Have you ever been the victim of a scam or fraudulent scheme?  We hear stories almost on a daily basis and we are all warned what to look for…BUT some research shows it could be all your brain’s fault! This article from scambook.com tells us about the science behind falling victim to a scam. Take a look… it’s pretty interesting.

http://www.scambook.com/blog/2013/04/why-do-the-best-scams-work-because-our-brains-werent-hard-wired-to-avoid-them/

Stay tuned for our next blog post where we will offer you some tips to override that pesky brain and avoid being scammed!

“Mother’s Day is one of my most favorite days of the year.  It is not because I am showered with gifts or flowers.  So many moms I know want nothing more than to get rid of their husband and kids for the day so they can enjoy peace and quiet.  The reality is that I don’t get to see my family enough and I look forward to Mother’s Day because it is a day where I am guaranteed to get the gift I value most – time with my family!   Since my oldest was born twelve years ago, we have created a tradition of either volunteering for or walking in the Mom’s On the Run event in Reno.  When you are a volunteer, you have to be there very early, but it is worth it!  My husband and kids never, ever complain that they don’t get to sleep in.  As a matter of fact, they look forward to going.  I admit, it could be because they get donuts and chocolate milk, but the truth is, they also are learning about community and giving.  I don’t want flowers or jewelry on Mother’s Day, and I certainly don’t want to be alone!  Thank you to my sweet husband and kids for being you!”

Now your turn!

Crafting a personal or family budget is one of the fundamental steps to a successful financial lifestyle. Unfortunately, it’s more often used as an example of something people “need to do”, rather than something they are actually doing. Many Americans simply do not plan a budget, and find themselves scrounging for funds at the end of the month. Consumers often have misconceptions about banking that prevent them from bettering their financial situation. If you are having trouble creating a budget for yourself or your family, we will walk you through the process. Use the following steps to plan a budget that will help you get the proverbial monkey off your back. If you need more advice, don’t hesitate to ask for help from the experts. Great Basin Federal Credit Union makes the financial education of their members a top priority.

1. Write Down Your Monthly Income – Take stock of all your sources of income. Put your total monthly income at the top of a piece of paper.

2. Set Aside Funds for Saving – Set aside a certain amount that is acceptable to you or your family for saving each month. This can go towards a savings account or certificate of deposit. These accounts store your money and help you prepare for larger financial burdens like vacations, college expenses or unexpected illnesses. Great Basin Federal Credit Union’s Payday Certificate is another great option. It’s a one-year-long investment account that requires monthly deposits of $25 to build your savings, and it earns competitive interest.

3. Make a List of Weekly Expenses – To start out, brainstorm by yourself or with your family. In a given week, what are the most common purchases or expenses? This list should include items like meals, groceries, and gas.

4. Add Monthly Expenses – Put together a list of less frequent expenses. This should include items like bill or loan payments (personal, auto and mortgage), clothes, bathroom supplies, pet supplies, and school supplies.

5. Leave Room for Unexpected Expenses – This could be for serious things like car repairs or hospital visits, or it could be for everyday occurrences like last-minute meals.

6. Weed Out What You Don’t Need – You may find that some items are more disposable than others. Scratch any items off the list that you can confidently determine are unnecessary.

7. Label the Remaining Items in Order of Necessity – You can use the numbers 1, 2, 3, with 1 being very necessary and 3 being less necessary. Bill payments should always be number 1. You or your family can decide how other items rank. If you decide that some things can wait another week or month, make a note.

8. Post Your New Budget Where Everyone Can See – Print out a sheet separating items by week and month. Each section should be arranged by order of necessity, so everyone knows what is most pressing at any given time. Cross off items once they have been paid for.

9. Make a Calendar for Due Dates – You should have a special calendar for payment due dates. Mark off the dates when your bills for water, garbage, electricity, cable, credit cards, loans or any other kind of monthly payments, are due. If you have a computer or smartphone, set multiple reminders for the days leading up to the due date, so you don’t forget. If you use direct deposit or automatic payment, make sure to note the dates payments are taken from your account.

10. Treat Yourself – You’ve done the hard work. Reward yourself by designating a portion of your budget for a few personal purchases. This could be for special clothes, dinners out, movie nights, concerts, whatever. It’s important to budget well so you can have more opportunities to treat yourself.

1.  Attend seminars.  There are many seminar providers that offer a yearlong membership where you can attend as many seminars as you like for about the cost of one seminar.  It’s great for professional and personal development.  Your employer may even pick up the cost.
2. Try learning something new, even if it’s not career related.  Take a class or earn a professional certificate at UNR or TMCC.
3. If you’re looking to learn more about your company or get that promotion, ask your manager if you can mentor with someone in the position you would like to be in.
4. Ask your manager if you can cross train in other departments to learn more about how the company functions as a whole.
5. Join or create a committee at work.  It could be a group of volunteers, a book club, a running club or anything else that is a common interest at work.
6. Volunteer outside of work.  Not only is it great for the community, it is also very rewarding to help others.

