Creative Options Ease Money Strain

The first words in financial advice are always to save, save, save. The first question, however, is always how to be able to save enough that you have an amount that matters. Just as nickel-and-dime expenses add up, so do nickel-and-dime savings. Every bit counts and, over the course of a month or year, it all adds up.

If you’re wondering how to reduce monthly expenses, it can help to learn how to bargain hunt. From free apps to coupons, there are plenty of ways. You just have to know about them so that you can take advantage of the savings they offer.

BaZing: An App Full of Benefits*

La Capitol Federal Credit Union has partnered with BaZing to give you the power to keep life affordable. The BaZing discount network of over 400,000 online and local deals includes savings on dining, shopping, travel, and a variety of other benefits delivered on BaZing.com and the BaZing mobile app. Members who used La Capitol’s Choice Checking or Simple Checking can add BaZing for a fee of $5.99 a month.

BaZing gives you monthly savings while also alerting you to deals at stores and restaurants and savings on prescription medications, eye exams, frames, lenses, hearing devices and services.

Benefits include:

• Save at the Gas Pump: Earn rewards with BaZing Fuel. You can get 10 cents per gallon just for activating and earn monthly rewards when you make the required debit card purchases from your BaZing checking account each month.*
• Cell Phone Protection: Receive up to $800 a claim (up to $1600 a year) if your cell phone is broken or stolen.* You will also save on the monthly device protection charges from your mobile carrier.
• ID Theft Aid: Includes card fraud resolution, $10,000 in personal identity theft benefits and ID monitoring.* Requires additional enrollment on BaZing.com.
• Roadside Assistance: This service is available 24/7 and free to use. It pays up to $80 in service charges each time you use it.
• $10,000 Accidental Death Coverage: Members with BaZing prepare for the unexpected with accidental death travel insurance. Coverage is effective when your eligible account is created.*

Credit Cards Used to Spend and Earn

Careful and wise use of a credit card to pay bills can save you money, time, and effort. Some credit cards offer rewards like cash back, points or miles when you pay bills with them.

Pay, earn, and save with La Capitol’s Cash Back Visa Signature card. Members can earn¹percent cash back every time they swipe.¹ This card delivers exceptionally low interest rates on both balance transfers ² and purchases.²  Plus, earn an extra $150 in the first 90 days just for using your card.³ That means you can spend and save!

The Cash Back card offers:

• 0% interest on balance transfers for 12 months² on balance transfers made in the first 90 days after account opening
• 0% interest on new purchases for 12 months² on purchases made in the first 90 days after account opening
• No over-the-limit fee
• No annual fee

Take Five and Consider These Other Tips:

1. Trim Your Bills with ROCKET Money. Formerly Truebill, ROCKET Money can analyze your spending habits and help you keep everything straight. The app will notify you of price changes as well as impending free trial period deadlines. It even offers a similar service for monthly bills. You can connect or scan in your bills, and the app will work on negotiating a better rate or one-time credit. Plus, you’ll never miss a deadline because once you’ve linked your accounts and bills, the app will sort and track your income and spending, alert you to monthly bill deadlines, and help you create and stay within your customized budget.
2. Save on Groceries with Ibotta. Ibotta allows you to earn cash back on groceries and other frequently purchased items by scanning receipts or linking loyalty cards. You can also unlock additional savings by completing simple tasks. Before you go shopping, just browse Ibotta’s app or website to unlock offers on products you plan to buy. Once you’ve purchased the items you unlocked, simply scan the receipt into the app. Ibotta will verify your purchases and credit your account with your unlocked cashback amounts within 24 hours. Once you’ve accumulated $20 of savings in the app, you can cash out through PayPal or Venmo or redeem your earnings for gift cards from popular retailers.
3. Compare Prices with Honey. Honey is a browser extension and mobile app. Honey automatically searches for and applies the best coupon code it can find at checkout, ensuring you get the lowest price possible when shopping online. Honey also offers a Droplist feature that tracks prices for specific items and alerts you when the price drops. For rewards, Honey Gold lets users earn points on eligible purchases and redeem them for gift cards from popular retailers.
4. Save on Prescription Medications with GoodRx. GoodRx compares prices and discounts at pharmacies near you, helping you find the lowest price for your prescription medications. All you have to do is type your prescribed medication details into the free app, and it will show you which pharmacies have it and what it and its generic version will cost there. You can generate your coupon or deal on your phone and simply show it to your pharmacist. GoodRx will even help you transfer your prescription to another pharmacy. Note that GoodRx discounts cannot be combined with insurance, but the app may offer a better deal if you’re dealing with deductibles or high copays.
5. Cut Energy Costs with Nest. Nest is a Google line of smart home devices. The Nest thermostat uses AI—artificial intelligence—to learn your heating and cooling preferences so that it can adjust conditions accordingly, save energy and lower monthly utility bills. You begin by installing the thermostat and entering manual settings. Since it connects to Wi-Fi, you can fine-tune settings anytime. Over the course of a week or so, it learns your preferences. Nest is equipped with sensors to detect environmental conditions beyond temperature—humidity, whether the room is occupied and how much sunlight is coming through a window, for example. All of this together helps the thermostat keep your home at just the right temperature at just the right times efficiently.

Save Smarter Year Round

Money-saving deals are all around us. We just have to be diligent about looking for them before we buy so that we can not only have what we need but also stay within our budget and means. If you’d like more information on how to bargain hunt, how to reduce monthly expenses or how to use your money wisely, check out ACHIEVE. When you expand your financial education, you don’t just learn about money. You gain the tools and skills to make every dollar count.

Disclosures 

* BaZing is available with Choice Checking and Simple Checking accounts. The fee is $4.99 per month through June 30, 2024 and will increase to $5.99 per month beginning July 1, 2024. Cell phone and personal identity protection are services provided by a third party and are subject to additional terms and conditions. Separate activation for these benefits is required. To activate identity monitoring, please go to www.bazing.com, log in, select Protection under Categories, and follow the easy sign-up steps. BaZing Fuel is subject to terms and conditions; see the BaZing Benefits Guide for details. 

Download the BaZing Benefits Guide.

1 Earn a 1.00% rebate based on net purchases. "Net purchases" means the sum of your eligible purchase transactions minus returns and refunds. Eligible purchase transactions do not include, and rewards are not earned for, the following transactions: cash advances, convenience checks, balance transfers, gambling, or fees of any kind, including finance charges, late fees, returned check fees, and ATM transaction fees. Cash equivalent transactions, such as the purchase, loading, or reloading of gift and prepaid cards. Additional restrictions may apply please contact a La Cap representative for complete details.

2 APR = Annual Percentage Rate. With Cash Back Visa Signature card, the introductory APR of 0.00% for billing cycles on eligible purchases made in the first 90-days from account opening. The introductory APR on balance transfers made in the first 90-days from account opening is 0.00% for 12 billing cycles. Cash advances are not eligible for either introductory rate. After that the variable rate as of 07/01/2023 will be (15.50%-18.00%) based on your creditworthiness. Existing La Capitol credit card balances or loan accounts are excluded from this 0.00% balance transfer offer. Membership required and membership account with $5 par required for additional services. Additional restrictions may apply please contact a La Cap representative for complete details.

3 You will be eligible to earn a $150 bonus when you spend at least $1,500 in eligible net purchases within 90-days of from opening your new Visa Signature Cash Back. The purchase requirements and exclusions that apply to cash back rewards also apply to the bonus. This applies to new La Capitol Visa Signature Cash Back accounts only. Additional restrictions may apply please contact a La Cap representative for complete details.

Cash Back Visa Signature Application and Solicitation Disclosure (PDF)