Presenting, Erica!

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome aboard!  If you’ll please take your seat, close all overhead compartments, fasten your seat belt, and turn your attention to the front of the … just kidding!  We are dedicating this blog to our lovely Member Services Representative, Erica, who before her time at SCFCU, dreamt of being a flight attendant.

We've been lucky enough to claim Erica as one of our own for almost 10 years! Erica was an employee with us for about 5 years in our St. Cloud office prior to leaving to do daycare and spend time with her children.  She came back in 2007, and we couldn't be happier to have her! Now you can find Erica’s smiling face at our Sartell location.  Erica says her favorite thing about working at St. Cloud Federal CreditUnion is her fun co-workers – we think she’s pretty fun to have around too!

When she’s not helping our Members, Erica likes to go camping and spend time with her family and friends.  If she could spend her vacation time anywhere, she’d take off to Hawaii – and we’re betting it’s because of the warm weather; Erica’s favorite season is spring because it means winter is over!  Math was Erica’s favorite subject in school, and if she could spend time learning any language she’d choose Spanish.  Her favorite color is red, Christmas is her favorite holiday, and when it aired, Friends was her favorite TV show.

What you might not know about Erica is that she can do the splits. Its true folks, we've seen her do it – don’t believe us? Click here to see for yourself!

Erica’s bubbly, positive personality is always a joy to have around and our Members are always glad to see her in the Sartell lobby or drive-up.  We’re so happy you’re part of our team, Erica – thanks for all your work!

Spring Cleaning = Spring Saving

In the spirit of today being the first day of Spring (we know, it hardly feels like it) – we thought we’d blog accordingly!  Below is a list of 7 places to check for Spring savings when Spring cleaning …

1. Light bulbs
When you’re cleaning and dusting off those light fixtures, why not dust the light bulbs too?  A clean light bulb will give off more light, giving you more ‘bang for your buck’.  If you have to replace any bulbs, consider doing so with energy efficient ones. 

2. Fridge
When you’re throwing out moldy, stinky, rotten food and scrubbing the grime off the shelves, take a look at your temperature dial; is it set colder than it needs to be? Is something blocking it from getting an accurate read?  If you see fit, adjust the temperature so the fridge is kept at suitable setting.  Also, take the extra time to pull the fridge away from the wall and dust off the back coils – this helps the fridge run more efficiently and with less energy (which = less money spent).

3. Filters
Although it is hard for many of us Minnesotans to imagine turning on the Air Conditioner, during your spring cleaning, check out the AC filter.  If necessary, toss the old one and install a new one – an old, beat up, unclean filter makes your AC do more work than necessary, and a new one can save you anywhere from 5% to 15% on yourbill. A good rule of thumb is to change your air filter 2-4 times a year.

4. Dishwasher
For many of us, the Spring Cleaning list doesn't include our dishwasher, but we suggest adding it! Bottom line: a clean dishwasher uses less water.  How? During rinse and wash cycles, many dishwashers will overcompensate for the dirty area surrounding your dirty dishes.  First, clean your dishwasher (door, shelves, racks, etc.) with warm vinegar water and then run a wash cycle with lemonade powder as the soap.   Last, clean the seal around the door – this way your dishwasher won’t pump out extra heat due to leaks. Voila! 

5. Dryer
The dryer is pretty basic, and keeping lint filters clean seems like common sense, we know.  This Spring, also remember to have your dryer ducts clean and like the fridge, clean behind your dryer to keep things running efficiently.  If you’re really looking to save – boycott the dryer all together on warm, sunny days and use a clothesline!

6. Roof
When you’re cleaning all the leaves out of your gutters, take a second to check at the ventilation in your attic.  Clean ventilation can help reduce the build up of heat (which means less cost on running the AC) and is also better for the life of your shingles.

7. Sliding Doors
Hopefully we’ll be using these soon to step on the back patio, but in the mean time - keep the sliding track clean.  Dust and dirt can build up over the winter months and loosen the seal – clearing that out can assure you that your air conditioner isn't doing more work than it has to. 

We know that Spring Cleaning is hardly exciting for most of us, but our financial fitness goals seem to be applicable to all areas of life: the good, the bad, the clean, and the dirty. Happy Spring and Happy Cleaning!


