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Ready to take control of your finances in 2024?
Amazingly, the calendar has once again turned its page, and we find ourselves standing at the threshold of a brand new year.
As 2024 begins, many of us will set resolutions to change certain aspects of our financial lives, such as saving money, reducing debt, improving our credit scores, or even funding a long-awaited home improvement project.
Fortunately, if you find yourself in need of some guidance and assistance in achieving these goals, Mid Oregon is here to help. And what better way to start taking control of your finances than by creating a financial fitness plan.
MAKE A SAVINGS GOAL
Set up a specific but realistic goal. Perhaps 2024 is the time to focus on building your nest egg for emergencies, retirement, or simply peace of mind. If you see a tax refund in your future, use part of that money to give yourself a head start. Use a savings goal calculator, such as Mid Oregon’s Savings Goals tool in Digital Banking, to see how much you’d have to save each month. Or, explore the variety of savings options Mid Oregon offers (see below). Whatever you want to save for, set a goal and then work toward reaching it.
MAKE SAVINGS A PRIORITY
Saving sufficiently for the future—whether that’s tomorrow or years from now—is crucial. From regular savings and high-yield savings accounts to share certificates, Mid Oregon offers a variety of savings options and strategies to cater to your unique needs:
- Share Certificates—Enjoy higher returns on your investments and keep your money safe and local. We have amazing rates right now so take advantage of our latest special.
- High Yield Savings Accounts—Savings account with a variable dividend rate that increases as the balance increases (minimum balance $1,000).
- IRA Accounts—Build your future and your nest egg faster with attractive rates of return and choices to fit every budget and savings goal.
- Saver’s Club Certificate—Set your goal and the amount you want to save every month. It’s ideal for saving for something special or not being caught short during the holidays.
MINIMIZING DEBT
If reducing debt is on your agenda for the year, Mid Oregon can also assist you in navigating this challenging journey. We offer a variety of loan options designed to help you consolidate your debts and manage them more efficiently. Consider applying for a home equity line of credit (HELOC) to consolidate debt or build an ADU for extra income. How about transferring your high-interest rate credit card balance and take advantage of our no balance transfer fees? By working with our knowledgeable loan officers, you can develop a customized plan to tackle your debts strategically, potentially saving you money and reducing your financial stress.
CREATE A BUDGET
A budget can feel daunting, especially if you have never done one or it has been a long time. But having a budget allows you to better control your money, instead of it controlling you. You will also feel more confident if faced with a financial setback. Begin by writing it all down—every dollar you spend. From the daily coffee, to treats for our four-legged friends and monthly subscription costs, it all adds up. Writing down all your expenses, even those that seem insignificant, is a helpful way to track your spending patterns, identify necessary expenses and prioritize the rest. You can jumpstart your budget by applying basic percentage rules:
- The 80/20 rule is one of the more simplistic rule where you use 80% of your budget for needs and wants, then save the other 20%. Rather than having a variety of categories, you simply divide your expenses and savings into these two buckets.
- The 70/20/10 rule allocates 70% monthly bills and daily spending, 20% for savings and 10% for debt payments.
- The 50/30/20 rule allocates 50% of your income toward needs (housing, transportation, utilities, groceries), 30% toward wants (eating out, streaming services, hobbies or entertainment), and 20% towards savings (emergency fund, extra debt payments)
- The 30/30/30/10 rule is another popular method you can try. This budget breaks down into 30% housing, 30% expenses, 30% debt/savings, and 10% for entertainment/fun.
MY CREDIT SCORE—YOUR MOST IMPORTANT NUMBER
Improving your credit score is another crucial aspect of financial wellness, and Mid Oregon can help you navigate this process. Many of us don’t keep track of our credit scores, but having a good score influences the type of financial options available to you—including interest rates on loans.
Mid Oregon has a free, secure option that can help you take charge of your credit. CreditSavvy (My Credit Score) on our Digital Banking platform can help you improve your score, and monitor for potential fraud. When you enroll, you receive anytime, anywhere access to your credit score. Plus, you’ll receive simple, straightforward tips that you can use to improve your score. In addition, you’ll enjoy these other features:
- Articles on ways to improve your score.
