We’re celebrating all month long, and you’re invited!

Join us in the festivities at any of our three new locations for grand opening celebrations! At each location there will be tours of the new branch, refreshments, door prizes for the first 175 people and a grand prize drawing.

Rutland Grand Opening – February 14th

Happy Valentine’s Day! Join us for an “I love my credit union themed” celebration on Valentine’s Day at our new, full sized, full service, environmentally friendly Rutland branch office located at 72 Seward Road.

• Ribbon cutting at 4:00pm
• Gifts for the first 175 people to visit
• Grand prize drawing for an overnight stay for two at the Vermont Inn with a three course dinner and breakfast included (after all, it is Valentine’s Day!)

Waterbury Grand Opening – February 22nd

The celebration will continue at our new Waterbury branch, located at 27 South Main Street, on February 22nd. Come in and try our new personalized teller experience! No envelopes, no deposit slips and very easy to use. It’s better for the environment and you get the same friendly, personalized service you expect.

• Ribbon cutting at 10:00am
• Gifts for the first 175 people to visit
• Grand prize drawing for a Vermont Gift Basket

Brattleboro Grand Opening – February 29th

Just one short week later we’ll be headed to our southern most branch to finish celebrating with the town of Brattleboro. You can find our new branch at 499 Canal Street (the Price Chopper Plaza). We’ll be broadcasting live with 92.7 WKVT and invite you to stop in and see what our new personalized teller experience is all about.

• Ribbon cutting at 10:00am
• Gifts for the first 175 people
• Grand prize drawing for a Vermont Gift Basket

VSECU’s Waterbury Branch Office has opened its doors for business at our new location at 27 South Main Street.

Since September, the branch office has operated out of a temporary mobile unit on Railroad Street when Tropical Storm Irene badly damaged the state office complex, where our VSECU office had been located for 30 years. VSECU had already begun construction on the new branch when Irene struck Waterbury, and though the new site was affected by flooding, construction resumed as planned.

In our new location, the branch features a 24/7 ATM and convenient access in Waterbury’s central business area. We are also excited to introduce our new personal teller service! This new customer service experience centralizes the teller service so that more Vermonters can access live personalized teller service while the teller is actually located in the main office of VSECU in Montpelier. This new service mirrors the traditional experience of branch teller transaction while offering greater technology capabilities. On-site consultants will assist members with new accounts, loans and other VSECU services.

Hours of operation are 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

A grand opening and open house is planned for February.

VSECU has Opened Our First Office in Southern Vermont in Brattleboro

VSECU has chosen Brattleboro for its first branch office in southern Vermont and opened its doors for business on Jan. 12, 2012, in the Price Chopper Plaza at 499 Canal Street.

For years, VSECU members in southern Vermont have conducted their business with VSECU by mail, telephone and online via the internet, but the new office will give them the opportunity to chat in person with a VSECU member service consultant. In its convenient location in the Price Chopper Plaza, the office will offer a full range of financial products and services, including a 24/7 ATM, to Brattleboro and surrounding communities.

While members will be able to meet with consultants who can assist with opening new accounts, loans and other credit union services in the branch office, VSECU will introduce its new personal teller service. This new customer service experience centralizes the teller service so that more Vermonters can access live personalized teller service while the teller is actually located in the main office of VSECU in Montpelier. This new service mirrors the traditional experience of branch teller transaction while offering greater technology capabilities.

Hours of operation will be 9:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday.

A grand opening and open house is planned for February.

Is the wind whistling through your house?…

Enter our FREE drawing for a chance to win 1 of 5 beautiful gifts handcrafted in Vermont by VSECU members.

Our board must consider the financial needs of people in all corners of the state

If you’re planning to dispose of documents bearing social security numbers, account numbers, birth dates and other private information, you should shred them to prevent your private information from getting into the wrong hands.

VSECU will help you safely dispose of your private documents at a FREE Shred Saturday at 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. on September 24, 2011, at our Williston and Berlin branch locations. We will also have shredding in Rutland at Formula Ford Lincoln Mercury. SecurShred, AAA certified by the National Association for Information Destruction, will safely shred up 10 boxes (12 × 10 × 15 inches) of paper per person.

Note: the shredder will handle staples and paper clips, so there is no need to remove them from your documents.

Shred Saturday Locations:

Saturday, September 24, 2011
9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

• Berlin: VSECU’s Berlin Branch, 365 Paine Turnpike North. Map
• Williston: VSECU’s Williston Branch, 1755 Essex Road. Map
• Rutland: Formula Ford Lincoln Mercury, 423 South Main Street. Map

VSECU’s Shred Saturday is free and open to the community!

