Brain Scams

Maybe it’s happened to you – you log in to Online Banking to see if your rent check has cleared yet and you discover that, unbeknownst to you, you bought 17 pizzas and 186 gallons of gas last night in Ohio! Fraud happens. And it’s not fun. In our next few posts, we are going to share some stories and tips all about the fraud and how to avoid it. Have you ever... Read More

10 Steps To Creating A Practical Budget

As promised in our post about NerdWallet a couple weeks ago, we are pleased to share our guest post this week by Nico Leyva. Nico writes for Nerdwallet, a consumer finance website that promotes financial literacy and looks for the best ways to save you money.   Crafting a personal or family budget is one of the fundamental steps to a successful financial lifestyle. Unfortunately,... Read More

6 Ways to Conquer Job Burnout

It happens to all of us at some point in our career—getting burnt out.  If you have been lucky enough to have had a job during the Great Recession, you may be experiencing that right now.  A lot of people have been at the same company, doing the same thing, and for the same pay for more years than they like to admit.  You may wake up in the morning and wonder how you will muster... Read More

The Chicken or the Egg

Which comes first?  After almost 20 years in the credit union business, I think this is the question that I get asked the most and is the most difficult to answer.  Some members are just reaching adulthood and have dreams of owning a new car or a new home and some members are recovering from either poor life decisions or circumstances that left them with less than perfect credit. ... Read More

“Money Rules”

Ok, I don’t know about you, but I am excited to revamp and get serious about my budget after that awesome budget blog series we had! On the heels of that, we recently came across a book called “Money Rules” by Jean Chatzky; she shares some simple tips that make a big difference. I’ll share some of my personal favs along with a little extra commentary on how they’ve worked... Read More

Shoebox Budgeting

Welcome to the final installment of “Budget Month” on your trusty [GB]Blog. Hopefully you’ve been able to take away at least one new concept or tip to help you be more financially successful. We end this chapter with a video that we fell in love with the first time we saw it. It’s actually a video done by an employee of a credit union in Alberta, Canada. She does such an... Read More

BUDGET, DON’T FUDGE IT

So people often say things like, “make a budget” or “stick to your budget” or “it doesn’t fit into my budget”. But we wonder how many have actually ever drafted a budget…do they throw that word around as a fun little catch phrase? Or do they make assumptions as to how much they make each month, what they are spending, and what they can actually afford and just call... Read More

Saving? Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That

In last week’s blog, I told you about my money-savvy friend who tells me how to make millions, and how I have a bit of a hard time getting started. Well, the first hurdle was hurdled last week – it’s not too good to be true as we saw with an example of the power of compounding interest.  In this week’s edition, I am going to help dispel my second myth... Read More

Too Good To Be True?

I have this friend. I know, you thought all I did was sit on the computer to blog and update facebook. But, I have a friend, and she has been telling me for years about these books that tell her if she saves x amount for x years, she will be a millionaire by the time she’s 45! Awesome, sign me up! I never can seem to get started though; the 2 problems that immediately scare... Read More

What Are Your Means?

As a kickstart to our four week budgeting series, we found this article very real and useful. Yahoo Finance shares “Signs You’re Living Beyond Your Means”.  It’s not always fun to look at the facts and realize that you aren’t doing all you can to make the most of your financial situation. Whether you are living beyond your means or within your... Read More