Budgeting your expenditures

Credit Unions.

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1002543

Joined: 31 Aug 2008
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Posts: 84

92 Magic Points

Subject: Credit Unions.

Wed Sep 24, 2008 2:49 pm

I have noticed that there is no discussion an this board about credit unions.
I personally a big fan of credit unions.
Right now I belong to 2 big CU, PenFed and Alliant.
I have credit card and autoloan with PenFed, and my savings and kids savings with Alliant.
Both have customer service which is much better that Amex's.
Any thoughts?

goodnatured

Joined: 03 Nov 2007
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Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:08 am

I have two small savings accounts with our credit union, one for us and one for our daughter, a juvenille account.
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Goodnatured,

Trying to become and stay debt free, thank you for all your help and support!

Guest

Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:53 pm

Can anybody tell me what is a credit union and how does it work.

Mary

Joined: 06 Jul 2006
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8655 Magic Points

Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:08 pm

A credit union is basically a co-operative of financial organizations. These Unions are controlled by its members and being a non profit organization, if any customer borrows from these credit unions, the interest rates charged on the loan is much lower than the interest charged by other banks and financial institutions. Moreover, these credit unions has the maximum level of customer satisfaction as compared to other financial institutions.
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1002543

Joined: 31 Aug 2008
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Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:38 pm

Very precise discription, Mary.

The key word is non profit. Credit Unions have been created by members for members.

Criteria to become a member depend on each CU. Some CU's are opened to public through affiliated organizations like National PTA, National Military Family Organization and so forth. The biggest national CU opened to practically everyone who knows how to read eligibility criteria are Pentagon Federal, Alliant, Justice, NASA, Agricultural and many others. Some CU's restrict eligibility criteria to geografical area or employer, like Navy Federal. There is no restrictions how many CU's may belong to.

The advantage of CU over the banks that CU's ar non profit, means they can approve credit products for less than good credit history ( not all of them, PenFed very conservative).

IME, customer service provided by CU is much better and more effective than CS provided by big, national financial institutions llike AMEX, Chase, Citi, etc.

Justin

Justin

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Mon Sep 29, 2008 10:23 am

Credit Unions are non profit making co-operative societies which are operated by its members on a voluntary basis. Since the credit unions do not work with profit maximization objectives, obtaining a loan from these credit unions are much more cheaper than those from banks and other financial institutions as Mary said. These credit unions are generally for everybody and are monitored by the the National Credit Union Association. If your employer or even anybody in your family sponsors a credit union, you are also eligible to join that Union.
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Justin

goodnatured

Joined: 03 Nov 2007
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Mon Sep 29, 2008 2:23 pm

I am a member but have never used the benefits that go along with it, I have never had a need to. I use it mainly for a savings account, if I need money I call them up and they send a check really quickly.
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Goodnatured,

Trying to become and stay debt free, thank you for all your help and support!

fireyone

Joined: 26 Feb 2008
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Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:09 pm

So how does a plain Jane or Joe go about this? I have my mortgage through a bank, which is fine by me but I may be going for another small loan to get rid of some credit card debt...do they do this and how can I join?

1002543

Joined: 31 Aug 2008
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Thu Oct 02, 2008 11:30 pm

Through this link "http://credituniondeals.blogspot.com/2007/07/credit-unions-that-anyon e-can-become.html" you can find tons of national credit unions which are opened to literally everyone. And depends on your goal, research them. I would recommend:
PenFed
Alliant
Addison Avenu
Coastal
Agricultural
Patelco
Justice
NASA
Digital

fireyone

Joined: 26 Feb 2008
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Fri Oct 03, 2008 1:20 am

Hey thanks. So even a person like me can join a credit union? I hear so much about them and how they save the customer money. Anyway thanks for the link.

1002543

Joined: 31 Aug 2008
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Posts: 84

92 Magic Points

Fri Oct 03, 2008 2:20 am

Any person, above 18 years and with SSN can join.

I am big fan of CU, their are much better than banks. Highly recommended.

goodnatured

Joined: 03 Nov 2007
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Sat Nov 01, 2008 3:30 am

I am a member through my employer, I also opened an account for my daughter that she will have for life or until she decides to close it. Ours is through our union, it has really awesome perks that I can not use because of my credit score but she will be able to use because she will have had the account for over ten or so years by the time she can even apply for credit. Low home loans, low car intrest loans. I wanted her to have this advantage. I just throw a few bucks in it every now and then.
_________________
Goodnatured,

Trying to become and stay debt free, thank you for all your help and support!

fireyone

Joined: 26 Feb 2008
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Posts: 2856

1907 Magic Points

Sun Nov 02, 2008 2:28 am

GN....you should be able to use the credit union once your score comes up and some of those things start to fall off. I like the idea 1002 mentions about informing people about credit unions. You always hear about them but lots of people think these are only available to people in a company or to a select few. I myself just automatically go to the bank for a loan. I think the next time I may just try this credit union thing because thre are so many pluses to it. I know they are one of the last places to go belly up and their interest rate is lower. I wonder how the whole credit union thing actually got started.

goodnatured

Joined: 03 Nov 2007
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Posts: 3133

5262 Magic Points

Sat Nov 08, 2008 3:15 pm

I belong to a credit union, the rates are fantastic, but you have to have a good credit score to get the loans, checking and etc. In my case I am only a savings account holder there. I did start a second savings account there for my daughter, she can have it for life.
_________________
Goodnatured,

Trying to become and stay debt free, thank you for all your help and support!

fireyone

Joined: 26 Feb 2008
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Posts: 2856

1907 Magic Points

Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:28 pm

I would also like to do something like this in the future. My hubbys credit is really great but mine has acouple blemishes. Once mine is cleared I would like to get on a loan with him so that I can rebuild mine. I have a couple credit cards in my name and have been paying faithfully for years. So now I imagine once the last debt (big one) falls off next year I should be back on track. I need to use my last free pull but I ma waiting for Decmber to do it. I want to see if the other fell off. It did on one so I am hoping it fell off the other too.


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