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Pantry moths might just be the peskiest of pests.

We’re all privy to dealing with some insects or bugs in our rental property. Whether that be fruit flies, mosquitos or even ants, living pest-free requires knowing how to eliminate unwanted bugs. A common household bug, pantry moths — or Indian meal moths — are a common type of household pest that infests stored food products.

These bugs target food items found in pantries and kitchens, earning them the title of pest. Because they contaminate and damage various food products knowing how to get rid of them, is a valuable skill.

Identifying pantry moths: preventing infested foods

Image source: WIBX

A pantry is an essential part of a kitchen, often stocked with our favorite snacks and necessary items for mealtimes. If it’s mostly full, it is tricky to spot an Indian meal moth before you notice infested food items, meaning it’s too late. Before they contaminate food, utilize this checklist to identify pantry moths.

  • Identifying by appearance: Pantry moths are small with a wingspan of 5/8 inch. Their coloring ranges from grey to reddish-brown, typically with a spotted pattern on the wings. It’s important to note that pantry months are more slender than traditional moths which are larger and wider in size.
  • Understanding the pantry moth life cycle: You may not see a moth, but you can pay attention to various life cycle phases you may notice. Female moths lay eggs near food sources or even worse, on food sources. They then grow and the larvae feed on said food sources, beginning the contamination process. The next step in the cycle is spinning a cocoon and pupating, where they then mate to lay eggs, continuing the cycle. Keeping an eye out for eggs just as much as a moth itself can help prevent the pantry moth life cycle from continuing and contaminating food.
  • Protecting food sources: Pantry moths eat just about anything. Common pantry pests’ favorites include grains (such as flour, rice, cereal and pasta), spices, nuts, pet foods, dried fruit and chocolate. Pantry moths can chew through stored food packaging and nest within food containers, so make sure to check inside food packaging along with these specific foods.

Eliminating pantry moths

Now that we’ve covered what to look for and how to identify pantry moths’ presence, it’s time to learn extermination methods to get rid of pantry moths. It’s essential to get rid of pantry moths the minute you notice their presence as they are notoriously known for being tricky to get rid of.

Clean and empty your pantry

This step is recommended regardless of your elimination method preference. Unfortunately, once you notice a pantry moth, pantry moth larvae or webbing, there is some infestation occurring whether big or small. Your best chance of fully ridding your pantry of this infestation is throwing away noticeably infested food.

Our recommendation is to remove all food from your pantry to thoroughly clean the shelves, paying extra attention to corners. Throw away any food sources listed above, even if it’s unclear if there are eggs or webbing around this food or packaging. Be sure to check all food thoroughly and if there’s even the smallest question, throwing it away ensures you’re getting rid of contaminated food.

Method 1: Try bay leaves

Bay leaves naturally deter pantry moths due to their smell. By placing bay leaves around and inside food containers, the scent will repel moths and prevent further infestation.

Method 2: Invest in pantry moth traps

Image source: Amazon

Pantry moth traps are a great solution for catching these pests and stopping the continuing life cycle. The traps are designed to attract moths with pheromones, catching them with ease. You can find these traps, both natural and chemical, in most hardware stores, online or in some grocery stores

Method 3: Hire pest control

If you prefer to leave it up to the professionals, that’s okay too. If you’re in a rental property or apartment, file a maintenance request or speak to your landlord for the best way to seek third-party resources. For homeowners, most exterminators or pest control companies can take care of a pantry moth infestation.

Are pantry moths harmful?

While these precautions may seem as though pantry moths are dangerous, they’re nothing more than a nuisance. There’s no risk of disease associated with the common pantry moth, however, removing them from your pantry is ideal for the longevity of your food.

Prevention is key

Preventing pantry moths from contaminating food is the best route to take in terms of pest control. It’s highly recommended to store food sources in airtight containers, made with materials that cannot be chewed through, like hard plastic or glass. Other prevention methods include organizing your pantry so your vision is clear and hiding spots are few and far between along with cleaning spilled food immediately.

So long, pantry moths

Pantry moths, while not harmful, are certainly annoying. Replacing infested food is also expensive, making prevention methods and treatment options worthwhile investments. Ensure your kitchen stays bug-free by following these practical tips; you’ll not only save money but maintain cleanliness and hygiene in arguably the place in your home where it matters the most.

Still looking for that dream kitchen to keep pest-free? Start and end your search with our list of apartments for rent.