- Information on how your score compares to other consumers in your area.
- Credit Simulator Tool. Try different what-if scenarios to see how they’ll affect your score—before you make a change!
- Free credit monitoring. Sign up to receive alerts on new accounts or inquiries on your credit report.
- Special offers tailored to your good credit that can reduce your interest rates and save you money!
For those who are interested in building or repairing their credit, we off resources such as secured credit cards and credit builder loans, designed to assist in creating a positive credit profile and boosting your creditworthiness.
GET A FREE FINANCIAL CHECKUP
Mid Oregon recently introduced a powerful resource for getting a handle on your finances—Financial Checkup in Digital Banking—an empowering new addition to our My Credit Score family.
Financial Checkup takes you through an anonymous, 15-minute questionnaire to organize your information on income, debt, and expenses. Simply answer a few questions about your income and current debts. In just minutes, you will receive a thorough analysis of your financial situation, including tips by leading financial experts to help manage your debt and build a budget.
PASS ON UNNECESSARY PURCHASES
It’s easy to lose track of how much money you spend on items you do not need. It might be on sale or “fit perfectly on the table corner.” Keep in mind that these unnecessary purchases can affect your bottom line. Get disciplined by identifying your needs vs wants. Do you need the newest smartphone or do you merely want it? Think about giving yourself a 24-hour cooling-off period between the time you see an item and when you make the purchase. If you’re shopping online, consider putting the item in your shopping cart and then walking away until you’ve had more time to think it over. In some cases, you might even get a coupon code when the retailer notices you abandoned the items in your cart. Turning down something you want now may be difficult, but the reward will be greater savings later.
BECOME A FAN OF AUTOMATION
- Digital Banking to ease financial tasks, saving you time and increasing your efficiency.
- Automatic overdraft protection. In a few easy steps, you can link your savings account to your checking to have a little added cushion in the event your expenses get a bit tight.
- Automatic loan payments. Your monthly loan payment will automatically be deducted from a linked checking or savings account.
- Setting up auto pay. This is a great way to save you time, hassle and offer peace of mind knowing your bills are paid promptly every month.
- Automate your savings: Direct deposit your paycheck into multiple accounts, including one for each of your savings goals.
As we embark on another new year, it’s essential to remember that achieving your financial goals requires dedication, discipline, and sometimes, a helping hand. Mid Oregon is committed to being that helping hand for you, providing the resources, expertise, and support needed to make positive changes in your financial well-being. So, take advantage of our offerings, and let this year be the one where you turn your financial resolutions into accomplishments.
Want to know more? Read additional Mid Oregon blog articles about goals, budgeting, and debt consolidation.
Stay Safe While Spreading Joy: How to Avoid Gift Card Scams
Gift cards are trendy—to give as well as to get. Using one is a convenient way to treat someone to dinner at their favorite restaurant, to purchase at their favorite store, or to give them cash. Unfortunately, scammers also love gift cards and have come up with creative ways to convince you to purchase cards for them.
In 2021, consumers reported over $148 million lost to gift card scammers. Consumers have reported being contacted by the IRS, Social Security, and power companies and told they owed penalties. Others say Amazon or Apple got them to pay to continue service. Some say they were contacted by law enforcement and told to pay a fee to avoid a warrant. The reasons are endless.
In most cases, the scammer attempts to scare or alarm you, claiming that something terrible will happen if you don’t pay them immediately. They want you to act quickly so you don’t have time to think it through or check the issue further. You are told payment must be made using a gift card instead of a check or online payment, and you don’t need to mail the card; simply tell them the serial and personal identification numbers on the back.
Here are a few more scenarios gift card scammers use:
Relative in distress
You receive a call from someone claiming to be a loved one, usually a grandchild. They tell you they have had an accident or are stuck in a foreign country, unable to get home. They ask you to send money immediately using a gift or a prepaid card.
Clergy members
They claim they are raising money for a worthy cause. They contact you by phone, text, or email, ask you to purchase gift cards, and give them the numbers.
Resale or auction sites
Once you have shown interest in an item, the scammer will offer a discount if you buy it with a gift card. You give them the number and never get the item you purchased.
