Three Ways Credit Unions Can Help Your Credit Score

We all need a little help from time to time, and when you need help with your credit score a credit union is the place to go!  Whether you are trying to establish credit or rebuild your credit score, credit unions can provide the tools you need for financial success.  Here are three ways that credit unions can help your credit score:

Education & Guidance

When you are a member of a credit union, you are an owner.  We truly care about your financial success and are a wonderful, free, unbiased source of information to help you get your credit back where you want it!  We will teach you how to build your credit up, and then keep paying attention to it!  It doesn’t take much to knock your credit score down, but the professionals at credit unions, like Honor Credit Union, can teach you how to build it back up.

Products to Rebuild Credit

On top of providing tips and guidance, credit unions have financial products that will put your credit score on the right track.  Products like Honor’s Secured Loan options or Fresh Start Visa can help you build credit, or give your limited credit a boost.  Both of these products are great tools that will give you loan options and build your credit at the same time.  You can learn more at www.honorcu.com. 

Free Tools and Resources

Online banking and mobile banking give you visibility and access to your accounts virtually 24/7 helping you stay on top of your balances and spending.  Budgeting tools like Money Desktop can help you look at the big picture of what you are spending and set budgets every month to stay on track.  Credit unions will teach you the value in looking at your credit score! Through Honor’s website there is a link to pull your credit report.  You get one free report every year, and taking advantage of that resource can help you stay ahead...knowledge is key!  All these tools are free, to help you get your credit score where it needs to be and achieve financial success!

Once you have done all the hard work to build or rebuild your credit, we’ll be celebrating right there with you!  Your financial success is our financial success!  Share your story @honorcu using #askhonorcu

Listen to the full Mason Jar Monday episode on how credit unions can help your credit score below!

Comment on this post, or follow us on twitter @honorcu and use #askhonorcu to get involved! You can also comment with the topic you want to see discussed next week! It's your money, and we want to talk about things you care about!

Four Ways Your Small Business Can "Go Green"

While giving back to the environment should be a priority every day of the year, it is especially so this week.  Earth Day was yesterday, April 22, and many people and businesses are looking for ways they can become more eco-conscious.  Here are four small steps you can take to turn your small business “green.”

1. While going paperless is the ultimate goal, there will most likely always be some instances where paper is necessary for your business.  When you must use paper, use a post consumer-waste (PCW) product.  This is paper made entirely of recycled paper and has a recycling symbol on the packaging.
2. Use biodegradable cleaners.  Using natural cleaners not only is better for the body in terms of exposure to toxins, but also reduces the amount of toxins that get released into the environment as we’re doing something as seemingly simple as just cleaning the office.
3. Replace traditional light bulbs with compact-fluorescent or LED lights.  They may cost more upfront, but last longer than traditional light bulbs reducing the amount of waste that result from replacing more often.
4. Place recycling stations right next to every community trash can in the office.  The more your team sees the recycling station, the more they will be thinking about and the more things will get recycled.  To encourage use, you can even have internal competition or incentive on who recycles the most each month!

Taking care of the planet has become more of a priority in the mind of consumers, and by following these simple steps your small business can give back to the environment, too!  Do you have any other ways your business is going green?  Share them with us on twitter @honorcu using #askhonorcu!

Listen to Honor’s Scott and 97.5 Y-Country’s Wild Bill talk about more ways you can “go green” in this week’s Mason Jar Monday! 

Comment on this post, or follow us on twitter @honorcu and use #askhonorcu to get involved! You can also comment with the topic you want to see discussed next week! It's your money, and we want to talk about things you care about!

Three Ways Credit Unions Can Help Your Small Business

Do you own a small business?  Keeping your business open is the main goal, but have you ever thought of a credit union to help you do just that?  Credit unions are local, but are not too small to help your small business.  Small businesses are the backbone of our community and credit unions understand that.  Here are three ways that a credit union can help your business achieve financial success:

1. Business Checking options that do more!  Many credit unions offer checking accounts for businesses that are more than your basic checking account.  For example, Honor has a business checking account that has no minimum balance, a free debit card, and extra e-services to help you manage your business’s checking account better.  Another type of business checking account that many credit unions, like Honor, offer even earns the business interest! 
2. Business Loans with flexibility!  When many business owners think of a business loan, they think of a bank.  It’s time to start thinking differently!  Credit unions can offer business loans with many of the same features as banks, but often with lower interest rates and more flexibility!  Honor Credit Union’s business loans allow both weekly and bi-weekly payments, has no pre-pay penalties, and competitive interest rates to top it all off!
3. Tech tools to make your life easier!  As a small business owner, you have enough to worry about.  Let some of the extra e-services that credit unions can offer take a little off your plate!  Direct Deposit, employee payroll, online banking, and ACH are all services that credit unions like Honor can offer your business.  Honor’s business checking online banking system is even compatible with Quicken and Quickbooks to make managing your books even easier!

