In this year alone, the U.S. has had a myriad of natural hazards worsened by climate change: the earliest recorded Category 5 hurricane to make landfall; floods throughout the country; record-breaking heat everywhere; tornadoes in the Midwest; and wildfires in the West. The La Nina weather pattern is expected to arrive soon, which is likely to fuel storms in the Atlantic during this year’s hurricane season.

Climate change amplifies the frequency, duration and intensity of extreme weather events. It can cause all kinds of disruptions and health hazards while driving up expenses like heating, cooling and homeowners insurance.

Get hammered enough by amplified weather events and you might wonder if there’s somewhere a little less hazard-prone to live. While there is no place on Earth that is immune to the impact of climate change, some places are less exposed to risk than others.

Last year, NerdWallet examined federal data and found that most of the fastest-growing places in the U.S. are also at high risk for natural hazards that are exacerbated by climate change. This year, we explored which places — in this case, counties — are least likely to feel the impact of natural hazards.

Isolation doesn’t guarantee fewer risks — just fewer people

If you rank places only by Federal Emergency Management Agency rating, the counties in the U.S. with the lowest risks are the places with the fewest people.

At the top of that list is Loving County in North Texas, where just 64 people reside — the least populous county in the country. No. 2 is Kalawao, Hawaii, which was originally established as an area of forced isolation for people with Hansen’s disease, or what was once more colloquially known as a leper colony. And No. 3 is Keweenaw, Michigan, a peninsula containing a national park where, as the county’s website says, you can “find solitude in the pristine, remote wilderness while sharing trails with the island’s moose and wolves.”

However, solitude doesn’t make for the best measure of risk from natural hazards. FEMA’s risk index takes population into account as part of social and community risk when it makes its risk designations — it stands to reason that the fewer the people, the lower the risk. But, of course, the natural hazards are still there: North Texas isn’t immune from extreme heat, tornadoes or extreme thunderstorms, for example. A Hawaiian island won’t be immune from a hurricane, earthquake, flash flood, wildfire or tsunami. And any area that is designated a peninsula, like Keweenaw, Michigan, is highly likely to be flood-prone.

While FEMA’s National Risk Index measures current risk, it must be noted that extreme weather effects are projected to worsen as the planet continues to warm on our current trajectory, and in coming decades, coastal flooding will increase as sea levels rise.

Note also that FEMA’s ratings consider not only the kinds of events that can be worsened by climate change (floods, droughts, wildfires, storms), but also natural hazards that aren’t affected by climate change, like earthquakes and volcanoes.

What midsize counties have the lowest climate change risks?

To get a better picture of what might make an area least vulnerable to natural hazards and still boast the creature comforts of basic infrastructure, NerdWallet set a population control of at least 100,000 people. It includes the annual cost of living in 2023 dollars, according to the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator for households comprising two adults and two children.

What most populated counties have the lowest climate change risks?

People migrate to some of the most populated areas in the country for obvious reasons, like the availability of housing, jobs, entertainment and a desire for proximity to lots of other people.

Among the counties with populations above 1 million residents, here are the counties where the risk of natural hazards is lowest. The analysis also includes the annual cost of living in 2023 dollars, according to the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator for households with two adults and two children.

No matter where you live, climate change will cost you

The terrible truth about climate change is that even if you uproot your life and move to a place with low risks of natural hazards, intense weather events are still likely to find you. For example, most of the relatively high risks in midsize counties have to do with winter weather. In some places, winters are becoming less severe, but in others, they are worsening. And one big event could be devastating.

In the U.S., extreme weather events cost nearly $150 billion per year, according to The Fifth National Climate Assessment, a report released in November 2023 by the federal government. That sum doesn’t account for additional costs including loss of life, health care costs, or damages to what are known as ecosystem services — for example, food, water, timber and oil. There’s a billion-dollar weather or climate disaster in the U.S. every three weeks, on average, the report found. That is compared with one every four months in the 1980s.

Despite all this, nearly half of all Americans (45%) don’t believe that climate change will affect them personally, according to a December 2023 survey by Yale University. So how about what a single person pays: Issues related to climate change will cost a child born in the U.S. in 2024 at least $500,000 — and as much as $1 million — over their lifetime due to indirect and direct costs (such as missed cost-of-living increases and lower earnings), according to an April analysis conducted by ICF, a global consulting firm, and released by Consumer Reports.

