Credit myths dispelled in 60 seconds

Today, personal finance blog iwillteachyoutoberich.com featured a guest post and accompanying video by Andy Jolls that is definitely worth checking out. In the video, Jolls discusses some of the myths about credit. He touches on some topics we’ve mentioned here before - like getting your free annual credit report - but presents quite a bit of new material as well.

Read the entire post

Visit Andy’s website, videocreditscore.com

Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below!

FeedThePig.org wants to help you save money

Feedthepig.org is an interactive website complete with Flash animations, quizzes, tips, and other tools all designed to help you save money. Create an account, choose a set of spending habits you want to change, and find out how much you can save over time. Some cool features of the site include the ability to sync your Feed the Pig profile with your Facebook account, forums for discussing savings plans with other members, and the option to receive savings tips sent to you through email or text messages.

Do you have a Feed the Pig account? If so, leave a comment below and tell us what you think of the site!

TextbookRevolt can help you save money on textbooks

I recently read an article on CNET about TextbookRevolt and just had to mention it here. As most students are painfully aware, purchasing textbooks each semester can be a real strain on your checkbook. TextbookRevolt attempts to alleviate the pain of buying books by allowing registered users to swap textbooks with each other. Simply create an account, add the books that you’d like to give away, then browse the list of available free books for titles you need. The idea behind the site sounds promising, although I haven’t tried swapping books with anyone yet.

Have you used TextbookRevolt or another similar service to avoid costly trips to the bookstore? If so, share experience with other users by leaving a comment below!

Reduce Your Lighting Costs

This money-saving tip is provided by the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB)

Eleven percent of your household energy bill goes to lighting, according to the Department of Energy. One of the quickest ways to save is to switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Save Money With Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

A compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) can save you $40 or more in electricity costs over its lifetime. The bulbs use less energy than incandescent bulbs, produce the same light output, and last up to 10 times longer.

CFLs provide the greatest savings when they're used in fixtures that are turned on for more than 15 minutes at a time. They provide the least benefit if they're used in closets, for example.

The federal government's Energy Star guidelines suggest using CFLs in open fixtures that allow airflow. Good examples of uses are in table and floor lamps, hanging lamps, wall sconces, and outdoor fixtures.

CFLs do have a few limitations:

• They don't perform well at cold temperatures.
• If they're used in a fixture that vibrates, such as a ceiling fan, that may shorten their life.
• You'll need to buy specially-marked bulbs if you plan to use them outdoors, in closed fixtures, or with dimmer switches.
• Planning to try this tip? Join the national Energy Star Change a Light, Change the World CFL Challenge.

More ways to Save on Lighting

Here are some more ways you can reduce the energy you use on lighting:

1. Turn off lights when you leave the room.
2. Keep all lamps and fixtures clean.
3. Use task lighting (light for the specific task being done) instead of lighting the entire room.
4. Choose light colors for walls and ceilings. Light colors reflect light and reduce the need for artificial lighting.
5. Use floor lamps and hanging lamps near corners. The walls will reflect the light. Let the sun shine in! Open drapes and blinds on sunny, cool days. This reduces the need for extra lighting and warms the room in the winter.
6. Use one bulb to replace several. A 100W bulb is more efficient than two 50W bulbs. Plus you save on the cost of replacement bulbs.
7. Try 50W reflector bulbs in directional lamps (pole or spot lamps). These provide the same amount of light as a standard 100W bulb.

Do you have a savings tip you’d like to share? We would love to hear about it. Click here to submit yours now!

Understanding Your Credit Score

In the last post we talked about accessing your free annual credit report online. If you’ve taken the time to access your report, you may be wondering what the numbers in your credit report actually mean or how you can improve your score. We’ve put together links to three resources that will help make sense of the numbers and take steps toward making sure that your score is as high as it can be.

UTFCU’s Know Your FICO score handout
This document provides a quick overview of FICO score basics and helps answer questions such as: What will hurt my credit score? What does not affect my credit score? How can I improve my credit score? Where does my credit score come from?

Your Credit Report (balancepro.net)
This article provides some great background information on your credit score, credit report regulations, fixing errors, and how to fight identity theft.

Reading Your Credit Report (utfcu.org)
This article explains how to read a credit report and what types of information to expect in each of the different sections of the report. This article is part of a set of resources for parents on UTFCU’s new financial education page. Take a look at some of the other available resources by clicking here.

Do you have a financial education link or a money-saving tip you would like to share? If so, please leave a comment below!

How to get your free free annual credit report

As anyone who has applied for a credit card or any type of loan can tell you, your credit score plays a vital role in our financial life. It not only determines which loans you’ll be able to receive, but also what interest rates you’re going to pay. Put simply, the better your credit score is, the more money you’re going to save throughout the life of your loan. Before you can begin working on upping your credit score, you’ll need to know what you’ve got to work with. Luckily, you can access your credit report once each year for free from this website - https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Five Tips for the 12 Days of Christmas

Below is the entire article from the NEFE newsletter. Click here to learn more about NEFE or here to access more useful tips on finance and spending.

Many retailers are anticipating an off-year due to a “bah humbug” economy, yet spending this holiday season is still expected to average $1,100 per household¹.

If this amount was put on a credit card at 18 percent interest—and assuming only minimum payments at 2 percent were made—it would take more than seven years to pay off the balance.

“Considering the current economic climate, there is very little room right now for mistakes. Unfortunately for some, holiday spending will cause their financial security to backslide,” says Ted Beck, president and CEO of the National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®). “Don’t be afraid to say ‘no’ to gifts you truly cannot afford. Remember, the greatest gift you can give your family is financial stability.”

