Thank you for participating in the Grow Your Green Savings Challenge
Hi!
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
Tech CU awards $1,000 to Super Saver of 2009
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!”
20 ways to waste your money
Stop wasting money! You could save hundreds or even thousands of dollars from making a few simple spending adjustments.
Whether a newbie or seasoned budgeter, nearly everyone has spending holes — leaks in your budget that drain money with you hardly noticing.
These small drips can add up to big bucks. Once you find the holes and plug them, you’ll keep more money in your pocket. That spare cash could be the ticket to finally being able to save, invest, or break your cycle of living paycheck to paycheck.
Here are 20 common ways people waste money. See if any of these sound familiar, and then look for ways to plug your own leaks. Full story
Put savings (and yourself) first with a budget
Smart budgeting leads to less stress.
Personal savings have reached record lows, yet saving is essential to ensure a comfortable future. Learn how to track monthly expenses with a budget and potentially free up cash for saving. Full story
Help your teen find a summer job
We found a great article at SnagaJob.com for you to share with any teen you know who’s looking for summer work:
Summer job search tips for teens
You don’t want to get stuck folding dad’s boxers for gas money. Start your teen summer job search today.
You just bought your first ice scraper of the season last week and your weird neighbors still have their holiday lights wrapped around their chimney.
But it’s not too early to start thinking about teen summer jobs…especially when you add up the costs of your Spring Break trip, whether you’re heading to Panama City Beach to catch some rays or Branson, Missouri to catch a Dolly Parton impersonator. (We know the former is much more likely than the latter.)
A summer job can teach your teen the value of money.
Here are a few tips to beat the competition for the choicest summer gigs:
Have realistic summer job expectations
Everyone has that one friend with the dream summer job – the one who makes more than you, works less and seemingly possesses an unlimited amount of sick days. (And by sick days, we mean days spent tanning by the pool while reading a copy of US Weekly). It may seem like that friend has won the summer job lottery, and we don’t want to be the fun police, but what is he/she really learning? Even if a summer job may not appear to be the yellow brick road to your dream career, you’d be surprised at what you can take away from the right seasonal job.
Get yourself connected
Just like electronica music fossils Stereo MC’s once proclaimed, now is the time to touch base with former bosses, employed friends, and dad’s buddy who owns that restaurant. Networking isn’t just for stuffy dudes in suits anymore.
Find out the local “release dates”
Find out when the local high schools and colleges close up for the summer, which will be easy if you’re a student at one of them. Despite our warnings, people will wait to find their teen summer jobs until the last possible minute. You don’t want to be a vulture picking over the leftovers.
Be honest with potential employers
This starts with being honest with yourself. If you’re a proud vegan who isn’t sure you could stand handling meat patties and prime-cut filets all day, then skip the restaurant summer job route. Being honest also includes your initial conversations with potential bosses. Don’t over-commit to the amount of hours you’ll be able to work up front and then back down. Also, don’t claim you posses certain skills and experiences even if you don’t. We know it’s exciting to be on the cusp of landing a job, but the quickest way to crash and burn in your new gig is by fibbing.
Don’t be “that guy” or “that girl”
When dozens and dozens of your peers are vying for the same coveted job, don’t make it easy for a potential employer to take you out of the running early. From having crass cell phone ring tones blowing up during an interview to dropping off a résumé while wearing a tuxedo T-shirt, the list of these embarrassing faux pas is long. When in doubt, pause, then exercise a little common sense.
Take sound advice
Job hunting and workplace clichés are a dime a dozen – see? You’ve probably heard to “dress for the job you want, not the one you have” or to “work outside the box.” As annoying as these are to hear – and as hard as that pesky “box” is to find – clichés serve a purpose in that there’s usually a meaningful nugget of truth at the core of each. Conversely, the time to serve up clichés is not during a job interview. When speaking with a potential employer, be candid but be careful. Likewise, be yourself but be sure to filter out the just plain weird stuff (your potential employer doesn’t need to know about your boy band fan club), and be one more thing…
Buy suntan lotion
A brief public service announcement: It’s always a good idea to have some SPF 30 on hand. Even if you’re not working outside, it will give you one less errand to run once your shift ends and it’s time to hook up with your crew. Plus, no boss likes an employee with third-degree burns.
