Financial Tips on a Stick

Introduction

[00:00:00] Danielle: Welcome back to another episode of A Plus You. I'm your host Danielle.

[00:00:05] Amber: And I'm your co-host Amber.

[00:00:07] Danielle: And okay, well it's fun and exciting and sad. It's sad 'cause it's state fair. Well, no, it's exciting 'cause it's state fair. It's sad 'cause it kind of means the end of summer.

[00:00:20] Amber: Yes, but we don't think about it in that lens.

[00:00:22] Danielle: You're right.

[00:00:23] Amber: We're gonna think about it in the lens of food.

[00:00:25] Danielle: *Singing Sounds*

[00:00:27] Amber: I'm so hungry right now.

[00:00:28] Danielle: I know. So, and this is like not gonna get any better.

[00:00:32] Amber: No, it's not. It's gonna be great. Okay. Yes. Okay. Yep.

[00:00:36] Danielle: What's your favorite state fair food?

[00:00:38] Amber: A scotch egg.

[00:00:40] Danielle: Is that where it's like, deep fried?

[00:00:42] Amber: Yeah. Like the sausage around the hard boiled egg?

[00:00:45] Danielle: I don't think I've ever had one.

[00:00:48] Amber: It's delicious if you're there bright and early, and then I always get a corn dog.

[00:00:53] Danielle: Ooh.

[00:00:53] Amber: Because I'm a sucker for that.

[00:00:55] Danielle: For a corn dog.

[00:00:56] Amber: Yeah.

[00:00:56] Danielle: Mm.

[00:00:57] Amber: But with no condiments

[00:00:58] Danielle: You said? No condiments. Okay. So that's interesting. Amber. Nothing on it.

[00:01:04] Amber: Nothing. Just plain.

[00:01:06] Danielle: Got it.

[00:01:06] Amber: Everyone picks on me, so.

[00:01:08] Danielle: Hey you girl. You do you.

[00:01:10] Amber: Hey. Thank you. But what's your favorite state fair food?

[00:01:15] Danielle: Well, I really love French. Fresh cut french fries.

[00:01:20] Amber: Oh yes.

[00:01:21] Danielle: That's like my favorite thing. I think. Like ever

[00:01:24] Amber: The french fry stand.

[00:01:25] Danielle: Yeah. Yeah. But I also love sweet Martha because chocolate chip cookies are one of my most favorite things.

[00:01:31] Amber: Well, and those like, keep for like a week after the state fair.

[00:01:35] Danielle: So good.

[00:01:35] Amber: You gotta eat one on your way out.

[00:01:36] Danielle: I know.

[00:01:37] Amber: A bucket in the fair and then a bucket to go.

[00:01:40] Danielle: Mm. Hmm. That that is.

[00:01:42] Amber: I'm telling you, it's, it's.

[00:01:43] Danielle: That's some skill.

[00:01:44] Amber: It, well, it's.

[00:01:45] Danielle: You've done the state fair before.

[00:01:46] Amber: Maybe. I do enjoy all of the varieties, the food that they offer. And the kettle corn. Don't worry.

[00:01:54] Danielle: Oh, and the corn that they roast.

[00:01:55] Amber: Yes. the corn on the, see. We are definitely hungry.

[00:01:58] Danielle: We should go to the state fair together.

[00:01:59] Amber: Oh. We will come back broke.

[00:02:04] Danielle: And about 15 pounds heavier.

[00:02:08] Amber: What's, what's a day of fun if you're not living right.

[00:02:10] Danielle: Worth it.

[00:02:11] Amber: Exactly. Or is that backwards? You're not living if you're having fun. Maybe that's what I meant to say.

[00:02:17] Danielle: You're not living if you're ha you mean if you're not having fun.

[00:02:20] Amber: See, I'm.

[00:02:21] Danielle: Yeah, that's okay. We got there.

[00:02:22] Amber: I'm still hungry.

[00:02:25] Danielle: Are you, , what is it like you're hangry? Like you can't even think?

[00:02:29] Amber: No. That'd be like hungry and angry. I'm not angry.

[00:02:31] Danielle: Oh, oh yeah. I guess you're right.

[00:02:32] Amber: Yeah. I'm just, I'm just hungry. I could go for a snack.

[00:02:35] Danielle: I could go for some state fair food.

[00:02:37] Amber: No kidding.

[00:02:41] Danielle: Did you have a question for me?

[00:02:42] Amber: I did have a question for you. Do you prefer pronto pups or corn dogs? Because they are different.

