With all the turmoil of our economic times, it is especially important to be as educated as possible on money and financial matters.  We need to understand how money works, how to manage our own finances, and how to budget for the future.  Financial education for our children is also extremely important.  They need a good foundation in basic economics before we can expect them to survive in our money dominated world.

Hocus-pocus--my money grew! Well, maybe it's not that easy to save, but by teaching kids from a young age, it can be. As they grow to tweens and teens, they'll have one of the most difficult aspects of saving under their belt--being consistent.Here are just a few examples to help teach kids of different ages about the magic of saving:

• Have young children--preschool age--sort different types of money into piles by color and size.

• Play grocery store or credit union/bank. Help them use a pretend cash register.
  At the grocery store, let kids of all ages help you shop. Teach them how to comparison shop--for example, show them that for every $4.99 box of cereal, there may be similar brands on sale for half as much.

• As kids get older, share sales receipts and bills that you receive for items or services you've purchased for them.

• If you decide to pay your kids an allowance, don't just establish one as parents. Sit down with them and discuss allowance amounts and what they should use their allowance for. The amount is your call, but allow them input. One idea is to have children set aside part of their allowance for spending, part for saving, and part for sharing. Clarify what you'll pay for and what they should be responsible for. For example, when you're at the movies, maybe you agree to pay for a small drink and popcorn, but the Milk Duds are on them.

• Show children what compounding interest means. Explain that as kids save, they're constantly earning dividends on their savings--on top of that, they're earning dividends on their dividends.
  
  As kids reach high-school age, clarify what you will pay for and what your children are responsible for. For example, your kids may want the newest style of tennis shoes that come with a really high price tag. Establish what you'd pay for athletic shoes--say, $50. If they still want the more expensive pair, have them make up the difference. Often, once the responsibility of paying for items is on kids, the latest, greatest fashions aren't so important.

Saguache County Credit Union’s ATM’s are now at all of our branches: Crestone, Moffat, and Center.   The ATM’s offer our Members the convenience of 24 hours/7 days a week/365 days a year access to your SCCU accounts.  Obviously, you can get cash back, but you will also be able to do transfers and account balance inquiries, all at no charge to you.     

Along with the ATM’s we will be providing to our valued Members an enhanced Debit Card program.  With this program you can receive cash back at merchant locations, pick your own pin number, and the new program will give our Members the access to use our new debit cards at over 18 million locations plus ATM accessibility through the VISA networks available in the United States and over 120 countries.