From gifts and parties to decorations and travel, there are numerous financial pressures associated with the holiday season. Consumers feel more pressure when giving in to enticing sales and impulse purchases of last-minute items. “It’s important to maintain perspective,” Beck says. “If you spend money you don’t have to ‘save’ on a sale, you really aren’t saving money at all.” NEFE offers these five tips to manage spending in the final two weeks of the holiday shopping season:

1. Make a budget and commit: List all of the gifts and decorations you plan to buy, the parties you will attend and the travel expenses you anticipate. Do not exceed your preset limits.
2. Make a gift list and check it twice: List all family members, friends and co-workers for whom you plan to make purchases. Be flexible in cutting the list to accommodate your budget if needed.
3. Comparison shop: Consider online shopping to get the best deals, but be sure to figure in shipping costs. Check sale ads regularly and be selective in your shopping. Once you have purchased a gift for someone, cross them off your list. Avoid adding last-minute impulse items just to make your gift seem more meaningful.
4. Make concessions: To maintain your budget, you may have to cut down your list of gift recipients. You also may have to be selective in what parties you will attend. Many people will add substantial costs with other activities, such as wrapping gifts and sending holiday cards. Avoid expensive wrapping and consider sending a letter rather than individual cards.
5. Best planning is to save: Although it’s late this year, remember, holiday spending is a recurring expense. You should establish a savings account that you regularly contribute to throughout the year. Ask your bank about setting up a designated account that money can be transferred to automatically.

Savings will help lessen your dependency on credit when the holidays roll around. But if you do turn to credit cards, be sure to use them responsibly. Designate one card to use when you go shopping and leave the others at home. Be sure to choose one with a low—preferably no—interest rate. Finally, keep track of all expenses and stay within a range that you can commit to paying off when the bill arrives in January. Remember, it does not matter what bargains you find while shopping if you end up paying interest on your purchases.

If money is tight this year and you already have made concessions in your budget, consider gift-giving alternatives. These may include homemade coupons good for child care or helping someone with household chores; giving a photograph of yourself and the recipient—something personal, meaningful, but inexpensive; or having a name drawing where family members choose one person whom they will buy for.

For more money saving and spending tips visit www.smartaboutmoney.org. NEFE is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to helping all Americans acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to take control of their financial destiny. To learn more about NEFE, visit www.nefe.org.

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1 International Council of Shopping Centers, Goldman Sachs Holiday Survey, November, 2008.

Holiday deals at lifetakesvisa.com

Here’s a quick money-saving tip for VISA cardholders. Head over to www.lifetakesvisa.com for an extensive list of holiday deals. Once on the site, you’ll be able to browse by category and merchant to find the special offers you’re looking for.

If you don’t have a VISA check or debit card, UTFCU can help. Swing by any UTFCU branch or call 865.971.1971 for more information.

Thanks to Malinda for submitting this tip. Do you have a savings tip you’d like to share? We would love to hear about it. Click here to submit yours now!

Free Energy Efficiency Kit

Utility bills, especially with the cold weather we’ve been having lately, can wind up costing a lot more you may have anticipated. Fortunately, the folks at the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) offer tips on conserving power and lowering your bills. We’ll be featuring more of their energy-savings tips in future posts, but wanted to share a link you can use to complete an energy audit for your home and get some free stuff in the meantime!

Click here to get started on your home energy audit.

Take the Home Energy Audit before September 30, 2009, and TVA will send you an Energy Efficiency Kit with tools to help you save energy and money.

The kits are free of charge and include the following items:

• - Two compact fluorescent bulbs

• - Outlet and light switch gaskets
• - A filter whistle
• - Two faucet aerators

• - A home thermometer

• - “How to Save” brochure

Do you have a savings tip you’d like to share? We would love to hear about it. Click here to submit yours now!

BobinMotion wants to help you save money on gas

If you’re a Twitter user (and hopefully you are), then in addition to following UTFCU, you might want to follow bobinmotion. Besides talking about Costa Rican coffee and techy web stuff, Bob has created a system for notifying his followers of the cheapest gas prices in Knoxville several times each day. You’ll get updated pricing on your way to work in the morning, another around lunch time, and a final one on the way home in the afternoon. Make sure to push his updates as SMS messages to your mobile phone so you’ll always know the cheapest places to get gas in town.

Do you have a savings tip you’d like to share. We would love to hear about it. Click here to submit yours now!

Credit or Debit

When you're buying dinner, paying for gas, or using your UTFCU check card at a retail store, you're probably asked whether you want to process the transaction as debit or credit. Although both types of transactions withdraw money from your checking account, there are important differences between the two options. Check out these videos if you're ever wondered which type of transaction is best for you.

A big thanks goes out to everyone at UT Hospital who participated in the video and to crew at UTFCU's hospital branch (Janet, Amanda, Patti, and Jennifer) for their creativity!

Regular Version

Sock Puppet Version!

Do you have a suggestion for a future financial tip? If so, we'd love to hear about it. Let us know what you think by adding a comment below.

ATM Safety

You can't beat automated teller machines (ATMs) for convenient access to your money. Check out our video and learn how you can stay safe at ATMs.

We would like to offer a special Thank You to Anthony, a UTFCU member who played the “ATM villain” in our video!

Do you have a suggestion for a future financial tip? If so, we'd love to hear about it. Let us know what you think by adding a comment below.