About SnagAJob.com
SnagAJob.com is America’s largest hourly job website, featuring more than 100,000 active jobs in industries including: restaurant, retail, office and admin, hospitality, healthcare and more. With their quick ZIP code job search, you can easily find and apply to part-time, full-time, seasonal and summer jobs right around the corner – without ever leaving home. They’ll even email you new job alerts. SnagAJob.com also has job tips to help you land your dream gig and thrive on the job. It’s all free – and they’re open 24/7. SnagAJob.com is dedicated to making life easier for students and hourly workers. Search for full-time and part-time jobs now, and be sure to check out our job blog for regularly updated news, features and insights.
Click here for the original article: Summer job search tips for teens
Related: Who will hire me? A first-job guide for teens
Avoid credit card temptation, save more
There are a few easy steps you can take to eliminate your credit card debt.
Here at ‘Grow Your Green,’ we’re all trying to save more money — whether it’s for a new iPod, like Jillian, or a Harry Potter book set, like Shreya.
Me? I’m saving for a rainy day. The last 18 months have shown us that the U.S. economy is fragile and we should have some padding in our savings accounts to weather this storm. I know, though, that for many of us it’s hard to save money if we’re paying our huge credit card bills every month. And Americans owe a lot.
According to CNN Money, the average American household with at least one credit card has nearly $10,700 in credit card debt.
How did we get here? Well, it can get too easy to depend on credit. Some of us charge everything — from dinners to cashmere sweaters to vacations and even rent — and then tell ourselves that we’ll pay it off eventually. (I’m just as guilty.) The truth is this dependency on credit puts many of us deeper and deeper in debt.
But, despite what you may owe, saving money, even in a down economy, doesn’t have to be painful. Here are some steps to becoming financially healthy and reaching your personal finance goal:
Use your debit card
Avoid using your credit card as a loan, and use your debit or check card instead. This habit forces you to only purchase the things you can afford, as opposed to charging that fancy pair of overpriced shoes or the latest plasma TV.
A lot of times, when I go shopping or out to dinner, I leave my credit card at home and just bring my debit card or cash with me. (There’s less guilt at the end of the month, and none of those awful feelings that you’re drowning in debt when the dreaded monthly statement comes in the mail.)
If that doesn’t work, you could also request a lower credit card limit. All you have to do is call the issuing bank, and they can set that up. Having a lower limit means you’ll have less to charge… and more to save!
Set a goal
Ask yourself what you’d like to save for. Do you want a new computer? A family vacation? Your dream home? Figure out the cost, and how much you can save on a weekly/monthly/yearly basis to reach that goal. This way you can establish a time frame. You can also track your success regularly with online banking. (I personally love watching my savings account balance grow!)
And it’s not that hard either. If you stash away just a few dollars a day — maybe bring your lunch to work a couple days a week or skip the daily coffee run — and put that money in your savings account, before long you’ll have reached your goal. For example, imagine setting $20 of every paycheck to be directed to your Tech CU savings account:
$20 x 2 pay periods = $40 saved per month
$40 x 12 months = $480 saved per year
That’s $480 you could save a year! And chances are, you won’t even notice that $20.
Set a budget
Now that you have a goal, figure out how much you can spend (and save) per week to reach the goal. Then stick to the plan. Also keep track of where your money goes. A latte here, a movie ticket there, and things can really add up.
If you have an iPhone, you can get an application that helps you track your expenses. This is helpful because you can actually see how much money you’re spending, where it goes, and how much more you can save by adjusting your daily routine.
Applications like Budget Buster Daily Expense Tracker let you keep close tabs on your expenses.
As you trim your expenses, here are some other things you can consider:
- Can you move to a less expensive apartment or house? Can you refinance your mortgage?
- Can you consolidate your debts into one loan with lower interest rates?
