now they released another emergency update (KB5078127) to fix what the first emergency update broke. So to recap, the regular update broke stuff, the emergency fix broke different stuff, and the emergency-emergency fix is supposed to fix everything. At this point, if you're not having any problems, turn off automatic updates and wait for the next update the first Tuesday in February.
Corporate purge: Amazon is swinging the axe again. After slashing 14,000 corporate jobs in October, round two drops as soon as today with another 14,000 cuts. The targets: AWS, Prime Video, retail and HR. CEO Andy Jassy claims this isn't about AI replacing humans, he blames "bureaucracy" and "too many meetings." If you work in tech and your job involves meetings, spreadsheets, and Zoom calls, start updating your resume. AI doesn't need health insurance or vacation days.
Meta cut off teen access to AI chatbots: They say they're building a new version with parental controls. Interesting timing, as this is days before Meta goes to trial in New Mexico for allegedly failing to protect kids from sexual exploitation. In October, Meta promised controls were coming. Now they're turning the whole thing off instead. Expect a new and improved version right after the trial ends.
👙 Summer bodies are built now, not in June: ImproveLife GLP-1 makes it easy to build better habits now, so you feel stronger, healthier and more confident when summer rolls around. Small steps today really add up. Score up to 30% off, free shipping and a free gift.**
🏝️ Anguilla, a tiny Caribbean island with 15,000 people, struck gold: They got assigned .ai domain in the 1990s. Nobody cared until ChatGPT launched. Now there are over one million .ai domains registered, making Anguilla an estimated $70 million a year. They charge $140 per domain, but the real cash is in auctions. The domain you(.)ai sold for $700,000 a few months ago. Last week alone, 31 expired .ai domains went for $1.2 million. Could've been .ag for agriculture. Dodged that bullet.
Baggage claim upgrade: Airlines are asking for your AirTag location. Apple says 36 carriers use Share Item Location, temporarily piping your bag's dot on the map into a system used across 2,800 airports. The result? Truly lostbags dropped 90%, and recoveries ran 26% faster. It's only a matter of time until the airlines make this an upsell. Btw, AirTags are 10% off right now.
🦵 Cartilage comeback: Your creaky knees might have a future. Stanford scientists regrew shock-absorbing cartilage in old mice and stopped arthritis before it started. The trick? Blocking a single aging protein with an injection, either into the belly or straight into the knee. Mice with ACL-like injuries grew fresh cartilage instead of scar tissue. Early human testing is underway. So every time your knee cracks when you stand up, remember, they're working on it. You could say, this is a joint operation.
DAILY TECH UPDATE
The Wi-Fi 7 scam
The newest scam hitting America isn't coming from Russia or China. This one's homegrown.
Stop juggling tabs. This adds two HD screens that fold out when you need them and fold back for travel. Plug-and-play works with most Macs, Windows and Chromebooks.
Image: Ygretyrjh
🔋 Pocket-size power: This 45W portable fast charger(38% off, $25) packs three outputs and a USB-C built-in cable. No more cord hunting.
Plug everything in: Acer's 7-in-1 USB-C hub(28% off, $18) lets you connect more dongles and transfer data when your laptop runs out of ports.
🖱️ Click smarter: If your wrist aches by lunch, an ergonomic mouse(38% off, $25) helps reduce pain while still feeling easy to use.
Look, no hands: I keep an adjustable phone stand(33% off, $10) on my desk, so my phone stays at the perfect angle for calls and quick checks.
👩💻 More tech for less: I found 25 more tech deals on sale right now. Grab them before prices bounce back up.
Prices and deals were accurate at the time of publication.
DEVICE ADVICE
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Your Wi-Fi signal shoots in all directions. Including straight through the wall into your neighbor's house. Grab aluminum foil, fold it into a curved panel (like a half-pipe), and prop it behind your router. It reflects the signal forward instead of backward. Aim it toward your dead zone. Your neighbor's freeloading days are over.
Straighten up your photos: Try adding a grid or level to your camera screen to line up shots better. On iPhone, go to Settings > Camera and turn on Grid and Level. On Android, open the Camera app > Settings > More settings > Grid type (or Composition guide). Head back to the camera, and it'll overlay automatically.
🛑 Stop the internet slowdown: Did you know your internet provider often throttles your speed when you stream movies? It's unfair. I use ExpressVPN to hide my activity. If they can't see what you are watching, they can't slow you down. Get the speed you pay for. Use my link to get 4 extra months.*
Windows 11 context menu fix: ICYDK, Microsoft hid some features that used to be in the right-click menu for files and folders under Show more options. If you want to see everything at once, hold Shift and right-click, and the full menu will pop up instead.
🗂️ Add an image as a folder icon on Mac: Right-click the folder you want, select Get Info, then drag and drop (or paste) the image onto the folder icon in the top left. Bonus: You can right-click the folder and choose Customize Folder to change the color or add emojis. It makes organizing and spotting things much easier.
Create reusable templates with AI: Doing the same tasks every day, like writing emails, invoices or meeting agendas? Ask a chatbot to create a fill-in-the-blank template. Prompt something like, "Make a template with spaces like [NAME], [AMOUNT] and [GOAL]." Also paste a filled-in example below, so it knows how the final version should look. Here are more ways I use AI that I thought you'd find helpful, too.
WHAT THE TECH?
Image: GameSir
🎮 Taco 'bout nostalgia
Your phone's touchscreen was not made for gaming. Your thumbs block half the screen and you can't feel anything you're pressing.
The Pocket Taco fixes that. Clamp your phone in vertically, get real buttons and shoulder triggers, and suddenly you're playing like it's 2005 again. The built-in battery doesn't drain your phone. Weighs almost nothing.
$35. That's less than most CES gadgets that require a second mortgage and come with a charging cable you'll lose in three days. Talk about a game changer.
LOGGING OUT …
Tomorrow, the grocery stores watching you shop: I'm showing you exactly how Kroger and Walmart's shelf cameras track you, how to spot them, and how to fight back. Also, the real reason airlines want airplane mode (not what you think). And the new high-tech windows that could cut your energy bill in half. Don't miss tomorrow. This is the stuff they're not advertising.
📢 The answer: C) 4,000 to 10,000 ads per day. That includes everything from banner ads and influencer-sponsored content to those suspiciously well-placed billboards in Netflix shows. Most of it slips right past your conscious brain, like a stealthy ninja in brand-name sneakers.
Fun fact: Back in the 1970s, folks saw roughly 500 ads a day. By today's standards, that's basically an ad cleanse.
I've been getting a ton of ads for clocks on Facebook. It's just a sign of the times. (I'll see myself out after that one!)
🥊 Life's throwing punches. You're still standing. That counts for something. — Kim
Kim Komando • Komando.com • 510+ radio stations • Trusted by millions daily
Companies and products denoted by an asterisk (*) within this publication are paid sponsors or advertisements. As an Amazon Associate, the publisher earns from qualifying purchases. Statements regarding products denoted by a double asterisk (**) have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration; such products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This newsletter is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, medical, or professional advice of any kind. Readers should consult with a qualified professional before making any decisions based on this content. The publisher disclaims all liability for any loss, damage, or injury resulting from the use of or reliance on the information contained herein.
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