As the New Year rolled in, we sat down with one of Centric's retail managers, Glenda Augustine, to talk about all things credit scores and how to reach your financial goals this year. Glenda shares with us the advice that she shares with every person who comes to sit down in her office. We discuss what factors into having a good credit score and how building your savings can create a safety net to help. Listen now to share a laugh with us and learn more about Centric can help you build and repair your credit score.
As the New Year rolled in, we sat down with one of Centric's retail managers, Glenda Augustine, to talk about all things credit scores and how to reach your financial goals this year. Glenda shares with us the advice that she shares with every person who comes to sit down in her office. We discuss what factors into having a good credit score and how building your savings can create a safety net to help. Listen now to share a laugh with us and learn more about Centric can help you build and repair your credit score.
Carmen Gonzalez 0:02
Welcome back to another episode of the Live Better Podcast by Centric FCU. I'm your host and Centric's Community Partner Coordinator, Carmen Gonzalez. I'm so excited that you're here. Every month, we post a new episode where I'm joined by guests to chat about finances and all things Living Better subscribe today so that you never miss an episode.
Today, we are joined by Glenda Augustine. She is Centric's University Center Manager. So if you have ever stopped by location in front of ULM, you have definitely seen her. And so we are definitely thankful for her to be here today. Thank you so much for joining us, Glenda. Oh, you're welcome, Carmen, I'm happy to be here. So tell us a little bit about yourself. You know, how long have you been at Centric your, you know, you've grown up around this area. Tell us about yourself? Uh, well, I'm Monroe native. I've been here all my life, you know, I'm country, and I'm proud of it. And also, I've been at Centric for the last four years going on five this year. And I've been married for about 22 years, with three kids. And Football is my favorite. Love it. And so that's the way you know, I manage my girls at the center. They're my football team since I couldn't coach Oh, I love it. And we I know every time I stopped by the center, it is always a good time. I know any of our members who stopped by there is always a fun time around there, you can definitely feel the energy and everything. So Glenda is rocking it over at our university. So we thank you. Because, you know, a lot of times I tell them that you never know what a person is going through before they step through the door. So, you know, make them feel better on their way out than when they came in? Yeah, definitely. And so the reason we asked Glenda to be here today is we, you know, over the past year or so of doing these different podcasts and talking to different people, we've really realized that we all hear about credit scores, but we have no clue what a credit score is. We don't know, why do we care what goes into it all that things. And Glenda talks to a lot of our members about their credit scores and their financial situation and how to reach their financial hopes and dreams. Glenda is one of our certified financial counselors. She actually went through it at the same time I did. So we got to, you know, celebrate together passing those exams. And so I just wanted to, you know, talk to you a little bit about what kind of questions do you get asked, when you're talking to members about their credit, or their credit scores?
Glenda Augustine 2:21
A lot of the questions are is what can I do to improve my credit score? Well, how long does it take before my credit score can go up? But what do I need to build a house, you know, to purchase a house? And you know, it's not a quick fix? You know, and a lot of times, you know, we tell them, Well, hey, we're gonna start you off with a credit builder. And, you know, when we explain what that is, a lot of them think that they can do the credit builder and just take the money at that time. But no, you have to build a relationship with us first. And so you know, even with purchasing cars, they have to understand that you need to have some type of history before we can just give you that type of money to purchase a car. Definitely. And I think too a lot of people, not just with improving, but I think they don't realize I know, I've talked to you know, I have some younger friends. And so they'll talk to me about wanting to do all these great things, like you said, buying a house buying a new car, and I'm like, Okay, that's great. Have you looked at your credit? Right? And they don't have that thought of, oh, I need to talk to somebody. Right, right. Well, you know,
credit has just begun to be really, really popular, you know, because a lot of people now in this age, you know, now they're wanting to, you know, cars earlier, now they want in the homes earlier than it was, you know, years past. And so, a lot of times they need to understand, you know, coming, you know, right out of high school, and that's why, you know, I like to go and do the when we go and visit the high school, the BizKid$ kids, we tried to give them some education, you know, and some of them retain it, and some don't, but, you know, I think that they need it at that level, because it will give them some you know, as soon as they come out of school, they're ready to jump into a car, but they need to understand, you know, what all comes with purchasing that car, you know, you have to have insurance, your insurance can be lower or higher, depending on what your credit score is. So credit, you know, kind of goes in with everything. Yeah, it definitely does. And we've talked I know when we've done our BizKid$ classes, we'll talk to them about different things and we're like, Do you realize they it's not just you know, when you go get go to get a loan, it is things like your car insurance or when you go to buy a new phone, they're gonna pull your
Carmen Gonzalez 4:52
And so I think too, that's part of the benefits that center has Yes, we ever BizKid$ program with me, which mean you both love, love educating our students.