[00:02:48] Danielle: Okay. Well I, my answer is neither, 'cause I'm not really a fan of hot dogs.

[00:02:53] Amber: You know, I didn't expect the way, that question to be answered in that manner. So I would like to start with a new question.

[00:03:00] Danielle: Okay.

[00:03:01] Amber: But I have to come up with a new one, so I'll save it for the end, Danielle.

[00:03:05] Danielle: Okay.

[00:03:05] Amber: I'll save it for the end.

[00:03:06] Danielle: Okay. You have this much amount of time.

[00:03:09] Amber: All right. Careful. Well, because we enjoy things, as a theme.

[00:03:15] Danielle: Oh, we love a good theme.

[00:03:17] Amber: We do love a good theme. And like the scotch egg is served on a stick. The pronto pup is on a stick.

[00:03:23] Danielle: Corn on a stick.

[00:03:25] Amber: Kind of on a stick. It's a natural stick.

[00:03:27] Danielle: It's a natural stick.

Introducing Kari Krummel, Affinity Plus Cambridge Branch manager

[00:03:28] Amber: Yes. I think today we're going to be talking financial tips on a stick. And to help us with these, we have our special guest, Kari Krummel, who is our Cambridge branch manager. But Kari, can you introduce yourselves to our audience please?

[00:03:46] Kari: Hello, I'm Kari. I've been with Affinity Plus for. Close to 23 years, as you mentioned.

[00:03:55] Danielle: That is a young adult.

[00:03:56] Kari: It is, it is. So, yeah, been all over branches, departments all over. Love it. So, yes. Yes.

[00:04:03] Danielle: So you're tenured is what you're saying?

[00:04:05] Kari: Yes. Done a lot of different things. Been a lot of departments done, you know, junior achievement, all sorts of different things throughout the years and.

[00:04:13] Amber: Well, staying involved in the credit union.

[00:04:15] Kari: Absolutely.

[00:04:15] Amber: In all aspects.

[00:04:17] Kari: Absolutely, absolutely involved in our communities and with our members, so.

[00:04:21] Danielle: Okay. Well, Kari, what's your favorite state fair food?

[00:04:24] Kari: I would have to say the corn and the cob. The buttery salty corn on the cob, corn and the stick, whatever you wanna call it, but. Definitely that's my fav and the fries, the, you mentioned the fries

[00:04:35] Danielle: The fresh cut fries.

[00:04:36] Kari: Yep.

[00:04:36] Danielle: Like it is, I'm telling you.

[00:04:37] Amber: Okay. So do you like the corn on the cob when it's like extra done, or do you like it when it's not burnt at all?

[00:04:43] Kari: A little bit of dark there.

[00:04:45] Amber: A little bit on there. Okay.

[00:04:46] Kari: Yes. I don't want it like burnt to a crisp, but a little bit of dark. 'cause it gives it a more sugary flavor.

[00:04:52] Amber: It does.

[00:04:52] Kari: Right.

[00:04:53] Amber: See, okay. I knew. I like you Kari.

First Financial Tip on a stick: Make sure you budget

[00:04:58] Danielle: So Kari, we're talking, financial tips on a stick. let's start with what's your first tip?

[00:05:06] Kari: Well, my first tip is to make sure that you budget.

[00:05:09] Danielle: Hmm. It's like, it's like we've heard it before.

[00:05:12] Kari: Yes. Right? Because you cannot walk into the state fair without a plan. Right. You have a plan on what do I wanna see or do or eat first? What's my most important, or do I have to hit? And if you don't have a plan, which is like a budget. You're gonna blow it all, like at the first stand, and then you're not gonna have any to get you into the long haul, into the evening, right? So budgeting would be kind of the biggest step that you gotta take first is setting a plan for what is my savings? What are my emergency, what's my daily use? Just like you would at the fair, what, what are my must haves? I, I have to have the corn and the cob. Right? I, I have to possibly hit the beer gardens. That might happen at some point, right? But I know that there's important things that I wanna see while I'm there and do so I'm gonna make sure I've got enough money for that. I got a little extra in case I wanna do some fun stuff.

[00:06:09] Danielle: Well, you might come across a food vendor you didn't know was there.

[00:06:12] Kari: This is true, right? A new fair food. Yeah, like a snicker, deep fried snicker bar or something like that. Deep fried Oreos. Who knows? Something I've never tried, so I gotta have a little in savings or if something fun pops up.

[00:06:23] Amber: Are you taking notes for a trip to the fair, Danielle?

[00:06:25] Danielle: Yeah, I am. I absolutely am.

