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.
Seven Ways College Students Waste Money
Managing Money is Challenging, Don’t Waste it!
Seven Ways College Students Waste Money
Going to college is expensive, no doubt about it. Between textbooks, tuition, housing, utilities, and maintaining a social life, managing your money can be challenging. So, here are a few habits to avoid if you want to save more: Seven ways college students waste money …
1. Buy new textbooks
College textbook prices have increased faster than tuition, healthcare costs, housing prices, and inflation. You can cut this expense by buying used books online through Amazon or Half Price Books, or renting through sites like Chegg, Campus Book Rentals, or Campus Books.
2. Carry a credit card balance
If you use a credit card, only charge what you’re able to pay off in full each month. If you’re already carrying a balance, consider transferring the balance to a credit card with a lower interest rate and no or low annual fees. Mid Oregon offers a credit card with low rates, no cash advance or balance transfer fees.
3. Go out to eat
If you spend on average $6 for breakfast daily and $12 on lunch or dinner, you will fork out $90 for 5 days of food. Instead, buy $90 worth of groceries and you’ll eat for a month.
4. Go to bars for fun
Drinking can be a very expensive habit. On average, college students spend $900 a year on alcohol. The cost goes up if you get hit with a ticket for drinking underage or driving while intoxicated. Instead of going to bars, have fun inexpensively by going to student union events, bowling, or cooking dinner with friends. – COCC Events – OSU Cascades
5. Own a vehicle
If you live on or near campus, having a car is a needless expense. By avoiding monthly car and insurance payments, parking fees, as well as gas and maintenance expenses, you’ll save over $20,000 during your 4 years at college. Consider using public transportation, getting a bicycle, or walking. And if a car is a necessity, consider a safe, late-model, used car financed with a Mid Oregon Credit Union car loan.
6. Buy a daily latte
A latte at $4 a day adds an extra $120 to your monthly expenses. Instead, buy a coffeemaker, a pound of coffee, and a travel mug and you’ll be able to brew a month’s worth of coffee for a fraction of that cost.
7. Live alone
Save on housing and utility costs by sharing an apartment with a couple of friends. With rental prices in Central Oregon, living alone is very expensive. If you are in Bend or Central Oregon, check out the COCC Off-Campus Housing page.
A Personal Debt Assessment
A Personal Debt Assessment:
Your Financial Life Preserver
Do you feel like you’re drowning in debt? Trust your instincts. You might need a personal debt assessment.
The national average credit card debt per household is $5,700. About 41.2% of households carry a balance on credit cards from month to month. Our reliance on plastic and other forms of credit makes life difficult for families struggling to make ends meet.
Even if you’re still in shallow water, a personal debt assessment may be just the financial life preserver you need to keep your debt from spiraling out of control.
Do You Need a Personal Debt Assessment?
How do you know if you need a debt assessment? Ask yourself whether you’re experiencing these warning signs:
• Do you frequently pay bills late?
• Do you pay only the minimum due on your credit cards?
• Do you use credit for necessities like groceries?
• Have you ever used one credit card to pay off another?
• Do you find yourself paying off holiday debt for several months or years?
• Have you been contacted by creditors?
• Do you use high-cost loans such as payday loans as “quick money” for desperate circumstances?
Mid Oregon Can Help
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you may benefit from a personal debt assessment from Mid Oregon Credit Union. We can help you plan a strategy for getting out—and staying out—of debt, develop a sensible spending plan, and communicate effectively with creditors. And, if you don’t know which debts to pay off first, we can help you figure that out, too.
It’s important to follow the right path. There are many false messages out there, convincing thousands that fixing debt issues is easy. Beware of those credit repair and quick-fix ads.
No Quick Fix
There is no silver bullet, but there are ways which make a bigger difference. For example, lowering the interest rates on your debt can reduce the amount of interest you pay, freeing up more of your payment to pay down the debt balance. For some, a Mid Oregon Visa credit card will have a lower rate of interest, and no balance transfer fee. For others, refinancing a car loan can reduce interest by several percentage points. Getting set up on automatic payments can help avoid late fees. Opening a Savers Club account can help you put aside a little bit every month, so you can pay cash for those Holiday gifts or vacation expenses.
Call us today at (541) 382-1795, or visit one of our seven Central Oregon Mid Oregon Credit Union branches. A personal debt assessment may be just the financial life preserver you need to keep your debt from spiraling out of control.
Message from the CEO: Protecting your data is Mid Oregon’s top priority
We’ve all been through it. Having your private personal data compromised is frightening.
That’s why at Mid Oregon Credit Union, we believe protecting the privacy and security of our members’ accounts is our most important responsibility.
Acting Quickly
When we discover a data breach, we act immediately to change account numbers and issue new credit and debit cards for affected members. Additionally, we pursue cyber criminals through available legal channels. But, under current regulations, we are not allowed to tell you which organization is responsible for the breach.
Having your personal financial data stolen is enough of a burden. You shouldn’t have to worry about who is going to clean up the mess and pay the bills for the fraud. The problem keeps getting worse.
2018 Data Breaches
More than 1,200 data breaches occurred in 2018, exposing more than 197 million data records—a 126% increase over 2017. The number of records breached in 2018 is likely higher since only half of the breaches reported included the number of records exposed. Read more about the problem here.
Most of us assume the organization responsible for the breach pays the costs since their security failures caused the theft of your data. Sadly, that’s not how it works.
Credit unions like Mid Oregon bear the brunt of the expenses after a data breach, even though we (and members like you) had nothing to do with it.
Credit Unions Pay the Price
To give you one example, after the Target breach, credit unions were left on the hook for $30.6 million and credit unions reissued 4.6 million credit and debit cards.
Right now, organizations responsible for these breaches can shift most of the costs of their data breaches to others. Because we are not-for-profit cooperatives owned by our members, you ultimately foot the bill to clean up their mess. There is no incentive for the organizations that allowed the breaches to spend the time and money to increase their data security. That’s wrong for consumers and bad for our economy.
Calling on Congress!
That’s why Mid Oregon and other credit unions across the country are working together to improve protections for credit union members who are victims of data breaches.
We’re calling on Congress to step up and protect credit union members.
I hope you’ll consider lending your voice to this important effort. Please click on this link to learn more about the problem and send an e-mail to your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators.
Thank you for making your voice heard on this important subject on behalf of your fellow consumers.
Sincerely,
Bill Anderson
CEO, Mid Oregon Credit Union
PS—Data breaches are scary and inconvenient, but Congress can protect consumers like you. To find out more, visit StoptheDataBreaches.com.