Professional Documents
Culture Documents
“A great resource to help you get started on the road to establishing good credit is to
develop a relationship with your local community bank. We work with our customers
every day and throughout their lifetimes to provide financial services and help them
understand how to manage their finances.” ……..ICBA Chairman Jim MacPhee
Develop & Follow a budget. Make sure to account for fixed, variable, and non-monthly expenses
such as insurance & taxes.
Pay all bills on time, even utilities, gym fees, and parking tickets.
Use debit and credit cards for convenience and safety, but not to overspend. Monitor the ac-
tivity on your account and review statements carefully. Be sure you understand the terms and any
fees that may apply.
Avoid offers to open several different credit cards, and never use one credit card to make pay-
ments on another.
Order a free copy of your credit report. Under federal law, you can get a free credit report from
each of the three national credit reporting companies every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com
or by calling (877)322-8228. Read your report carefully and correct any errors.
Build an emergency fund equal to at least 6 months of regular living expenses. If the unexpected
happens, you will still be able to pay budgeted expenses instead of falling behind.
If you have a digital picture of life in our community that you would like to share in a future issue of The BankNote, please email it to:
Vaughn.Samuels@FirstStateDirect.com. Submissions are not guaranteed to be published and stories may require editing.
www.FirstStateDirect.com