Why I switched to a credit union

So if you were anything like me you weren’t too concerned about where you deposit your paycheck every week. It didn’t matter if it was a bank or a credit union, all that mattered if it was convenient. One day I was going through my Facebook feed and a friend posted the video below. I watched it and it hit me, I need to switch to a credit union. I will be pointing out reason on why I am so happy I switched.

You become a member
So at a bank you are a customer, at a credit union you become a member. Kind of like part owner of the institute. At a big bank the top people get the payouts, in a credit union you benefit from the profit. Last year my credit union divided $1 million amount their members, rather than passing it off to the CEO or other people with important titles.

Customer satisfaction
It has been proven time and time again that credit union customers are more satisfied. Since you are a member of the bank they treat you like part owner. They are not for profit, so that speaks volumes!

Early paycheck
I get my paycheck a day earlier than scheduled since I have direct deposit. This is helpful for anyone that has to pay bills right away.

Lower rates
Credit Unions have access to some of the lowest interest rates ever! For example car loans start at 1.75% and homes at 3.5%. My brother recently purchased a car and he said they were able to beat the interest rate by almost 2%! Credit card balance transfers also come with no fees and the APR is super low compared to other banks.

Better interest payback
I get a dividend payout for just being a member at my credit union, plus a high dividend every month from my savings account. If I was still at my other big bank I would only get a tiny dividend and they would profit the rest.

Socially Responsible
One of the big reasons I switched was because the two banks I had were giving money to the big corporations that were taking land away from Native Americans. Watching the news about Standing Rock would break my heart and I wanted nothing to do with anyone that was so cold hearted to support it.

Locations
So when you become a member of a credit union you become part of a huge network or different credit unions. My personal credit union is close to my work, yet I can do business at any local credit union with no issue or problem. I can use their actual credit union or their ATM with no extra charge to me.

So if you want to put your money where it will go far, you know what to do. Go to your local credit union and make the switch. You won't regret it!

Con Amor,

Adriana💕

Going to College on a Budget

My Bachelor Graduation Picture
Photo Credit: Dream2Be Photography 

I feel like I have gone to school for my entire life, especially since I didn’t take the traditional route for school. I got my Associates of Arts at a community college, then my Bachelors in an Adult Program and now currently working on my MBA.


Something people always asks is "How did you get your Degrees with little to no debt?" I am going to give you my tips and tricks on how to become educated on a budget.

1. Attend Community College: This is probably the smartest thing you can do. The classes are so much cheaper and you get the same type of education. What some people don’t tell you is that you have to go General Education classes before taking classes for your major.

2. Get a Job: While I was taking a full load of classes during my college career I also worked 2 part time jobs until I graduated with my Bachelors. I loved having the freedom of having my own money and I didn’t really have to depend on anyone.

Do not spend $600 for a texbook...

3. Rent Textbooks: This is the biggest piece of advice for any college student! Don’t buy those books, save your money and the environment and rent instead. I don’t care if a professor tells you “Keep your books, you will need to reference them.” You will never open them again. Unless you were like one of my classmates, she kept her Microeconomics book. She reads it when she can’t fall asleep and then knocks out 3 minutes later. You will see the steps below on how to find a book for cheap:

• Get a hold of the ISBN Number, it will be a 10-13 digit number near the bar code of the book. You can find this at the bookstore, in your syllabus or can ask the professor. 
• Look up ISBN# for rent in your preferred search engine.
• Compare prices, while you are doing that look for coupon codes too!
• Then pay for your rental, make sure to save boxes or stock up on large mailing envelopes. You will need them when your class is over and need to send back your textbooks.

4. Grants and Scholarships: Take advantage of this kind of free money. That’s how I graduated with ZERO debt for my Associates Degree and cut my tuition in half for my Bachelors Degree. Make sure you can keep your grades up for these options, otherwise you might have to pay back some how. Be aware once you are in Grad school these aren’t as openly available to you, use them for your undergrad! Also do not use your grants and scholarships on things you don’t need, use them for tuition and textbooks. I will never forget when I was a Freshman, people would use their grant or student loan money on matching sweats with the college logo, don’t be like them. You will have to payback the student loans with tons on interest!

