What Everyone Should Know About Credit Unions

Credit Union Benefits

There are many benefits to using a credit union instead of a traditional bank. Here are some of the best benefits credit unions offer.

• Credit unions are not-for-profit cooperatives that exist solely to provide financial services to their members, and anyone can find one that he or she is eligible to join. 
• Unlike banks, it’s the members, not corporate shareholders, who own the credit unions.
• When you use a credit union, the money you deposit stays in the community. Your dollar can become someone’s college degree or a loan for a family’s first home. These local reinvestments are the seeds that keep communities growing.
• Many credit unions offer financial literacy classes to help members make more informed financial decisions.
• All the profit that credit unions bring in goes back to members in the form of dividends, rebates and lowered interest rates

Learn more about credit unions at “Make Your Money Matter” (www.makeyourmoneymatter.org) a grassroots campaign introduced by eight credit unions from across the country and PSCU that aims to educate a new generation of consumers about the wealth of benefits credit unions provide over big banks.

“The impetus for this joint campaign came from the fact that credit unions offer all the products and conveniences you’d expect from a big bank, but unlike those big banks, credit unions are built around strengthening communities by providing low-interest loans and giving all their profit back to members, truly ‘making your money matter,’” said Fredda McDonald, Executive Vice President, PSCU, a leading provider of traditional and online financial services to credit unions. “With membership, the money you deposit stays in the community – your dollar could become somebody’s college degree or a loan for a family’s first home – and it’s these types of reinvestments that draw local-minded consumers intent on consumption that keeps communities growing.”

 

"This post is sponsored by Make Your Money Matter, in association with PSCU, though all views expressed are my own."

Win a $50 Safeway gift card and Learn about Safeway Gas Rewards now available at Chevron

Safeway has had a gas reward program for a long time, but until recently you could only use those rewards at Safeway gas stations. To be able to earn gas rewards you need to sign up for their club card. You can get one of these cards at Safeway. This is not a credit card. Once you have your club card register it online. Once your card is registered use it every time you shop at Safeway. Each dollar you spend at Safeway gets you one reward point. 100 reward points gets you .10 off per gallon on your next gas purchase. Now you can redeem your gas savings at the Safeway gas stations and at Chevron. If you save up your points then you can get up to a $1 off per gallon.

I use my card so I can earn gas savings, but I also you it because you can load electronic coupons to it. Each week Safeway offers you Just for U coupons, plus all the manufacturers coupons that are available. You just select the ones you want and load them to your card. You can load coupons to your card online or by using their app. I personally use the app.


These are pictures of my last shopping trip. I spent $109 and earned .20 off per gallon. Between the store's weekly deals and the electronic coupons I save $45 - $55.

Win a $50 Safeway Gift Card

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Reducing Our Carbon FootPrint #EverydayEffect

Have you done anything lately to reduce your carbon footprint?

We've been back in Oregon for over a year and like any true Oregonian would, I decided to try and reduce our home's carbon footprint. I decided this because of our rising utility bills, it's the right thing to do, and it didn't hurt that P& G and SheSpeaks ask me to participate in they're sponsored #EverydayEffect campaign.

Save Money on your Utility Bills

So far our electric bill has dropped $60! Here are some of the things we've been doing.

• Turning off the lights in rooms we are not in.
• Unplugging the coffee pot when it is not in use
•  

Our gas bill has dropped $80

• Wearing warmer clothes instead of turning up the temperature in the house.
• Turning our fireplace off and shutting off the gas valve
• Replacing our old thermostat for a new efficient one

Win a Washing Machine

enter the P&G #EverydayEffect Pinterest Giveaway by filling out the form here: on.fb.me/ZMyucH

7 Money Saving Travel Websites

There are loads of money saving travel websites to choose from. I utilized an assortment of websites to get the best travel deals I can find.  Here is a list of my 7 favorite travel discount sites right now.

 CheapOair is one a use a lot to find the cheapest airfare.  Through this site I was able to get 4 round trip tickets from Vegas to Honduras last minute under $2200.  I think that is pretty good!


 Travelocity makes it easy to compare airfares. You can also set up fare watchers.

Priceline has been one of my favorite sites for a long time.  I have been successful bidding on several occasions and felt like I saved a lot of money.

 Flight Network runs some pretty good deals at times.  So, they are always worth checking out. You never know when their deal might be to your city.

HipMunk is a newer website that I've been using a lot to check airfare prices. I love the way they display the choices.

Travelzoo has deals on everything involving a vacation: lodging, airfare, activities, and more. I'm always booking something through them.

Hotel Tonight is a new travel app that can save you a load on hotels.  They release a list of available hotels at noon each day. If you can tolerate not booking a hotel until the last minute, then this site will save you large amounts of money.

Restaurant savings

When we travel we try to save money on eating since there are five of us and that can quickly become our biggest expense if we are not careful. I use various websites to save money.

1. Restaurants.com - I use this website constantly. On this website you can search by zip code for $25 certificates to restaurants. I only buy if I have a discount code. Normally you would have to pay $10 for a certificate, but often times with a discount code I can get it for only $2.

2. Groupon.com - I am fairly new to this site, because they only offer good deals in big cities. Often times it is for other stuff, not restaurants. About once a week they offer a good deal on dining so it is worth checking out if you live in an area they offer services in.

3. LivingSocial's Daily Deals - This is the same idea as groupon. It is only available in most cities, including European cities. They offer an array of deals, many of which are restaurants.


4. Entertainment book - They have these in all kinds of cities and there are always a lot of restaurant coupons.