two things, two big things go into your credit score, we'll obviously talk, there's more than just two things, but two big factors, and that is your installment debt and your revolving debt, right, and having a good mix of those things. And so what are some ways in how does someone make sure they have a good mix of those things? Okay. So you know, if you are building your credit, what we do is, what I always recommend is we start if you have a zero credit score, I'll start off with a credit builder, which is a installment you know, for six months. And then from there, I would recommend the secured credit card, which is revolving. And so if you keep that good mix, so from there, you can get like a maybe a personal loan, and then you know, from there, and then you can get an unsecured credit card, but you have to make sure that you have you know, the limits on your credit card and with your credit cards. You need to keep those limits be below 30%. Because a lot of times they will get it in there run it up. No, that's not the purpose of the credit card. Yeah. So definitely. So when were you know, you mentioned credit cards. Now, in a couple previous podcast, if we have any faithful listeners, I know, you've heard us talk about this before anyone who's first time listening, you know, you mentioned that about the credit card. What are some? Like? What would you suggest for people how to use it other than just not using 30%? You know, do we use that in for emergencies? Do we just use that when we're short on our paycheck? How do you suggest people use it? Well, what I do is I use my card to pay my bills, and then when I get my paycheck, I pay it all the way back down to 0%. So that way, I really am not paying any interest on it. And that way, my credit is the the credit bureau is still picking up that I am using my car, but I also pay it off, you know, monthly, definitely. And that's helping create your payment history showing you can you you can be responsible for you know, this open line of credit that you could just max out and not pay off. But just showing that you can, you know, basically it's just showing your responsibility. I like to explain when we do BizKid$, or when I'm talking to, you know, just parents in general, I'm like, you know, you have your kids and you're like, Okay, if you want to go get a dog, I'm gonna need you to see that you can do these five chores, absolutely. Every day for however many months, you've got to prove to me that you can be responsible. And it's the same thing with credit. It's just the adult version of that saying, Hey, if you can be responsible with the small things, then maybe we can build up to that car you want or that house you want. Absolutely, absolutely, definitely. And so with that, we've kind of talked a lot about how you can improve your credit.
and then
with, you know, some of our products, our credit builder, our secured credit card. And again, if you have any questions about those I know everyone who listens to this podcast regularly hears me say all the time, but come talk to one of our certified financial counselors, they've went through the time, this is what they do. I know every time I talk to Glenda about her certified financial counseling sessions, she you know, loves that she has gotten to help somebody that's truly will won't. So come talk to us, we'll we'll steer you in the right path for sure. But what are some other things that people can do to help their credit score improve, other than just getting a credit builder loan or share secured loan, they need to pay their bills on time.
Glenda Augustine 8:32
I mean, you know, that's what it is, if you pay your bills on time, that helps your credit, period. And then you know, if there are some things that were on there that, you know, say for instance, a lot of the medical debt, you don't have to have your medical debt, go to collections, if you know, you've been in the hospital, you can call and make an arrangement, you know, possibly pay 20 $30 a month, that way that collection will not hit your credit, you know, your credit report, because a lot of times when it does, it brings the score down now, do we you know, take that into account? Not really, because it's medical, but your score does? Yeah. And so to keep that from going into collections, you know, you need to make a payment arrangement and also with your other bills, try to make a payment arrangement so that you don't go 30 days because a 30 day late really drops your credit score. Yeah, and there's definitely options too. I know at Centric, we are very, very key on helping our members, you know, making adjustments and stuff or setting payment frequencies to help them out. But we're not the only ones. You know, if you have someplace maybe maybe there's too many things happening at the first of the month and you need to get that adjusted. Just reach out. The biggest thing is giving people a call. Yeah, the majority of all companies will work with you, but you have to make that first step and calling you know, because life does happen. And you know, and if it's not a habit, then they don't mind working with you. Yeah. And I think too, it's good to mention that well we at Centric, we don't typically tape. Take medical consolidation or collection loans into consideration when we are, you know, offering someone a loan, we realize you can't help it if you have an emergency, I understand.
