Groupon Meets Credit Unions

I found this interesting website the other night. It is a "Groupon like" deal website. The is what it looks like:



According to the website's about us page:

CUponDeals.org brings members of credit unions a new deal every week. We negotiate awesome deals with business owners, often below cost, and let credit union members know about it through their credit unions, who share these special deals with their members through Facebook, Twitter, blogs, websites, email marketing, branch lobbies and this website.

It sounds very interesting. I would think this would make a unique feature on many credit union's websites. I have wondered whether a Groupon-style deal a week would work for credit unions. This website is mainy non-financial products. What if your credit union had its own group deal every week? Maybe cross a woot.com and groupon.com? You could do a deal with new auto loans. Your members could pay $10 for a coupon that if they got an auto loan from your credit union, the credit union makes their first payment for them. Subject to credit approval. I think that would be unique.

2011 Next Top Credit Union Exec

Yes, the rumors are true! I have thrown my hat in the competition to be the Next Top Credit Union Executive! Check out my video:

First Published Article

I am excited to announce that my first published article appears in this month's edition of Change Magazine! You can find the article here.

The title is "Establishing your POPI (Positive Online Professional Image). If you live in the Bay Area of Houston, feel free to pick a copy up at any one of the many businesses that carry the magazine.

Dealership Blues

Even with all the amazing information at our finger tips on the internet, people still show up blindly at a dealership to buy a car. No research. No clue. Luckily, my member's have me to look after them. Some are not so lucky. Here are two crucial things you need to do before setting foot on a dealership.

First, you need to know how much your car is worth is you are planning on trading it in. The salesman who pretends to be your friend will give you as little as possible. This month, I had a member try and trade in his car. NADA trade clean trade-in value is $22k. The dealer was giving him $14k. Even after I told this member, they still wanted to do the deal!

Second, know what you want before you show up and actually research prices. Websites such as www.autotrader.com and www.edmunds.com are excellent sites to see the prices of new and used cars. I cannot tell you how many times a member has called me from the dealer to tell me the year/make/model/VIN and I find that exact car on Autotrader listed for less that the sale price they got at the dealership.

Simple enough. Do your research, show up prepared, because the dealer will do everything it can to get the most money out of you. It is your responsibility to keep the dealer honest.

Happy Hunting!

Website Review: www.creditkarma.com

So I recently read about this website on a blog entitled The Credit Union Warrior. The article I speak of can be found here.

Here is a quote from CreditKarma.com:

Credit Karma offers a new way to track your credit score and a unique way to benefit from it. For the first time you can get a truly free credit score with no hidden costs or obligations. Based on your score, you gain access to exclusive offers from companies that value your creditworthiness.

I was initially skeptical about this free service. I have seen many of my members and customers get swindled by the "free" credit score sites. After I read up on it, I decided to give it a try.

The first clue was that they do not ask for a credit card or account information to enroll. After you fill in your information, it will verify your identity by asking you questions from your credit report. This just takes a matter of minutes. Soon I was finished and viewing my transunion score. The way this website makes it's money is from companies who pay them to show particular products to consumers based on their credit score.

There is much more to this website. I definitely recommend you give it a shot.

Book Review: Rich Dad, Poor Dad

I first heard about this book some time ago, but never felt the desire to read it until recently. I was looking on amazon for a Christmas gift for my father-in-law. I came across this book and began to read the reviews. I liked what I read and made the purchase. I soon wanted to read the book myself even though he had not started it yet. Well, I can tell you after reading the book, I should have read it a long time ago.

This book is filled with great lessons about financial intelligence. They are presented in a fun and interesting way to teach you principles that will help you become rich. The key message in the book is that most people work to make money while the rich makes money work for them. This is accomplished by only buying money producing assets, not liabilities.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to all my readers. It will open your eyes and help you understand how money works. Because you need to understand how money works if you ever want to be rich. That is the secret. Enjoy!

Do Not Get Comfortable With Credit Card Debt

For many Americans, credit card debt is a big burden on their financial freedom. Yet they can't seem to give them up. This is partially due to the "must have it now" mentality. You see that new big screen TV and have the credit card in your pocket. Even better, the store will give you a sweet deal if you get their store credit card at 29.99% interest. Take two seconds to breath and then remember that you will save money in the long run if you put money aside and pay cash (debit or check). By doing so, you will save yourself from paying interest. Keep this in mind next time you see something you MUST have.