Latest news with #Devine
7NEWS
16-07-2025
- Business
- 7NEWS
'Scaling back is always okay': Inside Victoria Devine's bathroom renovation
When planning a bathroom renovation, there are lots of exciting decisions to be made. What tiles will you choose? Will you have a bathtub or an extra-large shower? And, most importantly, how will you afford it? When financial expert and host of She's on the Money, Victoria Devine embarked on a bathroom renovation, staying in control of her budget was a top priority. "Renovations rarely go exactly to plan," she says. Unsurprisingly, her first step before undertaking the renovation was making sure she had a 'financial safety net'. "The amount needed differs depending on the property you're renovating, but as a blanket rule I recommend a buffer of 10 to 20 percent of your total budget," she says. "If you're doing up an older home or anything structural, lean closer to the 20 percent to be safe." The buffer was also there in the instance that problems or unwanted surprises pop up. "Being financially and mentally prepared means less stress when problems come up," she says. "Have early chats with your builder about common surprises based on your property type so you're not caught off guard when they come." The features most important to Devine in the new bathrooms were "quality, style and functionality". She wanted practical items that were great value and ended up choosing Reece's Posh range for the big-ticket items. "The vanities and back-to-wall baths were standout pieces: easy to customise, super functional, and designed to last," she says. "I know they'll still look great for years to come." For the rooms, she settled on a neutral colour palette with large square 'griege' tiles, pared with smaller rectangular sage green tiles as a feature. The finished bathroom includes a large shower with built-in recess for toiletries, a separate bathtub, matte black tap-ware, built-in timber vanity and round mirror with in-built storage. Now that she's been through the process herself, the finance guru has plenty of money tips to share for those embarking on a similar journey, including having clear rules on where to spend and where to save. "Spending should be prioritised towards good trades and anything structural," she says. "Save on finishes and styling touches that can be easily changed later. "You can always upgrade these along the way when your budget has more breathing room." If you've begun to realise costs are creeping up and your budget is dwindling, Devine suggests to "pause and reassess". "Have a clear list of your non-negotiables and the things you're happy to let go," she says. "Scaling back is always okay. Your financial wellbeing should come first, always." With any renovation, one of the biggest decisions is how to fund it. Before you decide, Devine recommends weighing up the pros and cons that come with each option. "Home equity is usually more affordable than other options, but it's important to make sure you're not overextending," she says. "A mix of equity and savings can offer flexibility and reduce repayment pressure. "Be cautious with personal loans as they often come with higher interest rates and stricter terms." Devine's top three considerations when working out your budget: 1. Council permits are often not initially considered and fly under the radar until it is too late. Make sure you look at the regulations for renovating in your area to factor those costs into your budget. 2. If the renovation requires you to move out temporarily, accommodation and storage costs can add up quickly. 3. Interest costs when taking out a renovation loan are easy to forget but should be factored into the budget too.
Fox News
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Costco shoppers rave about 'deliciously addictive' summer treat that's gone viral
There's a new cake at Costco this summer – and members are raving about it. The Kirkland Signature Peaches and Cream Bar Cake offers three layers of vanilla cake that are packed with peach compote and whipped cream. Introduced to Costco warehouses in June, the cake also features white chocolate curls and peach glaze that are lathered on top of the dessert. It sells for $18.99. On a Reddit community of 1.3 million Costco members, some people have offered their thoughts on the cake. "It's good! Tasted like canned peaches, not peach candy flavor, which I appreciated," one user wrote. "Also, the frosting felt and tasted like whipped cream, not too sweet!" "The peaches [ingredient] has a nice tang," another reviewer said. "Not too sweet. Reminds me of an Asian-style cake, but has a denser sponge. Sweet and tart and great for the summer." "I was apprehensive the peach part would taste fake, but it's perfectly captured the sweet tang of stone fruit." A third reviewer wrote that the cake is "very deliciously addictive." The person bought three so far this month, according to the post. "It's got the perfect balance of cake, whipped icing & peach compote," the Redditor said. "I was apprehensive the peach part would taste fake, but it's perfectly captured the sweet tang of stone fruit." Jacquelyne Devine, a content