- Can you save money on a more fuel-efficient car? Maybe give up a car altogether?
- Can you get a better price on auto insurance? Sites like insurance.com and netquote.com give you a side-by-side comparison on rates for auto, home, life and health insurance policies. Be sure to shop around to make sure you’re getting the best price.
- Can you live with fewer cable channels? Premium cable packages are costly, but you could save thousands by switching to a different cable plan.
Pay down your debt
It can be frustrating trying to save if most of your money is going to your credit card payments every month. Start paying down that debt as quickly as you can. It may feel painful in the beginning, but the sooner you eliminate your debt, the sooner you will be able to save.
Still hesitant to part with your cash? Consider this:
Let’s say you owe $5,000 on a credit card with an interest rate of 18%. You make the minimum payment of $200 every month. It would take you almost 10 years to pay off this credit card! And you would end up paying nearly $2,650 in interest!
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather use that money for something more worthwhile — like a Hawaiian vacation or a new car.
If you want to know how long it will take to pay off your credit card debt, the Debt Reduction Planner is a useful tool.
Open an interest-bearing savings account
I have found that it’s much easier to save money if I keep it my separate from the spending money in my checking account. You can also get better interest rates on a savings account, so that the money that you’re saving works for you. ( Hey, if you haven’t already done so, how about opening a ‘Grow Your Green’ Great Savings Challenge account?) And if you have a longer savings goal, consider other savings accounts options like CDs or money market accounts with higher interest rates.
Be patient
Saving to reach a financial goal takes a lot of time, hard work and discipline. In the beginning, brown bagging your lunch or spending a Saturday night in may seem like a huge compromise. Trust me, we all feel like that at some point but once you start to see your savings balance grow from $20 to $40 to $1,000 — and the pride and security that comes with having a reliable savings account — it will get easier.
Oh, and your GYG community is here to support and encourage you too. So let’s start growing some green… and let’s start sharing our success stories!
Tips for recording a video
You could win money for posting a video on GYG!
RECORDING TIPS:
Tips for recording videos
Watch the zoom: Use the zoom function sparingly. If you zoom in and out too much, the constant motion could make viewers dizzy.
Bring a tripod: A tripod is the best way to stabilize your shots. Also, check to see if your video camera has an image stabilization feature. This will help even out the movements your camera makes, and minimizes the shaking in your finished video.
Turn on the lights: If you’re recording indoors, remember to turn on the lights. Recording in a dimly-lit room could make your video look like it was shot in complete darkness.
Use a microphone: If you’re shooting in a high traffic area, your subject’s voice could be drowned out by the background noise. A directional microphone will pick up sound from your subject.
Don’t know how to upload a video? We have step-by-step instructions.
Hi from your community leader
Hi everyone,
Saving money is very rewarding!
I’m your new “Grow Your Green” (GYG) community manager, CashCat.
If you’re reading our “Grow Your Green” posts, chances are you’re trying to save money — whether it’s to buy a new iPod or go on a dream vacation or for your retirement. We’re all here for some personal financial goals, and contributing your comments and ideas to GrowYourGreencampaign.com is a great way to help and encourage one another along the way.
I know I need the help. Saving is hard for me. Especially when there are so many cute outfits and cool gadgets to buy, and so many fun things to do and great restaurants to try in the Bay Area. Still, whenever the cashier is ringing up my new sweater or charging me for another appetizer, there is always a nagging voice in the back of my head that says, “Cat, you should be saving this money for when you really need it.”
Logically, I know this. After all, saving money for a rainy day is one of those lessons you hear time and time again. The question is: do you listen to the adage?
Saving is also becoming a lot more difficult for many of us because of this slumping economy. Now that so many of us are seeing those “rainy days,” it’s more important than ever for us to figure out how to be smart with our money, while not compromising our quality of life.
I don’t have many answers but I am doing my homework on how to be financially smart. I’ll share what I learn with you. In the meantime, if you have any tips or ideas you’d like to share with the GYG community, feel free to chime in.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
~CashCat