Featured Image Source: Southern Living

Wesley is a Charlotte-based writer with a degree in Mass Communication from the University of South Carolina. Her background includes 6 years in non-profit communication and 4 years in editorial writing. She’s passionate about traveling, volunteering, cooking and drinking her morning iced coffee. When she’s not writing, you can find her relaxing with family or exploring Charlotte with her friends.

Source: rent.com

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These days, you can insure almost anything. Did you know, for example, that Julia Roberts has insurance for her teeth, and before Daniel Craig filmed a James Bond movie, he insured his entire body? While you probably don’t need to insure any of your body parts for millions of dollars, you might find yourself wondering when you should buy life insurance, or whether renter’s insurance is really necessary.

To help you decide on the right type and amount of coverage, we’ve broken down which kinds of insurance you will most likely need (other than health insurance, of course).

1. Life insurance

Life insurance is about more than just financing your funeral. It also allows your family to keep paying the bills if something happens to you.

People often think they don’t need life insurance if they don’t have dependents. But if you have debt such as student loans that someone has co-signed, your life insurance can be used to pay off your loans.

It’s common for employers to offer life insurance as part of their benefits package, but it’s worth noting that the life insurance your employer offers may not be enough, especially if you have dependents. Ideally, your life insurance payout should be enough to invest and yield returns that could replace your income annually. For example, if you assume that you’ll get a 5% return on the money you invest, you would need $1 million in coverage to replace a $50,000 income.

Here’s an overview of some of the most common life insurance options you might consider.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is the simplest and most common form of life insurance. It covers your life for a specific period of time, and pays only if your death occurs during the term. This timeframe is typically anywhere from one to thirty years, the longer the term the higher the premium. Term life insurance can be more affordable than other types of life insurance.

💡 Quick Tip: Term life insurance coverage can range from $100K to $8 million. As your life changes, you can increase or decrease your coverage.

Whole Life Insurance

Whole life insurance covers you for your entire life. If you make consistent payments toward your policy, you’ll build a cash reserve for your family upon your death.

Universal Life Insurance

In exchange for premiums, universal life insurance can provide coverage for as long as the policyholder is alive, and some policies also accrue cash value. When the policyholder dies, their beneficiaries typically receive a tax-free death benefit in the amount specified by the policy.

Indexed Universal Life Insurance

Indexed universal life insurance (IUL) gives policyholders the option to put money towards either a fixed account or an equity index account. Index accounts with universal life policies often include well-known indexes and can be a good option if you’d like to accumulate tax-deferred cash as well as maintain a set amount of money in a fixed account.

2. Disability Income Insurance

Disability income insurance, also referred to as disability insurance, replaces a portion of your salary if you become disabled. Some employers don’t offer disability insurance, but even if yours does, you may want to consider a supplementary policy to top up the amount that you receive.

Depending on the policy, disability insurance kicks in when you become partially, completely, temporarily, or permanently disabled. Keep in mind that there is often a waiting period before benefits start, which could range from one month to a year, depending on your policy and whether you have short-term or long-term disability insurance. The longer the waiting period on your policy, the cheaper your premiums often are.

If you have to take a job that pays less because of a disability, some policies may pay you part of the difference.

Note that disability insurance is expensive, often between 1% and 3% of your salary, and many organizations offer it as a benefit. If you’re evaluating offers between two employers, it’s worth factoring in how valuable this type of insurance is to you.

3. Long-Term Care Insurance

If you’re considering a nursing home, day care, home health aide, or other type of long-term care, be prepared to pay. A Genworth survey found that the average price of a private room in a nursing home is $9,034 a month. A typical assisted living facility charges around $4,500 a month, while a home health aide runs $5,148 a month.

To ensure you can foot the bill, the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance recommends buying a policy in your mid-50s to qualify for the best premiums. Benefits kick in when someone isn’t able to take care of everyday activities or suffers from severe cognitive impairments. Policies vary by the specific level of impairment, the type of services provided, and the length of time the covered person lives after becoming impaired.

Depending on your policy, your benefits may not start until up to 90 days after impairment, and some may require that you receive paid care in the meantime.

Recommended: 8 Popular Types of Life Insurance for Any Age

4. Car Insurance

If you own or lease a car, car insurance is a must. But there are different kinds to consider.

Collision and comprehensive insurance will cover damage to your car and can help replace it if it’s been stolen.

Liability insurance covers you if you get sued after causing an accident. There are three maximum liability limits you can get in a car insurance policy: bodily injury per person in a given accident, bodily injury for all injuries in a given accident, and personal property damage in a given accident. Each state requires different insurance minimums by law.

However, you may want higher limits than the minimum. You may be able to save money on collision and comprehensive coverage by getting a higher deductible of $500 or $1,000. If you drive a car that’s worth less than $1,000, you may want to consider dropping collision and comprehensive, though you’ll still need liability.

💡 Quick Tip: Saving money on your fixed costs isn’t always easy. One exception is auto insurance. Shopping around for a better deal really can pay off.

5. Homeowners or Renter’s Insurance

Homeowners insurance covers damages to your home or theft of personal possessions. It also includes liability insurance to cover accidents that happen on your property. However, it excludes things like floods, earthquakes, and the (hopefully unlikely) event of war.

You should have at least enough insurance to cover the replacement value of your home and possessions. This usually means getting guaranteed (or extended) replacement cost coverage. That’s different from actual cash value coverage, which covers you for the current value of your possessions.

If you’re renting instead of buying, renter’s insurance is similar, but only covers your possessions and personal liability for damages. It’s worth having in case you leave the water on and accidentally flood your kitchen. The minimum deductible for tenant or homeowner’s insurance is usually $500, but according to the Insurance Information Institute, raising the deductible could save you money.

One important element for both of these is liability insurance. This helps protect you against lawsuits, and covers things like people slipping and falling on your property. One hundred thousand dollars of liability coverage is a fairly standard amount.

Recommended: How Much Homeowners Insurance Do You Need?

6. Umbrella Liability Coverage

Umbrella coverage is essentially extra liability insurance, and most importantly, it protects you and your assets in the event of a lawsuit. It covers you beyond the limits of your car or home liability coverage. For example, umbrella coverage will protect you from libel, slander and false imprisonment.

Often it is more economical to get an umbrella policy rather than getting excess home or car liability coverage. It’s a good idea to coordinate car, home, and liability coverages. After all, you wouldn’t typically have a $100,000 deductible on your umbrella policy if your car and homeowner’s insurance have $100,000 of coverage.

The first $1 million in umbrella coverage typically costs about $150 to $300 a year, which is often less than what most people would pay for additional coverage in that amount. As your income grows and you accumulate assets, you may want to consider raising the limit.

The Takeaway

Insurance can offer peace of mind and a degree of financial security. But the type and amount of coverage you need will depend on a number of factors, including your lifestyle, health, budget, and financial goals.

When the unexpected happens, it’s good to know you have a plan to protect your loved ones and your finances. SoFi has teamed up with some of the best insurance companies in the industry to provide members with fast, easy, and reliable insurance.

Find affordable auto, life, homeowners, and renters insurance with SoFi Protect.

Photo credit: iStock/urbazon

Insurance not available in all states.
Experian is a registered service mark of Experian Personal Insurance Agency, Inc.
Social Finance, Inc. (“SoFi”) is compensated by Experian for each customer who purchases a policy through Experian from the site.


Coverage and pricing is subject to eligibility and underwriting criteria.

Ladder Insurance Services, LLC (CA license # OK22568; AR license # 3000140372) distributes term life insurance products issued by multiple insurers- for further details see ladderlife.com. All insurance products are governed by the terms set forth in the applicable insurance policy. Each insurer has financial responsibility for its own products.

Ladder, SoFi and SoFi Agency are separate, independent entities and are not responsible for the financial condition, business, or legal obligations of the other, Social Finance. Inc. (SoFi) and Social Finance Life Insurance Agency, LLC (SoFi Agency) do not issue, underwrite insurance or pay claims under Ladder Life™ policies. SoFi is compensated by Ladder for each issued term life policy.

SoFi Agency and its affiliates do not guarantee the services of any insurance company.

All services from Ladder Insurance Services, LLC are their own. Once you reach Ladder, SoFi is not involved and has no control over the products or services involved. The Ladder service is limited to documents and does not provide legal advice. Individual circumstances are unique and using documents provided is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice.

Third-Party Brand Mentions: No brands, products, or companies mentioned are affiliated with SoFi, nor do they endorse or sponsor this article. Third-party trademarks referenced herein are property of their respective owners.

Financial Tips & Strategies: The tips provided on this website are of a general nature and do not take into account your specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. You should always consider their appropriateness given your own circumstances.

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Source: sofi.com

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Sarah Wheeler: In the past you said that technology isn’t a differentiator, it’s just an equalizer. Do you still think that?