[00:06:27] Amber: Because Kari's gonna help make sure we don't blow it all at one food stand.

[00:06:30] Danielle: She's so smart.

[00:06:31] Amber: She is.

Second financial tip on a stick: Manage your debt

[00:06:32] Danielle: I'm writing these down, Kari. The first one was budget. What's the second one?

[00:06:37] Kari: So manage your debt, right? Because we're all gonna have some debt at some point. Most people do. And so it's a matter of making sure you don't get in too deep. Right? So similar to like the giant slide at the state fair, right? It looks super fun, super exciting. But have you seen those videos of the people that go down them and they just get going too fast and then they just like off the end. Oh yeah. Into a crowd of people and it's like, whoa, that got outta control really fast. Right?

[00:07:06] Danielle: That escalated quickly.

[00:07:07] Kari: Escalated quickly.

It's perfect. Yes. Yes. So it's about managing your debt. It's okay to have a little debt. It's okay to, to you know. Spend some money on some things that you really want or, or maybe take out a loan that's okay.

[00:07:21] Danielle: Like a car loan.

[00:07:21] Kari: It's a matter Yes, correct. But it's a matter of being smart with it and not getting in over your head. Right. So, for example, I like the zipper ride at the state fair.

[00:07:32] Amber: Oh, that's a good one.

[00:07:33] Kari: Okay. It's a really good one. But every time I get on it and I start going, I'm like, I should have never done this. I am, this is not good. I need to get off stat. Right. So similar to debt. So if you, if you find yourself in a position where you've gotten in a little too deep, it's a matter of trying to pay it down and pay it off quickly. So that you can remove some of that debt from your budget, right? But you have to main manage that. You have to stay on top of it. You have to make sure what am I getting into here with my bills and with what I'm buying? Is it all things that I really need? Do I want that much debt? Do I wanna be that tied to my debt all the time?

[00:08:09] Amber: So what if you like, what if you get on that zipper ride or you're going down that slide and it's like, you're, you're gone. Like it's too far, too fast. Maybe it's, you didn't even realize it until. You hit the crowd of people, unfortunately, or, or something catches you, right? Like how do you, how do you get yourself out of that?

[00:08:29] Kari: I mean, part of it is, is the self-control being able to say, like, to your point, I, I, this has gotten too far, right? I need to stop the bleeding. I need to stop spending as much. There's definitely things that AfAffinity Plus that we can do as well. You know, we have our financial coaches, we have member consultants at the branches that can help, meeting with them to sit down and say, well, I'm in a little over my head here.

I've got too much debt. What can I do? And it could be just something as simple as setting a new budget and finding ways to pay down that old debt. It could be maybe a consolidation loan, a home equity, it could be any number of things. Setting up new savings accounts so that you're not constantly using your credit card to pay for things.

Instead, you've got the cash set aside. So there's lots of different options, but the biggest thing is to, to recognize I'm in a little over my head and to pause.

[00:09:17] Amber: I like it. Did you write that down or rides to avoid?

[00:09:20] Danielle: Rides to got It. Rides.

[00:09:22] Amber: Yes.

[00:09:22] Danielle: Rides to avoid.

[00:09:23] Amber: To avoid.

[00:09:24] Danielle: Got it.

[00:09:24] Amber: We have to take notes for our trip to the fair

[00:09:26] Danielle: Zipper.

[00:09:29] Kari: Beware of the zipper ride.

[00:09:30] Danielle: Beware of the zipper. Got it.

Third Financial Tip on a stick: Save with Wincentive

[00:09:33] Amber: Well, what would our next like tip, financial tip on a stick be?

[00:09:37] Kari: Sure. So once you've kinda set aside your, or set up your budget to figure out. How much do I wanna spend where, what do I really need is setting up that savings account and maybe multiple savings accounts and doing some sort of automatic payment to that.

So every month you're paying yourself first when you get paid. So you're putting a little bit in your savings account. Automatic, doing it automatically is really a good way. 'cause then you're not even thinking about it. You're not having to remember, it's just automatically going in there. So similar to like. You know, you go to the fair and there's those claw games and you're just dumping money into 'em and you're not getting anything back, like that's not really a good return on your investment, right? But they have the daily giveaways where you just enter those, it's free to enter 'em, and hey, you're, you get a lot of chances every time you enter. So that can be, you know, tied to your savings as well. We have the Wincentive Savings where every time you do $25 deposit to that per month, up to four times you get an entry into a drawing so you can win prize money. Basically, it's a prize savings account, so we've got funds at Affinity Plus that we give our members. And then, MNCUN also gives away funds for that too.