Some current and future costs are likely to include:

• Homeowners insurance. If you’re a homeowner, you know all too well how heightened weather-related disaster risks play into your homeowners insurance premiums. In certain places where risk is highest, private insurers won’t provide coverage for floods and wildfires.
• Home maintenance, upgrades and safeguards against climate risks. These could include installing a sump pump or resealing basement walls; upgrading insulation and windows; adding or enhancing heating or ventilation systems; roofing upgrades and more.
• Energy bills. With increased heating and cooling needs come higher energy bills.
• Food. Weather changes present challenges to food production, which could lower supply and increase prices.
• Higher taxes due to more government spending and lower government revenues. The Consumer Reports report cites reduced personal and corporation earnings that lead to less tax revenue combined with higher expenses that the government must take on for health care and infrastructure damages.
• Lower income. The Consumer Reports analysis cites a possible decrease in labor hours due to extreme weather, which may lead to lower earnings.

Climate migration within the U.S. is already happening. A 2021 survey by the real estate website Redfin found that among those who plan to move, half say climate change-fueled conditions like natural disasters and extreme temperatures are factors in their decision. There are expenses associated with uprooting your life and moving elsewhere — and those aren’t costs that everyone can afford.

Anna Helhoski writes for NerdWallet. Email: anna@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @AnnaHelhoski.

The article You Can’t Escape Climate Change, but in Some Areas, Risk Is Lower originally appeared on NerdWallet.

In Kansas, where a prolonged drought has killed crops and eroded the soil, Gail Fuller’s farm is like an oasis. Sheep, cows and chickens graze freely on crops and vegetation in a paradisiacal mess.

But if Fuller’s farm were to be hit by a tornado or flood, or be seriously impacted by the drought, he would be alone in footing the bill. That’s because his farming practices aren’t protected by federal crop insurance, a nearly century-old safety net that hasn’t adapted to the climate change era.

Fuller is one of a growing number of farmers who are uninsured or under-insured because the industry doesn’t support switching from traditional to regenerative farming, an approach that has the potential to sequester enough carbon to halve agricultural emissions by 2030. That shift is becoming more urgent both to slow climate change and insulate farmers from its impacts, yet the insurance industry continues to stand in the way.

In the U.S., agriculture accounts for about 11% of all greenhouse gas emissions. A large portion of that is tied to tilling soil, which releases carbon dioxide, and applying excessive fertilizer, which emits nitrous oxide. The latter is a greenhouse gas that’s more than 270 times more potent than CO2. Regenerative farming reduces those emissions by soaking up carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, storing carbon in the soil and capturing nitrogen that would otherwise run off into nearby streams.

Extreme weather also is becoming more frequent, threatening crop yields and supply chains. Twenty-four states, including Kansas, are experiencing severe to exceptional droughts, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. That poses a problem, as does heavy rain that can waterlog crops and is falling with increasing intensity. Almost 20% of the $140 billion in crop insurance payouts from 1991 to 2017 were due to rising temperatures, according to researchers at Stanford University. They estimate that percentage will continue to rise with the increasing frequency of extreme weather due to climate change.

Despite these risks — and the benefit regenerative agriculture can play in addressing climate change — stronger incentives have locked in the status quo, according to Anne Schechinger, Midwest director at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG).

Crop insurance policies mainly cover conventional commodity crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton and wheat. Farmers growing them typically enroll in multi-peril insurance, which insures individual crops against poor harvests caused by disease, flooding, droughts and other extreme weather.

Like health, car or property insurance, appraisals for losses or damages rely on standards — known as Good Farming Practices — that ensure low yields aren’t caused by mismanagement. But these rules cannot include a practice that may lower a crop’s yield and therefore tend to follow established industrial, monoculture practices: A farmer caught growing different crops between rows or terminating their cover crops too late, for example, is at risk of having their insurance claims denied.

Regenerative agriculture often involves interspersing different crops in the same field and growing lower-yielding perennial plants that can create issues for insurers. But crop insurance payouts largely don’t depend on whether a farmer’s practices increase or mitigate climate risks, according to University of Iowa professor Silvia Secchi.

Fuller, a third-generation farmer, started experimenting with regenerative farming practices in the mid-1990s, believing he’d see better yields and more resilient crops in the long term. He had grown cover crops in the off-season, one of the more commonly employed regenerative farming practices that involves planting non-market crops that improve soil health. At the time, Fuller was still covered by crop insurance and, per insurance rules, killed his cover crops with herbicide before growing his market crop.

