TIP: Save on video rentals at your library

TIP: Check out videos at your library, save $8-10 each week...or $416-520 per year! If you're a movie fan, you must check out your library. I love the library. This weekend I checked out four movies that I can keep until Sept. 5 - that's seven days. And it cost me nothing!

It would've cost me about $8-10 at Blockbuster. But I didn't spend one dollar, not even a penny. Sure, they don't have the new releases, but there are plenty of movies I haven't seen but have been on my list to see, including, "Along Came Polly" with Jennifer Anniston, "Little Miss Sunshine" with Steve Carrell, and "Tea with Mussolini" with Cher. I also checked out an educational DVD and a bunch of books. While I was there I put holds on 5 books I'd like to read. The library sends me an email when they come in and holds them for me.


Besides not costing anything, I love that if I don't like these movies or the books don't interest me, I just give them back. No risk. No money spent.


A couple days before my items are due, I get an email reminder (I love Email Notices, like the ones we offer!) I can renew items several times without even going to the library - they have online renewal. It doesn't get better than that!



And the Naperville Public Library is giving us another reason to love the library. The month of September is "Show Us Your Library Card" month. At retailers around the town, if you show your library card you get special deals. At Hawthorne, we're giving library cardholders free coin counting. So bring your coin jar this month and Show Us Your Library Card!

TIP: Got students? Teach them how to use credit wisely

In times of economic downturn, college students are turning to credit cards more than ever before. Although a new law prohibits issuing credit cards to those under 21 without a co-signer or proof of a steady income, much of the damage has already been done. Consider this, according to Sallie Mae's 2009 National Study of Usage Rates and Trends:

* Undergraduates are carrying record-high balances—an average of $3,173. Seniors graduate with an average balance of $4,100;
* Eighty-four percent had at least one credit card, and half the students have four or more;
* Less than one out of five students pay off balances each month;
* Ninety-two percent of students charge textbooks, school supplies, or other education expenses; and
* Food (84%), clothing (70%), and cosmetics (69%) are also frequently bought on credit.

Despite high credit card usage, more than one-third of respondents have never or only rarely discussed credit card use with their parents. These same students were also more likely to charge tuition or be surprised at a high balance.

Parents: You can help. A large majority of those surveyed expressed interest in more financial literacy education. You can provide guidance throughout middle and high school to help better prepare your student to manage money in college.Talk with them about money, and start with the basics. Focus on the importance of saving and responsible spending. Encourage them to use direct deposit for their pay checks—a savings account at Hawthorne can help them get started. If your student does use a credit card, stress the dangers of piling on too much debt. Put the real price tag into perspective--calculate with them how much interest piles on to that new pair of jeans if they do not pay their balances off each month. Also, remind them to keep their credit scores clean by carrying a low balance relative to their available balance, paying all bills on time, and regularly checking accounts for unusual activity. Responsible money management is important at all life stages.

Hawthorne can help. We have several online tools to give college students the basics of financial management and topics that you can use to start the conversation. If you have a middle school or high school student, it's never too early to start. We have a BalanceTrack for teens, too.

Back To School Doesn't Have To Break the Bank

It’s that time of year again, back to school time. Not only do you have to frantically relearn the morning routine with your kids (wake up, shower, eat, pack, run, bus stop, school—new record of 33 minutes and 27 seconds, well done, Mom!), but you also have to battle crowds to find a long list of expensive and often obscure school supplies…like three-sided pencils for example.

Finding the right school supplies can be challenging by itself, but you also need to be able to purchase these items without breaking the bank. Let’s face it, most kids just toss their school supplies at the end of the school year anyway. So that gives you two options: 1) you brave the crowds on tax-free weekend, and elbow your way through a school supply section that looks like it’s been torn apart by a tornado, or 2) you pay out the nose for new school supplies. Neither option sounds very appealing, but are there any other alternatives? Well, yes, in fact there are.

Most stores will offer massive discounts on their school supplies a few weeks after school starts, and that’s the time to buy. So instead of buying all new supplies for your child before school starts, find out what can be reused for a couple of weeks—perhaps an old note book, last year’s markers and colored pencils, or maybe an old protractor. Then keep an eye out for sales. Some start in the middle of the week, and others begin on the weekends, but by bargain hunting you can find some great deals on school supplies. You can also buy in bulk, and split it with other parents, or save it for future school years. Another option is to shop where you wouldn’t normally expect to find school supplies.

For example, you might find a good deal on back packs at Eddie Bauer, or a two for one deal at Toys R Us. Keep in mind that your kids will probably pressure you for the coolest looking folder or backpack, but that you’ll find much better prices if you go with generic rather than Transformers. Back to school shopping doesn’t have to be a complete disaster for your bank account.

Just remember to keep things in perspective. While your daughter may be upset today because she didn’t get the Hanna Montana pencil case, in the press of the back-to-school frenzy, she won’t be upset for long. Teaching her to shop smart will benefit her more in the long run anyway. Best of luck setting new morning routine records, and in your bargain hunting!

