Free Often Comes with a Fee.
Teaching Teens How to Avoid Unnecessary Costs.

Let’s face it, life is not free. Banking and managing money is a service that consumers have to pay for. Take my teenagers for example. They hadn’t a clue of what life really costs until we opened their own saving and checking accounts, and they had to start paying for themselves.

What they’ve discovered is along with financial freedom comes the responsibility aspect, which in this case, I used fees to help demonstrate how better management, preparation and knowledge in regards to their accounts can pay off. For example, at my credit union, we are charged a small fee for debit card transactions. Every bank, credit union, and financial institution charges fees, either boldly in your face or in very small legal print. This fee really represented a great learning opportunity for my kids:

1. READ YOUR NOTICES! My credit union regularly sends out notices to their members regarding account updates. My kids receive these notices and often discard them or neglect to read them. If they had read them, they would realize that to avoid debit fees, all they would have to do is pay with credit and sign for their purchase versus typing in their PIN – a great option that they can use almost everywhere! And, they earn rewards points by signing.

2. PLAN AHEAD! Moreover, they can plan ahead and budget. My kids were tapping into their accounts sometimes 10 times per day! Minimizing their transactions by forecasting their week’s activities helped them spend less.

In the years to come, most money gurus have predicted that fees will only continue and perhaps even rise as banks and financial institutions try to compensate for the new credit card legislation. For the future, kids need to better understand fees, learn about them and even accept them. The whole idea of “Fees aren’t fair” – well my response . . . “Life’s not always fair.” You can either huff and puff or learn some stuff.

As was in my kids’ case, just by being more educated about their account, they avoided a fee completely!

So, with my checking account, comes actual checks!

If you have never written a check before, and a lot of kids haven’t, it is really easy.

This is how I typically do it:

1. The simplest thing is to write the date on the date line first.
2. Then you have to fill in the line “To pay to the order of.” Sometimes that is a person, sometimes it is a business. I had to pay my Macy’s bill with a check, ouchie!!
3. Then you write in the dollar amount like this, $25.14. On the line underneath you have to write out the amount in “long hand.” That means you write “Twenty Five Dollars and 14/100.” I guess this is so the people with really bad writing have two shots at the bank being able to read the real amount! LOL.
4. The last thing is very important!! YOU HAVE TO SIGN YOUR CHECK!! Sounds like no biggie, but with all of the other writing you have already done at that point, it can be easy to skip over. Hahahaha. Does this all make sense??

I actually use checks a lot! Sometimes I even write my mom checks when I owe her money. I also write checks off my GTE Federal Credit Union U22 account when I need to pay my band. Sometimes when we play a gig they only write us one check, and they usually make the check out to me. So I deposit it and then pay the band their part of it. I just love writing checks. My mom says it is not nearly as thrilling when you are older. LOL. But for now, it makes me feel responsible. And maybe when I’m old it will still be fun because I had such a good start at it!!!

I will never think of strawberries or strawberry jam the same again!!! As for the strawberry jam, that was the name of the contest that GTE Federal Credit Union put on to find a super talented kid to perform with me at the Stingray Chevrolet Tent at the Strawberry Festival 2010.

The winner was Matt W. from Bradenton, Florida, and we had a great JAM last weekend!! It was fun getting to play a duet, and he did awesome for his first big performance – didn’t seem to have any major nerves at all!!!

As for strawberries, well, what can I say about the FLORIDA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL??? WWOOWW~!!

I got to the stadium really early in the morning the day of my concert, and as soon as I rounded the corner to do sound check I saw my U22 Billboard looking right back at me! I dropped my jaw, and started jumping up and down! I knew it was going to be a great day!! AND IT WAS!!!! Lots of you got to use your preferred seating tickets from the GTE FCU branches. And that was great to look out into that huge crowd and see so many of you that were there to be a part of my big day!! I think the concert went great, but I think the biggest hit was the U22/Suite Caroline guitar pics that I threw out from the stage!! I am still getting requests for those, but they are ALL gone!!! And did you see the awesomely cool ATMs all over the festival grounds? Yep, I was on those too. I have to say that little cartoon of me makes me smile. So thank you GTE FCU, U22 and all the really nice people at the Strawberry Festival. I like to sing about DREAMING BIG, and this was a big one come true!!

Hello All,

Spring Break! Finally, time off from all of the chaos and hard work us students have been dealing with. During spring break, many people spend obscene amounts of money just to have a nice time. Well this year’s gonna be different. Because Alex is here to help save you money. Here are few tips that will help you have a great spring break without ending up in debt.

1. Road Trip!! – Everyone loves a good road trip with friends. Instead of spending tons of money on a flight, why not split up gas money and motel costs and travel around the country. There are so many places you can go to in a week and so many interesting things to see.

