Supermarket Savings Can Affect Your Whole Budget

There’s a lot to be said for saving money at the grocery store. If you think about it, having a fully stocked kitchen affects other parts of your budget, as well.

How many days have you looked up at the clock, gasped when you realized the day was almost over and wondered what you would do for dinner? If you have a stocked pantry, freezer and refrigerator, you can easily find a way to make something for dinner. Even if you have to opt for the occasional frozen pizza or boxed mac-n-cheese, you most likely can find something of nutritional value in your fully stocked kitchen to pair with it. Frozen vegetables, canned beans or even a salad take just minutes to prepare, cost very little and save your budget from the impromptu restaurant visits that can add up quickly when you’re not keeping track.

Here are some tips for saving at the supermarket:

Stock Up When It’s on Sale

Like a shelf life, just about everything in a supermarket has a sale cycle. Most items go on sale every four to six weeks. That’s when you buy those items – especially expensive items like meat or fish. If you’re paying $2 a pound or more for boneless/skinless chicken breast, you’re paying too much. Go to Alberston’s when family packs are on sale for $1.69 to $1.88 per pound, and buy enough to freeze and last through the sale cycle – about four to six weeks. Tom Thumb occasionally has its family packs of boneless/skinless chicken breast on sale for buy one, get one free. That takes the price down to $1.50 a pound, which is an absolute steal.

Beware of BOGO

Just because something is buy one, get one free, doesn’t mean it’s a good deal. Albertsons frequently advertises pre-seasoned, boneless/skinless chicken breast at buy one, get one free. Check the price per pound. Pre-seasoned meat is often priced higher, because it’s extra labor done by the butcher in the store before it’s sold. Also, know your prices. BOGO at one store doesn’t always make that particular item cheaper than it would be at another grocery store.

Last week, Tom Thumb had 12-packs of soft drinks on sale for buy two, get one free. Using simple math, it was easy to see this was not a good deal. At $5.99 per 12 pack, it was still costing $4 per 12-pack on sale. Eventually, those same 12-packs will be on sale for $2.50 each. That’s when you stock up.

Stack Coupons on Sale Items

Don’t just buy on sale. Save your coupons for sales as well. That makes items even cheaper, and sometimes free. And here’s a secret stores don’t often share. If something is on sale for buy one, get one free, and your coupon requires you to buy two, the free one counts toward those two. You get the free product and the coupon discount.

Saving at the supermarket can save your entire budget!

How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

We’re just shy of two weeks into the New Year. Are you ready to throw your resolutions out the window yet? Some people never even get them started, because they’re not realistic. Here are some tips for setting goals that will help you achieve what you want to this year.

Set Realistic Goals

If your New Year’s Resolution is to lose weight, you should remember that the average, healthy weight loss is two pounds a week. If your goal is to lose 20 pounds, give yourself at least three months to do it, and allow for possible set-backs, like injuries from exercising, plateaus or even an unexpected illness that may have you down for a week.

Start Small and set Sub-Goals

If your goal is to exercise more, don’t start by training for a marathon – especially if you haven’t worked out in years. Start with something easy that may push you just a little bit – like walking around the block. When that gets easier, add a block. If you hurt all over the first day you exercise, there’s a possibility you won’t last through the first week. Perhaps your sub-goal can be to walk five blocks comfortably in three months. If you reach that milestone before three months, set a new sub-goal.

Don’t Do What You’ve Always Done and Expect a Different Result

As humans we tend to be set in our ways, and we sometimes forget there is more than one way to do something. If your goal is to give up smoking, and you’ve failed several times in the past by giving it up “cold turkey,” don’t go that route this time. Start slow, or see how a doctor can help you this time. It’s the same with any goal. If you’ve failed in the past, try a new strategy.

Write Down Your Goals and Carry Them With You

When NFL all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith was inducted to the football Hall of Fame, one of the things he attributed to his success was writing down his goals. In his speech he said, “I wrote down my goals and how I was going to achieve them because Dwight Thomas used to tell us it's only a dream until you write it down, and then it becomes a goal. By the time I was 20, I wrote, ‘I want to play in the Super Bowl, be the MVP, become the all-time leading rusher, and finish college, because I promised my mother I would’. Over the course of my career, all of those things came to pass, and I know that writing down my goals was an essential strategy.”