But when his insurance company appraised the land in August 2012, during a severe drought, it determined that the remnant cover crops were weeds. The company denied all of Fuller’s claims — which led to his lending institution dropping his operating line of credit.

Fuller sued his insurance company and won. Two years later, however, when he needed them to cover losses for two fields of soybeans, they denied his claims again. The financial turmoil across those two years forced him to downsize his farm to 400 acres from 1800, and he finally decided to quit crop insurance entirely.

“Once you go broke as a farmer, it’s pretty hard to claw your way back,” Fuller said. “I did not want to be a part of that system. We’ve got to find a better way to farm.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has introduced reforms and alternatives to the crop insurance program to accommodate climate risks over the past decade, including adding coverage for new crops and a $5-per-acre incentive to plant cover crops during the offseason.

The Risk Management Agency, which controls federal crop insurance, also has expanded its coverage of certain climate-smart practices, like lowering water use, cover cropping and injecting nitrogen into the soil, rather than layering it on the soil’s surface. Farmers must still follow specific rules, such as terminating their cover crops early enough, which some scientists think limits how much these practices can reduce emissions.

The crop insurance system is already under stress from climate change. The program has to evolve to incentivize practices appropriate to different regions and cover a variety of risks, a USDA spokesperson said, all while being actuarially sound — meaning the program must charge high enough premiums to cover expected losses.

“Even at a micro-scale, a bad storm may be damaging to one type of crop, while providing much-needed rain for another crop,” the USDA spokesperson told Bloomberg Green.

“Crop insurance is voluntary,” said RJ Layher, the director of government affairs at the American Farm Bureau Federation. Farmers practicing regenerative techniques not covered by the Good Farming Practices can look for other options, he added, including showing the Risk Management Agency that their practices are actuarially sound.

Collecting sufficient data to prove that climate-friendly practices like crop diversification won’t impact yield is a big ask for any one farmer, however.

The USDA also initiated the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection Program in 2014, which insures a farm’s entire revenue rather than individual crops, providing a safety net for farmers who plant companion crops or raise animals in their fields.

But the number of farmers participating in the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection Program is small, according to EWG’s Schechinger. About 1,800 policies were sold in 2023, according to the USDA, which accounts for less than 1% of crop insurance. The program involves significantly more paperwork and an insured revenue cap that doesn’t always cover the entire farm’s revenue, which can be prohibitive to insurance agents in selling and farmers in buying the policy, Layher said.

According to Layher, the Farm Bureau supports improvements to the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection Program that would make it more accessible to farmers and easier for insurance agents to sell — both reforms are proposed in the Farm Bill that is stalled in the House until at least September.

The regenerative farming movement is relatively small, but it’s gained steam in recent years thanks to federal support and agribusinesses eager to align their supply chains and sustainability goals. Companies like CoverCress Inc., which is majority-owned by Bayer AG, are trying to get farmers to plant cover crops that can be used for sustainable aviation fuel.

But for now, the push for changing insurance rules still relies largely on farmers like Fuller and Rick Clark, a third-generation farmer from west central Indiana who has been uninsured for six years because he practices regenerative farming.

When he’s not working his farm — which utilizes cover crops across all 7,000 acres — Clark teaches other farmers how to eliminate chemical fertilizers and use cover crops on their farms.

“We have to make sure the path towards change is an easy path,” Clark said. One of the biggest challenges uninsured farmers face is from their lending institution, which often requires them to have an insurance policy to continue receiving loans.

Clark testified in front of Congress in late 2022 on behalf of Regenerate America, a coalition that lobbies for agricultural reform, asking for the legislative reforms Schechinger said are necessary. The day after Clark testified, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law that includes a $19.5 billion investment into USDA conservation programs. He felt like he had a small part to play in that.

“At some point when you’re in there, you wonder if anybody’s even paying attention to what you’re saying,” Clark said. But then, “you feel like maybe your words don’t fall on deaf ears and maybe there are people who are truly paying attention.”

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(With assistance from Sophie Butcher.)

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©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

In the Hampton Roads region, combined state and local sales taxes add up to 6% to 7%.

Virginia has offered the sales tax holiday for more than a decade, usually in early August to coincide with the back-to-school season. Last year the holiday was delayed until October because of problems during budget negotiations.

Eligible tax-free items include school supplies that cost $20 or less per item, as well as clothing and footwear that cost $100 or less per item. Eligible emergency preparedness products include portable generators for $1,000 or less and gas-powered chainsaws for $350 or less. Some Energy Star and WaterSense products for home or personal use are also eligible.

