Author Archives: PBTC Blogger

How-To Protect Your Finances During Vacation

savings

Vacations are about relaxation and enjoying yourself, so don’t let the worry of your finances bog you down! Keep the sunshine your first priority with these traveling safety tips courtesy of Peoples Bank & Trust.

  1. Only Carry What You Need

With beach towels, cameras, and sunblock already filling up your bag, it’s no use bringing extra items that could slow you down. The same is true with your wallet. Keep your pocketbook light with only essential payment options. This not only helps you to not overspend, but also allows you to store other payment options in your hotel safe as a backup in case any cards are lost or stolen.

  1. Contact Your Bank and Credit Card Companies

Before taking off on your next getaway be sure to call both your bank and credit card companies. By communicating your travel plans ahead of time you can ensure that potential purchases aren’t rejected while you’re outside of your typical spending zone. If your card is lost or stolen these are great contacts to keep in mind to protect your finances in the event that they’re compromised.

  1. Use a Credit Card for Major Purchases

If you find that perfect must-have item during your travels abroad it may be beneficial to use your card for larger purchases. With cards like Visa and MasterCard, their payments are accepted all around the world. Additionally, most credit providers have a maximum $50 liability, so if someone does steal your credit card you’re covered!

  1. Plan for the Unexpected

You can plan and plan, but sometimes things happen that you weren’t anticipating. Whether it’s additional food expenses, a last-minute excursion, or a trip to the local urgent care, sometimes things happen. Make your travel fund work to your advantage by adding a cushion of 10% to cover those spontaneous expenses. If at the end of the trip you’re still ahead, you can use the extra money for an exciting last night out, or put it towards your next exciting destination!

Traveling is one of the most inspiring activities you can be a part of! Let Peoples Bank & Trust help you get to your next destination with one of our structured savings accounts. We’ll help you continue crossing destinations off your bucket list, one penny at a time!

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Equal Housing Lender

Member FDIC

 

Top Phishing Scams to Watch-out for

cyber security

Phishing is a common term for the unfortunate schemes hackers and online criminals use to lure users into giving their personal information. Typically disguised as familiar online activity, these scam artists have cleverly found several distinctive ways to attempt to trick YOU into handing over your private details. Be on the lookout for these common phishing scams next time you’re roaming the web!

  1. Foreign Lottery Scam

With this tactic you generally receive an email informing you that you have just won the lottery of some far-away land! To obtain these exorbitant funds you simply have to send a small fee to cover the transfer cost. A simple google search will show that this thrilling lottery is no more than phony website with a long distance phone number. Typically if the sending address doesn’t look familiar, or if you have not applied to any foreign lotteries, it will be a dead giveaway that this email is just an attempt to get your money and your information.

  1. Survey Scam

Do you like supporting the humane society or other animal organizations? This scam takes advantage of your online history and sends you a survey to submit your opinion on issues that matter to you. Instead of using your responses on animal treatment, this system discovers your email address, and other relative personal information, to hack your account and send out further spam emails.

  1. Online Banking Scam

Most phishing schemes disguise themselves as something familiar, often even PayPal or your personal bank. This particular scam typically indicates that some type of immediate action is needed, and your account is at risk. Before sending any type of reply communication check the source of the email, and call your personal contact at the organization to see if the email is legitimate. If you question the validity of any portion of the email, delete it and call the company this con artist is attempting to masquerade as ASAP.

  1. Clickbait

Social media has a hacking arena all its own. With links scattered across newsfeeds, it’s often hard to determine what is genuine and what is clickbait. Clickbait is a link generated to provoke common controversial issues to get you to click on it. Once clicked, the link may switch to a Facebook login, where you login again. Unfortunately this false login page is a common maneuver by cyber criminals for you to share to valuable social media login. Having this information, online criminals can now access your account and spam the people you are connected with.

If you think you’ve been a victim of an online phishing scam and your personal banking information has been compromised, call Peoples Bank & Trust so we can help you watch for signs of identity theft on your bank accounts.

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Equal Housing Lender

Member FDIC

 

Budgeting for Your Big Day

budgeting

After the question has been popped, answered, and celebrated, it’s time to get into planning mode! Coordinating everything from table seating, gift registries, food, and more – putting together an exciting wedding celebration is no easy task! See how to get the most out of your big day, with these helpful budgeting tips courtesy of Peoples Bank & Trust.