Carmen Gonzalez 10:10
That just proves to you, you know, that's just reinforcing how Centric you know, we you're not just a person on paper, we have a conversation, but and so if you're just thinking about your relationship with us, you might not care. But you know, the utility people, your phone company, your insurance company, they're not asking you questions, they don't care, they just said that scores this, this is what this is how you will be treated. And so I think that's such a big, big thing. And so, definitely taking those things into consideration, obviously a reason to choose Centric, always. Oh, yes, absolutely. Because, yeah, we do care. And, you know, like, if we have somebody to come in and say, Well, I want to refinance my vehicle. And if we put all the numbers inand what they're paying is already is lower than what they would get, I would say, hey, you need to stay where you're at, we would love to do it. But you know, what's best for you is what it is at the end of the day? Yeah, definitely. So you were saying, you know, paying bills on time, it really is the biggest factor and improving your score, keeping a good score, keeping it from going 30 days, I will mention, you know, you typically do you have a grace period of certain days past your due date, no that number because that is really going to be your sweet spot. But it can be hard to kind of get on track, if you haven't been in the past on paying your bills on time. So is there any way Centric can kind of help our members figure it out a plan to get on track with that, yeah, we do have a budget, that, you know, we can, you know, sit down and help you budget out, you know, the way you need to do it based on how you get paid to sit down with them and create a budget for them. Definitely. And I think too, it's good to consider all of our little budget that we do when we sit down with people because it's got things listed on there that, you know, typically, if I'm just looking at my budget, I might not realize like your subscriptions, or Netflix or to the gym, or whatever those small things are. And then on top of that, you know, just really thinking about the fact that we do want to also include in our budgets,
Glenda Augustine 12:05
a savings. Yes. And tell us a little bit about why that is so important. Okay, because anytime you have an emergency, you don't want you sometimes you don't have this cash, you know, ready right here, and you don't have time to go and get a loan. But if you have that in your savings, then you can always reach back and use that and still be okay. You know, a lot of times we won't say it was we don't want to dip into it, but it's there if it's needed. Yeah, I know, personally, back last year, actually, I was reminiscing on this because my Facebook has been filled with the memories of the winter week we had last year.
Carmen Gonzalez 12:41
And after that, and after the ice week, we had, I must have had like a little nic in my windshield. And it ended up cracking it because of the freezing weather, right? And I was like, Oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to either put this on a credit card, or I'm gonna have to whatever and then pause I was like, wait, wait, like I've been putting this mergency fund money aside, and it ended up being I still had some leftover. So I still have money to build on but being able to just be like, Okay, I'm moving this money into my checking account. So I pay with my debit card here take care of it really just takes a huge stress off of you because you're not having to worry about add another bill and you're getting to take care of what you need to take care of. Absolutely, it does. It just comes in handy. Yeah.
And so I think too, it's good to mention at this point is like, if you are having issue savings, I think a lot of people want to save money, but you think you got to make so many dollars. That's not really true, right? No,
Glenda Augustine 13:34
it's not true. You know, we have a plan, we have a Christmas club, I believe we have a
it's called a Santa's Saver. And then we have the one for summer. A vacation saver, and we have those as well. And then you can actually set up an auto transfer, where as soon as you get your you as soon as you get paid, it automatically transfers some money to your savings. That way you don't see it, you can't touch it. And you know, and just kind of out of sight out of mind, you know, so you know, enjoy the fact that you know, talking about savings, and you mentioned, you know, out of sight, out of mind. So if you set an automatic transfer, it really is beneficial. And you can do all those things, it's a good time to mention the fact that you can set it up and you can also make your own transfers through our mobile app, which is super easy. But another way that I like to take benefit of you know, out of sight out of mind when it comes to my savings is do our pairing our reward checking account and our reward savings account. I was gonna geek out about that for a second. But I know for a fact that Glenda geeks out about this if any of our members have talked to her and you do not have your checking account. I don't know how you walked out without one. I'm so glad to share with our listeners about those two things and why they should have one. Okay, so you know anybody wants to reward at the end of the day, okay. You only have three qualifications direct deposit, that's something that it saves you time and saves you energy you know, you can wake up your money's already in your account.