Sports gear, protective equipment and accessories are not eligible. A full list of eligible items can be found online at tax.virginia.gov/virginia-sales-tax-holiday.

Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com

For more than 50 years — and with three generations of ownership — Orapax has provided delicious Greek food in an intimate environment.

Orapax, in Norfolk’s Chelsea district, offers traditional dishes such as spanakopita, chicken souvlaki, gyros and moussaka. The menu has wing, pasta, pizza and sandwich sections and plant-based alternatives for most of the regular options.

The rustic dining room is dimly lit while oversized windows let heaps of natural light in. The dark ceiling beams and tile floors give a slightly upscale look, but the wait staff in its “Everything’s betta with fetta” and “There’s Greece on my shirt” T-shirts provide a casual dining experience.  Black and white photos of the building and its patrons highlight the restaurant’s deep family roots.

I started with the lavender lemonade cocktail and saganaki appetizer — both presented exquisitely. My drink, topped with lemon, blackberry and a sprig of rosemary, was light and refreshing without being too sweet; but the appetizer was the star.

The saganaki — kevalotyri (or kefalotyri) cheese battered and fried — was brought out in a mini black cast iron serving bowl, lit on fire, then put out by a squeeze of lemon.

The cheese reminded me of mozzarella with a stronger taste and it paired nicely with the tangy lemon juice. It was warm and gooey, still bubbling in the bowl.

I opted for the gyro pita and a Greek side salad for my main course — how could I not at a Greek place?  I’ve eaten gyros from street stands in Athens and Orapax’s did not disappoint. The tzatziki to meat ratio was perfect and the grilled lamb and beef were flavorful. The vegetables were crisp and fresh. The pita was my favorite part. It was covered in creamy tzatziki sauce, crisp and a perfect golden brown on the outside, and soft on the inside. I was pleasantly surprised with the sizable portion of meat in my gyro, especially because it seemed to be almost all lamb.

The Greek salad was piled high with a mountain of shredded feta cheese — just the way I like it. (Though it could be overkill for those who aren’t feta fanatics.)  It came with a large pepperoncini, cucumbers, red onions, tomatoes and bell peppers. The Greek dressing tasted house-made with its oil, vinegar and mix of spices. It was a bit more sour than other Greek dressings I’ve had but it paired excellently with the veggies and saltiness of the feta. I was surprised by the generous size of the salad, considering it was only a side salad.

I can’t wait to try Orapax’s other signature dishes and be transported to the ancient city of Athens.

Reach Avery Goodstine at averygoodstine@gmail.com

IF YOU GO

Where: 1300 Redgate Ave., Norfolk

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Friday; noon to 10 p.m. Saturday; 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday

Details: 757-627-8041; orapaxrestaurant.com

On Wednesday, July 31, customers can get as many doughnuts as they like for $1 each, while supplies last, the North Carolina-based chain said in a news release.

The offer is only available in-store and no additional purchase is necessary.

Rewards members can get $1 original glazed doughnuts starting Thursday, Aug. 1, for a limited time, according to Krispy Kreme.

The doughnut and coffee chain is also rolling out a few limited-time treats to celebrate the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The new “Go USA” dozen features three fan-favorite doughnuts:

• Go USA doughnut
• Chocolate iced glazed with sprinkles doughnut
• Original glazed doughnut

Find your nearest Krispy Kreme here.

Watch the docuseries, “Finding Edna Lewis,” available on VPM Culture YouTube and social media channels. Host and award-winning food writer and podcaster Deb Freeman explores the life and legacy of Virginia chef Edna Lewis, the “Queen of Southern Cooking.”

A seven-minute episode drops the third Friday of each month until February, leading to a one-hour television broadcast sometime that month. There will be an in-person premiere event in Richmond, which will include some never-before-seen footage. Dates and times for the event will be announced. 

The first installment was released on July 19 and featured chef Leah Branch of The Roosevelt in Richmond. Freeman and Branch prepared Lewis’ pan-fried quail with country ham while discussing Branch’s plans to have an Edna Lewis dinner at the restaurant.

