I admit it, I’m a shopper! I like browsing and if something catches my fancy browsing often turns to buying. I have clothes in my closet I will never wear and enough candles to light my house for the next year. I’m afraid to say Clothes, Purses, and Candles are my weaknesses!!

I have tried to tame my spending ways but trying to stop cold turkey just makes me want to spend even more! What’s a shopper to do?  

So with the economy not looking so bright and the whole world telling me to save I had to come up with a plan of action. For the sake of getting to retire some day and my marriage! (How spenders end up marrying savers I’ll never know.)

First plan of attack was a budget. When I saw how much I was spending with help from the free website mint.com it shocked me into some reality. I exceeded my monthly shopping budget in the first week I used the site.

It helps to see it on paper and mint.com connects with my on-line banking and tells me right away were my cash is going. Then I try to stick to the budget so I save the same every month for my emergency fund. 

My next little plan of action is what I am most excited to share. Second Hand shops! I am one of those shoppers that can’t resist a bargain and when I first discovered second hand shops I was in heaven! I like the ones that specialize in gently used name brand clothing. I have picked up shoes, tops, and dress pants, all with store tags still attached. And for some of those clothes I know I’m not wearing again I can sell them to the store or get store credit.

For furniture and home décor my new friend is craigslist.com and my old reliable friend is yard sales. A little imagination and a lot of determination you can change any space with limited funds. I also like the idea that I am saving things from the landfill and giving them a new home. 

If you have more tips for shop-a-holics out there please leave them in the comment section. Times are tight and shoppers have to stick together!

This is the second article in a two-part series about credit score information.  Our [previous post] *insert link* showed you what information is included in a credit score.

Now that you know a little more of what goes into your credit score you may wonder what you can do to improve it.   Here are a few simple tips:

Pay Your Bills!

The first and foremost thing is to pay your bills ON TIME, EVERY TIME. Pay them a little early to make sure they process on time. Being even one or two days late affects your score the same as being 30 days late. Once you are over 30 days late you are hurting your score even more.

If you can afford it, try and make more than the minimum monthly payment on your credit cards. It will save you money in the long run because you will pay less interest, and it will show lenders that you take your debt seriously and work hard to repay it.

Close Unused Accounts

Close unused accounts. If you have paid off a loan or a high interest credit card and you no longer intend to use it, close it. You do not want to close every line of credit offered to you as another thing credit bureaus look at is your used credit versus your available credit but if it is a card with a high rate have it closed.

Get a Free Credit Report

You can always get a free copy of your credit report every year from all three bureaus. Simply call and request your report so you know what lenders are looking at when they evaluate you as a borrower. Looking at your free credit report can also help you evaluate where you can improve.  

To request a free credit report, visit http://www.annualcreditreport.com.

This is the first article in a two-part series about credit score information. 

When applying for a loan or a credit card it can seem kind of strange where that three digit credit score comes from? What are these strangers looking at that decides if you get a loan or not.

So what is a credit score?  It is in essence your grade on how you have handled credit or debt in the past. It is not a random figure but more a formula that credit bureaus provide to lenders to help them assess the risk in giving you money.

What Information is Included in a Credit Score?

Chances are you were affecting your credit score before you even knew it.  When you got your first bill all in your name with your social security number attached to it your repayment history was getting a score. Was that payment on time, was it paid in full? All these things contribute to your credit score—and more!  Here are the 5 major pieces of information that comprises a credit score:

• Payment History (35%)
• Length of History (15%)
• New Credit (10%)
• Types of Credit Used (10%)
• Debt (30%)

Something you might find strange is that your income is not figured into your credit score. Another thing to keep in mind is derogatory information can only stay on your credit report for 7 years. However, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy stays on your report for 10 years, but good information stays for life!

Where Do You Fit In?

The majority of the population have a credit score between 300 and 800 with only 13% of the population having a score higher than 800.

If your score falls into one of the categories below, here is what your credit score says about you:

• 300-500: This score range usually means there is a pattern of late payments on bills. There might be one or more accounts that have gone to a collections agency for payment. There is usually other information on your credit report that shows you are a risk to lend money to and that is how lenders justify charging a higher interest rate or declining you new lines of credit.
• 600-700: Means most payments have been made on time and no accounts have gone to collections. A score of this magnitude implies you are a dependable customer likely to pay the money back that you borrow.
• 700+: A score this high shows lenders that you are financially savvy and do not take on more open credit than you can handle. People with scores this high can get credit quickly and easily with the lowest interest rates a lender can offer.

Tune in next week for information on how to improve your credit score!

As of today (June 5, 2008), the average cost of gas in Kansas is $3.85/gallon and the national average gas price is more than $3.96/gallon!  Here are a few tips to help improve your mpg so you will not have to take out a loan next time you need to fill up.

Maintenance – Your vehicle manual should have a maintenance schedule.  Read over it and try to follow it regularly.  A maintained car is an efficient car.

Give it Air – Fuel economy can increase by almost 5% if you keep your tires inflated to the recommended pressure.

Take Your Time – Let’s be honest; who doesn’t go over the speed limit every now and then?  Speeding takes a hit on your fuel efficiency.  Try to slow down and enjoy the drive, by doing so you will also enjoy filling up less often.

Get Off My Back – Don’t tailgate! Lengthen the room between your car and the one in front of you.  This will allow you to brake less and coast more.

Cool Off – Try rolling down your windows when traveling at low speeds.  If you are going over 50 miles per hour, it is more cost-effective to turn on the AC.

Lighten Up – Get rid of any extra junk in your trunk.  If you don’t need it, why pay to drive it around?

Buy Smart – Look for cars that good gas mileage. With gas almost $4/gallon, the extra price of a hybrid is almost offset by the amount you will save at the pump.  Also, they are better for the environment.

If you have any further tips that would be beneficial for everyone, please share in the comments section below.

It’s that wonderful time of year again, TAX TIME!  Hopefully those of you who will be receiving a refund have a plan in mind for your money, if not, I recently heard some figures that will definitely make one stop and think.  At last week’s bank meeting, one of our financial advisors told us about the ‘Rule of 219.’  This rule involves determining the cost of eating for two people during retirement.  Let’s say two people eat three meals a day during retirement and each meal costs $5.  You then take that times 365 days a year, then multiply that by 20 years of retirement.  Here’s the math;

2 x 3 x 5 x 365 x 20 = 219,000

In this situation, it will cost two people $219,000 to eat during retirement. This doesn’t even factor in dessert! Throw in other costs, such as bills, transportation, travel, etc… and the number grows even greater.  One may argue that it will not cost $5 per meal for them, but even at $3 a meal, two people’s cost of eating would be $131,400!  Also, note that this is estimating for only 20 years of retirement.  With life expectancy increasing, it’s easy to raise that number another 10-15 years.

So when sitting down to determine what to do with your tax refund, it may be helpful to visit with a professional.  A financial advisor can help you reach your long term financial goals. They can assist you in making sure you get to spend your golden years eating steak instead of reverting back to the college days of ramen noodles.

If yourself or someone you know has opened a new checking account recently at a new bank they probably ran into a process called ChexSystems. ChexSystems is a service that became available to banks in 1971, letting financial institutions run reports on prospective customers to find out if they have had undesirable account history in the past.

The down side to this is if you have ever made an honest mistake with a bank account in the past you are marked by ChexSystems for five years. Most banks will not open a savings account for someone with a history on ChexSystems much less a checking account.

Since many people on ChexSystems did not open their accounts with that intention it can be like a 5 year punishment imposed by banks. If you do not have a bank account you are forced to pay to have your checks cashed, purchase money orders, and pay fees for prepaid Visa cards.