At the very least, think about your position and your company and find that thing or two that keeps you there.  You may be burnt out with your job duties, but do you love the people you work with?  Maybe the commute is short and easy?  Do you have flexibility that would be hard to find elsewhere?  Are you getting close to a tenure point where additional benefits kick in?  It may be a tiny straw to grasp at, but if you focus on that one straw it may be enough to pull you out of your funk.

That could be why the great people at NerdWallet.com chose us as a featured credit union in one of their most recent blog posts. How exciting! NerdWallet.com is a website that promotoes financial literacy and helps find the best ways to save us consumers money. Last month, we were featured in their blog post, “Credit Union Blogs – NerdWallet’s Picks“. Click on over to take a look at the blurb about our blog, and stay awhile to find a whole load of information about finances and savings. Be on the lookout for a guest post by one of NerdWallet’s bloggers that we’ll be featuring right here in a couple weeks!

Nobody likes to toot their own horn. But when the passenger reaches over the center console and toots it for you, you don’t really have a choice in the matter. Thanks, NerdWallet, for tooting our horn. We’re flattered.

And that is where we come in.  We are a local financial institution with local employees making the best decisions for our members who live in our community, not some “suit” in an office four states away making a decision based on a number.  We can consider things like the member’s relationship already established.  Do they have a checking account with us?  Do they make regular deposits and withdrawals without frequent overdrafts?  If I have nothing else to consider, I think that responsible use of a checking account indicates one’s potential character in a loan repayment.

But sometimes it is not that easy, or we have a new member not yet established and so the trust has not been built.  In these cases, we offer two solutions:

• Share Secured Loan – A member can deposit as little as $250 into an account and we hold the full balance as collateral.  We can issue a Visa or an installment loan for repayment.  In essence, we are exchanging money because you give us funds and we give them right back to you in the form of a loan, but the benefit of this loan is that you have the opportunity to make regular, on time payments to help establish a great credit history.  This loan is often used by members who do not really want to part with their savings, but are willing to have it tied up while they repay the loan.
• ReBuild Together Loan – This loan is a great option for a member who does not have the funds available to use as collateral.  Rather, the loan proceeds for this loan type are what is used as collateral.  The member does not get any money, but rather they get the opportunity to have a loan granted to them, no matter how poor their credit is currently, so they can build a beautiful credit file.  The funds are deposited into a savings account or a certificate of deposit for a minimum of one year.  At the end of the loan repayment, they not only have proven they can make timely payments, but they also have the funds available to them.  Can you imagine building your credit file and also having money for a down payment on the home or car you want?

In either case, what really is required to build a good credit file is time.  Be patient and be responsible in making on time payments and I promise you will be so proud of yourself and your high credit score!   Here are a few other tips to remember:

• Do not pay either of these loans off before the maturity date.  You are trying to prove that you can make regular, on time payments over an extended period of time, so if you pay it off too soon, you have not proven anything.  After you build your credit file and score, it is recommended to pay debts off quickly, but let’s get that score up first!
• If you choose to have a Visa card secured by shares in your account, do not charge up the card to the maximum limit.  In general, you want to have about 50% of your credit lines available. 
• Once your credit score starts to improve, you will be bombarded with offers for new credit.  Although you may be tempted to accept the offers, please turn them down.  Every time there is an inquiry to your credit file and every time you open a new credit account, your score gets “dinged”.  So if you open several accounts in a short period of time, you will actually see your score drop and that will defeat the purpose of your hard work.  Patience, remember?

Good luck to you on your credit journey and remember to call us along the way so we can help you achieve your financial goals!

  34. “The best cost-cutting tool is a good night’s sleep.” My friend (and Sparks Crossing Branch Manager), Sarah, told me this years ago, and it is TRUE. Don’t buy it – if you are thinking about it in a couple days, you really must have a need for it. Usually for me, I forget that I even saw something I wanted and end up saving myself the money and, most importantly, the junk pile at home.

26. “Just because someone will lend it to you doesn’t mean you should borrow it.” Chatzky’s commentary is enough said on this one – “This is the lesson of every unfurnished McMansion from Maine to California.”

12. “Save more with every raise.” This just makes sense. My fiancée and I have discussed this through a couple of raises – we were fine without it, so why not save it instead of start spending more?

11. “If you can’t see it and you can’t touch it, you won’t spend it.” Take the time to set up automatic transfers to your 401(k), emergency savings, Christmas savings, etc. For me, it doesn’t work just to have it automatically sent to another share in my account; I need a whole separate account where I don’t see the money every day. I truly don’t even know it’s there, and when I happen to go look at the balance, I am pleasantly surprised – and proud of myself (even though I didn’t really do anything)!

