The Bottom Line
Small business is important to Central Oregon, and to Mid Oregon. Find tips and resources for business, and information about Mid Oregon’s commercial services and business members.
Holiday Dough Supporting Local Charities
Mid Oregon Launches Annual Holiday Dough
Mid Oregon Credit Union is encouraging the communities we serve to contribute to our annual fundraiser, Holiday Dough supporting local charities. These Central Oregon organizations provide food, clothing and shelter for individuals and families in greatest need during the holidays.
Accepting Financial Contributions Through December 1st
Members and the general public can stop by any Mid Oregon branch to make a Holiday Dough donation via cash or check through December 1, 2020. For contactless donations, members can complete the convenient online form at www.midoregon.com or call our Contact Center at (541) 382-1795. All contributions stay in the community where they are collected. No amount is too big or too small.
One hundred percent of the donations will benefit these local agencies:
• The Giving Plate of Bend, coordinating the Monthly Food Box program, Grow & Give Garden, Kid’s Korner food bank, and Backpacks for Bend.
• La Pine Christmas Basket Association, providing food during the Christmas holiday for people in the South Deschutes County area
• Redmond Jericho Road, Providing hot meals, backpacks of food, emergency and housing assistance to those in need in the Redmond area.
• Jefferson County Food Bank (Madras), supplying food to families and individuals
• Crook County Holiday Partnership—(Prineville), providing holiday support to families with children, senior and disabled citizens in need in Crook County
• Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank – Distributing more than 60,000 pounds of food annually and helping more than 100 families each month, the food bank offers a shopping-style food pantry to patrons.
Living Out “People Helping People”
Giving back to the community is a core value of Mid Oregon Credit Union, aligning with the credit union philosophy of “people helping people,” Mid Oregon members and the community responded generously during 2019 Holiday Dough effort, donating nearly $3,500 to local holiday food banks.
“This time of year can be challenging for some local families—maybe more so in 2020. When putting food on the table is a daily struggle, planning a festive holiday meal can be almost impossible,” says Kyle Frick, VP of Marketing for Mid Oregon Credit Union. “We hope to see continued support from our members and the community for the Holiday Dough fundraiser this year.”
Central Oregon Continues To Be Generous
In the difficult year of 2020, Mid Oregon members and others in the community have proven their generosity. Our activities of collecting donations during our Free Shred Event (for Healthy Beginnings), Supplies 4 Schools (Family Access Network & Schools) and the Wildfire Relief Response with the American Red Cross, produced significant contribution amounts, in many cases our most ever. We expect this to continue with Holiday Dough supporting local charities. We appreciate the continued kindness expressed through financial giving our members have shown.
Fall Smart Money Moves
5 Smart Money Moves to Make This Fall
As the leaves begin to change color, it’s time to start thinking about your year-end money strategy. The fall and winter holidays are close…closer than you think. Use the following strategies, Fall smart money moves, to make the rest of the year count.
- Clean out your closet. You looked into your closet and decided you have nothing to wear. Before you start buying new clothes, pull out your cold weather clothes and give them a good look. Try them on to make sure everything still fits and donate what you no longer wish to keep.
- Add holidays into your budget. This year, the year-end holiday celebrations will likely be virtual rather than in-person, so you’re less likely to have travel expenses, but there’s still a chance you may overspend on gifts and decorations. If you haven’t already made a spending plan for them, do so now. Figure out how much you can afford to spend and stick to that amount.
Save Now, Benefit Later
- Up your 401(k). If your budget can handle it, why not increase your retirement deductions by 1%? The more you save now, the more tax benefits you’ll get, AND the less you have to worry about the future.
- Spend your Flexible Spending Account (FSA) dollars. Use it or lose it. You’ve already saved this money, so don’t leave it on the table. Check your FSA documentation to see what health-related expenses you can use this account for and use those dollars.
Don’t Lose Your Time Off
- Plan to use your vacation days. Using your vacation days is key to living a successful, balanced life. Even if you have a staycation, it’s critical to use your well-deserved days off. If you plan now, you can even save for a weekend getaway before the end of the year. Life is all about balance.
As the weather turns colder, it’s a great time to reflect on the money progress you’ve made throughout the past year and start focusing on small wins to finish the year right.
Are You Ready For The Holidays?
By Jean Chatzky*
Ready For The Holidays?
Every year the folks at consulting firm Deloitte come out with predictions for the holiday shopping season. This year they’re projecting that spending from November to January will increase 1% to 1.5% and – if we get another round of stimulus from Uncle Sam, those numbers could rise. Considering that a recent TransUnion study showed that COVID-19 continues to impact the finances of 52% of Americans (hitting Hispanic consumers and Americans with children at home even harder), I wasn’t expecting that.
Accounting for the rise, Deloitte and others point to the strength of e-commerce, which may really be the gift that keeps on giving. Although just half of consumers did the bulk of their holiday shopping online last year, this year nearly-three quarters say they plan to do so according to CreditCards.com. Millennials are leading the way here with 74% steering clear of brick-and-mortar stores this year, compared with 70% of Gen Z, Gen X and Baby Boomers. Why are they sticking so close to their computers and mobile devices? Convenience is the most cited reason – even topping the desire to avoid human contact among the older folks who are likely to be most at-risk of COVID-19.
Ready For The Holidays
And you can expect this holiday season to be different in a few other ways as well. For instance:
- Halloween’s loss may be the rest of the season’s gain. Every year, about 40% of shoppers start their holiday shopping before Halloween. This year, with a bit of a damper on other Halloween activities (the number of people trick-or-treating and handing out candy is down according to the National Retail Federation, although the number who say they’ll decorate their homes is up), it may begin earlier still. Keep your eye on 10/13/20 – that’s being reported as Amazon Prime Day (although Amazon has yet to confirm) other than saying it will be in October. Whenever it falls, it will likely mark the start of the holiday shopping season.
Don’t Wait To Buy
- If you like it, don’t wait to buy it. Inventories are expected to be leaner this season than in years past – in part because retailers who struggled through the pandemic (in some cases filing bankruptcy) didn’t order as much as they typically would. If you suspect an item is going to go quickly, go ahead and buy it. Then, save your receipt and watch for sales. Typically if the price falls within the next two weeks many retailers will give you credit for the difference.
- Consider curbside pickup. The closer it gets to the holidays, the more you’ll pay for shipping. Fed Ex, the USPS and UPS have all said that they will be imposing surcharges during peak season. Some retailers may absorb some of these charges, but others will likely pass them along to consumers. Do the math to figure out if you’re better off spending the money on gas and time out of your day to pick the item up or having it shipped to your door. Also: Cutoffs for holiday delivery will likely come sooner than in prior years.
Different Gifts Are “In”
- Experiences are out. Cozy is in. Shopping patterns thus far during the pandemic have given us a heads up about where we’re likely to spend this holiday season. With many theaters still dark, travel slow and other in-person experiences still unavailable, chances are good we’ll be gifting more things this season. Beauty products (particularly skincare), anything for the home (because we’re all nesting) and cozy scarves and sweaters (who doesn’t need a little comfort right now) will all be popular gifts this season.
- Let’s bake. Finally, if you are the holiday cookie, bake for the crowd type, you may want to load up on flour and yeast while the getting is still good. We ran out of those things early in the pandemic. You don’t want to run short on them now.
* This guest article, “Are you ready for the holidays?”, is from the “Your Money Blog” in Mid Oregon’s digital banking Credit Savvy resource. “Are you ready for the holidays?” is made possible by Savvy Money.