Financial Wellness Checks

On this month’s podcast, we met with Kelli Green, Centric’s SVP of Marketing and Member Engagement, to discuss the many benefits of scheduling financial wellness checks with Centric’s Certified Financial Counselors.

Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):

Welcome back to another episode of the Live Better Podcast by Centric Federal Credit Union. I'm your host and Centric's social media and marketing specialist Emma Banes. I'm so excited that you're here today. Every month we post a new episode where I'm joined by a guest to chat about all things living better and finances. Subscribe today so that you never miss an episode. Today we are joined by Kelly Green, who is the SVP of Marketing and Member Engagement here at Centric to chat about the many benefits of Centric's Free financial wellness checks. Hey Kelly, thank you for coming in today.

Speaker 2 (00:39):

Hello. It's good to be back.

Speaker 1 (00:41):

Yes. So before we get started, can you tell our listeners just a little bit about what you do here at Centric?

Speaker 2 (00:46):

Sure. So part of my role here is just ensuring that we have every avenue available to our members to engage with us, that it is sound communication and we're being effective with telling our story of the value of a membership here at Centric. And part of that allows me to work hand in hand with the retail teams as well as the marketing and business development group as well.

Speaker 1 (01:08):

That's awesome. So, and correct me if I'm wrong on this, the average credit score in Louisiana is around a 630, is that correct?

Speaker 2 (01:15):

You're right. And it's trending downward, unfortunately. And if you really take a look at it in the areas in which we serve, which is primarily in Lincoln and Ouachita parishes, our average credit score is much, much lower than that. Um, in fact, if you actually, do some research with United Way, they put out an ALICE report and that really kind of tells the overall health of our areas that are served. They break it out by parish and a lot of other states do this as well. So you can look at that by county, but it really provides insight, overall education levels, the workforce, financial credit scores and so forth. And it's very telling when you're looking at, you know, growing businesses in your market. Even too, it's very telling to us as a credit union to understand what products and services that we really need to offer to our members that would be most beneficial to them in improving their financial health.

Speaker 1 (02:12):

Yeah. I'm gonna have to go look at that Alice report. Yeah. Cause that seems, that seems like some good information.

Speaker 2 (02:17):

It is. It's, um, produced annually and it's, it's fantastic. There's lots of research that go along with it, and when I tell you it covers lots of different areas, it really does. But I really enjoy taking a look at the specifics and how it relates to our areas that we really serve because you can get down in, you know, really granular and it provides a better understanding overall.

Speaker 1 (02:41):

Right. Yeah,

Speaker 2 (02:42):

I bet. Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (02:44):

So with the credit score being so low, the average, um, what can Louisiana residents do to improve this?

Speaker 2 (02:51):

Well, it's December, and while it's a very joyous season, something I want us to, to really think about is as we're preparing for the, the upcoming holiday, being mindful of our expenditures, that is so very important. And not to, um, you know, we, we can show our love many different ways versus buying the latest and greatest toys. And the things that are really the, is that purchase gonna put us in a, a real financial bind. A lot of times people don't, they don't look forward to the new year because that's when those credit card bills start coming in from their expenses and Christmas. So, you know, when we think about that, every little thing we do, all of our purchases are really tied to, um, how well we can pay back, and when we can pay our bills on time and we can pay our bills in full, that allows our credit score to trend upward.

Speaker 2 (03:46):

So, for example, while things specifically that would really benefit your credit score and have it leaning more towards the positive, you know, there's things like owning a home, um, managing your capacity, and what does that really mean if you have a credit card, essentially? Okay. Say you have a $500 limit, you never want to, you know, I would say you never want to go above, say, 20, even 25% of that capacity. And, um, when you do that, even though you've been awarded and you have that $500 limit, it's how well you manage that. And that causes your score to either trend upward or downward. So, for example, if you put 20% on your credit card, you know, if you don't pay that off at the end of the month, that could potentially impact your score negatively. However, a credit card could be a great tool for you to use if you're utilizing that.

Speaker 2 (04:39):

And then you're paying it off each month when you're putting, you know, we're putting that to use. And in fact, that's a wonderful tool, especially for those folks maybe coming out of bankruptcy. Um, maybe they've had a negative financial history and they're looking for ways to improve their score. Or if there's someone that has, you know, never been extended credit before and they're attempting to build good credit history in a good relationship with a financial institution, a credit card shared, secured, um, cards are wonderful. Even a shared secured loan. And those are all great things that our, our financial counselors and even our loan officers can talk through. We can even talk to folks over the phone through video chat, or you can come sit down with us in any of our retail centers. But something that I think is most important when we, we have these chats, we have over 60 financial completely certified counselors at our credit union.

