Pay off your holiday debt AND save money doing it!

Cleaning up your debt from the holidays quickly will put you in a much better financial position for the rest of the year, and having a low interest rate will give you the opportunity to pay it off much faster.  There are lots of credit card offers out there, and it can all seem very confusing.  So how should you tackle it?

First, check with the credit cards you use to see if they are offering any specials.  Many places run balance transfer special periodically.  A couple important things to find out are, what is the special rate, how long is that rate in effect, will the rate go up if I make a payment late one month, what will my rate be if I still have a balance remaining after the special rate has expired, is there a maximum amount I can transfer, and is there a fee to do a balance transfer (if so, find out how much).  Next, compare your offers to see which one is best for you.

  

Now that you have found the right offer, gather all your credit card statements, and see which cards you are paying the highest interest on.  If you’re not sure which ones to move, call one of our friendly loan officers and make an appointment to go through your statements and find the best plan to get your credit card debt paid up.  You will be amazed at how much money you will save!

 

While you are comparing offers, make sure you check with us for more details on our special!  We are offering 0% APY*until 12/31/2015, but you have to do the balance transfer between 1/1/2015 and 2/28/2015 in order to take advantage of this great offer.  One biggie is that there is NO TRANSFER FEE!  That can be hard to find!  Don’t worry if you don’t have our VISA credit card yet, it’s easy to apply online at www.horizonccu.com and we can have an answer for you in a jiffy.

Whether you go with our offer or another, the important thing is to get your debt paid down and pay as little in interest as possible.  At HCCU we want to help you do that, so if you need some help or guidance, come talk to us!  Remember, success is on YOUR horizon…

*Offer valid on transfer done by a HCCU employee between 1/1/15 and 2/28/15.  APR is Annual Percentage Rate.  Balance transfer at special rate of 0%APR applies to HCCU VISA Classic, Platinum, and Home Equity Cards.  Special Rate does NOT apply to cash advances or convenience checks.  Rate is subject to change on 12/31/2015.  See a member service representative for credit card account details and disclosures.

Post by: Cari J

The 52 Week Savings Challenge!

So, it’s the time of year where we are all about spending money, whether it’s for gifts, visits to family, donations to charity, or for the fantastic meals that you’ve been dreaming about all year. It seems that everything around you is telling you to buy, buy, buy, so it may seem like a weird time to talk about saving your money, but we all have to start somewhere!

About a year ago, I found a cool savings challenge that I wanted to try. I’ve struggled for years to save enough money so that I would have a comfortable margin for error- if my car broke down, if an unexpected bill hit, etc- but nothing seemed to motivate me enough to actually start saving. Sure, when the problem was right in front of me, I would say that tomorrow I would start, but tomorrow is always just a little too late to help. The challenge I found seemed relatively easy, and since it was basically a competition, I was going to WIN.

For each week of the year, you put aside another dollar. So, the first week is one dollar, the second is two dollars, the third is three, etc. The most you ever have to do is $52, and that’s at the end of the challenge. By then, you’ve seen your money growing, and feel a sense of real pride. At the end of the year, you have an additional $1378!

If you started the challenge right now, this week, you would have enough saved next year to have a spectacular Christmas season, or perhaps something put aside to start paying for that new car, because the old one just keeps breaking. It’s also rather convenient to have a small fund to “borrow” from, something I’ve done at least three times this year. If I hadn’t been challenging myself, I wouldn’t have had enough to get my car repaired when the brakes went out, I wouldn’t have been able to purchase a new laptop when the old one refused to turn back on, and I wouldn’t have been able to pay my rent one month when the money from a paycheck was going to be a week later than I had anticipated.

And because I’m addicted to a challenge, I have two going on at the same time, about two months apart. When this is all done, I’ll have almost $3000 saved in just over a year, and that’s something I haven’t ever done before. It’s enough to replace the car that keeps breaking, or take a little vacation, or perhaps to save for another rainy day. I do know that I’ll be doing this again next year, and maybe this time I’ll put it in an Add-On CD, so that I won’t be able to touch it unless there’s an emergency. Maybe that will encourage some better fiscal planning on my part. This challenge certainly has. 

Post by: Liz R

Emergency Savings

What Is An Emergency Fund?

An emergency fund is money that you’ve saved up for the purpose of helping you maintain your normal life through the emergencies that life hands you.

When is it okay to use it?

• When you lose your job
• When an appliance breaks down
• Medical emergency 
• When a car needs repairs

When is it NOT okay to use it?

• Going on a shopping spree
• Buying a new TV
• Going on vacation
• Buying a new car

How to start up an Emergency Fund…

A common mistake made by many who plan to start an emergency fund is that they set their goal too high and often get discouraged when they realize that it will take longer than they expected to reach it.

Set your initial goal low!
Set a goal that you would be able to reach in just a few months rather than a few years. Take into consideration your financial situation and determine how much you can afford to put into your emergency fund each week. Anything is better than nothing at all; the important thing is to get started today!  

Where to save your emergency fund?
After you decide what amount you want to start off with, think about where you want to keep your money. Since it is an emergency fund it would be smart to keep it somewhere where you can get access to it easily. We can help! You can open up a savings account, money market account or short-term certificates here at Horizon Community Credit Union. Any of these accounts will give you easy access to your money, while earning you some interest!

How often should you deposit money into your emergency fund?
When deciding how much to start putting into your savings fund, try to make sure you are able to deposit that amount weekly. For example, $40 a week would get you to $500 in three months! It doesn’t have to be $40 a week though; it can be what you can afford and make sure it challenges you a bit, just not something impossible.

Don’t have the time to stop in every week?
Sometimes life gets a little busy and you may not find the time to be stopping by every week to deposit your weekly addition to your emergency fund. It happens to all of us! Something that Horizon Community Credit Union offers that you could find useful would be reoccurring transfers. When you open up an account you can set a reoccurring transfer to transfer your specific amount every week without you having to worry about stopping in! And when you reach your goal you can choose to stop the reoccurring transfer.  Or if you are feeling ambitious you could set a higher goal and continue putting money into your emergency fund!

How to keep track of your emergency fund?
You can use our online banking and keep track of how much your emergency fund is growing! It’s fast and easy and you can use it on your computer at home or on the go with your phone!

Saving money shouldn’t be as hard as it seems. With the help of the accounts and services Horizon Community Credit Union offers it is convenient, reliable and safe! 

Post by: Karla C.