Rich Weidel: Yes, and even more now that we’re seeing in this down cycle which technologies provide value and which are just an expense.

It wasn’t that long ago that technology was going to change everything. If you go and look at headlines from 2013-2014 — everything was revolution and transformation and technology was going to lower costs. You would get phone calls constantly from tech vendors during that period, and they’d talk about 30%, 40% ROI and how much tech would decrease turn times. And I think we saw an advantage among some of the first movers — these companies came out of the crisis and were able to take advantage of technology, that’s when they really started to grow.

Today, though, there’s almost zero differentiation. Within mortgage companies, even those that have huge scale versus small scale, they’re offering really the same borrower experience and the same loan officer experience. Obviously, they’ve got some different systems to handle hundreds of loans a month versus thousands or tens of thousands. But if you go and look at the financials, there’s no differentiation in terms of cost per loan or speed to close with any correlation that I’ve been able to see on technology spend.

So essentially, the two biggest promises of technology, that it would lower costs and increase speed, have not materialized in any way.

SW: How does that impact you as a mortgage lender CEO?

RW: A lot of vendor contracts are just killing mortgage companies right now, because they’re stuck in these multiyear contracts with minimum standards. That model just doesn’t work. You’re signing a contract in 2020-2021 when the industry is doing $3.5 trillion, and you have to commit to a multiyear contract with x number of seats or minimum units per month. At Princeton, we’ve always been very risk-averse, and that comes from my experience in commercial real estate and debt and leasing.

The second problem is that in a tightening margin environment, you could have per-unit vendor costs that are more than the revenue that you’re getting in. That means no matter how many loans you do, you can’t make money. So the technology that’s supposed to save you can also be the thing that drives the mortgage company into bankruptcy.

SW: How do you fix that?

RW: For 95% of mortgage companies, the answer is buy and integrate and optimize.

SW: How do you feel about your tech stack?

RW: We really like our tech stack. I don’t think there’s a huge amount of differentiation between vendors, and the shiny toy of today is typically not the shiny toy of tomorrow. That hot tech thing you had to have in 2018? Nobody’s talking about that anymore. And some of the vendors that were the darlings of 2021, raising all the money, they’ve now got all that venture capital and all that carried interest and all that expense load that they just can’t price. While some of your smaller vendors who were bootstrapped don’t have that cost structure and they can be more flexible in their pricing to meet the moment.

But you have to make sure of your counterparty risk with that vendor, because you don’t want to build your system around a technology partner that’s not going to be there in a year or two.

SW: We’re seeing a lot more repurchase requests, and some of those seem to be on minor loan defects. How should technology be helping there?

RW: Sometimes you have problems on loans that are due to technology — so a disclosure doesn’t fire right, or you’re not calculating the ARM interest correctly. Those can be catastrophic if it goes on for a long period of time. But typically, if the technology is causing an issue, if you’re doing your QC prefund correctly, you catch it on one or two loans and then you can correct the technology issue and it works.

The thing that the mortgage industry cannot correct for is human error, and there always is human error. And then on top of that, our industry is under attack from fraud from all sides. Because of that, I think we at Princeton do way more than is required by the agencies from a QC perspective on our prefund. We overinvest on the QC part.

SW: What part does tech play in attracting great LOs?

RW: You have to figure out your differentiated value proposition. There are a lot of good companies with a lot of good products with good rates with good fulfillment. If you’re going to grow in this business, you have to have that. Well, then what? If you study salespeople, in mortgage or any industry, the biggest things that hold salespeople back once they have good fulfillment rates and the basic stuff is an under investment in prospecting activities. Well, my experience is that where you can get the biggest lift with salespeople is actually in the technology and the automation around prospecting. So we built our sales machine around that.

We use technology, marketing and support systems to do some of that prospecting on behalf of loan originators and we’ve been slamming at that for like six or seven years now. And we keep in touch in a very dynamic, personalized way with referral partners and customers and we have a competitive advantage on that.

In Q3 our loan originators added on average 2.88 new referral partners. And that means the average loan originator at Princeton closed a loan in Q3 with 2.88 Realtors they’ve never worked with before. If you think about the lifetime value of the customer, well, you get a loan a quarter from each Realtor, three Realtors in a quarter, and they’re each good for four loans a year, that’s 12 loans. Average commission is $3,000. That’s $36,000 a year from just those three Realtors, plus the ones you add in other quarters. Now we’re talking about a $100,000 opportunity. Wow. If we were to invest in that differently, what would that look like?

