Credit Unions

Check around at work, ask your friends and your family members to see if you're eligible to join a credit union of some sort. Today many credit unions are attempting to open up their membership, so are aggressively looking for new customers.

Some city or state credit unions will take just about anyone. One friend joined a teachers' credit union despite the fact that she left education over a decade before!

I've spoken to several credit union managers who sounded like evangelists, they were so eager to sign up new members!

Credit unions usually offer lower interest rate credit cards and personal loans. This is particularly true if your credit union is at your place of employment.

One note though - if you do borrow money from a credit union at work, be sure to check to see if your loan will become due in full if for whatever reason your employment there should end. This could be a problem should you lose your job during an economic downturn.

Also be sure to check to see if the credit union you're considering reports to the major credit agencies. Most do but not all.