2. Camping – If you like the outdoors, find a nice camp ground in Florida and spend a few nights with nature and friends. It’s cheap, and many camp grounds have alot of stuff to do like tubing down a river or fishing.

3. Volunteering – If you like doing things for the community and you don’t have a job, there are plenty of places that are looking for help in your neighborhood. This can be a very rewarding and fun experience. Check out this website to find out more!!

http://studenttravel.about.com/od/springbreakvolunteers/qt/alternate_sprin.htm

4. Student tickets – If you do decide you want to fly somewhere new and exciting, remember to compare prices to find the lowest rates, and if you look hard enough, sometimes you’ll be able to find super cheap student tickets! You can read this website to learn more about student tickets.

http://collegeuniversity.suite101.com/article.cfm/cheap_student_airline_tickets?CFID=37846821&CFTOKEN=44493631

Well whatever you end up doing, remember to be safe and smart with money!

Hi.  It’s Matt’s Mom, Kim.

I, too, want to express gratitude to everybody for giving Matt an incredible experience!

Caroline and her family: You are a special family and we are blessed to have enjoyed the “process” with all of you (Ellie included)!  What natural talent (we are some of your best fans, Caroline!) We appreciate the patience, the practices, and all the positive energy and encouragement during our first “performance”.

Doug, Jen, and GTE Federal Credit Union: We all appreciate the new guitar, the lessons (which helped him tremendously), the tickets, and the special attention.

Communication during the whole process and enthusiasm for making this a special event for Matt was contagious and exceptional!

The experience for Matt (and us) is one to remember for a lifetime!

Wow.
Thank you!
Matt’s Mom Kim

Credit Card Reform is Here. What It Means For You.
Learn the Pros of Credit Union-Issued Credit Cards

It’s interesting that the word “credit” appears in both names. If we revert to the core of the word, credit is defined as:
Belief or confidence in the truth of something.
A reputation for sound character or quality; standing.

Call me cynical, but this definition seems to have been lost over the years by the credit card issuers. The mere act of issuing credit has as many definitions, rules and restrictions as there are credit card issuers; forcing major reform and changes to the law.

But just as there are many culprits on the issuer side, there are many that have abused credit making it a “War of the Withs” (meaning: those ‘with’ credit, those ‘with’ bad credit and those ‘with’ credit to issue).

So as the second phase of credit card reform kicks in this month and we stand on the precipice of “one small battle being won” prohibiting arbitrary rate increases, it causes me to reflect back to what I know about credit cards. I’ve since discovered the important differences between credit cards issued by banks and credit unions.

Fortunately my research was already done by professional analysts. A recent study conducted in October, 2009 by Pew Charitable Trusts reviewed terms for the 12 largest banks issuing credit cards and 12 largest credit union card issuers. The study found that credit unions offer more consumer-friendly terms. “In general, the largest credit unions offered lower rates than did the largest banks. In July 2009, median advertised purchase rates were between 9.90 and 13.75 percent on surveyed credit union cards, approximately 20 percent lower than comparable bank rates,” according to the study. It also pointed out that every one of the 12 largest banks’ cards would run into conflict with the restrictions outlined in new credit card reform law.” I also discovered the results of a 2007 Consumer Reports survey stating that credit unions offer cards with low annual percentage rates and “the fewest hassles.” (I don’t know about you, but to me, credit unions seem to operate within the original intention and definition of ‘credit’ in many aspects.)

So I encourage you to become informed on CARD Reform law, read your statements, (the big and the small print); and perhaps visit your local credit union to explore all your options. It may save you some headaches and money. See below to view a concise list of the latest changes to the law.

The law passed by Congress last year overhauling credit card rules takes effect in stages.
• Card-issuers must disclose any changes that take effect when the card is renewed and must inform customers how long it will take to pay off a card balance with only minimum payment.
• In billing statements, card issuers must disclose all due dates and penalties for late payments. Also, the use of the term “fixed rate,” is banned unless the APR or interest rate can’t be changed for any reason.
• Due dates must be the same each month and must be at the end of a designated business day.
• Payments at local branches must be credited on the same day.
• Payments in excess of the minimum are applied to the account with the highest rate of interest.
• Card issuers can’t charge fees to pay by mail, phone, and electronic transfer, except for expedited payments.
• Over-limit fees are banned unless the customer has opted in to such a program.
• APR or finance charge increases are banned during the first year of an account.
• Any promotional rate must last at least six months.
• Card issuers must post credit card agreements on their Web site.
• Issuing credit cards to those under 21, without the permission of a parent or guardian who will take responsibility for the debt is banned.
• Increasing credit limits on the accounts of those under 21 is banned unless both individuals agree.