Speaker 2 (05:36):

Those are folks that are answering our phones, that are working in our retail centers, and they are, you know, approving loans and just providing overall counseling to our membership. And it's important to us. We started this certification process, oh, it's probably been about four years ago now. And like I mentioned, we have certified 60 counselors from that point. And that's huge, yeah. I mean, that really sets Centric apart, and I, I feel as if it, it's something that we really need to say, our employees have gone through a level of financial education prior to serving our membership. So that's something that's important to me. Prior to being in banking, I didn't have a lot of knowledge. You know, who, who teaches that kind of stuff? Right. You know, in schools. Um, so a lot of the behaviors that I learned were from my parents. And that's the same way for any of us, you know, whatever it is that we've learned or our behaviors towards money is probably from what we've seen.

Speaker 1 (06:34):

Exactly. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:36):

So I'm sure you can relate to that as well, whether you have a positive relationship with money or if it's a negative, you know, experience with money. When we've taught financial education in the classrooms, they're like, well, my mom just puts it on a card. Have your kids ever asked you, mom, well just use it. Why don't you just use your card,

Speaker 1 (06:54):

Uh, every time? I, I don't have cash right now. Okay. But just use the card. Yeah. And I'm like, okay,

Speaker 2 (06:59):

But how does that work? You know? You know, one of the things I would share too, for any parents or even those that maybe have, um, nieces, nephews, anyone that you know, children that is, is in your, um, in your household or that you spend a little bit of time with, is to really start them with a savings. Here at Centric we have a kid saver, and that really allows the, the kiddos to see, they can log in on the mobile app and view their deposits and see how their money has grown. Um, there's also some really neat information too that's shared with them on a quarterly basis that tells them of ways to continue to save and how they can continue to grow their money when, say, if they do receive an allowance or they receive birthday money, gifts, etc, they can put that money to work for them. And I think teaching that at a younger age is so incredibly valuable. I mean, it just, there's, I think there's, you can't put a price on that of the worth when kids are able to understand that.

Speaker 1 (07:58):

Oh, yeah. And truly there's a big difference when you see it modeled for you your whole life versus when you jump out into the real world at 18 or 19 and, and you just have to figure it all out as you go. I mean, you're gonna make a lot of mistakes along the way Yes. If that's the way that you do it. And so it's very important for them to just see it. Yes. Not it, I mean, just see it, but teach it. But I mean, most importantly, watch it be done all growing up. You know, it's really important.

Speaker 2 (08:24):

I'll never forget a conversation that I had when I was first going out on my own. We had just, I just graduated from college and, um, I was starting an internship and I literally packed my car and drove out of state to complete my internship, but I'm thinking, I have no idea what I'm doing. You know, I'm, I've got, I need housing. What do I do about that? Um, uh, you know, by the way, when you sign a rental agreement, people don't know that you have to, you know, also contact your utilities. If they're not included with your rent, then that's a separate account to open. And some people, you know, don't understand why deposits are required. It's for lack of history. If you don't have a, a real credit score established, or if you have poor credit history, you'll be required, you know, to have a deposit. And so those are things that are all tied back to your credit history and something I didn't know. And I, I think probably would benefit some of our listeners. And, and would you mind if I maybe just talk through, you know, what really makes up that credit score?

Speaker 1 (09:24):

No, go ahead. I think that's important for our listeners to hear.

Speaker 2 (09:26):

Yes. Well, so here are some things that we really take a look at and, and if you're interested in really doing a financial counseling session, these take no more than 15 minutes. Um, what we do is we generate a credit report and we go through that line by line. And in that we include things like, 35% of your credit score is your payment history. 30% of your credit score is the amount of debt that's owed. Uh, 15% of your credit score is the length of credit. And that just means as far as the time in which you've had that account open. So, for example, when I'm conducting counseling sessions, if I have someone who's had a, um, credit card that's been open for a very long period of time, it's their oldest trade line. I would encourage them to maintain that, ensure that they're paying it off, but to keep that open because that was their very first, you know, opportunity at credit and your length of credit accounts for 15% of your score.

