Members of TDECU are able to go to any Credit Union Service Center and conduct transactions just like you would in one of our own branches! These are other Credit Unions that have created a network to allow greater convenience to their members.

At a Service Center you are able to make:

• Deposits
• Withdrawls
• Loan Payments
• Make Transfers Between Accounts

all on your TDECU accounts! To access this great benefit all you need is your account number, a valid government-issued photo ID, and our name.

Just look for this logo at another credit union near you, use this search on our website to find the nearest one.

I've always had a hard time saving, and always told myself that I would start when I got my next paycheck. The plan that i had was to put away a certain percentage before I even touched the money, but I always found myself unwilling to see such a large sum of money go away.

Yesterday, I was reading some of what Ramit Sethi has to say over at IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com. While I was there I stumbled upon this article. The premise of the article is to start saving you should begin by taxing yourself on all the purchases you make. For instance if I spent $100 on groceries and and I was taxing myself %10 then I should put $10 into my savings account. This way I am saving as I spend, and it will effect my spending habits because everything will cost more than the sticker price. This should lead to lower overall spending, and increased savings.

I am actually excited about saving this way, and have already made a deposit into my savings account. The real trick will be the follow through.  Hopefully, I will be able to!

 What are some of the ways that you all save?

One of our Studio 55+ members sent us this collection of cake recipes. Now I don't have to look too far for a great cake recipe. I have been known to bake a cake on occasion. I made this one.

That is a honey chocolate cake with almond winged bees. So I know a thing or two about baking and this list makes me want to get out my new mixer.

Anyway, There are over 200 cake recipes on this remarkable site.

So let's get to baking so we can have an excuse to invite some friends over. Enjoy!

If you haven't noticed by now blogging is going to be with us for a long time. Many major print newspapers are facing bankruptcy and it looks like the internet has taken their place as the place for news and commentary. Headline news is easy to get, but what about commentary? Some of us go to as many as twenty different sites a day to catch up on what people are saying about the world around us. That is a lot of bookmarks to keep up with and a simple way to avoid that is to use an RSS reader.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. Most blogs have an RSS link and when you click on it you are taken to page that has everything that was on the real webpage except it doesn't have any formatting. The cool thing is that the RSS page updates every time a post is made automatically and there are many services that you can put the addresses into and they will show you all the RSS feeds you want in one place.

I like to use Google Reader. It is easy to set up and use, like so many of Google's other products. Many browsers will even give you the option of subscribing to the RSS right into Google Reader. You can find out more about Google reader here. Some email programs even allow you to import the content into your inbox.

I have about twenty blogs setup in my reader and every morning I wake up to about sixty new posts. Some are as short as a line and others are the length of regular news features. This easily keeps me up to date with the various things I am interested in and the world around me.

I highly recomend setting up an RSS reader and then taking advantage of all that the internet has to offer. You will spend less time going to websites only to find there is no new content and be able maybe find out a few things you didn't know.

We are eight days into the new year and I'm sure many of us have already forgotten about or haven't done anything to start on our new years resolutions. Every year we try and become better people by declaring the vaguest things about our lives. I will be healthier in '09! I am not going waste any money in '09! I'm going to learn French in '09! etc.

These are all great things to want to do and are things that should be pursued. I think one of the things that keeps up from being able to follow through with our resolutions is that we decide to do things that will take the whole year, but we never take the second step to break the goal down into something more manageable.

Say if you wanted to be healthier this year. Why not start by bringing your lunch to work instead of going out to eat. The odds are that you will exercise more portion control and be able to choose foods that aren't as artery clogging as what the drive-thru is offering. This doesn't seem like much but it is a serious start towards lowering calorie intake. Then in February why not start walking in the evenings. Don't try for the marathon first, get used to do things and slowly build up to what your end goal is.

Also, Reward yourself! If you don't want to waste money and you start budgeting. Why not make an envelope and put ten dollars in it a week, and then once a month you will have about forty dollars that you can spend on whatever you want. This way you can have some fun while you work towards becoming a saver and not a waster.

Reading, and even writing, about these things is fairly easy and the follow through is the hard part, but it usually is worth the sense of accomplishment. Don't forget about the joy of being able to have a NEW new years resolution for 2010. So one  last bit of advice would be to find a friend to do this with, or even start a blog or journal to track your progress. This way you can avoid the crushing loneliness of feeling like you're the only trying to do better and maybe you can make a friendship stronger or make new friends at the same time. Anyway, here is to a new year! Let's knock out some resolutions!

We are getting very excited about the Big-Bowl-Off-Ski! This is the first Young & Free event of the year and will be taking place at Bowl Texas in Lake Jackson. If you are a Go2 account holder you get to bowl for free! That's right from 9PM-12PM all the bowling you can do for free! If you are not a Go2 account holder and would like to bowl for free go get the account.

And if you still would like to bowl a $10 donation to Relay for Life at the door will get you all the bowling you could need.

Interested? Go here to sign up!

Can't wait to see everyone on the lanes.