Small businesses are an important part of our community, and managing your small businesses finances shouldn’t be a hassle.  Credit unions are here to help and can offer your business the solution it needs to achieve financial success.

Check out Honor Credit Union’s Business Services Manager, Kathy B. talk with Wild Bill about the business services Honor offers in this week’s Mason Jar Monday!   

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You Got Accepted To College...Now How Do You Pay For It?

As Youth Month continues and the school year approaches an end, many students (and parents) are already looking ahead to next fall and the tuition that comes with it.  If you or your student is headed to college, here are a couple tips on paying for it:

• Scholarships – This sounds like a no brainer, but make sure you look at all the scholarship options available that you may qualify for!  Your high school counselor is often a great first resource for a list of local scholarships, like Honor’s Community Commitment Scholarship for example.  Every spring Honor awards ten $1,000 scholarships to graduating seniors (we’ll be announcing winners soon!), and many other businesses or organizations may be listed at your high school with scholarship options, too!  Websites like scholarships.com or finaid.org/scholarships are also great resources.  You will be surprised what a little bit of effort and research can get you as far as scholarship options!
• Student Loans – There is approximately one TRILLION dollars of outstanding student loan debt in the United States.  $864 billion of that is federal student loans - that means it is backed by the government.  The other $150 billion is privately funded student loans - not backed by the government¹.  Federal student loans typically provide more benefits than private loans, such as fixed interest rates, no payments until the student is no longer attending class full time, and in many situations no required co-signer.  The Federal Student Aid website is a great resource when comparing federal loans to private and can save you time and confusion when determining the best option for you.
• Other Loan Options – Home Equity loans or personal loans through your local credit union may be another solution to assist with school expenses.  If you just need that little extra to help with your child’s textbooks, for example, a personal loan or home equity may be a good option.  Honor can help you with all of these options, and more information on which route will work for you is at our website.  You wouldn’t have the option to defer payments until your student graduates like the federal student loan, but you may qualify for a lower interest rate than another student loan option saving you money in the long run.

Hear Wild Bill and Honor's Scott McFarland discuss paying for college in this week's Mason Jar Monday here!

Comment on this post, or follow us on twitter @honorcu and use #askhonorcu to get involved! You can also comment with the topic you want to see discussed next week! It's your money, and we want to talk about things you care about!

¹ Source: http://www.asa.org/policy/resources/stats/

Youth Account FAQs

April is youth month at credit unions nationwide!  At Honor, we think supporting the youth in our communities is very important.  After all, someday today’s youth will be the ones running the show!  To kick off youth month, here are a couple FAQs about youth accounts:

• How old does a child have to be to open an account?  This one is easy… for a savings account, there is no age limit!  You can literally open a savings account for your child the day they are born to start saving from day one!  Honor’s student credit union program is an easy way for you to open a savings account for your child.  If your child attends one of the 13 schools that partner with Honor for student credit unions, they can open an account and start learning how fun, easy, and important saving money is.
• I want my child to start learning how to manage their money, without giving them TOO much control…what is the best way to do this?  There are so many tools you can use to start teaching your child how to manage their money.  If you have a joint checking account with your child, you can keep full visibility over their spending/saving, and also set limits in place.  For example, through Honor’s Personal Internet Banking settings, you can set a daily debit spending limit, a per-transaction limit, or even limit the times that the debit card can be used!  Another option is one of Honor’s products, a re-loadable Visa.  You can add money to your child’s visa whenever you want (even straight from your direct deposit) but your child can’t ever spend more than what is loaded on the card!
• My child is going away to college, do I have to get them a new account where they live?  NO! Using online banking, mobile banking, and shared branching will allow your child (and you) access to their account virtually anywhere they are!  Many credit unions have checking accounts, like Honor’s benefits checking, that offer programs for foreign ATM fee reimbursement, as well, so your child can still utilize ATM’s without you having to eat those charges every month.  Taking advantage of the shared credit union branches in the town your child is going to school in will also give them branch access to their account, as well!

Whether you are looking at opening your child's first savings account or getting ready to send them to college, your local credit union can be a great resource!  Listen to the full Mason Jar Monday episode on Youth Bank Account FAQs below. 

Comment on this post, or follow us on twitter @honorcu and use #askhonorcu to get involved! You can also comment with the topic you want to see discussed next week! It's your money, and we want to talk about things you care about!