Accel Members Financial Counseling Articles
Keep Your Budget In Mind When Planning A Vacation
Back To School Savings for Your Household Budget
Money Matters for Kids
Keep Your Budget In Mind When Planning A Vacation
Vacations don’t have to be expensive to be memorable and fun. Here are some suggestions to plan a successful vacation.
Create a vacation budget
Decide how much money you can afford for a summer vacation. Start by reviewing your income, expenses and debt obligations and setting aside money for emergency expenses. Then decide how much you can direct towards a summer vacation. This becomes the baseline amount for your travel, lodging, meals and amusement. Add up the estimated costs in advance before making final plans. Then, put away money each month into a savings account.
Involve your family
Once you’ve determined how much money you can afford for a vacation, decide how best to spend it. Include your family members to decide on where to go and what to do. If your budget is limited, consider an at-home vacation like a grand picnic with families, friends and neighbors. You could also host a pool party at a local pool or visit tourist attractions in your local area.
Research your vacation options
Us the Internet to get information on sightseeing, tourism attractions and discount travel and lodging. Ask travel agents for information on seasonal discounts. Read the latest travel guides available online, in newspapers and through local visitor and tourism associations. Get advice form friends and relatives who’ve traveled to places you plan to visit. They can help direct you to places that are fun and affordable.
Plan your itinerary in advance
Map out your daily activities and routes to ensure that you’re staying on-course and on budget. Unplanned activities can often amount to unplanned spending. And before you know it you’re budget will be busted.
Have a credit plan
Check credit card balances on your accounts well before you travel. Make sure they are paid off or under half the limit that you can charge. Credit cards are helpful on the road. They’re safer than cash because they can be replaced if lost or stolen. But they can make it easy to overspend. Limit credit card cash advances. This is expensive cash because you could be assessed a flat fee and charged interest as of the date the advance is taken. If you need cash, use your ATM or debit card. Limit your charges to one or two credit cards and be sure to keep all receipts and record your charges in a ledger. Limit your charges to budgeted expenses. Pay off the credit card charges when you return form vacation using the amount that you saved for the vacation.
If you would like to discuss your vacation budget with someone, you can take advantage of the Accel program, a free financial education and counseling program of United Southeast Federal Credit Union. Accel counselors are available Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (EST), Friday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. To use this new service, simply call 1-877-33ACCEL (332-2235) or visit them on the web at www.accelservices.org
Back-To-School Savings for Your Household Budget
Students aren’t the only ones who’ll need to pull out the pens, paper, and calculators for the back-to-school season. Parents who want to keep back-to-school spending under control should consider doing the same.
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Backpacks, paper, books, pens, pencils, calculators, computers, clothes and shoes are basic necessities that can add up quickly and become significant expenses for any household. Developing and sticking to a solid spending plan is key to avoiding overspending. If you are in charge of back-to-school shopping, here are tips to help keep your budget on track:
Develop a back-to-school budget
Take time to review how much money you’ll need to cover your monthly household expenses. Determine your spending goal based on what you can afford to spend on school clothing and supplies.
Take an inventory of school necessities
If you missed spring-cleaning, this is a good time to pull out your child’s clothing, shoes and supplies for an inventory of what’s still useable. Have the kids try on clothes and shoes to see if they still fit. Consider donating clothes that no longer fit to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Be sure to get a receipt, since the items could be applied to your personal income taxes as charitable contributions. Another option is to sell the old clothing to a store that specializes in reselling used clothing. Use the money to buy clothes for the new season.
Create a comprehensive shopping list
Now that you’ve taken inventory, create a shopping list of your child’s needs. The list should include additional clothing, school, athletic and scout uniforms, yearbooks, eyeglasses, classroom supplies, and musical instruments. Write down your children’s sizes and special colors needed for items like uniforms. Carry your shopping list to keep you on track.
Involve children in decision-making
Tell children what the spending goal is and how they can help meet the goal by choosing perhaps two outfits, instead of three. Help them understand how recycling clothes, lunch boxes, book bags, and notebook binders is not only good for the environment, but also good for the household budget.
Shop for the best prices
Get the best value for your dollar by checking for coupons and sales. Listen for TV and radio commercials and check your local Sunday newspaper for back-to-school and clearance sales.
Check for sales tax holidays
Check with your local government officials to see if a tax-free back-to-school shopping holiday is authorized in your area. A number of states have designated days that coincide with back-to-school shopping. The holiday offers local residents a chance to purchase clothing and school supplies tax-free! Some include computers. It can be an immediate savings for your back-to-school budget.
Limit expensive brands
You can save money on clothes and selected school supplies by purchasing generic or lesser-known brands. But be sure the lesser-known brands are durable and quality products.
Use credit wisely
Pay with cash if possible. Try layaway if you need time to save up for purchases. If you have to use credit, limit purchases to items you can pay off in 90 days. If you have more than one credit card, use the card with the lowest interest rate to minimize the amount you’ll have to pay back. Remember, using a credit card is like taking out a short-term loan.
If you would like to discuss your back-to-school budget with someone, you can take advantage of the Accel program, a free financial education and counseling program of United Southeast Federal Credit Union. Accel counselors are available Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (EST), Friday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. To use this new service, simply call 1-877-33ACCEL (332-2235) or visit them on the web at www.accelservices.org
Money Matters for Kids
It makes sense that money management skills should be an important part of a child’s education, but this is one area where you cannot count on school to do the job for you. More schools are beginning to include money skills in their curriculum, but the “buck stops here” applies to parents. Financial matters are personal matters and parents can take the leadership.
Discussing the family budget with your children, setting reasonable allowance for each child in the family, and teaching your children to manage their money, are life skills that affect you as well as them. It isn’t easy and it’s time consuming, but it’s one of the best things you can do for your child and yourself.
Here are some ways to teach financial responsibility, no matter what age your children are:
Preschoolers
Work on money facts and the concept of trading. Teach children to identify the different coins and bills, where money comes from, and how to make choices with what they have to spend. For example, set up a play toy store at home, or have your child help decide between two items at the grocery store.
Kids ages 6 to 8
Activities should focus on money skills such as setting up a monthly saving goal, managing an allowance, and depositing money in a savings account. They can learn how to make change, look for bargains, and estimate the total of several purchases.
Kids ages 9 to 12
In this age group children can work on smart money habits such as comparison shopping and understanding how a checking account works. Have them set up a weekly spending plan and money diary to help determine their allowance and to help learn goal setting.
Teenagers
At this age, they can get involved in such things as doing research for a major family purchase and creating a budget for things like clothing purchases. It’s also a good time to get them involved in learning investment skills and lifelong skills such as opening an account with the electric company, evaluating a rental agreement, and the difference between buying or leasing a car.
As a member of United Southeast Federal Credit Union, you can take advantage of the Accel program, a free financial education and counseling program. Accel counselors are available Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (EST), Friday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. To use this new service, simply call 1-877-33ACCEL (332-2235) or visit them on the web at www.accelservices.org
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