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GCFLASH
Hot Off the Press!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 - Edition #437
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Weekly Spotlight
Avoid the embarrassment of a bounced check. With GCF's SafeLink, you can authorize us to transfer money from your savings account to your checking account whenever you write a check for more than your balance. See a Customer Service Representative at any branch for details.
1st Flash:
EAT LIKE A KING ON A PAUPER'S BUDGET
If you resolved to trim your budget in this New Year, this article is for you. We can blame fuel costs, drought, heavy rains or the war on terror for rising food prices. But the reality is that prices for any type of goods increase over time. We can be reasonably certain that the days of 39 cent per gallon gasoline, 24 cent loaf of bread or 90 cent pound of coffee will not return. While those prices are a thing of the past, a little bit of shopping savvy can bring our grocery costs down considerably from paying full price at the checkout. And that can trim any budget. First and foremost, make a detailed list before you go. Sticking to a list helps to curb those impulse purchases. Keep a master list of items you use regularly and you'll only have to add select items when it's time to prepare for your shopping trip. Don't go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. You might save a few minutes by stopping to pick up a couple items on your way home from work, but you'll pay for it when loading your cart with irresistible treats from the bakery aisle. No matter how you try to rationalize, the exercise gained from pushing a heavier cart won't offset the calories in the Boston Cream Pie. Supermarkets cycle sales items about once every 12 weeks. Rather than shop for strictly what you need, follow the trends and stock up accordingly. Buy your cereal and cheese one week, pasta and paper products the next. You'll pay less for items you'll soon need, and won't risk running out of toilet paper. Don't get stressed at the little old lady digging through her coupons in line in front of you. Show her some respect, she'll pay an average of 20% less than you for the identical item. Double your coupon savings by printing coupons from grocery Web sites in addition to those you find in your local newspaper. Pay nothing or close to it for many products by using a coupon the same time a store offers it for sale. You can find a couple of good grocery sites in today's Web highlights. Not all supermarket pricing is equal. Those "everyday low price" stores may actually cost you more. Those that typically have higher overall prices tend to offer better sale prices, reducing your cost even more when shopping the sales cycles. Stores often stock their shelves with higher-priced options at eye level. Look above and below to find the best prices. Items on the end of the aisle are not always on sale, they're strategically placed as a common marketing strategy to catch your attention. Try the store brand, often there's no difference from its high-priced counterpart. If you don't like it, you didn't waste much money. Bigger isn't always better. A smaller package of an item can often be a better deal. Read the unit price on the shelf sticker. And if you won't use the entire package before it goes stale, by all means choose the smaller version. Watch the scanner at the register. A sale price might not be programmed correctly, the clerk might accidentally scan the same item twice or store savings might get missed. Leave some room in your shopping budget for impulse items. They can serve as a small reward to yourself for sticking closely to your list! 2nd Flash:
PROTECT YOURSELF THIS FLU SEASON
Did you get your flu vaccination yet? You should probably consider it if you have not. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 226,000 people are hospitalized and 36,000 people die every year due to influenza. Flu season runs November to May, and many counties have added additional immunization dates. Additional dates for Gloucester and Camden counties are listed at the end of this article. Check out your county's website for information in your local area. Not sure if you should get a flu shot? The CDC strongly recommends that you get a shot if you are in a high-risk category for developing complications associated with the flu. They also recommend you get a flu shot if you are in close contact with, live with, or care for someone in a high-risk category. High-risk categories include:
There are two types of flu vaccines, both take about two weeks for the vaccine protection to develop after being immunized. The "flu shot" is an inactivated vaccine that is injected into a muscle. The "nasal spray" is a live vaccine that is sprayed into the nostrils. Talk to your doctor about which type of vaccine is appropriate for you. A word of caution: Any vaccine can cause serious problems if you have a negative reaction. Mild reactions from the influenza vaccine include: a low fever, aches, runny nose, sore throat or soreness/swelling at the injection site. Serious reactions include: a high fever, difficulty breathing, hives, dizziness, a fast heartbeat, or a life-threatening allergic reaction to one of the vaccine components. The flu vaccine is grown in eggs, so if you are allergic to eggs, do not get vaccinated. As always, it is strongly recommended that you speak with your doctor before obtaining any treatment. Other tips to keep you healthy this season:
Additional vaccination dates for Gloucester and Camden counties are listed below. Please note that immunization is free but only open to county residents with proof of residence required. Gloucester County - Gloucester County Health Department, 204 East Holly Ave, Sewell Thursday, Jan 24, 8:30 - 11:30 AMCamden County (though February): Bellmawr Regional Health Center, 21 E Browning Road, Bellmawr, 856-931-2700 Financial News
Economic news continues to sober us! The big bank news is that Citigroup Inc. recorded a $10 billion loss in the final quarter of last year. The largest contribution to this was a $18.1 billion write-down in the value of its investment portfolio. The bank also provided a $4 billion reserve on its consumer lending. The nation's biggest bank also cut jobs, reduced its dividend and turned to foreign investors for cash. Retail sales last month were expected to stay level with the preceding month, but dropped by .4%. (Retail sales excluding autos were expected to drop by .1% but decreased by .4% as well over the prior month.) Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy, so if you know what consumers are up to, you'll have a pretty good idea where the economy is headed. This weak economic data intensified investor fears of recession and a slowing economy. This caused oil futures to react sharply Tuesday with the related assumption that there will be a decrease in energy demand. The Producer Price Index also decreased by .1% in the month as opposed to the expected increase of .2%. The PPI less food and energy was expected to increase .2%, and did as expected. The PPI measures prices at the producer level before they are passed along to consumers. Since the producer price index measures prices of consumer goods and capital equipment, a portion of the inflation at the producer level gets passed through to the consumer price index (CPI). By tracking price pressures in the pipeline, investors can anticipate inflationary consequences in coming months. This indicates that production may not be quite as bad as expected. This was not enough to quell investor fears as the stock market tumbled on Tuesday. And tomorrow is another day! Today's National Market Rates
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In This Issue... 1st Flash: EAT LIKE A KING ON A PAUPER'S BUDGET 2nd Flash: PROTECT YOURSELF THIS FLU SEASON Today's Market Rates On the World Wide Web Tip of the Week Financial News Past issues of GCFlash: January 8, 2008 Edition #436 December 18, 2007 Edition #435 December 11, 2007 Edition #434 December 4, 2007 Edition #433 Looking for articles from a past issue of GCFlash not listed above? Find them in our Knowledge Base!
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