Back-to-School Shopping Hacks
It's time for back-to-school shopping! If your wallet just screamed, don?t worry! Save big by using loss leaders, stocking up, and applying manufacturer coupons. Plan multiple shopping trips for the best prices, sign up for promotional emails (and join Ebates!), and use the Amazon app to price-match. Shop early in the week, and learn to decode price tags to ensure you?re getting the best deals. Collaborate with other parents and teach your kids financial lessons while shopping. You?ll have them ready for school in no time!
Q&A: What is a Certificate of Deposit?
If you?re looking for higher interest in an investment that?s still secure, a Share Certificate of Deposit (CD) might be the right pick. Basically, you deposit a certain amount of money for a fixed amount of time in exchange for higher interest than savings or money market accounts. There are penalties for early withdrawal, so be sure to only use money you can afford to have locked away for a while. CDs are guaranteed just like other credit union accounts, so you?ll get good returns without the risk of stocks. Pick a term you?re comfortable with, an amount you can handle having locked away for that term, and shop around for the best rate. You?re on your way!
Q&A: Should I Buy GAP Insurance And an Extended Warranty?
If you own a car, you?ve likely been offered GAP insurance and an extended warranty on the vehicle. These both have advantages, and those are magnified if you buy them through your credit union, where you?ll get better service, flexible plans and transparency. GAP insurance steps in if your car is wrecked or stolen and declared totaled, and the insurance settlement is less than the loan value. Extended warranties are exactly what they sound like: coverage for repairs once your original vehicle warranty has run out. With cars being major investments these days, both make sense to have! Talk to Garden Savings FCU about them today!
Don?t Get Hooked: How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams
Phishing, and its evil cousins smishing and vishing, are some of the most common and harmful #scams around. Their entire intent is to trick you out of your money, your personal information or both. It might be an email from your bank or credit union telling you to click a link, a text from a ?celebrity? telling you to click a link in the text or a simple phone call from someone claiming to be with your credit card?s security department needing your account number to check on fraudulent activity. The only way to stay clear of them is to always keep your guard up and be suspicious of any contact coming from an unknown source. Call and verify requests for info, hang up on calls demanding info or payment and delete texts imploring you to ?respond now!? Unfortunately, that?s the world we live in now.