Speaker 2 (10:24):

So that's something a lot of people don't know when they think, oh gosh, when I get debt free, I'm gonna close all this stuff out. Yeah. Well, I will say this. If you have the behavior where, you know for a fact, if you have access to those credit cards, you're going to use them, then definitely close those accounts. But be prepared that that could negatively impact your credit score immediately. Now, it's not to say that you can't improve that over time, but I want people to be aware of that. When we say you pay off that debt, I would maybe close out those credit accounts over time. Maybe allow 30, 60, even 90 days before you close out those trade lines, just so it's not such a huge shock to your credit score. That's something that I would recommend. 10% of the credit score is new credit, or even like number of inquiries and the opening dates.

Speaker 2 (11:18):

So before you go out and shop for that vehicle, I want you to visit centric. I want you to visit and speak with a loan officer, even apply online and receive a pre-approval. Because what happens is if you go to the car dealership and say that you're visiting three or four different dealerships in order for you a lot of times to take that vehicle off the lot for a test drive, or if you even want to drive it home, you will have to experience a credit check there. Or you can provide a pre-approval to them that says, Hey, you have received a pre-approval to purchase a vehicle at X number of dollars through a financial institution. We provide pre-approval letters every single day. We will provide information that states as far as the value of the vehicle that they're approved for, um, overall cost.

Speaker 2 (12:05):

Kind of give an idea of that so that it's not, no one's really, you know, completely oblivious. People know what they're shopping for, they have their budget in mind, and we are conveying that, yes, this member has been approved for this, this amount of loan. Every time the dealership provides an inquiry to your credit history, that is something that impacts your credit score quite negatively. And it does account for 10%. So just don't even worry about that. And if you're in the market to purchase something, receive a pre-approval, that's all you have. And if you purchase that vehicle within 30 days of doing that, we maintain and utilize the very same credit report information from that. And there's no additional credit report that has to be pulled. There's only one single inquiry, and that does not, you know, negatively impact your account as much as if you were to do that three and four times searching for a vehicle.

Speaker 2 (12:57):

Right. That makes sense. Yeah. A lot of times we don't know these things. Yes. I didn't know this before. I was in the, the thick of it. So the other thing, the final 10% is it's 10% as the type of credit. So it's installment versus revolving, um, finance company, payday loans, um, those can really, really lower your score. Some even are not even reported on their credit reports. So therefore, when they're applying for a loan, you're not able to really see that information. And it, what the negative impact that that has is if you're going to a payday lender, you're doing this, you know, week after week, biweekly, whichever whatever the frequency may be. What happens is if you're approved for a loan through Centric or any other financial institution, we may not be able to necessarily see that activity. And that's something that's concerning, because what will occur for that member is that they become overloaded and they're unable to really pay. Number one, that payday loan is gonna be garnished, that's gonna be taken out automatically from their account.

Speaker 2 (14:01):

because they've elected to do that through that payday lender. So I'm not a proponent of payday loans. I am a proponent of micro loans. And what does that mean? If you are in a bind, say maybe due to illness, something that has occurred and it has caused you to miss out on a full paycheck, you know, you're not receiving your full pay for a period of time, contact Centric. We can do micro loans. That is something that we can definitely do. And I think that's the best thing, because here's the deal. We have limitations on the rates we can charge. The payday lenders do not. That's something for people to really think about. And unfortunately what happens a lot of times is it creates a vicious cycle. They can't get out of it because they have loans or other financial commitments to other people that they can't pay because they are really a slave to that payday lender.

Speaker 2 (14:54):

Right. So, yeah, a lot of people don't know that. No. They don't. They don't know that. And one way to realize that is through this financial wellness check. Aagain, it takes 15 minutes, 15 minutes to completely change your life. My husband and I did this almost 11 years ago. Best thing we ever did. We sat down with a financial counselor, did a deep dive on our banking accounts, really analyzed the debt that we had, and we created a plan. All we needed was the debt, our looking at our behaviors with our checking accounts of how well we managed our money with our checking accounts. And then of course, taking a look at our income. We built a budget, we understood what we wanted to do, we set our goals, and we had a timeline for that. Within, I believe it was 15 months, we paid off $13,000 in debt.

