Dollars And Sense: Pay Bills Without A Wallet 

On March 10, 1876 Alexander Graham Bell, telephone's father, picked up the phone and dialed his assistant Thomas Watson. "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you," he said--the first words ever uttered into a telephone.

Neither Watson nor Bell could have looked ahead 137 years, to when folks speak casually on phones countless times per day, text message, take pictures, and settle everything from coffee to co-pays. Consumers now have a plethora of payment options that put the battered leather wallet to shame.

READ MORE:
http://www.brassmagazine.com/blog/dollars-and-sense-pay-bills-without-wallet

In The Clutches Of Credit: Is credit the monster everyone fears?

The U.S. Census Bureau projected that there was $870 billion in consumer credit card debt on over a billion cards in the U.S. in 2012 (final numbers haven't come through yet). That's a lot of money, but the question remains whether that's a bad thing. Jeremy and Jennie argue about credit cards.

Evil Dr Debt - Jeremy

Credit has been a touchstone of our shopping experience for decades, and its associated debt is a cold-but-expected wake-up call. Generally speaking, we have a tendency to spend beyond our means, given the chance--and boy, do credit cards give us that chance.

READ MORE:
http://www.brassmagazine.com/article/clutches-credit-credit-monster-everyone-fears

Survey Says: Americans Lack Credit Score Knowledge | 2013-05-14 | Credit Union Magazine

Survey Says: Americans Lack Credit Score Knowledge | 2013-05-14 | Credit Union Magazine

CPCU can help....... Ask us today for your free Credit Score Analysis.

Skinny Science: Weight-loss fads that lighten your wallet

Fat people, fatty foods and fad diets targeted at the ever growing spare-tire-toting population consume ever more room in today's mass media. The United States claims more than 130 million obese or overweight citizens, a staggering figure made worse by the loss of $100 billion to $150 billion in health care costs each year, as reported by U.S. News & World Report.

Though it seems that we prefer General Mills to treadmills, as a country we spend $40 billion a year on weight-loss products and services, according to BusinessWeek. All too often we see expansive marketing campaigns for diet pills and celebrity diet crazes that rarely emphasize a balanced diet and regular exercise.

READ MORE:  http://www.brassmagazine.com/article/skinny-science-weight-loss-fads-lighten-your-wallet

Budgeting Spreadsheet


Need some help setting up a budget? Try using the ultra-simple CU Succeed® Budget Spreadsheet. Everything is formatted and computed for you, so all you have to do is figure out how much you spend on each item.


SPREEDSHEETS:
http://www.cusucceed.net/article.php?arttable=articles&recnum=49#top