5. Tuition Reimbursement: I am using this option for my MBA. My job will be paying for about half of my tuition cost if I get an A or B in my class. Before going this route make sure that you understand the terms of Tuition Reimbursement. If I want to leave tomorrow I can without having to pay anything back. Other employers make them stay for a certain amount of time after giving their employees the money, if you leave get ready to pay up.

6. Buy supplies on clearance: I get my supplies after the back-to-school rush. Once you start going to school you will know what you will need. Get the necessities such as pens, pencils, binders, loose leaf paper, highlighters, and notebooks.

7. Do not buy Microsoft Office: Yes, you will need it for college, but guess what? You can get it for free! All you have to do is sign up with your school email and they will give you the most updated Microsoft Office for your laptop. It will just require a quick download.

8. Shop around colleges: Look into difficult colleges, many are over priced and you can attend somewhere else for half the price. When doing homework for my MBA, the school I wanted to go to would cost me over $80,000 not including textbooks. I ended up finding a wonderful private school that will only cost me $42,500. That’s is something I can deal with better.

9. MBA students: you may not have to take the GMAT Exam. Many programs waive this exam, look into your chosen program before signing up for the actual exam. My school waived it due to having a High GPA and work experience. I wish I would have known that before stressing and paying hundreds in exam and prep fees.

10. Ask graduates for advice: We are more than willing to share tips and tricks to help you succeed. Do not be shy to ask, there is honestly no dumb questions. Not everyone has someone in their lives to be a good resources, and we wholeheartedly understand that. When you graduate, you become part of a selfless group of people who want to see others reach their dreams and goals. 

My favorite quote about education!

I hope these tips bring you success as you educate yourself and reach that precious goal of obtaining a College Education. I know some days are harder than others, but once you walk across that stage and see your name on that paper it is all worth it!

Con Amor,

Adriana 💕

A Book That Changed My Life

I have always been a bookworm since I was a little girl, unfortunately I do not always have time to read. When I went abroad to Europe last Spring I checked out a few books to read. I have seen Love Your Life Not Theirs by Rachel Cruze on people's Instagram pages and thought "why not give it a chance?" I am so glad I did, this book absolutely changed my life and my prospective on it.

Without giving too much away, this book goes into depth on why so many American's are in over their head in debt and how to do something about it. It has been a competition for decades now, who has the best of what and what others are purchasing. It has become much worse with social media, but what the pictures and posts do not show is that the individual has put that trip on a credit card or that the car was purchased with a high interest rate loan. It is very easy to compare other's lives with yours, but we do not know what is really behind the picture that was posted. Rachel goes through different money habits that will help you succeed financially and help you get out of debt.

As time goes on, I see a number of people in my life making bad financial decisions. Some are in over their head in debt, others are living out of their means or living paycheck to paycheck. There are a number of people who are only concerned with the materialistic things that other people see, rather than being financially stable. For example I have known of people buying their kids Jordan Sneakers yet they got their car repossessed, women who buy $1,000 purses and not being able to carry cash in those purses, or I know so many people who do not have anything put away for retirement. There have been times where tragedy hits and the individual cannot afford the hospital bills, afford taking time off of work to recover, or have no money for funeral costs.

Being first generation Mexican-American I was not taught "how to make your money work for you." You are pretty much taught to work hard and pay your bills. I wish there was someone telling me that I should invest this much into savings, how to use a Roth IRA account, how to get the best out of my 401K, along with so many other things. These are things I have had to learn on my own for the most part from reading books, business magazines, taking college courses, and listening to NPR.

I used to work in a nursing home part time while finishing my Bachelors and the one thing that every single resident told me was "Make sure to take care of your money, save at least a little bit from each paycheck you ever make. If you don't, you will end up in here like me." I have taken their advice, and I have promised myself that I want to be financially stable and not have to depend on anyone financially. I would like to be debt free in the near future and when I purchase a condo or house to pay that off as soon as possible. You will start seeing posts about being on the Debt-Free Journey, how to budget, and financing tips. I hope that the upcoming blog posts helps you out as much as they help me.

So here is to Debt-Free future and to a successful 2018!

Are any of you on thinking about becoming debt free too?