  1. Have the Money Talk with Your Family

One of the great parts about a wedding is the fact that it symbolizes two people, and two families, joining together. Like-minded, the budget is a joint effort as well. Sit down with your parents, spouse, and his/her parents to discuss what can be contributed by each. Once you have decided on a reasonable budget you can begin to look into venues and vendor options.

Be sure to also ask relatives with talents to help with various wedding activities. Whether it’s photography, floral arrangements, or simply singing during the ceremony, you’d be surprised how many talented family members are more than happy to help!

  1. Pick Three

The golden rule to budgeting the perfect wedding is to choose your top three priorities. Whether that’s the food, venue, photographer, or other wedding elements, choose which components you want to put the bulk of your budget in. After these top three it doesn’t mean you can’t spend money – it simply allows you the freedom to save money in the areas that aren’t the main focus.

For the average wedding the top three expenses are the venue, dining, and entertainment, followed closely by the photographer, floral arrangements, and wedding dress.

  1. Staying Under Budget

Like any good budget, staying on top of your numbers is a huge advantage! Be sure to keep all your receipts associated with the event to help track expenses and create a paper trail with your various vendors. Just like your personal finances, it’s a good idea to leave some cushion for the unexpected. Whatever your overall budget is for the event, be sure to leave 5% of it unused for various unplanned changes. This way if extra flowers or drinks are needed, the money is already set aside, headache free!

Setting the date is simply the start of your wedding planning adventure! If you need help structuring your big day’s budget, stop by Peoples Bank & Trust or give us a call at (636) 528-7001, we’d love to help make your wedding a success!

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

NMLS# 407724

Equal Housing Lender

Member FDIC

 

The Top 10 Things That Add Value to Your Home

home renovations

Just like purchasing your home, selling it is a journey all its own. Whether you’re aiming to sell your home in one year or five, you can make a number of small changes that offer a big return on your home’s value. Try these key improvements and see the effect on your next home assessment.

  1. An eye-catching entrance. As the gateway into your home, your front door will set the tone for what’s within. Update your door bell, paint the front door, and hang a spring wreath to tie it all together.
  2. Energy-efficient updates: Updating appliances, windows, and fixtures, to their more green counterparts can set your home apart with the attractive promise of future savings.
  3. Low-maintenance landscaping: While flowers are eye-catching, shrubs and drought-resistant greenery make great visual impact with the promise of less hassle.
  4. A thorough clean. A deep clean of carpets, curtains, and corners will make your home sparkle and create a positive first impression. Hiring a professional cleaning service may also help to remove hard-to-clean grime and overlooked areas.
  5. De-cluttered rooms. A tidy house doesn’t always feel open. Heavy curtains, overstuffed couches, and rooms devoid of sunlight can make buyers cautious of square footage. Rid the room of nothing but bare essentials and simplistic furniture to maximize the area of the space.
  6. Extra mirrors. To double the feel of any room, strategically place mirrors to create an illusion of extra space.
  7. Small updates to big places. Kitchens and bathrooms are focal points in the selling process. Without the time and cost of a major remodel, small updates like new lighting, fresh paint, or modern accessories can add value to your home on a budget.
  8. Revamped flooring: Thin or threadbare carpets can raise alarms for buyers as they visualize the daunting need to replace the tired flooring. As your budget allows, replace your home’s carpet beginning high-traffic areas and working outwards.
  9. Modern lighting. Updating light fixtures to a timeless and simple feel, help to elevate a home’s design and gives the potential buyer a blank canvas to imagine life in their new home.
  10. A professional opinion. In under an hour, a trained interior designer can provide suggestions for small tweaks, such as furniture arrangement or paint color adjustments, which can increase your home’s value with limited investment.

While improvements are not a guarantee of improved value, they can make all the difference when drawing in interested buyers. If some of your home-improvement projects require a bigger investment than your budget expected, our lending officers at Peoples Bank & Trust can work to help you secure the Home Equity Line of Credit you need.