Write down your goals, whatever they are. Post them in places where you will see them frequently, like your bathroom, your office, your kitchen. Carry them in your wallet or purse. Keep them in your car. Look at them daily and make them happen.

We wish you luck this year as you set new goals and reach for the sky. Just remember, you may need a ladder to get there.

Give Your Finances a New Year’s Check-Up

Lots of people make New Year’s resolutions, but what about financial check-ups? These often get overlooked, because people don’t think they have enough money or assets to warrant a check-up. The truth is everyone should take the time to see where they are with their money and figure out how they can improve their current situation.

If you have any kind of debt whatsoever, this is the perfect time to sit down with someone at no charge and figure out how you can pay off that debt faster. If you could pay off your five-year car loan in four years, you’d be saving money in interest, and you’d be ridding yourself of an entire year’s worth of monthly payments. The same goes for credit cards and lines of credit.

If you have no savings account, this is the perfect time to sit down with someone at no charge and see how you can start building one. You’d be amazed at how fast your savings can grow when you start with as little as $10 or $20 per paycheck, and there are so many ways to find that money. If you consolidate your debt into smaller monthly payments, you could put the difference in a savings account.

If you hope to retire some day, this is the perfect time to sit down with someone at no charge and figure out what you need to do to make that happen. Even if social security still exists when you’re ready to retire, it won’t be enough to live on. The earlier you start saving, the better off you’ll be. Sit down and talk to a professional now.

Earlier this year, Kara and John felt like they were drowning in debt. Desperate to get their heads above water, they contacted a financial planner referred to them by a friend. Eleven months later, they are getting ready to make their last credit card payment, and the only debt they will have is their mortgage.

“If you would have told me a year ago we’d be here today, I wouldn’t believe it. I still don’t,” said Kara. “Our credit card debt was almost $10,000, and our financial advisor found ways to help us pay it off. As my budget cleared up, I started putting more money toward my remaining debt. It’s been liberating, and it cost us nothing to seek professional advice.”

Add a financial check-up to your list of New Year’s resolutions this year. Ask a friend or ask someone at the credit union for a reputable financial advisor, and don’t be afraid to be completely honest about your finances. The only way to change a situation is to acknowledge there’s a problem and develop an action plan to make it better.  A financial advisor can help you do that.

Traditions To Bring Your Family Closer This Holiday Season

Merry Christmas from your Neighborhood Credit Union family. We hope this holiday season brings you peace, joy and love. Your membership is a gift to our credit union every day, and we thank you whole heartedly for continuing to trust us with your financial well-being.

You put your family’s financial future in our hands each and every day. We would like to say thank you by giving you some ideas and traditions to help strengthen your family times and create holiday memories to last a lifetime. Creating family traditions is one of the most important things you can do to strengthen family ties. Here are some created by Once Upon a Family.

Kindness Box

Wrap a shoe box like a present and cut a small slit in the top. Place the box, along with a pen and pad of paper, in a central location of your home, like the dining room table or maybe under the Christmas tree. Every time a family member notices another family member doing something kind, have them write it down and place it in the box. On Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, gather around the tree and have someone read the notes out loud. This is a nice way to take focus off of presents an put it on family values.

Reindeer Mix

Make reindeer mix with once up of oats, one cup of barley and two spoonfuls of gold glitter. Tell your children this is the mix that gives Santa’s reindeer energy. On Christmas Eve, have the children place the mix in a bowl or sprinkle it on the lawn, where most of it will dissolve in the morning dew. If they leave it in a bowl, discard most of it, leaving only a little as evidence that the reindeer made it to your house that night.


In Your Shoes

Put each family member’s name in a hat, and have them draw names (not their own). Have them trace the foot of the person whose name they picked, cut it out and write three things that make the person different from them or three things they respect about that person. Spend time sharing these reflections as a family and try to appreciate the differences that make your family both special and unique. This is another tradition that takes the focus off of gifts and puts it on the important people in our lives.

What are some of your family’s favorite Christmas traditions? Please click on Comment below and share them with your Neighborhood Credit Union family.

We hope you have a very merry Christmas!

Are Electronics Covered in Your Auto Policy?