93. “Do declare some financial independence.” This is something I agree with and will do after marriage: In Chatzky’s words “You need some money of your own so that you can make small financial decisions – like whether to eat lunch out, whether to purchase that tie – without asking permission. Without it, financial relationships start to feel parental rather than romantic.”

47. “Shop with a list.” I know I am not the only one guilty of impulse buys when I see the lady in front of me with a basket of groceries and 4 new colors of nail polish, and the man behind me with a few cases of baby formula and a beer-can-chicken-cooking contraption as seen on TV. They strategically place these things, and they get us good! It is so true that when I make a list, I rarely stray from it. When I go without a list just to stock up the fridge, I get in to departments I shouldn’t be in every time.

Finances can get tough so hopefully some of the tips from Jean and from our real-life trial and error can help make them simple again. As always, if you find yourself with one too many as seen on TV items in your cart  in need of more tips or assistance with your financial plan, we’re here to help.

Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQvkBbtgXLI

 *Video from www.youngandfreealberta.com

Oh, don’t be scared – we, along with countless online resources, are here to help! We advocate that you actually write out a tangible budget (when there’s a real plan on paper, you’re less likely to fudge it). It’s your roadmap to the month ahead. It should be done BEFORE you start your month so you can actually follow it. Instead of reinventing the wheel, we found simple step-by-step instructions from the popular “For Dummies” folks at www.dummies.com.  Check this out:

How to Create a Monthly Budget
By Tracy Barr from Living Well in a Down Economy For Dummies
www.dummies.com

Does the word budget send chills up your spine? It shouldn’t. Budgets allow you to have some control over what you spend. A monthly budget can help you to decide how to spend your money, plan for your future, pay off existing debt, and save a few pennies each month by reducing wasteful and impulsive purchases. To create your monthly budget

• Categorize your expenses.

When you begin setting up a monthly budget, start with big categories before breaking your budget down into smaller expense categories.

• From your list of expenses, develop two separate budget lists, one for essentials and the other for extras.

Within each general budget category, some items are essential (the mortgage or rent payment, electric bill, and groceries); others are extra (new furniture, gifts, and pizza delivery).

• Look through these lists to find flexible budget expenses where you can cut back.

Put a star next to these flexible items so you can identify them.

• Estimate what you spend.

Go through your checkbook and any other receipts or records you’ve kept over the past few months so you can track how much you actually spend on both essentials and extras.

• Add up your budget essentials list and the extras list separately.

By keeping the lists separate, you can make cuts more easily, if you need to.

• Subtract the essentials total from your monthly income and, if you have money left over, subtract the extras total from that amount.

If you still have money left over, great! Look into a savings or investing plan (talk to your bank or a certified financial planner for help setting up a plan).

• If your extras list takes you into negative numbers, start looking for places to cut back.

You can also trim from the extras list to put more money toward debt repayment if that’s a high priority in your financial picture.

Of course there are websites (like Mint.com), software (like Microsoft Quicken) or online banking tools that will help you complete the steps listed above. The idea is to find something that you can realistically do from month to month. If it’s too daunting or complicated a method, then odds are you will not keep up with it.

Next week we’ll show you an even more manual way to make a budget to illustrate what you’ve learned in this post. Teaser: it’s a video so you won’t want to miss it!

There are countless things you can do to start saving this much per month.

1. Pack your lunch. $5 at In-N-Out x 3 visits/month = $15 (which equals $180/year!)
2. Make your own coffee. $4 per latte x 5 visits/month = $20 (it doesn’t seem like I go that often, but Mondays are rough)
3. Yippee for your raise! You were living just fine off of what you made before, so why not save the extra you’ll be getting.
4. Switching insurance companies, cable carriers, or phone service providers can be a little timely but worth the possible savings. If you can cut $10 from each per month, that adds up to $360/year!
5. Turn the lights off, unplug the toaster, turn the heat down a notch, use a filter instead of buying plastic water bottles, etc. It all adds up and saves on your monthly bills and – bonus, your earth usage. Your local power company will have some great tips on their website to save every month.

Click here to take a look at a whole slew of other possible “Budget Pitfalls”. No matter how good or not-so-good your financial situation is, there is almost always more we can do to be more aware of where our money is going. Once you get into a routine, you’ll find that it gets easier and you, in fact, do have time for that.

So now that I can’t go out to eat anymore, we use only flashlights to light our house, and I only have 3 texts per month on my new cell plan, my aforementioned friend isn’t my friend anymore. Just kidding – you don’t have to cut everything out of your life and stop enjoying yourself. It is possible to cut back on the extras and still live a life you love! If you share these tips with your friends, maybe they’ll thank you and you can all cut back together! Now, go into the world armed with these tips and pack your lunch for tomorrow.

Stay tuned next week for some specific tips on drafting your own budget!