 

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

NMLS# 407724

Equal Housing Lender

Member FDIC

 

How to Create your Emergency Fund and When to Use It

savings

Creating a structured savings plan is one thing that can set apart the financial dreamers from the financial doers! By setting strict guidelines to your goal, and ensuring the correct follow through with a backed up savings plan, you can be certain of your success in accomplishing your future achievement! One of the biggest obstacles in these plans is the unforeseen, and there is a way to manage even that. Using a well-rounded emergency fund can ensure that you don’t dip into saved funds for unexpected costs such as auto repairs, or medical emergencies. Want to get started setting up your emergency fund today? Follow these simple steps and you’ll be on your way to financial success!

  1. Open a dedicated savings account.
  2. Deposit Funds each month without withdrawing anything.
  3. Start by saving $1000.

– Next save 3 months’ worth of income and expenses.

– Finally maintain 6 months’ worth of income and expenses.

The reason you have this fund is simple, to prepare for the unpreparable. Whether it’s an unanticipated job loss, a costly home repair, or other unplanned expenses, your emergency fund can help you stay afloat when the waters get rough.

The main objective of this account is to have it work for you and your needs! By specifically determining what you define as an emergency (job loss, vet bills, auto repairs) and what doesn’t (last minute birthday gift, broken TV, new clothes) you can generate a structured list to know when you feel safe using those funds, and when perhaps its best to leave them untouched. The idea of the emergency fund is to have it when you need it. By gaining access easily via checkbook or debit card, you can use the account more quickly when the unexpected strikes.

By generating your own emergency fund you can continue to save for milestones and pay bills, without worrying about the what if’s that lie along the road to the future. Get started with your emergency account today at Peoples Bank & Trust, we’ll help you get to your next savings goal!

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Equal Housing Lender

Member FDIC

 

Budgeting 101: Personal Finances for Young Adults

personal finances

You’ve taken all the tests, memorized all the vocabulary, and made your way across the stage. But what comes next? After graduation there are many questions that come with your diploma. Things like, how am I going to pay for rent? Or, how much should I budget each month for food? Not everything in life is as simple as A, B, C, or D. That’s why Peoples Bank & Trust is excited to help young adults with the complex questions of budgeting and personal finance. Find the answers to your financial curiosities with our handy Budgeting 101 study guide!

  1. Identify money coming in. Look past the salary or hourly rate on your contract and focus on take-home pay. How much will you bring in after taxes? When do you see this pay-off – weekly, biweekly, or monthly? Factor in other sources of cash flow too, like earned interest or paychecks from a part-time job. Understanding what you own dictates how you spend.
  2. Establish money going out. Divide monthly expenses into three major categories: fixed costs, savings, and discretionary. Rent, utilities, food, gas, and debt comprise the fixed costs and determine funds for the remaining categories. Savings should include an emergency fund as well as allocation for retirement or down payments on vehicles or homes. Discretionary – the Fun Fund – is the most flexible and can ebb and flow with changes in income and expenses.
  3. Balance steps 1 & 2. The purpose of budgeting is to provide control over your financials. That means ensuring that money going out doesn’t exceed money coming in to keep your head above the debt line. If you find your listed expenses exceed your income, pick one of two options: seek ways to boost income or scale back expenses.
  4. Pick a management system. Armed with a financial plan, equip yourself with tools to help you stick to it. Traditional but trusted, the envelope method helps you keep funds in physically separated expense categories. Once money runs out from that month’s envelope, it’s gone unless funds can shift from other envelopes. A number of free or low-priced mobile apps can give you even tighter control of your budgeting, providing real-time updates of spending and handy visuals of your progress.
  5. Track progress. A long-term financial plan is simply a series of short-term goals. Monthly check-ups help you gauge success from the month, making sure you stayed on target. You can adjust funds as income or expenses fluctuate and spot ways to economize your budget.

Want to take your budgeting up a notch? Meet with one of our new account representative to determine which type of bank account can help you optimize your budgeting and saving plans.

 

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Equal Housing Lender

Member FDIC

Renting v. Buying a Home

mortgages

Jumping into the ring of homeownership is an exciting milestone! There are many ways owning a home can impact you and your family. How do you know when to rent and when to make the move to purchasing your home? Peoples Bank & Trust is here to help with our handy guide to the pros and cons to renting and owning a home.