Speaker 2 (15:46):

We became completely debt free, except for our mortgage. We also welcomed in two children. Okay. Our girls are exactly 14 months apart. We welcomed two children within that timeframe, increase our household. We doubled that. Right. The expenses, and we did not take an increase in pay while doing that. Wow. So there are ways to make it happen if you genuinely are focused and say, Hey, I wanna make a difference. My financial future is important to me. Now, it wasn't pretty. Now, Emma. Okay. I didn't enjoy it. Okay. I believe you, I'll be honest with you. It was not something that I was just like, you know, writing home about. Yes. But it takes sacrifice. Yeah, it does. And anything worth doing kind of does. That's right. You know, so, uh, if I could just say, you know, through sharing my story, it's the best thing I ever did.

Speaker 2 (16:37):

Not only for me, but for my girls. And that was the thing that was most important to us. Um, as a married couple, we made the decision to say, hey, you know, we've been blessed with these children. Now what are we gonna do? You know, are we in a position to provide the life that they need, um, through our own behaviors that we had with money? And fortunately, I had a really good experience with that from my parents. However, I did not actually model that behavior because they were such savers. You know, when I actually did start making my own money, I was like, well, now I have money for the things I want. Do I want that credit card when I'm checking out to save 20%? Well, sure. But they also didn't tell you that, you know, that interest rate with that credit card is 25 and 30%.

Speaker 2 (17:22):

So, you know, it just, there's no education that goes along with that. Um, when people say, well, you know, we can approve this purchase up, you know, to $800 and you get 20% off your purchase today. Well, you know what? Yeah. Yeah. It sounds awesome. But they don't tell you is when you go buy $800 worth of merchandise that you have to pay that off, you know, and it's not like, oh, well, we can just break that up in installments. It's not really how that, that works. You know, you've got a minimum payment. But I would encourage you that if you're making minimum payments right now, we need to talk with you. We want to look at creating a plan. And we did this through the Dave Ramsey method of the snowball method. Started with the smallest debt.

Speaker 2 (18:05):

We paid minimum payments on everything that we had. We started, we tackled the smallest debt that we had, and we put anything and everything extra that we had until we eliminated that smallest debt. Once it was eliminated, then we started on that next debt. We started on it. And then of course, we would take, we'd make the minimum payments on everything, and then we would put everything extra to that debt, so on and so forth, until we became completely debt free, aside from our mortgage. Um, one of the things that I encourage people to do before you start tackling debt is to get that emergency fund, because life is gonna happen. Flat tire, a child needs to go to the doctor, um, you know, something may occur with your home, etc. There's lots of emergencies that will come up. However, uh, going to the hair salon, having your nails refreshed, these are not emergencies.

Speaker 2 (18:56):

Ladies, for those of us that are listening, um, I, I do think even too, you know, when you think about for gentlemen, you know, oh man, this sale on this new bow or this, you know, whatever that might be, um, new boat, canoes, whatever, you know, if you think this is a great idea, that is not your emergency fund. You can set up a separate account that's like your fun account, if you will. I have that, and it makes my life really, really easy. I just know how much I want to put into that every single month. Once that's gone, that's it. And that's the only way I had to create discipline within myself, because I didn't have any when it came to money. So I would just encourage people to start with that emergency fund, have a thousand dollars just in your savings account and a very high interest savings account.

Speaker 2 (19:46):

We offer those here at Centric. Um, we're paying right now on our, um, save Better account. It's two over 2%, so why not exactly. I mean, go for it. Take advantage of that. So I would encourage you to, to have that, that savings account, that thousand dollars savings, and then you start tackling your debt. Once you tackle your debt, then your next thing is to really work on like three to six months worth of your income that's tacked into your savings. And then you can start working to things like working towards investments, paying off your mortgage. If you have children, you set aside college funds, if that's the route you want to take. There's lots of neat things, neat tools in there too, that you can really utilize to help build wealth.

Speaker 1 (20:25):

Yeah. And, and I think, you know, what people need to understand is that there's levels to it. Like you said, start with an emergency fund, you know, and, and just build, pay down your debt and then go from there. And then you have more financial freedom Yep. To do whatever your next goal is. And, and I think that's what people need to understand about the financial wellness checks here, is that, that that's what they are certified to help you do. You do Absolutely. These counselors like you, you know, you know, find out what mistakes you're making and let's fix those and then build. Yes. And I mean, it's just when it, when it can be laid out in front of you by somebody who's a professional. Yes. And it doesn't take all your brain power to sift through your, your bank accounts and everything that you spend, it just makes things a lot easier.

