Fed up with your bank? 3 tips for simple switching

People are so fed up with the word “fee” defining their relationship with their banks….rather than “free.” Click here to view the MSN Money article “Fed up with your bank? 3 tips for simple switching” and video that tells you how to switch from a bank (it couldn’t be any easier!)

The article endorses credit unions as a great alternative where people can save money with access to free checking, where borrowing costs less, fees are lower and savings rates are higher.

Annette
-Marketing

Congratulations Roche Family! 2009 Connex Savings Challenge Winners

The Unbank has Teamed Up with the CT Food Bank!

Free Workshop: How Teens Can Save For Their Futures

Unbelievable Share Certificate Rates. Only from the Unbank.

Start on the path toward your savings goals today!

26-month term – 2.05% APY* with Your Choice Checking
20-month term – 1.55% APY* with Your Choice Checking
13-month term – 1.25% APY* with Your Choice Checking

Stop by the nearest branch or call 1-800-CR-UNION to speak to a Connex Member Service Representative. Connex members: Open your Share Certificate with the click of a button. Click here!

*APY=Annual Percentage Yield. Rates effective November 12, 2009 and are subject to expire at any time. 13-month Share Certificate has an APY of 1.00% without Your Choice Checking. 20-month Share Certificate has an APY of 1.30% without Your Choice Checking. 26-month Share Certificate has an APY of 1.80% without Your Choice Checking. $500 minimum deposit. Maximum deposit of $250,000. A penalty will be imposed for early withdrawal. May not be combined with other offers. Your Choice Checking requires full direct deposit or a $5 monthly fee is imposed. Business accounts are not eligible for Your Choice Checking or Bonus Rewards.

The Real Challenge

Everyone is asking us if we’re excited that the Savings Challenge is almost over. With less than one month to go, the Connex Credit Union Savings Challenge will end and a winner will be announced and rewarded with $10,000.00. Yes, it excites us they we may win. I would be lying if I said winning hasn’t crossed our minds a couple of hundred times. However, the way we see it, the “Savings Challenge” is never really over.

It’s always a challenge to save money, whether it’s for monthly bills or a vacation or for trying to keep a safety net for that unexpected repair bill that always happens at the worst time. I haven’t even mentioned keeping up with a savings or retirement fund.

Everyone’s income and spending is different. It would be easier to save money if we had more! What we have learned is that the challenge isn’t about the amount of money we have to work with. It’s the way we approach saving and spending money. It’s the tools we use to achieve financial comfort and success. Looking back on this year, I sometimes regret that we couldn’t have saved more money to better our chance to win the challenge. But sometimes, going to the movies for “date night” as a couple is more valuable to our family than putting $25 in the vacation fund. The $50 we spent to go out to dinner as a family was well worth the smiles and laughter. Not to mention, the conversation we shared about how much more we appreciate dinner out since it happens much less often now.

We will continue to follow our budget and use the strategies that we have learned and applied during the Savings Challenge. But, we will also continue to live our lives. We were able to go to Texas to be with our son when he graduated from Basic Training in the Air Force. We were able to go on day trips to an amusement park, car racing, hiking, biking and beaches to go boogie boarding…all without using our credit card. We could have saved much more money by not doing these things with our family, but at what cost?

Trust me. I’m not saying winning $10,000 is not important to us. We want to win. What I am saying is that it is necessary to live within your means and to save money, but don’t forget to enjoy life. Don’t let money take over your life, whether cutting your spending or increasing your savings. Make changes that will last a lifetime, not just for the short term. Find a balance that works for you. It will be difficult at the beginning, but in the long run it will be well worth the effort.

Do you think there are reasonable ways to “enjoy life” when you’re on a budget or are saving strictly for a specific goal? If so, what are they and do you them?

–Lori Roche

This is an entry from the 2009 Connex Savings Challenge Blog, a place where you can keep up with the Savings Challenge families and they can share great financial tips, ways they are saving and budgeting and much more! For more blog entries and information on the Connex Savings Challenge, visit http://www.connexcu.org.