The second one is e-statements that saves a lot of money on paper, you know, and it keeps your mailbox, you know, kind of kind of thing, because you don't have all of those bills coming, you have them electronically. Right. And for those that still likes paper, that's, you know, you could do it, you know, that's fine. And then the third qualifier, of course, is to use your debit card 12 times a month, you know, and, of course, we do that anyway, you know, I don't know very many people that still carry a lot of cash, you know, all you see is, you know, cards cards cards. So, um, you know, in doing those things that we already do, why not get, you know, a reward for doing something that you do anyway, yeah. And so in our Spend Better, you get up to $6 a month just for doing things that you already do. And then you have the Save Better, of course, that has an interest rate of 1.01%. If you're doing the same things, if you're doing those things that you do anyway. And of course, the Earn Better is, you know, when you're going to keep a meal, you know, a few more balances than what you're keeping your Spend Better. And that interest rate is 2.25%, just, you know, doing the same things that you would normally do. Yeah, and again, that's one of the situations where it's like, we do have our multiple, we have two different types of reward checking accounts, you qualify for that you qualify for our Save Better savings account. And if you're not sure which one you're going to benefit from, come talk to us, we can kind of help you figure out why should you some questions, you know, Are you a person who swipes your card a lot? Spend Better is probably going to be better for you? Do you typically keep a higher balance in your savings account? Or do you just have a higher balance in your account anyways, maybe you can split that up to earn the most off of our Save Better and Earn Better. So we can definitely help you kind of figure out what's gonna work best for you. And if you need to switch back and forth a couple of times to figure out what works best we can do that. And we don't mind, yes, we are always helping them out with that. And with that,
Carmen Gonzalez 16:52
the reason I said that I love the fact of doing that. And apparently they're Save Better because those rewards we aren't in that checking account immediately get swept into the savings account. So I have no clue I earned $6 I have the Spend Better checking account. Personally, I've never realized I have $6 that I've earned $6 because it's already in that savings account. And I never I'm never like, oh, wait a minute, I'm missing six dollars No, because it wasn't my anyways, it was just a reward. And so I think that's definitely a benefit for a lot of people. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. And I know that they really appreciate it. Because you have a lot of banks that actually and credit unions that actually charge you to have a checking account, we don't charge even if you're not meeting those qualifiers, we still don't charge you for having a checking account, you don't have to have a minimum balance, you know, on the first checking accounts that we have, but you know, a lot of other places they charge you if you don't have a certain amount that's in your account, you know, for you know, every month. So that's another good thing about it, you know, hey, even if you're not getting your award, you're still not paying anything out. Yeah, definitely. And if you don't qualify one month, or at the beginning, it doesn't kick you out of the program ages, you don't qualify that month, try again the next month. And if you're concerned as to why you didn't qualify, give us a call. Again, I think that was the biggest thing, if anybody can take away while we talk about credit scores and savings accounts, and all the things we've talked about so much, really just trying to help people realize like really the basics of financial wellness.
If you can take anything away, please realize you can come talk to any of us stop by, go talk to Glenda at University, give us a call or visit us online, and we'll help you.
Glenda's gonna ask you, I promise, but you split it. Yeah, give us 50 Give us 50% We you can split it. Yeah, I won't be mad if she said, but definitely talk to us, we definitely have ways to help out everyone this is these are accounts that you know, again, like she said, are free and why would you not take advantage of free resources? Right, right. So you know, we've talked about a lot of different things. And just as a quick, you know, run through from what we've talked about credit scores, they're super important. It's more than just about getting a loan, it really does indicate a lot about your life that you're going to live as an adult. So as soon as you turn 18 Come talk to us come, we will help you out.
You know, you got to have a good installment debt, revolving debt and Centric helps you with that. And on top of that building a savings account really does you know, you might not see it reflected back on your credit report, but it definitely helps your credit score, because you're not having to constantly lean on a credit card or a loan.
And always for all of my listeners, I'm sure you dream of me saying this. I say that every time. But our Certified Credit Union Financial Counselors are always here to help Glenda and I are one. We've got over 50 of our staff are certified. You can talk to them online, you can talk to them in person, we make it work for everyone.
Glenda Augustine 20:00
And so with saying that I love hearing Glenda's excitement when she talks about different members. So tell us, you know, one or two of your favorite stories when you've helped a member live better through any of this, okay, well, we have a member that we're actually helping right now, her daughter just got married. And so we actually help with that part. And so now she's trying to purchase a house. And so we are going to consolidate her credit cards in order for her to be able to be on the mortgage for her house. So you know, hey, you know, the mortgage counselor, Victoria reached out to me, she said, Hey, we need to take care of this poor for her. I say, Come on, girl, let's Let's help her live better. And I'm so excited, you know that we're able to even team up and do that for our members. Because at the end of the day, not only is she saving money with consolidating her credit cards, but she's able to purchase another house, which is awesome, you know, and so we, you know, that's one thing. And I also like it when you know, you have a member that comes in, there's one she didn't even know she had a credit score, I think her scores like 640. And she didn't know. And I said, she said, Well, I was at the dealership, and they were trying to give me an interest rate. It was around 20%. I said no, girl. Yeah. And I pulled it. I was like, No, I say you could get and she was like, Ah, I say, well, um, when are you gonna go get your car? She said, I can go get it? Yes.