Speaker 2 (21:07):

Yeah. And I don't know that I mentioned this. It's free, it's completely free to do this.

Speaker 1 (21:13):

I mean, why would you not?

Speaker 2 (21:15):

Yes. I mean, there's all sorts of neat things to do with this. We even provide a full layout. So you'll receive just a quick little handout that talks about what are your overall concerns, where do you want to be financially? So we're establishing some goals. What really and truly is, is kind of keeping you up at night on your finances. So we go ahead and talk about that, get it out, out in the open. Then we take a look at an overall engagement. What are some things that we've seen within your credit report? Are there some things that we need to tackle immediately? Maybe there's some conversations that we would encourage you to have with other creditors. There's things that you maybe need to ask about an extended payment plan. Um, a lot of times if you just stay in communication with the, with that creditor, many times they will work with you.

Speaker 2 (22:04):

And that is something I wouldn't avoid. Those phone calls that might be coming in regards to your debt, stay in contact with them. Just let them know what's going on. At least pay something, even if it's as small as, five or $10, do something so that you're showing that you're still paying and that you're still working towards, you know, really and truly, you know, you want to satisfy this particular debt. But, uh, really avoiding that conversation and not paying things at all, that that really could create some additional hardships for you to overcome in the future. We also talk about your budgeting and spending habits to do we write this out for you. So it's just literally, we will give you a copy of your credit report, we'll highlight areas of concern, and we write it down for as far as the action steps and the implementation.

Speaker 2 (22:53):

The final thing with that is we give you an opportunity to review that. You know, kind of talk it over with your spouse, partner, friend, whomever. Take a look at that. And then we say, okay, we set a follow-up date for us to look at how well that's working. Maybe we need to make some adjustments along the way. Within that timeframe of the follow up, you could have received an increase in pay. Um, you could have eliminated a debt. So that's going to transition. You know, your budget a little bit. And we will help you with that. It's so simple. It's an Excel spreadsheet that we work off of that's accessible through your phone. Um, you can even set your, your limitations on your mobile app. So if you're checking account, if, say you a transaction comes through, um, over a dollar, $5, $10, you can manage your spending there through the mobile app.

Speaker 2 (23:42):

Um, it also, uh, will actually celebrate when you've reached your savings goals. Uh, that's a great thing to set your, um, your reminders to. We have lots of cool things within mobile app that coincides with the financial goals. And that, that's a really neat thing. One of the recommendations in fact, that I have is whenever you are seeking to become, you know, to really pay off your debt is to set that savings goal, that $1,000. If you don't have that, go ahead and set that. And that's a goal. And as soon as you hit it, then you're alerted. And it's just a really neat thing that's like, ding ding, it's go time now. Now I can start working towards my debt. And if something comes up, I have, you know, a reserve there. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:21):

And then once you meet that goal, it kind of gives you the confidence and the encouragement that you need to move on to the next one.

Speaker 2 (24:27):

And who doesn't need it? Yes. That's it. That's exactly what it is. And it's designed to be that way. I love it.

Speaker 1 (24:33):

Yes. I love it. I think it's wonderful. And I think everybody needs to take advantage of this.

Speaker 2 (24:40):

Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (24:40):

There's absolutely no harm. It can do nothing but help. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (24:43):

I will, I will say this too, just, you know, as we're, you know, kind of going through it. Things that people really need to know that genuinely do hurt their credit score is really and truly thinking of like missing payments. If you've missed a payment that could really hurt your score, I mean, anywhere between 62 100 points. Those are things that, that it is not, um, it can impact your score so quickly and so negatively that it could take three to six months to improve. Just one missed payment. That's why if you are kind of during the holidays, a lot of people, maybe you're a little strapped for cash, you know because you're buying different things. Maybe you're having to, to travel to see, you know, your loved ones. And that's a cost. So what I would encourage you to do is, for example, at Centric, we offer Skip a Pay. That's an opportunity for you to skip your payment without it impacting your credit. So those are things that you can stay in communication with your creditors and say, Hey, you know, this is a time where I don't have the extra cash to make this payment. What opportunities are available to me?

Speaker 1 (25:48):

A lot of people don't even know they can ask that.

