Budgeting

Want to learn about some of the most common financial pitfalls we see here at the credit union? Check out our CSE Couch Chat episode on this topic, or continue reading below!

Have you been struggling financially? If you answered yes, you’re not alone; if you want to work towards winning that battle, we’re here to help. While it may be hard, it’s very important to take a good, long look at your overall financial picture to...

Spring is the time you feel the urge to sweep through your home and throw things out, donate, and deep clean, right? Have you ever thought that it might also be a good idea to ‘Spring Clean’ your finances too? You can even go about it with similar concepts.

Deep clean your finances by looking at what you’re spending, keeping your receipts, adjusting your goals, and reorganizing your spending categories in order to move forward to a better financial...

Over the course of the past year or two, you may have not been able to truly give your finances the attention they needed. We hunkered down and focused on our physical health, our work, or maybe the lack thereof which may have caused other stressors.

Your financial health can be linked with physical health and when you focus on your finances, you’d be surprised how other things seem to start looking up too. If your finances aren’t in the best spot, your physical...

So, you blinked…and all of a sudden, it’s the holiday season once again! It seems to get here faster each year, and every year it feels like budgets get tighter. Your fingers ache from pinching so many pennies, there are more people that appear on shopping lists and the budget crunch adds more strain to the season. But, it’s not all bad; allow us to offer up some tips to relieve a little bit of that stress and to make your budget go further!

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This time of year is full of ‘spooky’ things – zombies, kids dressed up as ghosts, spiders, and the ever-dreadful candy corn! But one thing that shouldn’t scare you is your budget! We know that creating and starting a budget can be overwhelming and sometimes a bit terrifying, but it really isn’t as scary as it seems – especially with some help from CSE! 

We have a number of tools to help you learn about budgeting and create a...

The holiday season may still be a few weeks away – but your holiday shopping should start now. With another year full of potential shipping delays, product & staffing shortages, and other unfavorable issues, starting your holidays shopping early this year may be a good idea.

We hope that you’ve been able to save throughout the year for the holiday shopping season with a Christmas Club savings account!  However, if you’re not financially prepared...

Believe it or not, Winter weather isn’t far off. While the changing of seasons is routine, many don’t consider routine car repairs, maintenance, or complete vehicle upgrades until the snow is already settled. Now is a great time to do a once-over on your current vehicle to see what maintenance it may need to get you through another Winter. Or, if push comes to shove, to realize you may need to trade in the old clunker...

Taxes and deductions can be complicated, especially when tax credit eligibility constantly changes. For families with children, understanding what child tax credit assistance is available and how it will be distributed provides helpful insight on how best to optimize personal finances.

Recent changes to the Child Tax Credit expand its reach to help more families for the 2021 tax year. Advance payments, based on 2020 returns, began rolling out in July 2021 and will continue...

It’s July, and while Santa may have his toes in the sand, you can bet he’s already planning for the busy season, as should you! We know, it’s crazy to think about Christmas already; I mean we really just started enjoying Summer – but we suggest thinking about it now, to help prevent any stress, crisis, or lack of funds when Summer fades and then, suddenly, it’s holiday time.

Continue reading to learn 5 things you can do to tidy up your...

Credit score isn’t one of those topics you bring up during dinner, but maybe it should be. Many people don’t realize how important credit actually is and the impact your credit score makes in the grand scheme of your finances. Think of your credit score like a report card, your financial report card - one that will follow you through your entire life. You are the one in control of your credit, so make sure you are doing the best things possible to improve your score...