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Six Tricks to Play it Safe

At St. Cloud Federal Credit Union the safety of our Members and our community is extremely important to us.  When online, always take extra caution, especially when providing vulnerable information, like card numbers, full names, addresses etc. (most often needed for online shopping).  Here are six tricks to play it safe online …

1. If it doesn’t look ‘legit’, it’s not -

Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether a particular website is legitimate or not, but if you’re questioning it – it’s better to err on the side of caution.  If you’re not sure, look for some ‘red flags’ like automatic pop-up windows, a strange address, or amateur design and layout.  If any of these occur – do yourself and your computer a favor, and exit the site!

2. Look for the ‘S’ -

Credit.com and Identity Theft 911 founder, Adam Levin, recommends you look for the ‘S’ in the “https” portion of the web address.  Not that all http addresses are bad news, but the ‘S’ stands for “secure”; better safe than sorry! 

3. Keep it Current -

Always update your anti-virus software when necessary! This is an extra shield for when you’re scouting out good deals and perusing the web. This also applies to your cell phone lock codes and passwords. 
Public Wi-Fi is great, but you never know who else is
 using it, and for not-so-good reasons.

4. Passwords are Key –

Don’t be afraid to change your passwords regularly (as long as you’ve got a method of remembering them) so that your accounts aren't easily accessible to outside sources.  Don’t stick to simple passwords or use any sort of private information within them.  Some methods we suggest are using both uppercase and lowercase letters, adding numbers and symbols, and avoid using full or popular words.

5. Use ID Theft Protection –

There are many services offered with various accounts (some for free!) that can help you protect your money and your identity.  Many experts suggest using a credit card or pay card because it tends to be easier to see and trace ‘erroneous charges’.  Keep an eye on your statements and don’t overlook anything that’s questionable.

6. Be Social Media Safe –

Just like cycling through passwords can keep accounts fresh and safe, so can avoiding questionable contacts.  If a Facebook post or Tweet looks fishy and out of the ordinary for a friend or business – avoid it.  We’re not saying you have to ‘unfriend’ or ‘unfollow’ that person or brand, but be aware that hackers can send things attempting to look as legitimate as possible. “BitDefender recommends treating messages from strangers as spam – just ignore them” (MSN Money).  Be as social as you want, but be safe while doing it!

Because we know time spent ‘surfing the web’ is always increasing, we always encourage awareness and safety on the internet. We are #PeopleHelpingPeople.


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Meet Jessi

If you've been in the Lobby or Drive-Up of our St. Cloud location in the last 8+ years, chances are you've done a transaction or two with our very own Jessi. Isn't she great?  We wanted to take a moment (or in this case, a blog post) to allow you to get to know Jessi beyond her big smile and warm personality at the teller line.

Jessi has been an employee of St. Cloud Federal Credit Union for 8 ½ years and is happily working as a Senior Teller.  Her favorite part about working at SCFCU is getting to know our Members, whom she is committed to assuring are pleased with their visit.  Before life at the Credit Union, Jessi’s dream job was being the Head of Security for a Las Vegas Casino… we agree, she’s far too nice for that!

In her free time, you’ll often find Jessi at the gym, reading (whatever she can get her hands on), or browsing Pinterest.  Her favorite color is red, and she listens to almost any sort of music, but country, rock, and pop in particular.  Jessi’s favorite subject in school was History & Geography.  Being a history buff, it’s no wonder that Jessi’s favorite Holiday is the 4^th of July!  If she could travel anywhere for a week, she’d hop a plane to Italy, and probably in the summer months – since that is her favorite season.

If you haven’t seen Jessi running a local marathon, we’ll let you in on a secret- she’s a fitness guru!  If given the chance to spend time with any celebrity for a day, she'd choose Bob Harper, a trainer on reality TV show The Biggest Loser – talk about a workout!  If she could, Jessi would also like to be on game show The Amazing Race; we think she’d be perfect.

Jessi is a wonderful, bright, friendly employee here at SCFCU and we know we’re so lucky to have her.  Thanks for all you do for us and our Members, Jessi!

   

Bill Who? Bill What? BILL PAYER!

With St. Cloud Federal Credit Union, you have the opportunity to use our Bill Payer service, free of charge.  What is Bill Payer, you may ask?

Bill Payer is a safe and secure way to pay your bills online through your checking account at SCFCU.  It’s a great alternative to writing checks or logging onto several individual websites to pay your bills.