Speaker 2 (25:50):

No, they don't. And definitely, like I said, that's why communication is so incredibly important. Um, I would say this, so you also think, um, you know, opening numerous trades in a very short timeframe. So for example, you just got approved for a house, right? Say that in your mindset, you know, you just became a homeowner. Well, now you want to decorate it with the greatest things. Well, you know, you have good credit. If you've been approved for a home, you're in that house and you love it, but you want to decorate. You get a trade line at a furniture company, you get a trade line at, you know, a merchant for curtains and all these different things. So you're opening up, now we've got a mortgage, now you've got a credit card, now you've got a finance company perhaps for furniture. If you're doing those things super quickly, it can really, really hurt your credit score.

Speaker 2 (26:43):

I mean, genuinely, there's some things to really think about with that. Um, seeing those in that particular timeframe, it could cause your score to, to trend downward very, very quickly. And again, uh, if you see that start to happen, you know, on that credit report, and I encourage you to take a look at this, do this at least one year, one time of year, please. I think it, it's a wonderful thing. Even if you're not ready for the financial, you know, maybe going through having a little financial wellness checkup, if you're not ready for that, at least ask for a copy of your credit report. You want to see that, but it could genuinely hurt. You know, we don't recommend any more than two to three accounts a year, two to three new trade lines a year. That is, that's good to know.

Speaker 2 (27:24):

Yeah. I mean, because you think about this, the inquiries that are involved, if you decide to, you know, if you're comparing different institutions from the other, if you allow them to retrieve a credit report, each time you do that, you not only have the inquiries, now you have these new trade lines. So you have two things going against you negatively on that are impacting your credit score. So also, like we talked about too, just closing out your credit cards. You know, you can do that in a sequence. You know, really think about that frequency that you're setting there. I don't recommend, unless you know that if you have that credit card and you have paid that off, but you're like, oh, if I get in a bind, I see a new shiny thing, or you wanna go on a cool trip, you're like, it's there. Yeah. If you know that you can't control that behavior, then I recommend closing it. Keep in mind, when you close out those credit cards or even those additional trade lines, it will impact your score negatively. That's why you do that. You know, every, you know, 60, 90 days.

Speaker 1 (28:28):

Yeah. So there's like a self-discipline component to that.

Speaker 2 (28:31):

Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:32):

When you, when you just close them out altogether, it impacts you negatively because now you don't have as much of a line of credit available to you.

Speaker 2 (28:40):

That's exactly right. Yes. So, you know, something to think about the oldest trade line that I have, and, and I don't mind talking about this and it is not a product of Centric, but I was offered a credit card right out of college, and I maintain that open trade line. I don't use it. And this is something that probably isn't in my benefit. However, now I, we own a home. But, one of the things to think about is even if it is your oldest trade line, you want to use it. Charge 10 bucks a month, pay it off. So you can show activity, but it's showing that even though you may have a $15,000 limit on that credit card, you recognize the discipline that's involved with that. I'm not at a high risk of going and charging that $15,000.

Speaker 2 (29:27):

And then just be outstanding there. One, I couldn't sleep. I would, I can't. No. I've been in debt before. And that is not, and it is not fun. No, no, no, no. And so that's just not anything I want to be a part of. Once you seek that financial freedom, you always want that. You know, believe you, me. Um, and you know, it's so funny. I tell my kids, I'm like, we can't afford that. I'm like, we can't afford that. Do you have cash in your pocket? We can't afford that. Why don't you just use your card? Well, that's a good question. Do you, where's your card? You know. But, uh, but anyway, so that, it's just things to really, really think about and to be mindful, all of this, you said it earlier, is discipline. Yeah. Just be mindful of that and why not? What's 15 minutes of your time, right? I mean, we all waste 15 minutes or more a day doing meaningless things that don't add value to our life. Yes. You can do this, like we mentioned on a video chat, sitting in your pajamas. You can call us over the phone. We can host a Zoom. We can even do this at your employer, where we break up into different timeframes to do this with a lot of our community partners.

Speaker 1 (30:31):

So you can go out to them.

