Hi! I’m Ashley, Financial Education Coordinator for Credit Union 1! Check out my blog every Friday for fun tips and tricks to help you manage your finances. Who gets excited about bills? No one. I definitely do not like bills but I do get excited sometimes to pay them. I get excited because it reminds me that I have a great job that allows me to pay them, I’m in a better place in life that I have the means to pay them, and that I’m one payment closer to not having to pay anymore. I’ve got a few tricks that I use when I’m stressed out about money and how to work yourself out of debt and be excited about it!

Try the snowball method. Take a look at all of the debt you have and list them from the smallest balance to the highest balance debt. Continue to pay all of them (you don’t want to have them go to collections or have interest rates sky rocket for late payments) but just make the minimum on all but the smallest one. Throw an extra few bucks or whatever you can afford towards that one bill each month until it’s paid off. Then take that extra money and put it towards the next bill. By the time you’ve got a few of the small bills paid off…you’ll be able to pay off those big ones a lot faster. If you’re like me, you’ll like this method because you will start seeing results quickly.

Pictured above: the CU1 volunteer team at the American Lung Association's Clean Air Challenge.

It's no secret that CU1 employees love to volunteer!  In fact, here at CU1, we're able to tell spring and summer have arrived not by the increased amount of sun or warm days but by how jammed packed our calendar is with volunteer events! 

Hi! I’m Ashley, Financial Education Coordinator for Credit Union 1! Check out my blog every Friday for fun tips and tricks to help you manage your finances.  I love pets! I love all kinds of pets (except creepy crawlies) but there are 2 things I really dislike: shedding season and upkeep costs. There isn’t much I can do about shedding and I’ve learned to accept that it’s going to happen whether I like it or not. However – upkeep costs can be monitored and there are ways to bring them down!

I really don’t want to take my dogs or the cat to the vet unless absolutely necessary. One way I avoid unexpected (and non-budgeted) trips is to make sure everyone is always up to date on their shots. Many of the standard shots that animals receive prevent against common illness such as kennel cough. Think of it like a flu shot for dogs – it doesn’t protect against all strains of the illness, but it protects them against the most common ones. In this case, you’ll have to spend some money to save money but if you’re looking to cut your costs even further, check with your local SPCA. Most of the time they offer low cost vaccination clinics which could be a fraction of the cost of a veterinary office!

Hi! I’m Ashley, Financial Education Coordinator for Credit Union 1! Check out my blog every Friday for fun tips and tricks to help you manage your finances.  Clothes.  You can’t go naked but it always seems like everything is dirty and you have nothing to wear. Well…at least that’s how it is at my house and there are only 2 people! Here are some tips and tricks on how to save money on that never-ending pile of laundry.

Make an indoor clothes line! I’m not a big fan of hanging my clothes outside (blowing dirt, anyone?!) so I’ve constructed an indoor clothes line that works nearly as well. I’ve got a long hallway with a few windows with screens so I just hung a line and can now dry my clothes without using our gas dryer and I don’t have to put them outside! When they’re all dry – I do pop them into the dryer for a few minutes on “fluff” to get the wrinkles out and soften them up a bit, but I’m definitely being more earth and wallet friendly this way!

Hi! I’m Ashley, Financial Education Coordinator for Credit Union 1! Check out my blog every Friday for fun tips and tricks to help you manage your finances.  Uffda! Summer is here and this nice weather has been causing me to act like I’m Daddy Warbucks. If I’m not snatching up the latest “deal” on Groupon, I’m meandering through Fred Meyer just looking to buy stuff. I have a feeling I’m not alone because I see a ton of people moseying through the stores with seemingly no real purpose or shopping list. It’s time for all of us to stop busting our budget and try a few of these easy tricks!