TIP: Turn off your PC, save $90 per year

In one year, if you shut your computer off before bed each night, you’ll save an average of $90 worth of electricity, according to the Department of Energy and The Daily Green. Go one step further and turn off all the ancillary stuff too, like your printer, monitor, scanner, modem and fax machine, which use electricity even when you're not using them. But rather than having to power down all the gadgets attached to your PC, invest in a Smart Strip Power Strip. This power strip is smart enough to know when you power down the main appliance, it automatically turns off other items that you use with it. It works great with computer set ups and for entertainment centers. You can arrange to have the DVD player, stereo, etc turn off when your television set is turned off. I installed these earlier this year. It's hard to tell how much it's saving me, but it must be saving something because all those appliances were always running before and now they're not!

TIP: Find coupons online

Money Saving Tip: You can find coupons for sale online for the items you buy every day at MyCouponHunter.com and even on eBay! It saves me time and money.

It really came in handy a few weeks ago when my son Zach and his friend Grace decided to pretend that they were getting ready to go shopping, and cut coupons. I was very impressed and glad to see that maybe Zach would pick up some of my money savings habits. Unfortunately, they made a mess and some of the coupons that I had already cut ended up being thrown away, never to be seen again.

Not really a big deal considering that several of the coupons that I cut don’t end up getting used anyway. The problem was that they lost my best coupon, $4 off of the Intuition Razor blade refills. Ladies if you have not tried the Intuition Razor you are missing out. It is the best thing since sliced bread. Since the blade refills are about $8, the $4 coupon gave me half off.

So, even though I can swing the $8 cost of the razor refills it was killing me that I was not going to be able to get 50% off. I ended up finding the $4 coupon on Ebay, but it was going to cost me $2 to get it. Not the perfect solution, but at least I would still be getting 25% off and shipping was free.

A couple of days ago, I received the coupon in the mail, but instead of getting the one $4 coupon that I ordered, I got 5 of them and a few other miscellaneous coupons. I felt like I had hit the lottery. Okay that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but if I take advantage of all five razor coupons I can get $40 worth of razor blades for $20. That is a huge savings! I think it is time to stock up since the coupon expires on the 31st. For more information visit My Coupon Hunter or just search ebay for the coupon that you are looking for.

TIP: Got staff? Fun for staff doesn't have to cost a bundle

MONEY SAVING TIP: If you own a business, you don't have to spend a bundle to thank them! It's possible to show your appreciation with a small budget. Last week we said a “Big Thanks” to our employees as part of a year-long monthly effort. We served hot dogs to our staff of 35 last week for less than $55. Like other companies, we have tightened our belts to make it through these challenging financial times. But we figure that doesn’t mean we have to curtail the fun and festivities…especially when it comes to showing staff members just how much they are appreciated!

Last month we had a Pancake Breakfast where we served up heaping stacks of fresh-cooked pancakes and equal helpings of “pats on the backs” to our employees.

These low-cost thank you days were the brain child of our VP of Human Resources, Florence Botbol. “We fed 35 people for under $40 and everyone had a smile on their face,” said Florence. “We're trying to go light on the expense and heavy on the kudos to make sure every one of our staff members knows how much they mean to the success of our member owned, not-for-profit financial institution.”

Other monthly “Thank You Days” coming up including: an Ice Cream Day, a Late Summer Cook-Off, a Halloween Potluck, a Bagels Bonanza, and a Holiday Potluck. “Our wonderful employees go above and beyond to make sure our member/owners are well satisfied and taken care of in these lean financial times, so we want to do the same for them,” Botbol said. “It doesn’t cost much to dish up a heaping helping of thanks!”

$100 bonus isn't really free money with costly fees

Recently, over dinner and a couple of drinks, my neighbor and her husband got into a friendly heated discussion about her recent experience trying to open a checking account at the new Chase bank that has opened a branch close by. Her husband was focused on the fact that they were offering a $100 bonus just for opening the account and either using the debit card or having direct deposit. Free money, it’s a no brainer, right? Wrong!

Lisa’s (the wife) concern was the incredibly bad experience that she had when trying to open the account. It started out with what she though would be the simple procedure of opening her account online, only to experience problems with the “next button” on the account opening application not working. She even filled out the application on two different computers to make sure that the issue was not related to a computer problem.

Without online success, Lisa called Chase’s online customer support and they were unable to help her. She was told that she would need to open her account over the phone. She was then transferred to another department and left on hold for 15 minutes. After finally getting through to someone and giving her application information, the representative was not able to figure out where to go on the system to add her husband’s information, so that it could be a joint account.

Lisa ended up deciding that it would probably not be worth $100 to open an account at this bank. She figured that this might be a sign of poor customer service in the future. I let her know about the great member service that Hawthorne provides and told her about out new Cash Back Checking, which will be available on August 17th. The new checking account offers a lot of great features including, no minimum opening deposit, no monthly balance requirement, one free NSF “BOUNCE FORGIVENESS”, and a Reward of .05 paid for each signature based transaction. I told Lisa that if she makes 166 transactions per month she could get $100 every year! Plus, the fees she's going to pay at Chase will offset that $100 she'd get. AND the money she'll save with our 677 surcharge free ATMs in Naperville...how many ATMs does Chase have in Naperville? She'll pay a surcharge to use another bank's ATM. So the $100 deal isn't such a great deal after all!

Shred Day was a success!

Shred Day was a success again! We had approximately 100 people attend. (I think the rain kept a few folks away.) We collected about 2 boxes of food for the Northern Illinois Food Bank and talked to a lot of people about the great deals at Enterprise Car Sales. Next Shred Day is Saturday, Oct. 3 from 10 am to noon at our Naperville branch!

Shred Day August 09