creator from Pennsylvania, spoke to Fox News Digital about the new offering. Devine posts under the handle @shopclubcostco and reviews Costco products. (See the video at the top of this article.) The new cake is "one of Costco's best seasonal desserts," she told Fox News Digital. "It's sweet, refreshing and such a great value at $18.99," she said. "It feels fancy enough to bring to a party, but also easy enough to polish off at home." "I want to be buried in a casket made of these." The mother of three also said that, in her household, the dessert was gone "within days." "[We] are huge peach fans and we devoured it." The reviews enticed customers who were intrigued by the combination of tartness and sweetness. "I want to be buried in a casket made of these," one hungry customer said. "Rest in Peach," another replied. "Oh my ... I might actually buy this," another wrote. "I'll look for that! I love desserts that are not too sweet," a different Costco user said. One person offered a critical take, saying the cake did not evenly distribute the peaches and thus "was kinda bland." "The whipped cream filling tasted a bit artificial," the critic added. "The white chocolate shavings taste like old Easter 'chocolate.' The cake itself was fine and light, but might benefit from a soak of some kind." The cake is one of many new offerings that Costco has introduced to members this summer. The wholesaler recently began selling a new "Combo Calzone" for $6.99. The meal is stuffed with pepperoni, sausage, cheese, onions, peppers, olives and mushrooms. Costco also recently began selling a frozen strawberry lemonade drink, which is made with real fruit and no artificial flavors or colors. It costs $2.99. Fox News Digital reached out to Costco for comment.
Los Angeles Times
01-07-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Eaton fire's 18th victim has been identified; He was an actor and a teacher
Kevin Devine was last seen outside of his Boston Street apartment complex in Altadena on Jan. 7, hours after the deadly Eaton fire ignited. Weeks passed without word of his fate. The county medical examiner's office has confirmed that Devine, 54, died in that fire. His remains were discovered April 2 in the 900 block of Boston Street, one block east of Lake Avenue. He is the 18th person known to have died in the Eaton fire, and the only victim to perish east of Lake Avenue. Devine was identified in the Medical Examiner's website on April 22. An actor and substitute teacher, Devine spoke on the evening of Jan. 7 to his worried mother in Michigan, who called after seeing reports of fires in Los Angeles. 'I said, 'Kevin, you have to leave,' ' Margaret Devine told The Times in January. 'He said, 'I'm OK, Mom.' ' Devine's landlord saw him in his car outside the apartment complex around 9 p.m., roughly three hours after the fire broke out on a hillside above Eaton Canyon Wash. It was his last reported sighting. As emergency crews combed the charred streets of Altadena in the following days, Devine was nowhere to be found. There was no sign of his car. His family called hospitals and evacuation shelters. They began speaking of him in the past tense. On April 2, a special operations team from the medical examiner's office responded to a report of possible human remains found on the block where he was last seen. The office has since confirmed that they belonged to Devine, who died of burns and smoke inhalation. Thirty people are known to have died in the Palisades and Eaton fires, which together destroyed more than 16,000 homes in Los Angeles County in early January. All have been publicly identified but one, a person whose remains were found on Las Lomas Avenue in Pacific Palisades. Reporter Noah Goldberg contributed to this report.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cotton and the Supply Chain: Challenges & Opportunities in 2025
Tariffs, and the uncertainty around them, represent the latest challenge to the fashion industry and cotton supply chains. The corresponding implications for costs are just one factor decision makers are having to contend with. Examples of others include macroeconomic concerns, to shipping and sustainability considerations. All imply evolving sets of challenges and potential opportunities for the cotton industry in 2025. The cotton industry provides critical economic support for millions of people across the globe. According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), cotton is grown in more than 75 countries and provides direct livelihoods for over 100 million households. The fiber plays a vital role in many national economies, particularly in developing countries, where it serves as a key agricultural export and source of rural employment. More from Sourcing Journal Will Tech Tariffs Slow U.S. Growth? Tariffs Stall Long Beach Imports, Marking Slowest May Since Pre-Covid Era Cotton Incorporated Launches Revamped CottonWorks Platform And Jon Devine, Cotton Incorporated's senior economist in the Corporate Strategy and Insights department, emphasized the series of economic challenges the global textile supply chain has been facing in recent years. From the first round