The Waterbury branch will be closed until further notice. At this time the State of Vermont is not able to access the building to evaluate the damage. We are unsure how long it will be before the building is deemed safe for re-entry. Waterbury residents and those in the surrounding areas are encouraged to use the Montpelier and/or Berlin branches, online banking, banking by phone or the services provided by the Member Service Consultants in our call center for your banking needs, (802) 371-5162.

VSECU staff, their families and friends are…

Ah, back-to-school time: the smell of newly sharpened pencils, fresh crayons and flowing cash. If that third one’s got you down, take a look at these tips for creating – and sticking to – a back-to-school budget. While families spend on what they need, parents must also work with their children to determine what they really don’t need.

Start early, and take time to get ready. It doesn’t take much to turn the school’s supply list into a full-on shopping list. But you can do better than that.

Before you buy even one notebook, estimate how much you can afford to spend overall and what the costs are likely to be. Don’t leave anything out! It’s better to know ahead of time if things will be tight. (Keep reading for a bunch of creative ways to handle a shortage.)

Give some thought to what you’ll do with any extra money in the budget. Will the kids get something special from their mile-long wishlists? Or will the surplus be added back into the household budget?

Think ahead to find the best deals. Be on the lookout for the big back-to-school sales and go early. Even the big stores can sell out at the last minute.

How realistic is your budget? Try the Practical Money Skills back-to-school calculator to find out!

Get the kids involved. And not just with the shopping. Have them join in as you prepare; they’ll learn great lessons about budgeting, finding a good deal, and the difference between wants and needs.

Younger children can help cut coupons (with safety scissors, of course). And older kids can compare costs and tally them up. You might even put them in charge of looking for deals to stay under budget. Use back-to-school shopping as an opportunity to lay the foundation for helping your children develop sound money management habits early. Before you shop, review these tips:

• Set a realistic back-to-school budget before you go shopping.
• Have your kids prepare a budget with you.
• Take a printout of your estimated budget with you when shopping and have your child enter in all of the actual expenses.
• Encourage children to follow the budget. Stress that getting a more expensive item might mean sacrificing something else.
• Encourage kids to consider ways to cut costs and manage cash flow, like clipping coupons, looking for sales or buying supplies each semester.
• Teach your kids to comparison shop to avoid impulse buying or paying for overpriced items.
• Differentiate between “needs” and “wants.” Encourage children to contribute their own money to fill the gap between what they “need” and what they “want.”
• Tell kids that if they come in under budget, you will split the savings with them.
• Continue the budgeting lesson by starting kids with an ongoing monthly budget.

Be willing to compromise on a few things. Sure, kids will want to have the same cool stuff their friends do. If your budget has the room, you can help them learn to prioritize.

Talk to them about how choosing a more expensive item means they’ll have to go cheap on another item, and give them a chance to think their choices through. If they have money of their own, you might ask them to help fund that special lunchbox or name-brand backpack.

Get creative to slash the shopping bill. There’s a good chance school clothes will take up the biggest chunk of your back-to-school budget. But who says they have to be brand new? Trade clothes and books with other families, or hit the thrift stores and garage sales. If school uniforms are required, check whether the school has a trading or discount program.

Buying online? Play it smart! Order together with enough friends to get free shipping. Or buy bulk packs of supplies to share. You might also find a steal on eBay or Craigslist.

Shop the sales. It seems that sales for back-to-school gets earlier and earlier. Before you recycle those weekly newspaper ads, scan them for retailer’s sales on clothing and school supplies. Watch for coupons online, postcards and in the mail, and in-store promotions to look for deals. Some items are worth scooping up on the spot, while you might wait for end-of-season sales to replenish your kids’ closet and bookshelves. For big ticket items like electronics for your older kids, do your homework on price comparisons before giving in and buying the coolest new laptop for your teen.

Learn from the experience. Make your savvy back-to-school approach an annual tradition. Keep track of this year’s expenses to help figure out the budget next year. Keep notes about what you discover, like where the best thrift stores are and when the store shelves start to empty. They’ll come in handy a year from now. And if your kids’ cost-savings decisions help you come out ahead, use it as a teachable moment to talk to them about what to do with the money that was saved.

Practice these smart shopping habits each year, and by the time the kids graduate, you’ll have saved a bundle. And they’ll be much more prepared for the real world.

This article is from www.practicalmoneyskills.com

Budgets are like diets: No single approach…