Lewis was born in 1916 in Freetown, about 85 miles northwest of Richmond in a village co-founded by her grandfather who was born enslaved. In 1948, she became a cook at Café Nicholson in Manhattan, New York, which was frequented by big names such as Gloria Vanderbilt and Eleanor Roosevelt. John Nicholson, the owner, offered her a job after attending a dinner party in her home. She was one of few Black female chefs at that time. Lewis worked there for five years. At some point, she opened and closed her restaurant. She gained acclaim for her books; “The Edna Lewis Cookbook,” which was published in 1972 and four years later “The Taste of Country Cooking,” which became a bestseller and was reprinted 23 times. It took 12 more years before fans read her next release, “In Pursuit of Flavor.” Before retiring in 1995, she cooked at the historic Gage and Tollner in Brooklyn, New York.  Lewis’ final book, “The Gift of Southern Cooking,” was co-authored with Scott Peacock in 2003. Lewis is credited with changing the way people perceived Southern cooking and became one of the first pioneers of the farm-to-table movement.

Each episode of the docuseries will reveal more about Lewis through conversations and cooking with guests such as historian and cookbook author Jessica Harris and chef Adrienne Cheatham, author of “Sunday Best: Cooking Up the Weekend Spirit Everyday.”

Freeman hopes the documentary makes people proud of Virginia food, helps them understand the variety of Black foodways and encourages people to open a cookbook and cook.

“Eating something at its peak of flavor and being intentional with ingredients can create something special,” she said. “That’s what Edna Lewis did with her cookbooks and legacy.”

Lewis died in 2006.

Rekaya Gibson, 757-295-8809, rekaya.gibson@virginiamedia.com; on X, @gibsonrekaya

The community college will work with Independent Electrical Contractors Chesapeake to offer the state and federally approved program to electrical contractors and others looking to enter the industry, the college announced in a news release. The program, backed by Department of Labor-recognized curriculum, will lead to an accredited electrician license.

Apprentices will work full-time and attend classes two nights a week for the 8,000 hours of on-the-job and classroom training required for the license, the school said. Students will learn about residential, commercial and industrial electrical as well as electrical vehicle charging and solar.

“We have no doubt this effort will benefit our community by creating clear pathways for those seeking exciting careers and benefit local employer partners by providing the support they need to develop their future workforce,” Todd Estes, VPCC vice president for workforce development, said in the announcement.

The contractor association has offered the training in Northern Virginia for more than 15 years. It has partnerships with Germanna Community College and the Community College Workforce Alliance in Richmond and will begin working with Tidewater Community College in South Hampton Roads in 2025.

An open house is tentatively planned for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Peninsula Workforce Development Center at 600 Butler Farm Road in Hampton.

In June, the City Council approved a plan to divide the city into 51 zones and allow only 1% of homes in each zone to operate as short-term rentals. The plan also required that rentals be 500 feet apart unless they are side-by-side. However, many residents felt the proposal was too restrictive.

To address some of the concerns, City Council wanted to consider creating a new use called a “homestay rental” that only applies to residents who remain in their homes while renting a single room. Earlier this month, the Planning Commission recommended moving forward with creating that use.

Zoning Administrator Allison Jackura explained that under the proposal, homestay rentals are a separate category from short-term rentals and would not be subject to the density and buffer requirements of a short-term rental, where residents make their entire homes available for rent.

She said homestays apply for guests living in a home for 30 days or less. They would be allowed in single-family dwellings.

The proposed rules outline that a homestay rental operator must live in the home as their primary residence and reside there during all guests’ stays. The operator also has to maintain and provide proof of residency within one day of the zoning administrator requesting it.

No events, such as weddings, reunions or birthday parties, would be allowed with homestay rentals.  Furthermore, the operator — designated as a “responsible local person” would be required to provide contact information for the city website in case of any issues, respond within one hour after being called by the city for any nuisance complaint and be on-site at all times between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. when overnight lodgers are present.

“We think that somebody living there has a vested interest in kind of making sure that there aren’t any nuisances,” Jackura said. “And we tend to see those in those overnight hours — that 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. — so we think having that person be there, staying there, would help to reduce that.”

Under the proposal, homestay rentals would require a Zoning Administrator Permit.

Jackura said the city does not have an exact number of homestay rentals currently operating. She said around 94 rentals currently advertise less than a whole home for rent, though that doesn’t indicate the owner is occupying the property.

The commission largely supported the proposal, but chair Michael Harris voted against an ordinance outlining the “standards of uses” for homestay rentals. He said in an interview that his objection was over requiring the homeowner to remain on the property between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., as he felt the rule was too restrictive.

