Tech CU awards $1,000 to 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!”

Save $500 for holiday spending

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!

Black Friday best day to buy a car

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.

Laziness could be costing you money

Forbes asked a slew of experts, in fields ranging from personal finance to health care, to estimate the not-so-hidden costs or our laziness, and to demonstrate what little you can do—because in many cases that’s all it takes—to turn things around. Full story

And the winner is…

Congratulations to Jayshree Jain of Los Altos!!

Jayshree is the lucky winner of the ‘Grow Your Green’ monthly drawing for April. As the winner, and we’re depositing $100 into her GYG Savings Challenge account! Her name was drawn from a list of ‘Grow Your Green’ Savings Challenge accounts that were opened between March 15 and April 30, and had increased by $25 by the end of April.

You could win too!
All you have to do is commit to saving $25 in your account each month and register a valid e-mail here and you’ll be automatically entered into the drawing. We’ll pick one winner during the first week of the month to receive a $100 cash prize! (For rules and details, click here.)

If you think $100 is a lot of money… become the 2009 Super Saver and win $1,000!

On Tuesday, December 15, 2009, we will pick our 2009 Super Saver with the help of our Grow Your Green community—someone who has been actively saving and participating in the community—and that person will win $1,000 toward their savings goal.

We want to hear from you!
So start blogging, commenting and sharing your stories here on ‘Grow Your Green’! Who knows? You could be the next $100 winner. Maybe even win the Super Saver Grand Prize of $1,000!

Save and WIN money for your child’s school

Teach your children the meaning of saving—and giving back.

Do you know a student or teacher who has been affected by our state’s budget cuts? Perhaps their school lost funding for a sports or music program or, even worse, the school lost teachers due to staff cuts and layoffs.

Well, here at Technology Credit Union, we want to support our community and help kids keep the educational programs they need by encouraging our members to save money through our Savings Challenge accounts that will be donated to their favorite school. That’s why we launched the Save 4 Your School savings challenge back in May. Participating is as easy as 1-2-3, and, for our part, Tech CU will make a donation match to the account that has saved the most, up to $1,000!

Here’s how it works:

1)      Open a Save 4 Your School savings challenge account.

2)      Register online at Tech CU’s Grow Your Green community
for the Save 4 Your School program.
(Make sure you indicate in the profile that your savings are for a school or educational program.)

3)     The deadline to qualify for Tech CU’s Save 4 Your School donation match is Sept. 30, 2009.

Get started now—this promotion ends Sept. 30!

For more information on how to save for your school, visit Save 4 Your School Savings Challenge. You can also stop by one of our 10 conveniently located Financial Centers or call (800) 553-0880 to learn more.

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Hey guys,

I’m also on Facebook so remember to add me as your friend. Let’s keep the money-saving conversation going!

~CashCat

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I’m also on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CashCat

Money grows on trees (sort of)

If you visit one of Tech CU’s 10 Financial Centers in the SF Bay Area, you may notice our ‘Grow Your Green’ money trees on display. These serve as little reminders that money doesn’t grow on trees, but that we can still plant the seeds of financial success and continue to grow our green every day.

It’s symbolic of the entire ‘Grow Your Green’ movment, really–to remind us that, just like those trees, our savings accounts need care and attention in order to grow and thrive. So we’re so glad you’re part of the GYG movement because that means you’re planning for your future too.

And hey, we want to help. Remember to post comments and videos. In fact, Tech CU is holding a video contest, and giving away a gift card* worth $25 to the first two members who post a video** on GYG each week, starting Monday, April 20 through the end of May. (We’ve even posted how-to instructions.) Oh, and at the end of the month we’ll ask our online community to vote on their favorite video; that person will receive $50! And then there’s the grand prize of $1,000–at the end of the year GYG members will vote for the winner of the $1,000 grand prize. How’s that for a boost in growing your green?!

So whether you’re stopping by a Financial Center to make a deposit to your savings account or you’re logging onto GYG to let us know how you’re doing, keep up the great work!

Oh, and while you’re at it, remember to tell your friends and family about the ‘Grow Your Green’ way to save for their financial goals–how being a member of this online community can help them to save even more. They’ll thank you for it, because we all can use the support and encouragement. (At least I know I can!)

*To be eligible for the $25 gift card, you must have a Tech CU Savings Challenge account. The two weekly winners will receive an email with a choice of gift cards valued at $25. After winners select their choice via email, Tech CU will mail them their gift cards. We must have a valid home or office address in order to mail the prizes. Tech CU is not responsible for lost or stolen cards.

*Video topic must be related to the ‘Grow Your Green’ Savings Challenge.

China: To go or not to go, that is the question

I’d like to take this once in a life-time trip to China to see a total solar eclipse.  It is sponsored by the Academy of Science, so I believe the trip would be educational as well as fun.  But, in this current economic environment I am really not sure that spending some major money on a 14 day holiday is economically responsible. My vacation savings account helps me to put a litlle bit aside each pay period.  It comes right out of my paycheck before the DD, so I don’t miss it.  Just not sure if I want to spend the money.