[00:10:47] Amber: What's MNCUN?

[00:10:49] Kari: Minnesota Credit Union Network.

[00:10:51] Danielle: Ooh, look at you busting out the.

[00:10:54] Kari: That's what 23 years will do.

[00:10:55] Amber: Make sure we get our acronyms down.

[00:10:57] Danielle: Right? Yeah. But I mean, I think even, when we talked to Morgan about students, he mentioned the win saving win incentive savings account too. I mean, I've won money from it.

[00:11:10] Kari: I have as well. Yep.

[00:11:12] Danielle: Yeah, it's a, it's an incredible like tool and an incentive, I mean, incentive really to save your money.

[00:11:19] Kari: Yes. Yep. You're putting it in every month and you're not required to. You could open it and not do another deposit if you didn't want to, right? It's up to you, but if you're putting money into it, you're gonna get entered into those drawings. Monthly, quarterly, yearly drawings. So it's just another incentive to save and not pull that money out. And then you can have other savings accounts where you can pull the money out if needed. You know, you've got my fun money account, but then you've also got an emergency fund for if something catastrophic happens. So the engine goes out in my car. I don't wanna use my vacation savings for that, right? I wanna have a different savings account that's maybe for those emergency non-fun bills to pay.

[00:11:58] Amber: Well, and I know Morgan had mentioned like he does his win incentive account. 'Cause it's locked away for an annual for 12 months. He does it in November, so he has holiday spending. But if maybe we should look at this to take out one now so that we next year for the fair.

[00:12:15] Kari: Fair money.

[00:12:16] Amber: We have state fair money.

[00:12:17] Kari: This is true.

[00:12:18] Danielle: Possibilities are truly endless.

[00:12:20] Amber: They are! And it's finding what's valued. What is valuable to us, Danielle.

[00:12:24] Kari: Yes. It's saving for what works for you. So if your, you know, your goal is I need to save money for the state fair every year because I love it, then that's what you do, right? Maybe it's, I wanna take vacations, you know? Everybody has their different goals of what's important to them and what's fun. Some people want the newest car. They want a boat, they want a snowmobile. They want an ATV. Some people are like, that's not as important to me, but I wanna travel. So I wanna put aside money for that. So your goals and budgets can be different and can change over time, but it's a matter of knowing what it is right now, what's important to you, and making sure that you're paying yourself first. You're putting some money aside for that so that when you do wanna take that trip, you can do it.

Final financial tip on a stick: don't feel pressure to spend

[00:13:04] Amber: Danielle, I think we're on our final tip on a stick here.

[00:13:07] Danielle: Yeah. And did, shockingly enough, it's centered around food. So, Kari hit us with the, with our food tip on a stick.

[00:13:15] Kari: So similar when you go to the state fair and you've got things that you wanna have, right. And you go with the front. And maybe their favorite thing is the deep fried cheese. Mine is the corn on the cob. Right? Just because we're at the deep fried cheese station doesn't mean I have to get that. Even though, you know, you can get caught up in those things. You're with your friends. This is what they're buying, what they wanna get. Well, the, you know, maybe that's not really what's important to me. What do I want? What do I like? And so it's that fear of missing out that happens, right? Happens at the fair. It happens in life with your budget and your goals too. So it's a matter of what is really important to me. Like we were talking earlier. Maybe it's vacations and that's what I wanna save for. So I'm gonna budget, I'm gonna say, Hey, it's gonna cost me X amount of money to go on this trip next year, so I'm gonna start putting away an automatic payments, a certain dollar amount every month so that I can get there when I wanna go.

[00:14:07] Danielle: So, basically what you're saying is you don't have to spend your money on stuff that your friends are spending their money on.

[00:14:12] Kari: Correct.

[00:14:12] Danielle: Just because they're doing it.

[00:14:13] Kari: Correct. And you can get caught up in that, right?

[00:14:15] Danielle: Yeah, for sure.

[00:14:16] Kari: Like, everybody's got a boat, it's summer, they're all out, you know, paddle boat, all these different things like. It, it is hard to separate yourself from that and go, you know what? That's exciting and everyone's got one, but I don't need one. Maybe that's not important to me. So.

[00:14:30] Amber: And where are you gonna store the boat? That's what I always think about because I want the boat.

[00:14:34] Danielle: Oh yeah.

[00:14:35] Amber: But where am I gonna put the boat?

[00:14:36] Danielle: Where am I gonna, yeah.

