Along with the wonderful sounds of sleigh bells and Christmas carols, every winter we can expect to hear the sneezing, coughing and fever producing sickness that is known as the flu. Running typically from October to April, flu season is by far my least favorite season of the year.

It’s been three years since my last flu episode (knock on wood), but I can still remember the 10 days of nausea and weakness that made me absolutely miserable.  Getting the flu is never fun and when you aren’t prepared for it, sometimes it can turn into a financial stress, too. With a 20% chance of getting the flu, it is important to find out the impact it can have on your wallet and what steps you can take to avoid it:

We all remember last holiday season when Target’s systems were breached, exposing millions of customers’ credit card data. Since then Home Depot, Kmart, and Neiman Marcus have all been added to the list of retailers who have been compromised. Over the past year, the world has become a lot scarier for shopping. Luckily, even though hackers have become a lot smarter so have retailers and financial institutions, so that shoppers can have a safer and more merry holiday. As the VP of E-Commerce and former Manager over the Risk Management Department, it is my job to keep our GNCU members and their information as safe as possible, whether it be online or in stores.
 
 ‘Tis the season to be jolly so in order to help keep the holidays bright, I’ve decided to answer questions that our members have been asking on how to best keep your money and information safe this shopping season and security improvements slated for 2015.

Between paying for all the food and drinks for a Thanksgiving feast, Christmas gifts for family and friends, and holiday trips, it’s hard to think about saving money over the next few months.  And as a recent transplant from Southern California, I also haven’t really thought much about what my heating bill will be like in northern Nevada. (I was more focused on the beautiful, snowy winter I’d enjoy!)

Luckily good old dad shared some advice with me and in turn, I would like to share it with you, since saving is never easy and we could all use a helpful tip once in a while.

Flash forward to tomorrow afternoon, your phone rings and great news, you’re invited to a Halloween party! But wait, you don’t have a costume, it’s the day before, and if you’re like me, spending $60+ dollars for a once-a-year outfit really isn’t fun...sigh. This happens to me just about every year on Halloween and I thus have two options to debate, sit on the couch trying to find anything other than an old horror movie to watch or go out with friends and probably have a good time.  I know you’re thinking that to enjoy Halloween you need to have some brilliant disguise but trust me, your friends won’t care as long as you go! So suck it up, take my advice and you will have a great time and an easy costume that won’t break the bank.
 

Whether I am walking through a department store, going down a grocery aisle, or stopped at a street corner with signage, I get that inevitable reminder that the holidays are fast approaching. I don’t know about you, but these signs start to make me feel anxious when I remember how much I spent last year or that I only have so many more paychecks to get. But after I stop my momentary panic, I snap back into reality and remember that the holidays aren’t meant to be a financial burden. In fact, if we all calm down, and start planning now, we can manage the holidays and make them enjoyable. And by next year, I might even be so daring as to plan as early as January with a Christmas Club account! But, since I am no holiday expert yet, by simply following just one or all of these steps, I know I’ll be in for a much more relaxing holiday:

Most of us remember when “foreclosure” wasn’t a household word. It has always been a painful reality, but until a few years ago it wasn’t one that impacted so many of our friends and families. I don’t own a home, but many of my friends and acquaintances do, and two of my closest friends have lost their homes in the last five years. The process of losing your home and your good credit is difficult, scary, and embarrassing at best.

We’ve all been there. Things are tight already, you have no idea how you’re going to pay this month’s bills, and while you’re driving to work (mentally calculating the risks of living off of ramen noodles) the transmission falls out of the car, causing you to swerve into a construction zone where nails pop three of your tires. Okay, maybe we haven’t been there exactly, but most of us know the feeling of panic when unexpected bills start piling up. The temptation to run to the nearest payday lender (just to get us through until next payday of course) can be overpowering. But before you head down that road, let’s take a look at payday loans, and find out if there are better options.

My job is to generate loans at Greater Nevada Credit Union, which means helping Nevada consumers borrow more money. You might not think that borrowing more money and getting richer are two things that go together, because building wealth is all about saving and investing, right?

In today’s world of social media and instantaneous communication, we can get news and information about pretty much anything in just a few seconds. We also get a lot of information, since so much content can spread so fast without moderation. Hopefully by now you know that Bill Gates is never going to give you $5,000 no matter how many times you repost a picture of him on Facebook. But did you know goldfish don’t really have 3-second memories? How anyone knows whether they do or not is beyond my area of expertise, but apparently the current consensus is that they have pretty decent memories after all. There are quite a few money myths being spread far and wide as well. Let’s dispel a few of them.

I just got back from a two week road trip, which was incredible but cost me about $800 in gas. It got me thinking though, about ways to save money on transportation in general. I planned to talk to you about whether buying more expensive gas really makes a difference to your engine or your fuel efficiency, but no one seems to agree (except that your engine is probably not in danger, even if you buy less expensive gas). So I thought I’d look at some alternative ways to save money on getting to and fro. None of the following tips for cutting down transportation costs include the purchase of a donkey-cart.