It’s no secret. Americans have a love affair with electronics. MP3s, smart phones, TVs, DVD players and even satellite receivers are among the things we can’t seem to do without these days. They have become such a part of our lives that they’re not just in our homes or on our person. They’re also installed in our cars, which puts them at greater risk for theft or damage. Are they covered by your auto insurance policy? They may not be.

According to onlineautoinsurance.com the comprehensive and collision section of a standard auto policy typically contains exclusions for certain items. Those exclusions are:

“Electronics that are not permanently installed in a vehicle, such as radios, stereos, tape decks, compact disc players, DVD players, CB radios, telephones, personal computers, laptops, television monitors and mp3 players. Other electronic equipment may be excluded from policies.”

“Personal belongings such as compact discs, DVD's, cassette tapes, clothing, cameras, sporting goods, tools, jewelry, cellular phones, musical instruments and radar or laser detection equipment.”

As electronic gadgets become more a way a life for us, some insurance companies are developing special criteria about what should be covered under their standard auto polices. Many will cover the gadgets, but they charge an extra premium, which means your insurance costs more. Depending on the cost, it may be worth it to you.

If you have a gadget you can’t live without, how much would it cost to replace? You have to ask yourself that when deciding whether to add extra riders to your auto insurance policy. Just remember, you can’t get the data back on whatever your gadget is. If your laptop gets stolen, you hopefully have a back-up somewhere. If your phone gets stolen, you’ll lose all of those phone numbers if they are not stored somewhere else, like online.

Check to see what exactly your auto policy covers before an incident happens. And, don’t leave those valuables in plain view when you leave your vehicle. The truly best way to protect your uninstalled gadgets is to take them with you when you leave your vehicle. If that’s not possible, stash them in your glove box, your trunk or under a seat.

This is the time of year when car get broken into more frequently. Thieves are looking for money, and they are looking to cash in on whatever holiday gifts people leave in their vehicles. Those few extra minutes you take to protect your belongs could save you hundreds of dollars and hours of time down the road.

Restocking Fees and Expiration Fees

There are four words many people don’t think about when they are shopping for themselves or for someone else: restocking fees, expiration fees. These four little words could end up costing you or someone else money if you’re not careful. We’re talking about restocking fees on returned merchandise and expiration fees on gifts cards. This information will be useful to you year round, but especially during the holidays, when your gift to someone else could end up costing them money.

Restocking fees are fees charged by certain retailers on items that are purchased from them and later returned. Most of the time, the fee only applies to certain products if the box has already been opened and the item is not defective. If you just bring in the unopened package, it’s considered an exchange. The average restocking fee is 15 percent of the purchase price. If you buy something for $100 and decide you don’t like it, it will cost you $15 to return it. If it’s a gift for someone else, it will cost them $15.

Walletpop.com has published this list of retailers on its website:


Retailers with Restocking Fees:

• Best Buy -- 15% on opened electronics.
• Amazon -- 15% on opened computers.
• Target -- 15% on camcorders, digital cameras, portable DVD players and portable electronics.
• Office Depot --15% if box is missing anything on technology products, including computers.
• Office Max -- 15% on opened technology.
• Sears -- 15% on home electronics returned without the original box, used, and without all packaging and accessories.
• Apple -- 10% on opened hardware or accessories.
• Dell -- 15% on non-defective hardware returns, including computers.

Retailers With NO Restocking Fees:

• Radio Shack
• Lowes
• Staples
• Walmart
• HP
• Home Depot -- 15% on special or custom orders only.

Something else to be aware of as you shop, especially last minute shopping, are expiration fees on gift cards. These also vary depending on the retailer, but here is what you really need to look for, and it should be written on the back of the gift card. Some gift cards never expire, but if they are not used within a year or so, the company will begin deducting a monthly fee until the balance is depleted. Let’s say you give someone a gift card. They put it away for safe keeping and forget about it. A year later they find it and want to use it. It may not be a full gift card, if you purchased one with these expiration fees. If you gave them a $25 gift card, and the company has started deducting $2 or more a month, it doesn’t take long for that card to be useless.

Whether you are shopping for yourself or someone else, ask for the return policies before you pay for merchandise, and read the fine print on the gift card before you purchase it. That little bit of research will save both money and frustration.

Where Can You Go to See Holiday Lights?

