Credit Cards

World Champions. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? It was World Series Championship #11 in 2011 for the St. Louis Cardinals back in October when the home team capped off an improbable two months of baseball with a seven-game title-taking Series win over the favored Texas Rangers. Will it be #12 in 2012?

You could be front and center for the home opener Friday, April 13, when the Cardinals take on the rival Chicago Cubs. Can you say hot ticket?

Everyone’s looking to save money. That’s what you were doing when you looked to refinance your home. There were literally hundreds of dollars in savings per month with a new, lower mortgage rate. Trouble was, you weren’t sure your present financial status would look good to the lender, so you fudged a few items on your application. You stated your income was higher than it really was, and you didn’t disclose some of your debts. No biggie, right? Wrong. What you did was illegal.

It may surprise you to know that some seemingly innocent practices involving money can be illegal. Let’s take a look at a few so you don’t find yourself on the wrong side of the law.

10:00 a.m. Here come the stomach growls, time for a mid-morning snack.

Today it’s a bag of chips and a diet soda. Total cost: $1.75. That won’t break the bank … but how about your budget? Have you ever thought about how all those easily forgettable little expenses can add up? Let’s take a look at just a few you may view as trivial at the time of purchase. You’ll soon see they add up to very real amounts over the course of a year.

Sleigh bells ring, are ya listening? Well, let’s hope you’re listening or you just might find yourself as a hood ornament on that sleigh.

Yes, you need to consider safety even around the holidays, maybe even more so as many people’s minds are filled with more sugarplums than common sense. To keep the “happy” in “Happy Holidays,” be sure you keep your thoughts on the safety of you and your family. Here are some things to consider.

Remember last year when you were looking for the perfect holiday gift for your niece, the one who loves astronomy? You saw an ad that allowed you to name a star after her.  Far out … literally. The problem was, only the International Astronomical Union can officially name stars. The company you paid just chose a random star, named it Kourtney, and sent you a bogus certificate of registry. YOU could have done that yourself … for free.

The point is, you should always be on the lookout for scams, but it’s especially important around the holidays. With our giving mindsets, we are more prone to falling for less-than-truthful claims or deals. And it’s even more difficult to pick up on a “scam” when the set-up is perfectly legal. Ugh. We know, right?

With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few areas that are perfectly legal, but may prey just a bit on our trusting natures.

Your brain is full of spiders, you’ve got garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch!
I wouldn’t touch you with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole!

If only that 39-and-a-half-foot-pole attitude applied to holiday debt!

The holidays are usually a happy time with festive gatherings and joyful giving, but there lurks just under all that holiday cheer a Grinchy beginning to the new year…holiday debt. Many times credit cards are involved; we use them for all those gift purchases, which can cause us to stretch our budgets to dangerous levels. Money is spent that we don’t really have all in the name of an intoxicating spirit of holiday giving.

Now don’t get us wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using credit cards for holiday purchases. There are advantages to using plastic. The problem comes when we use funds we don’t have and spend too much of the following year paying off all our holiday generosity. Not good. Like many things in life, using credit cards presents both advantages and disadvantages.

As a financial institution, we usually preach the practical side of money, which often manifests itself as save, save, save! BUT, there are times when spending makes sense. With the holidays approaching, we’ll all be out there spending, trying to make this holiday season the best ever … on a budget. So finding good deals on what we buy is a smart idea. With that in mind, the peeps at MSN Money have highlighted a few items that are often priced best in November. Let’s take a look …

So your checking account is at a bank—like the U.S. MegaBank of Wealthy Stockholders… That’s okay, we won’t hold it against you. But your bank keeps adding more drama (and cost) to your relationship with more fees. Again? Well, keeping their stockholders happy is job one. Unfortunately, keeping YOU happy is job two … maybe even three or four. Don’t keep playing second fiddle to those huge entities out there in financial space. Break up with your bank! That’s right, cut the ties. Ditch the deviance. Move on to someone who will appreciate you and treat you with respect. And hey, we know just the credit union!

So maybe we’re a little impartial when it comes to places that offer financial services. O.K., we’re intensely impartial. We’re down with credit unions, all credit unions. We’re a pretty unique bunch of financial institutions, we are. But when people talk about credit unions as alternatives to banks, many times there are questions, which is good; you want to be as informed as possible when it comes to something as important as your money. So to put minds at ease, let’s take a look at some of the concerns involving credit unions.

Transition time! Baseball to football. T-shirt to sweatshirt. Dew on the lawn to frost on the roof. Are you ready for the big transition? How about your house? There are a number of things you can do to prepare your home for the unforgiving nature of a bold winter, both inside and outside. Here are some things to consider from our friends at genxfinance.com. Let’s start with outside your home: