Cold, Calculated Savings: Items to Buy During Winter

Every December you are bombarded with suggestions (some subtle, some not-so-much) for items to buy for the holidays. But what about items to buy AFTER the holidays? If you can wait a few days or weeks to pick up a few of the below items, you could land yourself some outrageous deals. In fact, if a loved one wants an item on the list below, you might even want to give them a gift card and advise them to pick it up when it goes on sale. That way, they not only get what they want, but they also get more money to spend on other things they want. Jewelry The period between the December holidays and Valentine’s Day is a real doldrums for those in the bling business. In fact, if you are planning on buying your significant other some adornment for Valentine’s Day, the prices in early January could be drastically different from what they will be a month later. Two wheels and a seat Although we don't live in the coldest area of the country, people don't typically think of winter as the best time to ride with the wind in their face. As a result, they tend to not buy their new wheels then. Retailers know this and are desperate to move motorcycles and bicycles after the holidays. If you were planning on getting a set of wheels, look for special sales and other deals in the first part of the year. A house It’s almost an iron-clad guarantee that if there is a otherwise enjoyable or rewarding activity that you really wouldn’t want to do in winter, you can score a deal on it during January or February. That’s goes for buying a home too. Most people don’t want to scrape aside snow to get a closer look at a patio or deck. If you can find a property that has already been on the market for a few months and doesn’t look to be going anytime soon, you might be able to get the seller to accept a lowball offer. Video games Games have become a hugely popular holiday gift request for people of all ages. Since retailers know this, they fill their prices with helium and see how high people will jump to catch them. After the holiday a lot of the price inflation has leaked out and the cost comes back down to earth, perhaps even at the lowest level of the year. Cameras The big electronics trade shows happens in January and February, which means new camera models are unveiled. If you can wait until after these shows are over, you can get a perfectly fine “old” model at a great bargain. Things for next winter Whether it’s holiday decorations or winter clothes, the “Stock-up and Stash” approach can save you a bundle, if you’ve got the room. However, avoid paying $100 per month for a storage locker so you can provide a home for your “deals.”

Courtesy of BALANCE Financial Fitness Program

Black Friday Shopping Tips

Have you ever wondered why the day after Thanksgiving is often referred to as “Black Friday?”

As much as we’d like to think so, it’s not because our wallets go into mourning as soon as they notice the thrill of the hunt in their owner’s eyes. One theory states that the day was thus labeled because of the heavy traffic and stress that are synonymous with Black Friday.

The accountant’s theory is more enlightening. Retail stores used to operate at a financial loss until that fateful day, when they would record a profit. Negative amounts were recorded in red ink and positive amounts in black. In simple English this means that Black Friday, for many stores, was the day they actually made money on their merchandise. Your money.

There are many reasons not to catch the Black Friday fever. Sure, holiday shopping is on the yearly to-do list. But getting up at an early hour of the morning to shiver in line at your store of choice and then get jostled by ravenous crowds to wait in another line is reminiscent of Soviet Russia. Thankfully, there are better ways to do your shopping.

Besides the much-advertised Black Friday sales, many stores get the jitters earlier. You can find great bargains, calmly and peacefully, a few weeks before the madness begins. The Internet also provides an array of websites where you can check for bargains and compare prices on goods weeks before the shopping season officially kicks off.

You can even do all your shopping online, and save yourself the hassle – not to mention the gasoline. You’ll probably end up saving money too, since shopping online lets you select exactly what you know you’re looking for and your eyes aren’t drawn to every other item on display. If you’re worried about breaking tradition, start a new one. You’ll be happy to know that retailers have even coined a name for online shopping.

The first weekday after the Thanksgiving weekend is now known as Cyber Monday. Doesn’t that sound a little less ominous than Black Friday?

How to Keep Your Family Safe Both Online and Off This Holiday Season

Card Security Breaches: Why They Occur And Who's To Blame

It seems like there's another financial disaster at every turn lately. Target's card databases get hacked. Heartbleed puts your passwords at risk. Home Depot's credit card numbers are compromised. JP Morgan Chase's credit information is breached. Shellshock threatens the integrity of the Internet. It's enough to make you long for the days of the corner store keeping credit on a sheet of graph paper.

 To better understand how these things happen, let's first take a look at the steps involved in a financial transaction. Then, we'll see where vulnerabilities exist. Finally, we'll check out a few strategies you can use to keep yourself safe.

 When you swipe your debit or credit card at a terminal, the only thing you see is an approval screen. Behind the scenes, the process from the moment you swipe a card to leaving the store with your purchases is complicated. And you want it to be that way. A less complicated process would remove many layers of security.

 First, there's an "authentication" process. The POS terminal in which you swipe your card reads the card's information from the magnetic strip, encrypts it, and sends it to a payment processing center. This facility streamlines the data into a format your issuing company can understand and sends it along. Your card network company - Visa, Mastercard, Discover, etc. - validates the legitimacy of the information. You may be prompted for some information, most commonly your billing ZIP code. This is done to help authenticate the card.

 Second, there's the reconciliation process. This is usually done at the end of the day for most retailers. The retailer sends all the day's receipts to a payment processor, which then sends them to the issuing institution - the credit union, bank, or credit card company. That institution debits its member or customer accounts for the amount of the transaction, then sends that money to the payment processor, which sends it to the retailer.

 This is an explanation of how things work in a very simplified example, but it gives you an idea of the complexity that's involved in the process of paying with a card. While it's a lot of steps, it's the best system that the brightest minds in the financial industry could develop. Unfortunately, each step also introduces a layer of vulnerability.

 The encryption protocol for card authentication can be busted (that was, in part, what Heartbleed was about). The retailer's receipt records they use for reconciliation can be hacked (like what happened to Target and Home Depot). The credit union or bank can have their register of accounts hacked (like JP Morgan did). So many layers of complexity create more possibilities for hackers to compromise sensitive information.

 You might notice that there's only one step in the process that involves Pen Air FCU or our computer systems. That comes at the very end of the process, when member records are debited for purchases. In the latter example, the only victim of that theft was a big Wall Street bank. In such cases, the kind of hacking hardware and know-how that is required to orchestrate such an attack are expensive. Because credit unions are smaller and less centralized, they're much less likely to be targeted by this kind of attack.

 
That's not to say Pen Air FCU doesn't take cyber security seriously. We keep up-to-date with the latest in computer hardware and software to make sure our members are secure against illegal access. We also have to adapt to a world where everyone else doesn't follow those same values. That means we have to adjust our security protocols to cover for the failings of other parts of that big, messy system.

We're all in this together. The convenience of the modern economy makes things better for everybody. If you go on vacation, you don't have to fuss with traveler's checks or currency exchange troubles. You can take your debit card or credit card and spend just the same. Electronic record keeping helps financial institutions keep costs down and we all benefit from a growing economy. If we want to keep getting these benefits, we all need to put the work in to make sure our networks are secure. Here are five small tips to make your little corner of the Internet more secure.                                        

1. Install updates for your computer, tablet, and mobile phone regularly.
2. Don't open suspicious e-mails or questionable links.
3. Don't install software you don't recognize.
4. Monitor your financial statements closely to check for unauthorized activities.
5. Get an anti-virus program and run it regularly.                      

If you follow these five steps, you can help make the Internet a safer place for people to share things they love and buy things they need. You can help make sure the big system of merchants, processors, and institutions keeps chugging along while providing benefits to everyone.

Getting the Most Out of End-of-Summer Sales

 

As summer vacation comes to a close, many families are prepping for the upcoming school year. With back-to-schools sales around every corner, are there any deals on items other than school supplies? The following list will help you to decide on what to buy now, and what can wait, providing potential savings for you and your family.

Got Paper?
Of course, this is the best time of year to get your kids’ clothes, shoes, backpacks and other items for school, but don’t forget to pick up those office supplies you’ve been meaning to buy for work or home!

 

Get Your Grill On

August is when most large retailers begin to cut major deals on outdoor furniture and grills. Towards the end of the month, you may be able to find prices up to 80-90% off, however, the selection will surely by limited.

Buy Clothes Now For Next Summer

Here on the Gulf Coast, swimwear and flip flops are available year round, but now is the time to buy! As the fall season approaches,  stores begin to place more emphasis on long sleeves and pants, so you can really rack up the end-of-summer savings.

 

Laptop or Tablet?

If your student has been asking (ok, begging) for a new computer, you may finally be able to grant his or her wish! Back-to-school time is perfect for finding deals on electronics. For extra savings, be sure to take advantage of rebates and special student-only discounts.

Tip:
Want to avoid the back-to-school crowds? Many stores offer online deals, as well as in-store pick-up so you can get all of your shopping done from the comfort of home.

Reinventing Holiday Shopping Rules!

Retailers are reinventing the rules on holiday shopping. You should, too!

Follow your favorite retailer business pages on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google Shopping, Yahoo! Local, and Patch.com to find great deals and expanded price-matching opportunities, and gain some creative gift-giving ideas. 

• Review Yelp and Foursquare resources for local retailer and product insight through consumer review. You never know when you'll stumble upon a good tip or deal! 

• Download mobile apps from your favorite brands and keep current on the latest deals that may fit your needs. 

• Shop with retailers who have dropped the layaway account fees charged in prior years. Those small fees can add up if you buy at a range of stores.

•  Take advantage of loyalty shopper offers, which generally include early access to Black  Friday sales deals.

Here's something to consider: Before you start your holiday shopping, crunch the numbers on last year's expenses like; gifts, decorations and even food. This should help you determine about how much you'll need to save for next year! 

Pen Air FCU's  Christmas Club Accounts are the perfect solution to help you build up the savings you need to make your 2014 holidays happy and debt-free! Our Christmas Club Accounts allow you to save all year long and your funds become available in November each year! Visit Penair.org for more information or swing by a branch near you!