Renting

Cons:

  1. No wealth creation. As your payments go directly to your landlord and not the specific property, you are unable to build equity and reap the return on investments from the home’s growing value.
  2. No tax benefits. While homeowners can deduct property taxes and mortgage interest payments from their federal income tax, renters can’t claim deductions for housing costs.
  3. Dependent on the landlord. For everything ranging from utilities, to paint, to the rent dollars themselves, your landlord makes the majority of the decisions when it comes to renting a home. Depending on your lease, your landlord can increase the rent each year, or month!

Pros:

  1. Accommodates flexible lifestyles. If you travel frequently for work, leisure, or medical care, you may not have the time or availability to take care of a home. Renting allows an affordable accommodation without any hassle of renovations or repairs.
  2. Freedom in allocating finances. For renters, expenses such as mortgage insurance, real estate taxes, and home maintenance costs, can instead be funneled into savings, stocks or discretionary funds after the monthly rent and utilities are paid.
  3. Reduced insurance costs. Apart from renters insurance that covers the interior of a home, costly homeowners insurance and unexpected repairs belongs to the landlord, not the tenant.

Buying

Cons:

  1. Unexpected costs. Leaky roofs, backed-up pipes, and cracking foundations create thousands of dollars worth of unplanned repairs that stretch your budget to the limit.
  2. You’re locked in. Once you sign on the dotted line the house is yours, and so are the payments.
  3. Fluctuating home value. Despite your best efforts, your home can become less marketable based on circumstances out of your control. A declining neighborhood, housing surplus, or unstable market can decrease the value of your home despite well done renovations.

Pros:

  1. Fixed monthly payments. Homeowners with fixed-rate mortgages can trust that their mortgage payment will stay consistent each month, enabling the creation of a stable monthly budget.
  2. Financial gains. From tax credits to equity building, home ownership offers buyers a number of monetary perks and freedoms they wouldn’t receive as tenants.
  3. Freedom in expression. A kitchen remodel, a four-season porch addition, and other decorative transformations are all up to a homeowner’s discretion with no strings attached to a lease agreement.

Still on the fence? Our experts at Peoples Bank & Trust can sit down with you to help make a guided decision that suits both your lifestyle and your financials. Call and set up an appointment with us today!

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

NMLS# 407724

Equal Housing Lender

Member FDIC

 

Guard Your Information Online with These 5 Tips

fraud protection

With hackers and scammers out amongst the pages of the internet, how do you browse safely? There are many tips and tricks you can use while on the internet to better maintain the security your personal information needs. See how to bolster your online bodyguard with these simple and helpful tools!

Enable the great wall: Your computer has all kinds of ways to block attacks you don’t even know are happening. Most hardware comes with firewalls pre-installed, but you can purchase extra software packages for maximum protection and peace of mind. Read up on the type of protection that comes with your original device, and double check that settings are running and prepared for battle.

Secure your connection: Lending your neighbor a cup of sugar is one thing, but sharing a WiFi connection is pushing it. As a rule, don’t let non-residents jump on your home’s internet connection. Not only does it slow your bandwidth, but it makes it easier for others to sleuth around your computer. If you’re using a public access WiFi, keep your internet use to information searches rather than information transactions for the same reason.

Get cryptic: Birthdays, Social Security numbers and phone numbers are easy to remember – but they’re even easier to hack. A solid password should contain upper and lowercase letters, as well as numbers and special characters when allowed. Make sure to mix up username-password combinations, too. If one account is compromised, you don’t want greedy hands to have access to all account as well.

Avoid PDA: Public Displays and Access on computers at libraries and kiosks are handy in a pinch, but don’t rely on them for major personal use. You’re at the hands of the third party who owns the device, and it’s not guaranteed that their firewalls are activated or their software secured. If you can help it, don’t input personal information, even if on a secured site, as you never know the activities of users before and after you.

Cover your everything: Most mobile devices nowadays are miniature computers that happen to make phone calls. Use the same precautions with phones and tablets that you would with a computer, and enable a password lock for your device in the event of theft or loss.

Your online security is only as strong as you make it. Make time this month to strengthen your defenses to prevent fraud or identity theft from happening to you.