of the trade dispute, the pandemic, stimulus that fueled a sharp rebound in consumer demand, the shipping crisis, then inflation and a corresponding spike in interest rates, the industry has dealt with a whipsaw effect on orders over the past several years. Devine noted that after a period of drawdown, which featured a significant decrease in downstream order placement, orders began to resurface as inventories approached levels from before the pandemic. This, he said, suggested a return to normalcy. However, before the industry could fully exhale, along came the second round of tariff disputes, which has injected another course of uncertainty for order placement. Devine says the back-and-forth on tariff rates has affected shipping costs and contributed to port congestion. 'Bigger questions loom over the timing and volumes for buying decisions—is it better to pull orders forward in case there are further rate increases? Or is it better to delay orders in case tariffs are lowered?' Devine asked. 'The U.S. trade data have not been able to keep up with developments. Nonetheless, tariffs appear to be moving higher. Higher tariffs suggest higher sourcing costs, which could result in lower order volumes. It just may be some time until the dust settles enough for the data to be able to speak to the size of those potential changes.' Global tariffs could affect apparel and footwear prices at the peak back-to-school and fall shopping seasons, although a recent Sourcing Journal report detailed how shippers are rushing to get goods to the U.S. before two tariff deadlines in July and August. At the fiber level, Devine said there are ample available cotton supplies and prices have remained stable at lower levels. But at the farm-level, Devine said growers are grappling with the pinch from higher input costs and low cotton prices. Meanwhile retailers and brands face sourcing questions and debate if and how to pass on tariff costs to consumers. Further, recession concerns persist. 'Slower inflation implies a slower rate of price increases, not decreases in prices,' Devine said. 'However, costs for non-discretionary items like housing and food remain elevated relative to where they were before the pandemic. This continues to pressure consumers' ability to finance discretionary purchases, like clothing.' With consumer sentiment toward the economy remaining mixed, efforts to keep prices stable may play a role in supporting demand. Currently, 41 percent of consumers are somewhat (25 percent) or very (16 percent) optimistic in their outlook for the U.S. economy, according to the Cotton Incorporated 2025 Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey. That compares to 38 percent who are somewhat (22.3 percent) or very pessimistic (15.2 percent), while 22 percent remain neutral. Consumers generally feel better about their own financial situations. Almost half (49 percent) are somewhat (31.3 percent) or very optimistic (17.8 percent), according to the Monitor™ research. That compares to 21 percent who are somewhat (14.3 percent) or very pessimistic (6.4 percent) about their financial status, with 30 percent remaining neutral. Besides pricing concerns, consumers are looking for more transparency regarding their apparel. Consider that nearly seven in 10 shoppers (69 percent) say it's important to know where their apparel is made, according to the Sourcing Journal & Cotton Incorporated 2024 Industry Traceability & Recycling Survey. But far fewer—just one in five—consider it to be important to know the individual farm or facility where their clothing was produced. But that's not the case with makers. For companies that follow the source of raw materials, cotton is the most traced fiber (67 percent), according to the Industry Traceability & Recycling Survey. This is followed by synthetic materials (57 percent), recycled fibers (48 percent), and manmade cellulosics like rayon or viscose (47 percent). Oritain, a global leader in product origin verification, observes that transparency within the cotton supply chain is showing signs of improvement, driven in part by growing consumer interest in where and how their products are made. Still, the company notes that challenges remain. Cotton is cultivated in more than 75 countries, each with unique environmental and labor practices, making consistency and traceability a complex task. Once cotton leaves the farm, it often moves through a multi-tiered supply chain where links between stages are not always direct. This fragmentation can make it difficult for brands to fully trace the fiber's journey from field to finished product. Oritain adds that the absence of global standardization in cotton production and manufacturing continues to pose hurdles, along with hesitations around adopting new systems. This is often due to concerns about cost, complexity or disruption to established processes. Cotton Incorporated is working with growers to improve fiber quality, make cotton easier to process and produce a more uniform product with enhanced qualities. 'This will make it a more versatile material suitable for a range of product categories,' said Cotton Incorporated's Vikki Martin, vice president, fiber competition. 