It’s the most wonderful time of the year to see pretty lights everywhere we go. And, it’s not uncommon for people to flock to certain neighborhood that go all out to put on a show for the public. Where can you go to see these holiday spectacles? Here are some links that give you the best places to view the glitz and glimmer of holidays lights this year.



Christmas Lights and Holiday Lights Trails

Light displays and tours in: Cleburne, Grand Prairie, Highland Park, Frisco, Denison, Plano, Farmer’s Branch, Dallas, Arlington, Corinth, The Colony, Allen and more.


Best Neighborhoods for Christmas Lights

This list is compiled by moms and covers neighborhoods in various parts of the Metroplex.


DFW Holiday Lights Displays

The list includes Neighborhoods, events, light trails and more.


Fun Christmas Activities in Dallas/Fort Worth

Find pages of information on lights and activities to keep you in the spirit this holiday season.


Lone Star Christmas at Gaylord Texan Resort

Gaylord Texan’s annual holiday events are back. The ICE!™ attraction — carved from 2 million pounds of ice — will for the first time showcase A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles Schulz! Additionally, Lone Star Christmas at Gaylord Texan will provide a winter wonderland including 1.5 million holiday lights, real snow, a 52-foot rotating Christmas tree, a life-sized Gingerbread House, 12,000 ornaments, and Santa Claus himself, just to name a few.


If you think your neighborhood deserves a mention, comment on this blog post and tell our readers how to find your holiday lights. Happy Holidays!

Fun & Easy Ways to Help Your Family Set Goals For the New Year

(reprinted with permission from togetherparenting.com)

Here’s something for January besides the usual diet promises. The start of the calendar year is a wonderful time to celebrate life and new beginnings. It is no wonder so many of us choose this time to set goals for ourselves. Most of us define goals as objectives that are within our control to obtain. Wishes, on the other hand, are our hopes and our dreams. It might seem impractical, but we still throw pennies into fountains and long for our wishes to come true. Here, we offer a different take on the standard New Year’s resolutions. Introduce your family to goal setting in a fun, child-friendly way. 

Begin at dinner by discussing your own wishes and asking other family members to do the same. Give everyone a day or two to organize their thoughts, then gather in the room where your family feels most comfortable and begin to write. Let each person write as much (or as little) as they want. Leave a piece of paper on the breakfast table or in the car in case someone is suddenly inspired. Remember that dreams are very personal. Encourage everyone to share ideas without adding the slightest criticism or suggestion. Let your enthusiasm motivate you. By writing and sharing your dreams you make them real. Often, the greatest reward is not the destination but the journey itself. This New Year commit to building your own family traditions.

Here, we offer a child-friendly way to help families visualize their goals.

The Wishing Tree
The wishing tree visually proclaims your hopes for the future. Have family members inscribe thoughts on colorful ribbons. Tie the ribbons to a barren winter tree. Listen to them whisper their messages as they flutter in the wind. 

Directions
You will need:
8 x 11-inch colored card stock
A hole punch
String
Scissors

1. Let each person choose a different color of bright card stock. The sheets should be 8 x 11-inches. You will need several sheets of each color. 
2. Cut strips 2-inches wide by 8-inches long. Using a hole punch, make a hole at the top of each strip. 
3. Cut a 10-inch length of string for each colored tag. To make a loop, thread one end of the string through the hole and tie a knot. 
4. Have each family member write their wishes on the tags. 
5. Hang the wishes over the branches of a designated tree and announce your dreams to the world.


Happy New Year from Neighborhood Credit Union. May all your dreams come true this year!






About the Author: Rondi Hillstrom Davis is the co-author of the award-winning book Together: Creating Family Traditions. To check out her website that's jam packed with family ideas, visit http://www.togetherparenting.com

Fight Germs in Unsuspecting Places

We’re approaching cold and flu season and germs will be on the rise. You can’t avoid them, because they’re everywhere, but you can avoid spreading them if you can figure out where they love to congregate. We know about door handles, faucets and bathrooms, but here are some of the places we might not think about.

Buffet Serving Spoons/Tongs

We’re cognizant of the shield that keeps us from breathing or spitting on food at a buffet, but what about the hundreds of people who have touched the spoons and tongs? Before you reach for your own utensils back at the table, reach for some anti-bacterial hand gel or disinfecting wet wipes to clean your hands.