[00:14:37] Amber: Yeah. It's like asking yourself those final questions after the fact. It's like, just because you want it doesn't mean you need it. Right.

[00:14:43] Kari: This is true. This is true.

[00:14:44] Danielle: What?

[00:14:44] Amber: It's hard.

[00:14:45] Danielle: Truly is a hard concept. I mean, like. As an adult, you still have to work for that.

[00:14:52] Amber: Challenging.

Financial Tips on a stick: Review

[00:14:53] Danielle: It sure is. Okay, Kari, as we kind of wrap up, give us one more rundown of our tips on a stick.

[00:15:03] Kari: Sure. So the first one is budgeting. That's your ticket in, so you wanna make sure that you're budgeting. The debt. Don't let it get to be a giant slide. You don't want it to turn into a mess here. Savings, just like the prizes at the fair. You wanna make sure that you're got your savings in the right spot, where it should be automatic deposits to that, and then also the fair food. It's like financial fomo, fear of missing out. You don't need to get everything at the fair if it's not. What's really important to you.

Outro

[00:15:35] Danielle: So smart. And you're so clever. I see. You can run with a theme. I'm here for it. I'm here for it.

[00:15:43] Amber: There might be more themes where Kari's involved. Who knows?

[00:15:46] Danielle: Yeah. See? Yes.

[00:15:48] Kari: And now I wanna go to the fair.

[00:15:49] Danielle: And now, I right?

[00:15:50] Amber: Yes.

[00:15:51] Danielle: Goodbye. We're all going to the fair. We're all going to eat food, but we're gonna get different food for what we want.

[00:15:56] Kari: There you go.

[00:15:57] Amber: Yes.

[00:15:58] Kari: We're gonna plan ahead accordingly. What do we have to have while we're there?

[00:16:01] Amber: Yes. And research.

[00:16:03] Danielle: French fries.

[00:16:04] Kari: There you go.

[00:16:05] Danielle: French fries,

[00:16:06] Kari: Corn cob.

[00:16:06] Danielle: It's like all I can think about right now is french fries.

[00:16:09] Kari: Corn and cob. Amber, what's yours?

[00:16:12] Amber: Oh man. I'm just gonna go back to Pronto Pups 'cause I do get one of those on the way out the door with my cookie.

[00:16:17] Kari: Sweet, Martha.

[00:16:18] Danielle: So wait, you do a corn dog and a Pronto Pups?

[00:16:21] Amber: Yeah.

[00:16:22] Danielle: Oh. I mean, I'm here for it. I love that for you.

[00:16:25] Amber: And if I know anyone that's going, I'll ask them to buy it on their way out and they give it to me.

[00:16:30] Kari: And just bring it home for ya.

[00:16:32] Danielle: You know what? You just gotta embrace that Amber.

[00:16:34] Amber: I do. I just need to embrace it. Yeah.

[00:16:36] Danielle: You just need to embrace it.

[00:16:37] Amber: Because sometimes I just don't wanna go, but I want the food.

[00:16:40] Kari: This happens to me as well. Yeah. I don't want to, you know, have all the crowds maybe, but I'd love to sit on my couch and eat it all.

[00:16:46] Amber: Yeah. Or it's hot or it's rainy.

[00:16:48] Kari: Yep. Yep.

[00:16:48] Amber: And I appreciate that for some people,

[00:16:51] Kari: Just swing in, get the food and go home.

[00:16:54] Amber: Yeah. That's why I like the, the vendors outside the fair.

[00:16:57] Kari: Yes, yes.

[00:17:00] Danielle: Well, Kari, thank you so much for coming by and, playing into our state fair theme.

[00:17:05] Kari: Of course. It was great. Thank you.

[00:17:08] Danielle: And next time Amber and I have a theme, we will invite you back.

[00:17:11] Kari: A food theme. I would've, yes. Bring me back for the food theme.

[00:17:14] Amber: All right. The food theme though, we're, we are making sure there's food here.

[00:17:17] Kari: We need snacks.

[00:17:18] Amber: We need snacks.

[00:17:19] Danielle: That's true.

[00:17:19] Amber: Yeah.

[00:17:19] Kari: Yes.

[00:17:20] Danielle: We're on that.

[00:17:20] Amber: Snacks next time.

[00:17:21] Kari: Yeah. Thank you for having me.

[00:17:23] Danielle: Oh, of course; make sure you check out the state fair, and make sure you subscribe wherever you get your podcast and come back and check us out for the next episode of A+ You.

Affinity Plus is federally insured by the NCUA.