'As a natural fiber, cotton fiber quality varies within the boll and across the plant. We are specifically working to improve the length uniformity of cotton to make it easier to process and potentially allow cotton to be spun into finer yarn counts.' Martin explained that bale management systems in spinning mills can significantly aid in consistently producing the desired quality. For example, with the Engineered Fiber Selection® (EFS®) System Software, mills can better utilize their inventory and create laydowns using the quality of fiber needed to achieve the desired quality of yarn. This is a more sustainable approach to spinning, as mills can selectively purchase the qualities they need and maintain control, rather than having to overbuy on fiber quality to ensure they meet their yarn quality goals. 'Additionally, the EFS® System can capture the information of the bales being consumed in the laydown so that traceability reports can be provided to the yarn buyer detailing the origins that were used when their yarn was being spun,' Martin said. 'Reports can include information about the shipment ID, contract, purchase order, invoice numbers, vendor code, bale ID, country of origin and, if available, the gin code. This kind of report provides a critical piece of information to help the supply chain better document the origin of materials and their manufacturing location.' As the cotton supply chain evolves, ICAC emphasizes the importance of improving transparency, promoting sustainable agricultural practices and supporting collaboration among stakeholders—to ensure cotton remains a viable and responsibly sourced material for the future. The Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey is an ongoing research program that measures consumer attitudes and behaviors relating to apparel, shopping, fashion, sustainability, and more. For more information about the Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey, please visit Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Belfast Telegraph
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Callum Devine holds back tears to revel in ‘amazing' Donegal International Rally hat-trick success
As others wilted in the warm and humid conditions at Round Four of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, Devine – with Noel O'Sullivan once again on the notes – maintained a cool head to get his hands on the Jim Kennedy Perpetual Trophy once again. The 31-year-old becomes the fifth person to successfully achieve the feat and joins a short but illustrious list that includes Cathal Curley (1972-1974), Billy Coleman (1984-1986), Co Armagh's Andrew Nesbitt (2000, 2002 and 2003), and the late Manus Kelly, who dominated his home international alongside Donall Barrett between 2016 and 2018. Devine also becomes the first person to make it a hat-trick of wins over the same three-year period at the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship-counting Killarney Rally of the Lakes. 'To be honest, I was quite happy with my driving all weekend – not one moment, not one mishap all weekend apart from a small overshoot on the Saturday – and once I got myself into a good lead, I was able to fall back into a 'manage it' mode and go from there,' Devine said. 'Noel, again, was top-class, the team were top-class, the tyre choice – everything, really – was top-class and you need all of those things to work if you are to come out on top here. I think it also shows to people the Irish Tarmac Championship is pretty fast. 'It is pretty amazing – we are absolutely thrilled. The competition here this weekend has been top-class and all the guys that came here to race have pushed us really hard. 'For the first Donegal win, I put a lot of pressure on myself, but once you manage to get it over the line and you can see how it is done, it makes a difference.' The pendulum firmly swung the way of Devine on Saturday's repeat of 'Garrygort' when Moira's William Creighton, carrying a puncture, hit a bump and understeered off the road. Creighton started the day in fourth but quickly moved up to second and wasted no time reeling in Devine – who had to make do with no handbrake for much of the day – to sit less than five seconds behind the leading Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 before his trip into a hedge. Devine and O'Sullivan kicked off the Sunday leg with a sizeable 21.8-second cushion over Creighton's team-mate Meirion Evans and were 40 seconds clear of David Kelly's VW Polo. On the opening stage, Devine increased his buffer to half a minute, aided by a small spin for Evans in the second of the Castol-liveried Melvyn Evans Motorsports-run Toyota cars. Devine continued to take a sensible approach either side of service, pushing enough to maintain his concentration levels without putting the result in jeopardy – and it paid off. Joining Creighton on the casualties' list was Paddon, whose first Donegal foray ended on Saturday's 'Knockalla' stage when he had a soft roll on a tightening left-hander. Armstrong also failed to make it to the end as his car came to a stop on the very last test.