Grocery Carts and Credit Card Machines

There’s a reason most grocery stores have disinfecting wipes at the entrance. They know how many people handle grocery carts on a regular basis. Any one of those people could have sneezed or coughed or even touched raw meat while the cart was in their possession. Use those wipes to clean the cart handles and seat carefully. After swiping your card and touching the keyboard at the check out (or touching the screen at a self checkout), wash your hands with soap or anti-bacterial hand gel.

Airplane Seat Backs

Do you ever touch the seats as you make your way down the aisle to your own seat? So does everyone else. Try not to touch the seats. If you do, wash your hands with warm soapy water or use an alcohol-based hand cleaner. You might also try to wipe your own seat before you sit down.

Your Computer

Every time you touch something, you’re picking up new germs. Those germs are easily transferred to your keyboard and can even be transferred to your monitor if someone coughs or sneezes around you, and then you cough or sneeze on your monitor. Disinfect your workspace with disinfecting wipes or alcohol-based wipes made for electronics.

Cell Phones and Remote Controls

Cell phones come in contact with everything, everywhere you go. Remote controls are handled by everyone in your house, and in some cases, people in your office building or school. Wipe them down at least once a day with something alcohol-based that is safe for electronics.

Your Washing Machine

Washing your clothes is supposed to get rid of germs and bacteria, right? Only if you wash them in warm enough water. The truth is that washing machines are breeding grounds for bacteria. Wash everything in water that is hotter than 60 degrees Fahrenheit and dry them immediately. Leaving damp clothes in the washing machine can cause germ build-up on your clothes. Bleach also kills germs.

The best way to protect yourself from germs is to wash your hands often with warm soap and water and supplement washings with anti-bacterial hand gel. Also, be more aware of the things you touch and clean them with something that contains bleach or alcohol whenever possible. Finally, if you do get sick, stay home where your germs are contained. That helps cold and flu season end faster.

Give a Gift They Won’t Return

There’s a lot of pressure on us during the holiday season to buy the perfect gift for everyone on our list. Sometimes that’s easier said than done. As we get older and don’t seem to need as much, gift giving becomes an exercise in creativity.

What do you get for the person who has everything? How about giving them something personalized with a photo or a monogram? Nowadays, you can have a photo put on just about anything – blankets, pillows, watches, ties, plates, cups and more. Here are some ideas for personalizing your gifts, along with several reputable online merchants who make it affordable.

Snapfish

Put anybody’s picture on just about any item you can imagine. It runs the gamut from kitchenware, to mousepads, clocks, desk accessories, Christmas ornaments, blankets, clothing and even cell phone skins.  You can also personalize note pads, cards, calendars and Christmas cards.

Artscow

This may be the most comprehensive photo gift site on the Web, and it’s super cheap, because you get dozens of free credits just by registering on the site. Free credits means you only pay shipping. That could literally save hundreds of dollars on holiday shopping.

Artscow will put a picture on just about anything: purses, umbrellas, playing cards, golf accessories, backpacks, camera cases, jigsaw puzzles, earrings, watches, necklaces, key chains, letter openers, bookmarks, ornaments, memory cards, flash drives, etc. You can also make photo books and calendars and have photos printed cheaply.

Personal Creations

This site will put anybody’s name on just about anything, and this is more like a gift shop than a photo site. Shop by recipient, holiday, gender or occasion. There is literally a gift for everyone at personal creations. Personalize toys, home décor, books, furniture, tools and gadgets, drinking glasses, candy jars, Christening gifts, wedding gifts and so much more. Sign up for e-mails and receive discounts of 30 percent or more fairly regularly. There are some very classy items on this site that look much more expensive than what you’ll actually pay. Each order has a one-time, $3 personalization fee.

Personalizaton Mall

This site is very similar to Personal Creations, but there is very little overlap in merchandise. If you can’t find something on one, you may find it on the other. There are at least two things that set this site apart from the other. First, there’s tab called “Today’s Hot Deal”. Second, Personalization Mall has customer reviews on its products. The daily deal might just be where you find gifts for teachers and co-workers this year.


A customized gift isn’t just personal. It’s something most people will keep for a very long. And, it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Just note one thing. Personalization takes a few extra days. You want to start shopping now to beat the holiday rush.