Speaker 2 (30:33):

Yes. Absolutely. Um, we bring our financial counselors onsite to the employers. Um, you can come and do that during your lunch break or maybe your 15 minute break throughout the day. Whatever works for you. Um, we provide that. I mean, we can do it right there, or you can come sit down right beside us in any of our retail locations. So access is not an issue. I think it's just the discipline and say, Hey, are you ready? And when we talk about getting ready for the new year, you know, being, you know, fit. A lot of people focus on just physical fitness. Um, I would definitely say give, give your financial fitness a shot because anybody and everybody, you know, can pull themselves up from wherever they are. I'm living proof of it.

Speaker 1 (31:17):

I am too. Yeah. It is possible. And I mean, now is the perfect time. No kidding. I mean, we're all gonna be trying to recover from Christmas pretty soon. And, and it is the perfect time to get it done. And like we talked about, there's no good reason not to do it. That's right. I mean, especially if they don't even have to leave work or their house to do it, there's no good reason to not get your finances in order.

Speaker 2 (31:39):

Absolutely. This is for any and every age, whether you file for bankruptcy or you're just getting started, um, whether you're recovering from a divorce or you're completely single living with parents, whatever, you know, it doesn't matter. This is not, there's no age restriction, there's no stage of life that this is required. It's literally, if you are earning an income, we need to evaluate your credit.

Speaker 1 (32:05):

I completely agree. I think, I think I don't know of anywhere else where this is offered, and I think that everyone definitely needs to take advantage of it.

Speaker 2 (32:15):

Absolutely. Completely free. Yes. Only cost your time.

Speaker 1 (32:18):

That's wonderful. Well, did you have anything else you want to add before we wrap this up?

Speaker 2 (32:23):

I would just say, you know, in closing, this is, I shared with you my story and you know, the timeframe in which it took. And yes, there were some things that we had to eliminate in our life, but if you can say you take a pocket of your life and you kind of pump the brakes on things like cable tv, dining out. Um, I brought my lunch for 15 months. You know, I didn't, I I will tell you this, A sonic drink, okay. I'm giving a plug to Sonic here, but a sonic drink was a splurge for me. Okay. And I literally had to recognize and name every single dollar. And now I have the ability to help completely fund my kids' savings accounts, to teach them those kind of things. You know, I'm able to allow my kids to be a part of activities that we didn't have the extra money to do because, you know, we were frivolous with our spending.

Speaker 2 (33:20):

We never cooked at home. Um, I will tell you this, it has impacted my marriage, our family for the better because finances are not a concern. We just agree and we know what it is. What are our goals and what do we want to see occur? You know, it's not about us. It's really about our future. And our future is in our kids. And so I will tell you, it's been one of the most, it was a very challenging thing right away, because I don't like restrictions. Right. I make money. I work hard for my money. I want to spend it however I want. Yeah. But here's the thing. What ended up happening is that instead of me telling my money where it's gonna go, it was right the opposite because I had bills to pay and, you know, my money was going out faster than I could have anything. And there was no savings, there was nothing. And you put yourself in the driver's seat. You, you tell your money where to go, you earn it. You work hard for your money. Take that time to build your wealth and attack your debt. You can do these things. It is possible. Doesn't matter how much you make, doesn't matter how much you owe. Name every dollar. Learn your debt and establish a plan to just completely rid yourself of it.

Speaker 1 (34:37):

Yeah, because financial freedom is, it's like a weight lifted once you get there. Absolutely. I mean, and two, I think people need to know too. No amount is too small. If you're trying to build a savings account and you don't have one, and you can only contribute $5 to it this month. Okay, well, you're already a step ahead of where you were last month. That's right. And that's all that matters. You know, no amount is too small. So, um, I think we've just about covered everything I wanted to cover. Did you want to add anything else?

Speaker 2 (35:05):

Oh, I think this is great. I encourage everyone to get started. Again, you can contact us by phone. Um, you can reach us online. There's lots of information. I'm sure we'll have ways to contact us too within the podcast. And so take a look at that. You know, contact us any way you want. You can reach out to us via email, text, call, visit us in a center. There's a million ways to do that. Yes. So thank you all so much for listening.

Speaker 1 (35:29):

Yes. Thank you so much for being here today. I hope all of our listeners have been encouraged to look into their credit report and consider using Centric to help get their finances back on track. Thank you for listening to our podcast and tune back in next month for another episode of the Live Better podcast by Centric Federal Credit Union. Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform 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, TikTok, and YouTube. You can find information about today's topic, our monthly blog and more@mycentric.org. Centric is federally insured by the NCUA.