It’s Cash Cat here, and I want to thank you for participating in the Grow Your Green Savings Challenge of 2009. Your hard work in the savings challenge and your activity in the online community throughout the year have really made a difference and has served as an inspiration for other savers. I’m honored that Tech CU was able to be a part in helping you work toward your savings goal.

As you may already know, the Grow Your Green Savings Challenge ended at the end of December with the selection of our Super Saver of 2009. Ron Vogel was the lucky winner of our $1,000 grand prize. Not only did Ron save consistently all year to reach his financial goals, but he also shared his many wonderful money-saving tips with other Grow Your Green members. (You can read them here.)

But Ron wasn’t the only one who was rewarded for saving. From March to November, eight monthly winners received $100 to be added toward their Grow Your Green savings goal. We’re also proud that the campaign was effective in helping our members save more in 2009. Here’s what we were able to accomplish: 34 Grow Your Green Savings Challenge accounts for a total of $17,966 saved!

While this campaign was designed to last for one year, at Tech CU we know that saving money and smart money management should be lifetime efforts. That’s why we’re committed to helping you stay financially fit all year long. If you enjoyed all the useful tips and entertaining articles we had here at the Grow Your Green site, I’m confident you’ll love Tech CU’s main blog, Money Savvy.  With articles such as Haitian Relief: Be Generous but Be Careful and Banks Lure Customers with Cash: Deal or No Deal?, you’ll continue to find relevant, insightful and helpful articles at our blog to help you succeed in your financial goals.

Thanks again for participating in Grow Your Green. And remember, we still want to stay connected to you so join the Facebook Tech CU Fan Page or follow us at Twitter/TechCU. That way you’ll continue being the first to learn about Tech CU’s rate changes, promotions and specials.

Until we meet again!
-CashCat

Kathleen Litman, vice president of marketing at Tech CU, presents Shih-Shan Tan and Ron Vogel a check for $1,000. Vogel was selected as the Grow Your Green Super Saver of 2009.

San Jose, CA (Dec. 31, 2009) —Technology Credit Union (Tech CU) is proud to announce that Ron Vogel of San Jose, Calif. has been selected as the Grow Your Green Super Saver of 2009 and, as a result, Vogel has been awarded the $1,000 grand prize in Tech CU’s Grow Your Green Savings Challenge.

In March, Tech CU launched the Grow Your Green campaign and online community in an effort to support and encourage members to set and achieve savings goals in 2009. Then on Dec. 15, Tech CU picked the Super Saver of 2009—someone who had been actively saving and participating in the community—and that person would win $1,000 toward their savings goal.

Not only did Vogel save consistently all year to reach his financial goals, but he also shared many of his valuable money-saving tips with other Grow Your Green members. From advice on investing to tips on finding free music and video on the Internet, Vogel regularly contributed to the Grow Your Green community, posting several blog entries each week. (Read them here.)

“We worked hard to win this,” Vogel said, as his wife, Shih-Shan Tan, stood next to him. “This was a team effort. Shih-Shan would look for story ideas and then I would research them and develop them into blog posts. We wrote them with our own experiences of spending and saving in mind.”

One of those experiences, Vogel said, came when he was six years old.

“I loaned my grandfather $20 and a week later, he gave me $30—to cover the full amount, plus interest,” said Vogel. “That’s when I learned that if I was smart with money, I could make more of it.”

Vogel says since then he has tried to share his money management skills with the world. This time it has paid off—literally.

“We knew that more people were being affected by the economy this year so we wanted to help them focus on saving,” said Kathleen Litman, vice president of marketing at Tech CU.  “From the start, we designed the Grow Your Green site to encourage comments from, and interaction between, the participants who were saving toward a particular goal. Ron was a major contributor and really cared about helping others. We’re thrilled he’s our Super Saver of 2009.”

And Vogel’s thrilled too.

“I opened the Grow Your Green savings account because I wanted to win the $100 monthly prize,” Vogel said. “That was appealing, but to win $1,000 is an even more wonderful surprise. It’s definitely a great way to end the year. Thank you, Tech CU!”

Ron Vogel will receive $1,000 for being Grow Your Green's Super Saver of 2009!

Congratulations to Ron Vogel for being Grow Your Green’s Super Saver of 2009!

Not only did Ron save consistently all year to reach his financial goals, but he also shared all his wonderful money-saving tips with Grow Your Green members. (You can read them here.)