Tip: Be suspicious if a government agency, legitimate company, or loved one asks you to pay them with a gift card. If you’re unsure, contact the agency or company using their official website, not a number provided in the questionable message. If someone claims to be a relative, contact the immediate family and ask them to verify that a payment is needed.
Like cash, getting the money back is difficult once a gift card is given to someone. You are not protected from fraud like you are with major credit cards.
What to do if you gave a gift card to a scammer
If you bought a gift card and gave someone the numbers off the back of the card, that’s a scam. Use your gift card and gift card store receipt for these next steps:
- Report the gift card scam to the gift card company right away. No matter how long ago the scam happened, report it. Use the How To Contact Gift Card Companies list below.
- Ask for your money back. Some companies are helping stop gift card scams and might give your money back. It’s worth asking.
- Tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Every report makes a difference.
Be safe and enjoy this holiday season!
Want to know more? Read additional Mid Oregon blog articles about online security and fraud protection.
As a reminder, Mid Oregon will never initiate a call asking for personal or account information via phone, text, or email.
Shop with confidence—holiday season security tips
Well, we once again made it through Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday.
Even after those few crazy days of holiday shopping madness, you can still find some great deals. Unfortunately, the cyber thieves are lurking around trying to make a profit off everyone else’s holiday cheer.
However, there are some things you can do to lower the risk that your personal payment information is stolen.
They do exist!
Brick and mortar stores do still exist, believe it or not. And if you are so inclined to shop at them, you have a few options. One is to use a payment card. If you are given the option to use your card as debit or credit, choose credit. While you still have protections when using it as debit, the possibility of your card being re-created and used at an ATM increases when the thieves also have your PIN. If they can use it as debit, they can also drain your account and it may take some time to get the money back.
If you have the choice of using a payment card with a chip, use that over the one that only has the magnetic strip (those still exist too). It’s a little tougher to duplicate the chip and to get the information from them, should malware be lurking in the retailer’s system.
The best of the card options, however, is to use Apple Pay or Google Pay, or some other service you may have available to you that hides your card number. Many retail locations (and online businesses) have these options these days, so take advantage if you can.
Small businesses are still a risk
Shopping local is a great way to support your small community businesses, but beware of getting a false sense of security because they are “mom and pop” stores. Cybercriminals are targeting these smaller businesses more often these day for various reasons. Use the same safeguards you would for any retail purchase.
Online shopping bonanza!
Online shopping is a great way to do your holiday shopping and many websites make it very easy for you to spend money. Using your payment card as credit is still the advice, but there are different security considerations as well.
Don’t store your payment card details in the websites or on your browser. Yes, it’s a bit annoying to type it in every time you make a purchase, but it’s more secure to do so.
Yes, we’re talking about password reuse again. This is a problem and is still catching people off guard. So, do yourself a favor and use unique passwords for each account.
While you’re thinking about passwords, if you haven’t changed your online account passwords lately for your favorite retailers, take a moment to do so. You know the advice to change your smoke detector batteries every New Year’s Day? Well, maybe you can start a good habit of changing your retail shopping passwords every year around this time. It’s recommended that passwords be changed regularly. If you can do it every quarter, even better. After all, there is some big retail event at least once a quarter (Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, etc.).
Malware runs rampant all year long.
Any more, it’s not just at this time of year when malware hiding in advertising is running amok. Beware of malicious advertising pretty much everywhere you look when online. Cyber criminals are inserting malware into ads catching unsuspecting ad clickers off guard. It is safer to go directly to the website being advertised rather than clicking an ad.
However, if you like clicking those ads, be sure to have anti-virus and anti-malware software installed and kept updated on every device used to do shopping and turn on the security features of your preferred browsers. Most of them have a malicious website detection feature. Pay attention to those warnings.
If you don’t care for the ads flashing all over the screen, consider ad-blocking software and apps to prevent accidentally clicking on them.
Have fun this season, no matter how you plan to spend it. With the above tips, you can be safer too.
Want to know more? Read additional Mid Oregon blog articles about online security and fraud protection.
Content based on an article by Stickley on Security