As winter gives way to a spring thaw that will soon turn to summer, the housing market typically (during an average year) sees an uptick in activity from home buyers and sellers.

It can take a bit of time to develop smart, positive spending habits, but the benefits of doing so are endless.

As the old adage goes, time is money. As time becomes more and more of a premium in the modern-day and things seem to move more rapidly than ever, you need banking that follows suit. With the advent of more sophisticated and user-friendly online banking tools in recent years many financial institutions have made it a priority to make time/money management more efficient than ever. Equally important to those tools existing is actually knowing about them, and being able to use them to their full capability. A good tool is useless if it isn’t being used! Here are 5 ways you use online banking to better manage your money--and your time. 

At HRCCU, security and education is one of our top priorities for our members. In uncertain times, scammers and fraudsters will capitalize on the vulnerability of organizations and individuals. We have already begun to see an increase of scammers calling members and suspicious emails flooding inboxes. Below are a few steps to help you avoid getting caught in a scam during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

If you’ve taken out a mortgage, auto loan, or even just own a credit card then there’s a good chance that you intimately understand the fundamentals of interest rates. This is how it works, you borrow x amount of money that you pay back over an agreed upon period of time. Now because the creditor or financial institution is in essence fronting you money that you don’t have at the moment, then in return you pay the money back in installments at an agreed upon percentage. 

With the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic across New York State, the country and the world, now more than ever we have been challenged to find new ways to mitigate the spread of the virus. This includes the way we do everyday activities including banking. To help you navigate the coronavirus pandemic, here are four ways you can manage your finances from the comfort of your home.

5 Online Shopping Safety Tips to Use Every Day

As technology advances, online shopping continues to grow in popularity for people across the globe.

When you get paid, there are 2 programs that you pay into as mandated by the federal government: Medicaid and Social Security (also known as FICA). There’s no doubt that you’ve noticed this pulled from your paycheck every pay period, and of the two programs Social Security is by a significant margin the more expensive, with the current withholding rate sitting at 6.2% of your gross income--compared to the 1.45% withheld for Medicare. 

This decade has been ten years of significant technological change, continuing the trend that started in the 1960s, accelerated rapidly during the 1980s, and into the 2000s. One huge piece of that change which has been dubbed by some as the “Information Revolution”, has been the integration of communications devices into day to day life on a near-constant basis. Personal computers are frequently the device we work on every day, and we spend much of our free time on mobile devices utilizing apps, sending texts, or checking emails. This technology is nearly all-encompassing and has touched nearly every person and industry in the world--and banking is no different. 

Successful budgeting can be difficult, even when you’re only thinking about things on a month-to-month basis. Things can get overwhelming when you start thinking about budgeting in the long-term for bigger expenses. For example, like a future home, paying for college, or retirement- in the future. But it doesn’t have to be! In fact, long term budgeting isn’t fundamentally all that different than short-term budgeting; it just requires a little bit more work and commitment. Here are a few tips for creating a long-term budgeting plan that can keep you on track for those big purchases you want to make down the line.