Central National Bank has a new account that can help the majority of people who have been turned down by ChexSystems in the past. New Opportunity Checking is a real checking account with a debit card, checks, and ability to have direct deposit to the account.

There are restrictions on the account like no overdraft protection and a monthly fee for the account. But the good news is that after 12 months of good account standing the customer is eligible for a regular Free Checking account with Central National Bank. There are other restrictions to the account that a Central National representative would be happy to discuss with a potential customer as well as see if they qualify for New Opportunity Checking.

Bad things happen to good people and Central National is recognizing the need to have products that can serve a wider population of customers. Please come in today and inquire about New Opportunity Checking at a branch near you or give us a call.

I was going to write about how the dropping economy is not such a bad thing, then I found this article that sums it up better than I could.  Check it out…

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/generationdebt/66424

Central National Bank is proud to introduce the latest product in our Online Banking Suite–Mobile Banking!  Mobile Banking lets you access your banking accounts directly from your phone or mobile device. Now you can take the bank with you wherever you go! 

Mobile Banking works on any mobile device with a data plan and an Internet browser.  If you’ve already been accessing Central Online Banking from your phone, now there’s no more scrolling from side-to-side and up-and-down to view our web page in your phone’s tiny web browser–Mobile Banking is optimized for small screens!

Using Mobile Banking, you can:

• Check account balances, pay bills, or make funds transfers
• View alerts that you’ve set up within Central Online Banking
• Receive text message confirmations each time you pay a bill or make a transfer (this lets you know each time one of these actions is performed for security’s sake)
• Look up Central National Bank branch locations and hours
• Find a Central National Bank ATM near you

And best of all, Mobile Banking is simple, secure, and FREE!

For instructions on how to sign up for Mobile Banking, click here.

Once you’ve signed up, go to mobile.centralnational.com on your mobile device.

In one of the first blogs I wrote for this site I talked about simple ways to be more green. One way was collecting junk mail and taking it to recycle. This is much better than letting this unsolicited paper mail fill our landfills. On the Today Show this morning on NBC they featured a Website that’s message is let’s stop the catalogs from ever getting to our Mailbox. This site http://www.catalogchoice.org/ takes your name and address and you can select what catalogs you would like to stop receiving. If you are like me you bought one thing, one time on the internet, and now you get catalogs from that store a couple times a month. I don’t want my one time bargain to be hurting the earth so I’ve already signed up and cancelled two catalogs!! You do have to register on the site but they do not share your information with spammers. It also helps to have the magazines or catalogs with you when you opt out of getting them. Please go take a look at the site and if you thinks its helpful use their invite link to send the website to all your friends. Let’s save some Trees!!

Say goodbye to teller lines, drive-thrus, and bankers behind desks. A slow growing trend on the east coast will tell you that kind of banking is out of touch with high tech consumers.

Ascend Federal Credit Union in Nashville, TN feels more like a GAP than a bank when you first walk in. A greeter at the front desk can help direct you to the person you need or they can sell you an Ascend T-shirt or coffee mug.

Even the most loyal customer, one who even likes a bank’s logo, might wonder why they want to give money to the bank for a coffee mug. Well Ascend uses all the money sold from their merchandise to help charities. After learning that you might take two cups!

With floor to ceiling windows and all the bankers sharing the same identical offices this bank feels like the customer’s building where everyone is on even footing.

In other areas the retail trend takes a different shape. Instead of looking like a GAP your next bank could look and smell like a Starbucks! But you will get out a lot cheaper as the banks are giving away the coffee and scones in exchange for your business. These latte looking lounges also have computer terminals where one can check their on-line banking or pay bills on-line.

Banks like any other business are always evolving to try to attract new customers as well as be the best they can be for their existing clients. Will this new trend fit that bill? I think if you see this new retail style of banking in your neighborhood the answer is yes.

Check out some pictures of new age banks at

http://www.newground.com/casestudies.html