Stay tuned—we’ll have an interview from Ron in the coming days when we present him with the $1,000 check. How’s that for a holiday gift?

Meet all our $100 monthly winners.

Ramie proudly shows off her granddaughter, Kara, who was born in October. Ramie is saving for Kara's future.

What are you saving for?
I have a brand new granddaughter, Kara, who was born on Oct. 14, 2009, so I am saving for her. Her parents can give her the necessities but I want to be able to provide her with the “fun” stuff: field trips, gifts, money for college.

She’s my first grandchild so I am excited about saving for her future.

What steps are you taking to save each month?
Luckily, I have developed a pretty good habit of saving over the years.

Whenever I get a tax refund or a bonus, I immediately put it into a savings account so I can earn interest on it. This also helps to keep me from the temptation of spending it. For example, when Tech CU offered the one-day Celebration CD with a 4.00% APY, I immediately took $2,500 to open the account.

What is your biggest obstacle when you’re trying to keep a consistent savings plan?
This real estate market has been a challenge for us. We have some big expenses on our rental properties. I don’t normally dip into my savings but I may need to from time to time for miscellaneous expenses like home repairs and insurance. Otherwise, I am trying to grow my balances.

Has the current economy affected your savings plan at all?
Again, it’s our rental properties. We’re upside down on them but I am optimistic that things will slowly turn around.

Do you have any savings tips for other ‘Grow Your Green’ savers?
My co-worker is a single mother of three. I told her to put away $25 for each child each month. In fact, I told her to open a Tech CU ‘Grow Your Green’ Savings Challenge account. She won’t even miss it and at the end of the year, each child will have some extra money for the holidays.

I think the main thing I’d stress is that you have to stay consistent–even if it’s just a few dollars a week. It really does add up and before you know it, you’ll have a nice chunk for when you really need it.

Also, I wanted to say that you called me on my birthday, so thank you so much for the drawing award!  This was a great birthday gift for me!

Be a GYG $100 monthly winner.

Meet all our winners.

Courtesy: CBSNews.com/The Early Show

OK, who doesn’t want extra cash–especially for the holidays?!

We found a great article on CBSNews.com with tips on how to save $500 for extra holiday spending. The tips are fairly simple, and may actually even help you save more throughout the entire year.

Take a look here. You can also click on the image to the right to watch the interview.

Now that’s growing your green!

Historic day-by-day car pricing data and found the average discount on a new car bought on Black Friday is 7.5%, up from the daily average of 4.7%.

Everyone’s talking about all the great sales deals you can get on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. While the masses will be at the mall buying flat-screen TVs and the latest gaming consoles, you could really score at the auto dealership. That’s because, according to Truecar.com, Black Friday is the best day to buy a car.

The car-pricing website looked at historic day-by-day car pricing data and found the average discount on a new car bought on Black Friday is 7.5 percent, up from the daily average of 4.7 percent.

Adding to the sales pressure, Black Friday this year happens to fall very close to the end of the month. Car deals typically sweeten as the month goes on because many dealerships are approaching quotas they must meet in order to get additional manufacturer incentives.

Besides monthly deadlines, dealers are also under pressure to clear out 2009 model year cars and trucks before the end of the calendar year. Those cars will be much harder to sell after Dec. 31, when they become “last year’s” models.

These are some awesome factors working in your favor.

And, you could save even more with the right car loan! Check out Tech CU—the credit union has lowered its auto rates. Combine that with a Fuel$mart loan and other Tech CU discounts, and you could get a rate as low as 4.40% APR* on a new vehicle with a 66-month term. (Learn more here.)

So if you’re in the market for a new car, try to buy it this Friday. With the combination of low car prices and sweet auto loan rates, you could shave thousands of dollars off the price of your next ride.

*Restrictions apply. Please speak with a Tech CU representative for complete details. ‘As low as’ rate of 4.40% APR assumes a new vehicle loan with a term of 66 months at 5.200% APR. Rates as of November 16, 2009 and subject to credit approval and change without notice. Discounts on this rate include a .30% Fuel$mart discount, .25% discount for purchasing from The Car Store and a .25% discount for Relationship Rewards, with a Relationship Rewards level of Premier, requiring an aggregate loan/deposit balance of at least $100,000.

Expand your knowledge and save money at the same time!