100 Tips to Help You Save

If you’re like me, then you’re always looking for helpful tips to keep money in your pockets. On September 18, 2009, Bankrate.com shared an article called “100 Tips to Help You Save.” I use several of these tips, which are easy, practical and allow me to save week-to-week.

Click here to read the article.

Do you use any of these tips and do the help you save money?

Annette
-Marketing

WOW! Share Certificate Specials

Start on the path toward your savings goals today! Open a 26- month Share Certificate at 2.05% APY* with Your Choice Checking or choose a 20-month Share Certificate at 1.55% APY* with Your Choice Checking.

Click here to open a Share Certificate today, stop by the nearest branch or call 1-800-CR-UNION to speak to a Connex Member Service Representative.

*APY = Annual Percentage Yield. Rates effective October 19, 2009 and are subject to expire at any time. 20-month Share Certificate has an APY of 1.55% without Your Choice Checking. 26-month Share Certificate has an APY of 1.80% without Your Choice Checking. $500 minimum deposit. Maximum deposit of $250,000. A penalty will be imposed for early withdrawal. May not be combined with other offers. Your Choice Checking requires full Direct Deposit or a $5 monthly fee is imposed.

Spending to save

Sometimes you have to spend money in order to save money. On the surface, this statement doesn’t make much sense. However, during the past month I have come to understand what it means. Being involved in the Savings Challenge, we have been trying to save as much money as possible. We’ve set and re-set our budget. We’ve cut back on dining out. We stick to our list at the grocery store and we no longer buy things just because it’s a great bargain. All the while, we put as much as possible into our savings account.

However, one thing I’ve learned is that just because we’re saving money in our account, we’re not necessarily “saving money.” Let me clarify. Like most people, we carry credit card debt. We paid a bit above the minimum payment amount so that we were able to put more money into our savings account. Unfortunately, in the current economy, the interest we earn is substantially less than the interest we pay. Paying $10 a month in credit card interest to allow us to deposit an extra $5 a month in a savings account didn’t make sense to us. We found that putting that money toward the credit card saved us more in interest payments than we would have saved if we had put the money in our savings account. Eventually, with one less bill we were able to put the entire amount we were paying on the credit card into our savings account. Now, we’re saving money!

Another way we were faced with “spending to save” was with our car. We were looking forward to saving the money we were no longer spending on day care, but now it was starting to go toward car repairs. Our car was eight years old with more than 105,000 miles on it. It was beginning to need repairs on a regular basis. It really wasn’t worth the amount of money we were putting into it, so we had to think about replacing the car. We’ve always purchased used cars, but we were able to take part in “Cash for Clunkers” and were able to buy a new car for the amount we were planning to spend on a used car. Yes, we have a car payment now, but it doesn’t affect our budget because it’s the money we were spending on day care and we still meet our monthly savings goal.

So now you know what I mean by “spending to save.” Definitely, make sure you deposit a set amount of money into a savings account every month but take the time to figure out where you should put this money so it’s the most beneficial.

In what ways have you effectively spent money to save more money in the long run?

–Lori

This is an entry from the 2009 Connex Savings Challenge Blog, a place where you can keep up with the Savings Challenge families and they can share great financial tips, ways they are saving and budgeting and much more! For more blog entries and information on the Connex Savings Challenge, visit http://www.connexcu.org.

Introducing Unbank Checking from Connex

It goes against everything you ever thought about checking. It’s all part of unbanking with Connex:

• Free ATMs nationwide
• 24-Hour online account management
• No minimum deposit
• Free quarterly Smart Score credit score range

Not to mention a very unbank-like high 3.25% APY. How many banks offer checking accounts like that? Click here for more details.

We’ve also created a fun Unbank Checking Micro Site. Click here to access www.unbankchecking.org.

*APY=Annual Percentage Rate. Rate offered as of October 1, 2009. Stop by or give us a call for full details.