Bill Payer is easily accessible through our Online Banking section of our website.  Bill Payer allows you to designate several different ‘payees’; anything from heating and electric, to cable, to your daycare provider.  Most ‘common’ payees (which is about 85% of all payments) will be sent electronically, the other roughly 15% are sent out by check.  Depending on how your payment is sent, Bill Payer only needs a 3 to 6 day lead period to guarantee your payments arrive on time – which can help you avoid late fees!

When you use Bill Payer, your payment history is stored for approximately 18 months, allowing you to review your payments as needed.  Bill Payer also has a built-in security feature that sends you an email alert any time a new payee is created, when a payment is added, or when a payment is deleted – so you’re in the loop of everything that’s going on in your Bill Payer.

Member’s who have tried Bill Payer tell us all the time how much they love it, and that they can’t imagine going back and paying their bills any other way.

If you’re already using Bill Payer, check out our March promotion by clicking here. If you’d like to learn more about using Bill Payer or want to sign up – call or stop by, we’re happy to walk you through it and help get you started! Get #FinanciallyFit and take the stress out of paying bills!

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Reward Yourself!

Are you tired of driving around, wasting all that gas looking for just the right ATM so you don’t get charged those pesky fees? Sorry, we don’t know the feeling.  Why?  Reward Checking, of course!

When you use SCFCU Reward Checking, we reimburse your national ATM fees (up to $25) each month.  By enrolling in Reward Checking, not only will you get those darn fees back monthly, you will also automatically have our 24/7 Fraud Detection benefit with Triple-Bureau Credit Monitoring, as well as Fraud & I.D. Theft Recovery.

If you are interested in Reward Checking, call or stop by! We’re always here to help in any way we can.  For a full list of rewards and details,  click here.  Work toward Financial Fitness today... Reward yourself!

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America Saves Week: Money is like Cake ...

Money is like a cake. When you get that delicious dessert, it can be tempting to eat it all at once. But if you do, you’ll end up with a stomachache, that sugarcoated feeling on your teeth, and perhaps most importantly – no cake for later.  Similarly, if you spend all of your money, you’ll probably end up regretting your splurges – and wishing you had some funds sitting in the bank.

Often, savings strategies are obvious – you set a big piece of cake aside, and it’s there waiting for you. But sometimes, it’s the little things that make that cake disappear.  The following list features both kinds of savings strategies – big ones that work all at once, and little ones that add up over time. All of them can be put into action during America Saves Week, and every single one ensures that you can have your cake and eat it too.

1. Track Your Spending, and Make a Budget
Understanding where your money is going is the best way to start saving, which is why your first step is to make a budget. It might be that, once you make your budget and realize how much you’re spending in certain categories, you can immediately save $100 by making little trims here and there.

2. Negotiate Your Bills
Checking for over-servicing isn’t the only way to lower your regular bills. If you’re not paying a promotional rate for services like cable and Internet, you’re paying too much. Call your service provider, and ask if there is any way you can lower your bill. If they don’t automatically say yes, suggest that you’re going to find another provider. Be patient, nice, and firm, and you can get a better rate.

3. Vow to Reuse, Repair, and Repurpose Instead of Buying New
Every time you think about buying something new, ask yourself – do you really need it, or can you make do with something you already have or that you can borrow from a friend?

4. Get to Know Your Credit Card
Visit your credit card company’s website and read the fine print. Many credit cards offer free benefits that are not well publicized. These benefits may include extended warranties, free tickets, price drop protection, extra discounts, concierge services, and cash giveaways. Of course, you should not use a credit card at all if you carry a balance every month. If you can’t control your spending, consider switching over to a cash-only system.

5. Clean Out Your Pantry
Empty your cupboards, see what you have, and plan meals around the ingredients you want to use up. You’ll slash your next grocery bill, and you’ll help ensure that food doesn’t go stale.

6. Create a “Cheap Fun Club” With Friends
If you’re trying to save money, it can be disheartening when friends invite you to things that you don’t want to spend money on. Instead, be proactive, and invite your friends to share in frugal activities with you, such as potlucks, watching movies at home, and board game nights.

7. Sell Your Stuff
Taking the time to declutter your house and sell your extra stuff has multiple benefits. Not only can you make money getting rid of your old items, but you might also discover other useful things you had forgotten about.


How are you planning to save money for America Saves Week? For more information, visit http://www.americasaves.org/

#PeopleHelpingPeople