In 2018, which was a difficult year, every phone call with a loan officer felt like they were talking about leads: leads, leads, leads. Nobody talks about leads anymore. Now it’s all rates.

SW: As the CEO of a lender in this environment, what keeps you up at night?

RW: I often think that my job is to try to make the best decisions that I can based on the facts that we have. What’s really difficult about this industry is we don’t know what volume or margins are going to be three, six, 12 months from now. It’s really hard to be prepared for what’s coming next so I think the question is: are you willing to react as the facts change to meet the moment? And that’s what we ask ourselves as a leadership team.

We used to do that monthly, but it was too short of a cycle, because you wind up overreacting on 30 days of data so we do it on a quarterly basis. We put a game plan together for three months and at the three-month review we ask: What were our predictions? Where did we land? What do we wish we would have done differently? And how do we want to adjust for the next three months or three quarters?

We make money on the up swings and lose money on the down swings, and when it’s stable, we just make average profits. Even if volume stays at the $1 trillion or $1.5 trillion level, the industry will be sized for it and it won’t be great, but it’ll be okay. We’re just still in the problem of there’s too much capacity. Everything needs to size back to the steady state.

SW: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned on technology?

RW: The lesson of technology, for us, has been that so much of the difference in technology is about the way that the people utilize it. So we talk not just about tech, but technology, people and process. Those three things added together will equal the result: It’s really a systems engineering question. And so much is it of it is the human capital of how you’re integrating those types of things.

I’m in some owners working groups, and somebody will bring up a tech and either they’re having great success and we’re struggling with it, or we’re having great success and they’re struggling with it. And you see that the same technology deployed in different cultures and with different processes sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t work. So you have to ask: Are we utilizing the technology to its fullest capacity? And is it a tech problem, a people problem, a process problem, or some combination of those three?

SW: Looking to the future, are you optimistic?

RW: I’m super optimistic about housing in America. We are in an industry that isn’t going anywhere. We’re also in an industry that’s relatively commoditized, so you can’t hate the game, you just have to know the game that you’re in.

Princeton is a company that’s been around for a long time, but we haven’t peaked. And so these market resets, while they’re terribly painful, are like forest fires — they have to happen to clear out all the overgrowth so there can be flourishing on the other side. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of pain during that process.

Source: housingwire.com

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Sustainability has been a buzz word in the home décor industry for years, but the types of eco-friendly practices and products that consumers gravitate towards change often. According to a 2023 study by NielsenIQ, 78 percent of U.S. consumers say that a sustainable lifestyle is important to them, and in a survey from digital supply chain company Blue Yonder, 69 percent of respondents said they would pay more for sustainable products. But, even though they are seeking out those sustainable products and brands, after so many years of pursuing “greener pastures” consumers have wised up to many of the greenwashing practices that have permeated the industry and marketing tactics.

Now, customers are doing their research before they align their dollars with sustainable and eco-friendly brands and products, and that means retailers need to do the same in 2024.

Authenticity First

Before carrying any eco-friendly products and brands, retailers should invest time into researching them just like their customers. Terms like green, eco-friendly, all-natural, earth-friendly, plant derived, organic — but not organic certified — and non-toxic can be used by manufacturers without meeting any legally required testing or standards.

Retailers should look for third-party certifications — examples include Fair Trade certified, Environmental Working Group Verified, B-Corp, Made Safe and Cradle to Cradle certifications— to be sure they are picking vetted products that meet basic industry standards for those labels. Transparency also goes along way when vetting new products and brands. Consumers gravitate towards brands that feel like they have nothing to hide, so brands that are willing to share their sustainability goals, production processes, and waste and recycling statistics, will continue to resonate with them in 2024.

Material World

Following the rise of biophilic design — or design trends that prioritize connections with nature — green home décor trends in 2024 will be founded on their materials. Sustainable natural materials like bamboo, cork, coconut, straw, cob and natural fabrics like hemp, wool and jute will be more popular because of their renewability, natural origins and — in some cases —recyclability over materials like resin and synthetic fibers. Real woods and stones will be less popular in this category because they are perceived as less renewable and/or recyclable. Carrying products made with recycled metals, plastics and other materials will be key in attracting eco-conscious consumers who want the look of synthetic materials like plastic. Repurposed objects — think newspapers, license plates, fabric scraps, discarded books, and deadstock wallpaper, carpeting, paint and fabric — will also make a big impact.

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Source: giftsanddec.com