It was. So it's so refreshing to see they so excited about it, and say, You know what, you know, what, where are you getting this car, you also need this credit card to, you know, continuously build your credit and I can get Yeah, our interest rates on our credit cards, I have to throw this out here. They do not go over 11.9% A lot of people do not ask him about a ccredit card I have a credit card with capital. Yeah, and I bet that interest rate is like 20 to 23%. Ours is 11.9. And there's no fees on ours. Absolutely not. That's what I love, we have no obviously, we have an interest rate, we have to have that that's part of you know, all the legal people things. But, um, drives me insane when I see somebody with Capital One, and they don't have a Centric credit card, because Capital One racks them up with hidden fees and tons of different financial institutions. I'm not trying to shout out just one, um, tons of different financial institutions will charge you hidden fees or certain things. And Centric doesn't do that. We're not part of that. And on top of that, on top of that, no, no hidden fees, awesome rates, and you earn rewards. Absolutely. Like, why would you not do it? That's a no brainer. They're gonna do it when they leave university. If you go talk to Glenda. First off, you're gonna, if you don't get what you want, you're gonna have a plan on how to get it. Absolutely. If you do get what you want, you're also going to walk away with something you didn't realize you want, but you're gonna be thankful that you walked away with it, you will, because it's better to have it and not need it and to need it and not have it. You know, that's a philosophy that, you know, I always try to go by, you know, well, I don't need it right now. That's fine. Just have it because something is going to happen in your life, you know, and you would always be able to fall back on it. And you will appreciate Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And so like I said, um, you know, obviously, all of our locations that we have across Monroe, West Monroe, and Ruston, are filled with certified financial counselors that you can go talk to, we have our online platforms MyCentric.org, our mobile app, tons of way for you to get connected with some of our back office certified financial counselors. But I've got a shout out university I love like I said before, I love all of our centers, but I love stopping by.
Carmen Gonzalez 23:28
And you know, she didn't share this, but Glenda used to be my brother's boss, my brother used to work at the University branch. If anyone ever met Caleb Gonzalez. He was over there. And although he has moved on to a different career path, he got married in the past year. And you know, getting her... Glenda helping him out with, you know, hey, you need to do this with your car so that you can get financially stable so you can buy the, you know, your wife a ring and do this and do that and really just helping him out. And so I know anytime Caleb has a question, he's always like, I'm just gonna call Glenda.
Glenda Augustine 24:02
You know, and when he when he came, he was like, we cannot refinance this. I was like, Yeah, bringing it on, hun. You know, I do that with, you know, all my staff. Hey, do you have a Centric credit card? You know, do you have any credit cards? You don't have a Centric credit card? Here? Come on. Yeah, y'all need to get this card. Yeah. And so I mean, she obviously takes care of her staff. So if anyone's looking for a job also, you know, come hit us up. Yeah, yes, you got to work, but also our members, you know, she treats her staff like that. But that's just a testament to how she also treats our members, because our staff, our members, as well. And so, you're going to come in and if you get to talk to Glenda, you're definitely going to walk away feeling like you have a new friend, and you have a you know, an accountability partner that's really rooting for you to have the best in life. And so I just want to shout out for everyone who's ever dealt with Glenda and my personal family, we love Glenda thank you so much. And I love you guys, too. Thank you so much. Glenda and thank you for being here and sharing your time and your expertise with our listners. Oh you definitely welcome anytime because you know, I think this is just you know, I just love people you know and it andI know excude that you know I just love people always smiling always laughing even if I have a small frown it doesn't last long. Yeah, so definitely go check out Glenda and her team, especially if you're near if you're a ULM student, ULM staff go check them out. You literally can walk through the back parking lot across from the business.
Carmen Gonzalez 25:29
Building sorry, y'all actually went there. I am an ULM alum. And so I have walked across the business parking lot trecked to Centric over there. So go check them out. If you're just driving down 165 And you want to have a stop and have a good time, then go talk to Glenda and her team and they're definitely gonna help you out. We will be happy to help you. Thank you for listening to our podcast and tune back in next month for another episode of the Live Better Podcast by Centric FCU. Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and to ensure you never miss out on helpful tips like us on Facebook at Centric Federal Credit Union and find us @MyCentric on Instagram Pinterest, Tik Tok and YouTube you can find information about today's topic, our monthly blog and more at mycentric.org Centric is federally insured by the NCUA
Transcribed by https://otter.ai