Here is yet another way to expand your horizons, while saving your green.  Several universities–including U.C. Berkeley, Stanford, and MIT–offer free courses online in several subjects.

These are not-for-credit courses, and you may have to buy textbooks to get the most out of the course, but a wide variety of subjects is available.  A comprehensive list of offerings can be found here.

Check out some of these well-known universities:

UC Berkeley

Stanford

MIT

Carnegie Mellon

Take Charge! California has tips to help you protect yourself.

As we approach the end of the year, we have all worked hard to save some green.  The next step is to make sure we all hold on to those savings, and part of that involves not falling for scams.  The state of California has set up a website at TakeChargeCA.ca.gov with information about various scams and how to report them.

So, as they used to say on the TV show Hill Street Blues, “Be careful out there!”

You could learn a new language and expand your horizons--for free!

If you want to broaden your horizons, but don’t have a lot of money, there are ways to do this.  For example, you can learn a foreign language for free at some websites:

• The BBC posts free lessons in seven languages (Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish) at http://www,bbc.co.uk/languages.  This site also includes essential phrases and/or other mini-lessons in at least 36 languages.
• More exotic languages (including Farsi, Swahili, and Tagalog) are available at www.freelanguage.org.

An ARM allows you to receive more money at a lower interest rate than a fixed-rate mortgage loan.

If you’re waiting to buy the home of your dreams, don’t wait too long or you may miss your chance. Home prices and loan rates are at historic lows and a lot of buyers are taking note.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest survey, applications for mortgages rebounded last week, rising a seasonally adjusted 8.2 percent as borrowers seek to take advantage of the combination of low home prices and attractive interest rates on home loans.

And, with an ARM loan, you could finally get into that dream home—the one that, just a few years ago, you thought you might never be able to afford.

What is an ARM loan?
An adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loan is a mortgage with an interest rate that is linked to an economic index. The interest rate and your monthly payments are periodically adjusted as the index changes. (An index is what lenders use to measure interest rate changes.)

The adjustment period is the time between potential interest rate adjustments. Here’s an example:

5/1 ARM

• The first number refers to the initial period of the loan
• The second number refers to how often adjustments can be made after the initial period has ended.
• So in our example of the “5/1 ARM,” the initial period of the loan is 5 years. After that, there could be an interest rate adjustment once a year.

You can learn all the important basic features of an ARM at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjustable-rate_mortgage.

How can an ARM loan work for you?
The initial interest rate for an ARM is lower than that of a fixed-rate mortgage. Because a lower rate means a lower payment, it might help you get a larger loan.

“Finding a loan that’s right for you depends on your plans for the next 3 to 5, even 20 years,” says Steve Donahue, assistant vice president of Tech CU Mortgage Origination.

Donahue suggests you ask yourself these questions:

• How long do you plan to own the house?
• Do you expect your income to increase in the coming years?
• Will it be enough to cover your mortgage once the interest rate increases?

He says that if you only plan to stay in the home for 3-5 years, or you do expect an increase in income following the introductory period, you should strongly consider an ARM.

Getting a big loan can be tough
With this housing crisis and foreclosure rates through the roof, ARMs have gotten a bad rap. That doesn’t mean an ARM isn’t right for you.

According to a Boston Globe article titled “What So Bad About Adjustable-Rate Mortgages?”:

Indeed, today’s adjustable-rate mortgage is serving a far different market than it was a year or so ago. Gone are the days when lower-income buyers could reach for an ARM to make a home purchase affordable. These days, tighter underwriting standards often requiring a 20 percent down payment have transformed the adjustable loan into a high-end product best suited for people with sterling credit and significant resources. The people who are taking out ARMs today aren’t looking for affordability; they’re looking for ways to best manage their money…. the savings from a jumbo ARM can run into the tens of thousands of dollars in the five-year period before adjusting.

Unfortunately, in today’s tight credit market, getting ARM financing can be difficult–but it may boost your buying power because you get the loan you need for the home you want. Luckily, if you’re considering an ARM loan, Tech CU currently offers 3/1 and 5/1 ARM loans up to $1 million. Whether you choose Tech CU or another financial institution for your mortgage needs, you should speak with a loan specialist to learn more about how you can benefit from a jumbo loan.

“It’s a great time to take advantage of  this type of loan, if you can get it,” Donahue says. “When home prices and loan rates are at historic lows, you could end up getting a lot more home for your money, and keep a whole lot of money in your pocket too.”