The commission is also recommending the City Council reduce the required buffer between short-term rentals from 500 feet to 300 feet. Commission member Tracy Brooks was the only one to vote against the matter during the July 18 meeting. She could not be reached for comment Monday to clarify her vote.

At the meeting, a few Hampton residents voiced concerns about the rules the City Council adopted last month limiting the density of short-term rentals. One woman said many Hampton residents will no longer be able to rely on the retirement income they were planning to earn through short-term rentals.

Hampton City Council is expected to vote on the changes during its Aug. 14 meeting. If approved, these changes will go into effect on Sept. 1.

Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com

The company, which provides coverage in 23 states, plans a phased approach in Virginia during its initial rollout, granting access to additional agencies each month, according to a news release. The business sells exclusively through independent agents.

Openly, founded by insurance veterans Ty Harris and Matt Wielbut in 2017, differentiates itself with its technology, data and easy-to-use digital platform.

As back-to-school season approaches, your kids may have outgrown their clothes — but they don’t have to outgrow your budget.

Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $874.68 on clothing, shoes, school supplies and electronics, according to data from the National Retail Federation. For college students and their families, the expected amount on items for the coming year is an average of $1,364.75.

Here’s how credit cards can cut some of those costs.

1. Rewards

Reward rates vary by type of card, but a decent return for cash-back credit cards might range from 2% back per dollar spent to 5% back on rotating bonus categories. Those rewards can be redeemed for cash or a statement credit to offset school purchases, for example, or applied to future travel.

A credit card that earns cash back generally requires good credit (typically, FICO scores of 690 or higher). A rewards credit card is ideal only if you pay your balance off in full every month to avoid interest charges. Otherwise, the steep interest rates on these cards will cancel out the value of rewards.

You can leverage these kinds of credit cards with purchases already allocated in your budget like gas, certain utilities or groceries, said Barbara Quan, accredited financial counselor and manager of financial education at Golden 1 Credit Union, in an email.

2. Sign-up bonuses

A credit card sign-up bonus can be worth hundreds of dollars if you meet the minimum spending requirement with planned expenses. If you’re seeking a new credit card, it’s one way to potentially defray the costs of back-to-school spending or lessen the costs of other expenses.

“Many cards offer hundreds of dollars in cash back or rewards points after meeting a minimum spending requirement within the first few months,” Quan said. “By strategically timing your back-to-school shopping to coincide with this period, you can earn the bonus while purchasing necessary items like clothes, supplies and electronics.”

Quan suggested doing research to select a card that aligns with your spending patterns and overall financial goals. A budget that outlines projected expenses during the bonus period can also help you track your progress and prevent overspending, she added.

3. Interest-free windows for purchases

Certain gadgets and supplies carry hefty price tags. A rewards credit card with an introductory 0% annual percentage rate can offer breathing room for large purchases. You still have to pay monthly, but you won’t be charged interest during the promotional period.

A word of caution, though: A store credit card may also offer an interest-free promotion that might sound like a true 0% introductory APR, but is actually a deferred interest offer. Typically advertised as “special financing” or “no interest if paid in full,” a deferred interest offer means that interest is postponed but continues accruing in the background, to be applied at a later date if you don’t finish paying off the balance by the deadline.

A deferred interest offer can still be a useful way to finance a purchase, but you’ll need to make absolutely sure you can pay it off on time to avoid owing interest charges retroactive to the time of the original purchase. The ongoing interest rates on these store credit cards can run high, so these charges could be a pricey surprise that derails your finances if you’re not prepared to cover them.

4. Online shopping portals

Multiply your credit card rewards by shopping through the card’s bonus mall or linked offers. For example, a credit card issuer might offer a discount or additional rewards if you use that card to shop with select merchants.

Before you hit the stores in person or online, browse your credit card offers by logging into your account. If you find some money-saving opportunities, map out a plan that maximizes the value of your purchases.

5. Credits

A few credit cards may offer credits for streaming services, meal plan subscriptions, grocery or restaurant delivery services, or other useful options that could save money or simplify the transition back to school. As you adjust to a new schedule, such a credit could potentially save you money on a music subscription for the car ride to school, or a meal prep service that gives you some time back.

Look up your credit card online or log into your account to see whether it provides any helpful credits.

Melissa Lambarena writes for NerdWallet. Email: mlambarena@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @LissaLambarena.

The article 5 Ways Credit Cards Can Offer a Break on Back-to-School Purchases originally appeared on NerdWallet.