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The U.S. economy ground to a halt in March 2020 as state after state issued lockdown orders and shut down businesses to blunt the spread of the coronavirus. A year later, mask-wearing is commonplace, the phrase “social distancing” is now in the dictionary, elbow bumps have replaced fist bumps and hugs are still on pause.…

03/24/2021 Update: As of today, the lobby at 9618 Brentwood Dr is OPEN! We invite all of our members to visit the Brentwood location for any of their financial needs. The night depository will still be available for use, and is checked and processed regularly, at 9601 F St until the Credit Union is able to open the lobby at that location. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at 402-593-2680. We look forward to finally…

Turn Your Quarantine Clutter Into Money I placed more online orders than I can count in 2020. And I justified all of them. My front porch was filled with boxes containing all sorts of things: furniture (I needed to redecorate), paper towels (I needed to stock up), crafts (I needed activities), board games (more activities)…

How to Craft Smarter Money Goals in 2021 Setting money goals in 2020 was likely an exercise in futility. Maybe you’d been saving for a trip abroad, but the pandemic kept you at home. Or you wanted to save up for a down payment on a house, then the recession left you out of a…

5 Credit Mistakes That Can Haunt You

5 Credit Mistakes That Can Haunt You Some credit mistakes are a lot worse than others. Little ones, like paying a credit card bill a day late, may cost you a penalty fee, but that’s a relatively minor irritation — it’s not going to stand between you and a mortgage. Other seemingly small slip-ups can…

How to Be Reunited With Your Long-Lost Money Are you owed money you don’t even know about? You might be, if your name is in an unclaimed property database. Each year, billions of dollars from forgotten security deposits, refunds, uncashed paychecks and even old bank accounts are reported to state agencies. And each year, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, an organization affiliated with state treasury departments, states return more than $3 billion to their rightful owners.…

For online grocery delivery, add fees to the list I haven’t set foot in a grocery store in nearly four months. With a 10-month-old baby to think about, my husband and I have kept trips to the store to a minimum out of an abundance of caution during the pandemic. We’re fortunate to have just about every grocery delivery service at our disposal — and we’ve taken advantage. In between orders from Costco, Whole Foods, Imperfect Foods and more, I’ve…

Financial Lessons We’ve Learned While Staying at Home Shelter in place. Lockdown. Quarantine. Whatever you call it, it’s been a few months since the COVID-19 pandemic taught us what staying home for an extended period of time actually looks and feels like. These are unprecedented times. And although things are unpredictable right now, we can control our ability to emerge from this challenge differently than we entered it. “Like everything in life, every challenge and every hardship is a lesson…

Where Coronavirus Relief Checks Go, Fraudsters Follow The Internal Revenue Servicehas begun depositing stimulus checks electronically into bank accounts. If you’ve gotten yours, great. Now, guard that money, because scammers are eager to pick your pocket. If you’re still waiting for your payment — or running into unverified offers or communications — healthy skepticism is your best friend. As of Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission had received more than 18,000 complaints related to COVID-19 this year, with consumers losing more…

4 Things to Know if You’ve Never Budgeted BeforeWe’ve entered a new year and a new decade. Not surprisingly, this fresh start has probably brought new goals to mind — like money management.If you’re planning to start balancing your income and spending, here are four things to keep in mind before you dive headfirst into budgeting in 2020.1. Budgets aren’t just a New Year’s resolutionIf budgeting is one of your New Year’s resolutions, maybe it’s time to think about it differently.“My personal…

How to Actually Keep Your New Year’s Debt ResolutionPaying off debt in the new year is a common resolution. But resolving to do something and actually doing it are two different things.Taking a smart approach to building good habits, however, can help you master your debt in the coming year.Jon Bailey, professor emeritus in the psychology department at Florida State University, suggests applying some principles of behavioral psychology to help you create sustainable habits.“Our general approach is really from the…

Why You Should Hit the Store on the Day After ChristmasCustomer service desks will be packed on the day after Christmas with consumers requesting refunds and exchanges, but store aisles will be packed with something else — deals.Here’s why you should venture out on Dec. 26, and how to emerge with a bargain instead of a headache.Seasonal staples will be on saleAfter-Christmas shopping used to be mostly about returns and exchanges, according to Howard Forman, a marketing professor at California State University, Fullerton.…