Banking moments...

The actual title of the blog subject is too long to fit up there, check it out: What are your personally discovered positive aspects of money and finances? Name a few uncomfortable banking moments you have had and what is most important to you in a financial institution. How would you like to see banking become more lighthearted and enjoying?

The topic of money and finances definitely belongs to the “'depends on how you look at it'” category. Half Full, Half Empty. Root of all evil or a tool to offer endless possibilities. I used to hold the “Money is the Root of all Evil” mentality for the longest time. I knew how to manage it, but would let it escape me at times and would get caught in this vicious cycle of working to pay off all of the excess debt I accrued. I felt like a Recovering Alcoholic that would fall off the wagon. At a certain point, you start to think, what’s the point of getting back on. There was many a month of borrowing from credit cards to pay bills and juggling minimum payments or transferring balances. The other predicament I would get caught in is trying to save so diligently that I barely left any money in my checking account and would get hit with Overdraft Fees left and right. I learnt the hard lesson of “defeating the purpose”!

What I did not know at the time is how to take control of my finances and make my money work for me. The thing about finances is it says a lot about your management style and amount of discipline. Finances are like diets, exercising, education the more focused and dedicated you are, the greater the results. You have to be knowledgeable and aware. There is a huge amount of personal satisfaction when you start seeing your debt going down and your savings going up. The best part is being able to afford a luxury item and knowing you have the money for it in hand. What is important to me in a financial institution is flexibility. Sounds funny, but makes sense in cases like applying for a loan. There are occasions when things are rough, finances are tight, and I wish banking would understand that. I had to file bankruptcy years ago, because I was tied to my mom’s credit cards and back then, I felt I was young enough that it would not affect me too adversely. Sadly, you are treated like you have the black plague if there is a bankruptcy on your credit.

That is one of the reasons I am so loyal to the USC Credit Union. When other places would try and rip me off with a 19% rate on a Car Loan, they would offer 11%. That is a huge difference in monthly payments! Obviously, we need to more careful of our decisions and not allow ourselves to get in to predicaments, however in my case, it was out of my hands. If a financial institution would have looked at the entire picture, investigated the rest of my credit, I would not have been written off at the beginning as many times. There is a reason people prefer Credit Unions over Banks, they treat their customers more like people and less like numbers. The easiest way you can witness this is in their terminology –they call their customers
Members.