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Start The “new (school) Year” Off Right With A Little Help From Technology

August 2, 2017 January 1 might be the official beginning of the New Year, but doesn’t back-to-school always feel like the REAL fresh start? As you trade swimsuits and flip-flops for backpacks and lunch bags, there’s no better time to get control of your spending. Check out these tips and tech tools and you’ll be owning your money in no time.

1. Set minimum balance alerts on your accounts

What’s more frustrating—and expensive—than overdrawing your account? Save yourself the pain and cost of overdraft fees by setting up alerts through Summit’s online banking. You’ll get a handy message whenever your balance falls below your pain threshold and never have to worry about accidentally overdrawing your account again.

2. Use Summit's Climbr to tag and organize everything you buy

Remember the old “write down everything you spend” notebook? While it was a great way to see where your money was really going, it was also a real hassle. A much better alternative? Summit’s . Climbr lets you create budgets, monitor spending, set goals and get alerts in just a few easy clicks. See how Summit’s  own their spending with Climbr.

3. Make it harder to buy online

When it comes to owning your money, alerts, emails and apps can be a good thing and a not-so-good thing (the daily deluge of too-good-to-pass up online deals). Who hasn’t been sucked into checking out online offers or wiped out their budget with deals that seem too good to pass up? (Here’s an interesting article from a writer at Forbes about her own ). Try these to avoid overspending:
  • Unsubscribe to emails. We’re going to go out on a limb and suggest most amazing sales and deals aren’t really that amazing. Make it easy to resist temptation by removing temptation.
  • Follow the 24-hour rule. Put all items in your shopping cart for 24 hours and don’t allow yourself to buy until time’s up.
  • Don’t buy online until your bills are paid. Don’t even let yourself look at a site or deal until you’ve paid all this month’s bills—including paying yourself (for education, retirement, rainy day fund, etc.).
  • Don’t save your credit card or purchase info. If you can, check out as a guest instead of creating an account. That way you’ll have to re-enter the information each time you buy, which might help you avoid an impulse purchase.

4. Keep an ongoing list of upcoming expenses and check your budget every day

It can be easy to forget all the things your budget needs to cover—especially as you’re getting back in the swing of school year reality. Do a quick budget check-in every day and you’ll be less likely to forget must-include items and more likely to keep your budget where it needs to be. Again, is a great tool for this. Hey, you’ve got this spending thing down! Go to it and Happy New (school) Year! You might also be interested in Financial success isn’t how much money you have — it’s feeling good about what you’re doing with the money you have. Here are some tips on how to prioritize your debts and bills, negotiate with creditors and get your late payments back on solid ground. Even in these challenging times, there's  whole lot of good happening! At Summit, we've always believed financial success happens together and that's been truer than ever this past month. Here's what "together" has meant for our community. Navigating finances after college is hard, but you can take it one lesson at a time. Get tips for managing money and paying off student debt after graduation. Navigating finances after college is hard, but you can take it one lesson at a time. Get tips for managing money and paying off student debt after graduation. If you’re not sure if something is a scam, it’s ALWAYS better to act like it could be! Fraudsters are always coming up with creative new ways to steal from you and quick to take advantage of a crisis. Here are some of the most popular recent scams to watch for. With a little planning, you may be able to actually save a little money during the holidays. Check out these tips to keep costs down without missing out on the holiday fun. Some scams go right for your money; others try to get you to part with personal information – like account numbers, Social Security numbers, passwords, and personal identification numbers (PINs). Find out what you should look for and how to protect yourself. The holidays can be stressful & that’s why it’s important to prioritize your self-care. Use these tips to reduce stress without draining your bank account. Your home is your castle, your refuge and—let’s face it—a place where it can be very easy to sink a big chunk of money. Which is why you’re always on the lookout for “sweet spots”:  those home improvements that add comfort, safety or a little zing of style while you’re living in your house and will boost the asking price when it’s time to sell. And if you can find a way to save money on those improvements or cut home expenses at the same time, well that sweet spot just got a little sweeter! Featured Products Certificates Checking Accounts Home Equity Loans Home Loans Business Banking Certificates Checking Accounts Home Equity Loans Home Loans Business Banking Financial Education Upcoming Events Programs Tools & Calculators On-demand Webinars Podcasts Upcoming Events Programs Tools & Calculators On-demand Webinars Podcasts About Equity in Money™ About Summit Careers News Community Giving Equity in Money™ About Summit Careers News Community Giving Help & Support Contact Us Member Support Center Schedule an Appointment Find a Branch Contact Us Member Support Center Schedule an Appointment Find a Branch Please read the following before proceeding to: The website you are about to visit is solely the responsibility of the merchant or other party providing the site. The content of this third-party site, including materials and information, is solely the responsibility of the provider of the site. The Credit Union is not responsible for any such third-party content. Any transactions that you enter into with a vendor, merchant or other party that you access through this third-party site are solely between you and that vendor, merchant or other party. The Credit Union does not endorse the content contained in this third-party site, nor the organization publishing the site, and hereby disclaims any responsibility for such content. The Credit Union Privacy Policy does not apply to this third-party site, and for further information you should consult the privacy disclosures of the third-party site. NCUA Insurance Estimator Privacy, Security & Accessibility Rates, Fees, Terms & Disclosures Routing Number *  The Wisconsin's #1 Mortgage Lender designation is based on the number of loans in 2022, gathered from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data compiled annually by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The results of the data were obtained through the LEI: 254900NTAC4H10MGSU23 **  SBA Lender of the Year Award for Credit Unions as awarded by the Small Business Administration of Wisconsin in 2023. Copyright 2024 © Summit Credit Union. All rights reserved. If you are using a screen reader and are having problems using this website, please call 608-243-5000 for assistance. Insured by NCUA