With gas prices soaring, thousands of drivers are beginning to consider the purchase of an electric car. While an electric vehicle (EV) might be the right choice for many when looking to combat rising gas prices and help preserve natural resources, there are lots of variables to consider before taking the plunge.

Here’s what to know about electric cars before you drive off the lot.

Pros:

The most obvious and prominent advantage of owning an electric vehicle is saving on fuel costs. Driving a car that runs on electricity instead of gasoline means saving money on a large expense category of your budget, month after month. Of course, the higher the cost of gas, the more you save. Right now, with most drivers experiencing pain at the pump, going electric is more popular than ever. Another budgeting bonus to consider is the fact that electricity costs tend to be far more stable than gasoline prices.

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Julie B greets a friend at a Sizzling Summer concert in Novi with plenty of fun things to share!

You may already know that our Student-Run Credit Union team works tirelessly during the school year to provide exciting and educational opportunities. But did you know that they provide assistance and services during the summer as well? This summer, our Education Partnership Coordinators (EPCs) were hard at work helping the community with fun activities, educational presentations, and more!

If you’ve been to a Youth or Kid’s Concert this summer, you’ve probably seen our EPCs in their orange Summer of Sharing T-Shirts, passing out giveaways and spreading the Community Financial spirit to the community. Plymouth’s Music in the Park, Northville Tunes on Tuesday, Canton Tuesdays are Terrific, and Novi Sizzling Summer are just a handful of the great concert partnerships we were fortunate enough to cultivate this year.

Our EPCs also had the opportunity to participate in Money Mondays, a summer day camp program through the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools. During Money Mondays, our team members visited Bentley Elementary four times throughout the summer with educational presentations designed to help campers learn financial skills to last a lifetime.

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Finding and closing on a home is a stressful process. From bidding wars to a lack of suitable properties, many hurdles can await hopeful homeowners. But when it comes to finding a new home during the back-to-school season, especially when you have kids 18 or younger in the family, it can add on additional stresses. In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors, 55% of buyers with children 18 or younger in the home believe the most difficult step is finding the right property because of the need for a neighborhood with convenient and quality schools nearby.

If you’re in the market for a new home this fall, keep in mind the following tips and tricks to find your dream home without breaking the bank.

Research Childcare Before Bidding

For many buyers with young children, childcare expenses and finding the right daycare can not only delay the home-buying process, but also cause undue stress after moving in.

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Identity thieves and scammers can use credit cards, financial statements, or utility bills, or other important paperwork to obtain and exploit your personal information. Your first line of defense to keep this theft from happening in the first place is to destroy documents containing your personal information before anyone can access them. Private documents and credit/debit cards, which contain sensitive information, should be destroyed as soon as you no longer need them.

Join Us for Community Financial’s Annual Shred Day!

If you are looking for a way to securely shred and destroy your old documents, bring them to our Shred Day event this September on Saturday the 10th! We will have trucks on site to securely shred documents at 4 of our branch locations this year:

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Survey scams are almost as old as the internet. They’re so prevalent that you can hardly spend an hour online without running into an ad for a “super quick” survey promising a reward for just a few minutes of your time. What actually happens, though, is that the scammer walks away with a free survey, or worse, your information and/or your money. While an alert consumer can spot a survey scam easily, fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated at making them look legitimate.

Don’t get caught up in a survey scam! Here are eight ways to spot a fake survey and what steps to take if you’ve been tricked:

1. You’re asked to pay to participate in a survey

Authentic survey companies need you – you don’t need them. There’s absolutely no reason to pay to take a survey of any kind. If you’re targeted by an ad asking you to take a survey and to pay for the privilege of doing so, don’t respond.

2. You’re asked to share sensitive information before you can take the survey

They’d really appreciate it if you could take this quick survey for them. They just need some information from you first, like your Social Security number, date of birth and maybe even your checking account number. If a survey company asks for anything more than basic information from you, sign out as quickly as you can.

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We’re excited to announce that Summer of Sharing is back again this year and better than ever before! Donating $1,000 a day Monday – Friday from June 13, 2022 through September 2, 2022. That’s a total of $60,000 in donations and we can’t wait to start giving it away—with your help!

Nominations begin today, June 1^st. Starting today, you are invited to visit SummerOfSharing.org to submit an essay-style nomination explaining how your favorite nonprofit helps the community it serves. These nominations will stay live on the site for others to learn about how each of the organizations are making a difference.

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