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Equal Housing Lender

Member FDIC

 

The Top 5 Budgeting Apps to Get You Organized

Budget

Have you noticed yourself hitting the “check out” button a little more frequently when you shop on your phone? You’re not alone. In 2015, mobile commerce grew to a staggering 30% of all U.S. online shopping. This shows a growing trend of mobile purchasing moving billions of dollars in sales via handheld technology.

While smart phones enable spending, they can also be powerful tools for strategic saving. Check out these top budgeting apps and learn how to easily keep track of your finances.

  1. Mint. By pulling all your balances and transactions into one simple design, Mint allows you to see the big picture. You can add accounts, cards, and bills and track spending patterns and investments in real time. A budget calculated by your average spending will break down where your cash is flowing from month-to-month and year-to-year so you can watch your savings progress over time. (Free)
  2. PocketGuard. If spur-of-the-moment spending is your weakness, PocketGuard is here for you. Connecting directly to your bank accounts, the app’s home screen tells you how much you’ve spent for the day, week, or month in relation to your income. With transactions automatically updated 24/7 you have an instant visual of your personal cash flow. (Free)
  3. Level Money. This helpful app aids you in spending for the short-term and saving for the long-term. By analyzing your income and expenses, Level Money reveals a daily allowance to help you save for a larger purchases or pay down debt. Connect the app straight to your bank account and create goals for saving and spending, all backed by a planning module that sends reminders and encouragements to help you stick to your goals. (Free)
  4. You Need a Budget. YNAB operates on four rules; give every dollar a job, save for a rainy day, roll with the punches, and live on last month’s income. This app adjusts your entire budget to prevent overspending. This app also ensures a constant safety cushion of funds so you’re never scrambling to cover unexpected expenses. ($5/month or $50/year)
  5. Good Budget. Unclutter your envelope budget with this exciting app. Instead of juggling a stack of envelopes for different expenditure categories, you can open digital folders on one simple screen. For joint accounts, you can easily synch the app with your spouse across multiple devices to prevent double dipping into funds. ($15/3 months or $24/6 months)

If you’re ready to take the first steps in re-evaluating your budget stop by Peoples Bank & Trust today, we’re here to help with your budgeting needs.

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Equal Housing Lender

Member FDIC

 

Taking Baby Steps to Eliminate Your Debt

Eliminating Debt

As of 2015, the average American with credit card debt owes $15,762 – and that’s just credit. Auto loans, student loans, and mortgages add thousands of dollars and years of repayment to your personal finances. However, debt doesn’t have to be a life sentence. Once you and your partner have made the commitment to work towards financial freedom, follow these steps from Peoples Bank & Trust to begin eliminating debts:

  1. Establish an emergency fund immediately. Unexpected events can take a harder hit on your savings than unbudgeted spending habits ever could. Even if you’re juggling a current debt or two, work to set aside $1,000 as soon as you can in a separate emergency checking account. As you chip away at remaining debt, this cushion can protect repayment plans from being flattened by a faulty car battery or flooded basement.
  2. Adopt the Debt Snowball method. Instead of listing them highest to lowest by interest rates, arrange debts from smallest to largest. Paying off a handful of small debts in the same time it’d take to chip away at a large one eases burdens, yields immediate results, and provides motivation to continue saving.
  3. Reduce your rates. Refinancing your mortgage and negotiating lower interest rates on credit cards can make a huge impact. Reevaluating your health, life, and auto insurance policies may reveal services you don’t need, or it can spur you to shop around for providers with lower rates.
  4. Chop extraneous expenses. Create a list of unavoidable monthly expenses – rent, utilities, gas, food, etc. Then create a second list of leisure expenses – gym memberships, cable, eating out, clothing. After budgeting for the necessities, pick a few discretionary categories you’d like to keep with reduced spending, but cut the rest. Putting your spending on a diet is easier when you allow yourself a few modest outlets.
  5. Evaluate progress monthly. Creating a multi-year financial plan for eliminating debt is the first step, not the only one. Perform a monthly check-up on your plan to continue spending within your budget. It can also provide a boost of encouragement when you see progress, and you might spot ways in your new financial routine to make your budget even more cost-effective.

It may be a long road to eliminate debt, but it’s within your ability to travel it. Don’t go it alone – contact Peoples Bank & Trust Co. today to help you create and stick to your financial plan.

 

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

Equal Housing Lender

Member FDIC