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Put Your Best Financial Foot Forward in the New Year

At the start of the new year, we tend to set a whole bunch of intentions about “better” ways to do everything from eating to exercising to managing money. When it comes to increasing our chances to improve our “financial fitness” in the new year, we asked some of our trusted banking professionals to share their favorite tips to help boost savings. From time-tested to high-tech, let the team at North Shore Bank help you put your best financial foot forward this year!

Savings-Tips

Streamline How You Save. By far the top tip offered by our team is setting up your payroll deposit so that a portion of your paycheck – determined by your income, expenses and savings goals – goes directly into a savings account. “Just think of it as another of your regular bills,” suggests Aubrey Abrahamson, our Assistant Branch Manager in Allouez. Adds Cathy Swanson, a Mortgage Underwriter at our corporate office, “Everything you save adds up. You can start small and work your way up to a larger amount as your budget allows.”

Be Real about Your Budget. One of the favorite budgeting tools of Shannon Quinn, a Personal Banker at our Brookfield Capitol branch, is to apply the 50/30/20 budget method. “In general, we should spend about 50% of our monthly income on expenses, 30% on ‘wants,’ with the remaining 20% going into savings,” he explains. Even if you can’t start at that amount right now, you can work up to it. Abrahamson adds, “Being realistic with your budget also means being honest about random spending. If you know you like to get take-out food every Friday night, put that in your budget – or assess if you might need to trim it out.”

Take Advantage of Mobile and Tech Tools. North Shore Bank offers a host of different tools and technologies that can help track spending and boost savings. Abrahamson suggests the “Trends” tab within Online Banking to help customers get a better handle on where they are spending, while Emmeline Knight-Guzman, Assistant Branch Manager at Howard-Suamico, suggests the new My Card Manager tool, which allows users to set limits on different categories of spending.

Don’t Underestimate “Old School” Savings. The time-tested “change jar” can be a fun way to save, especially if you have young kids who can help or are saving for a smaller special purchase. “Save your singles and/or your change somewhere it’s easy to access as a reminder,” suggests Lacee Kalepp, Area Branch Manager for Northland-Menasha. “It’s a tangible way to watch savings add up, and always fun to cash in!”

 

North Shore Bank customers enjoy free coin-counting. Stop by a branch to learn more.

 How can the dedicated team at North Shore Bank help you establish savings best practices and meet your savings goals for the year head? We’d love to hear from you and are always here to answer questions and provide assistance.
  

FAQs

To start using Zelle® at North Shore Bank, you must be enrolled in Online Bill Pay. If you are not already enrolled in Online Bill Pay, you can enroll by logging in to the Mobile App or Online Banking (web-based). Locate the Online Bill Pay tab and follow the instructions to complete the Online Bill Pay enrollment steps. 

Already enrolled in Online Bill Pay? Follow these steps to start using Zelle®:
  1. Log in to the Mobile AppFootnote 1 or Online Banking (web-based)
  2. Select "Send Money with Zelle®"
  3. Accept Terms and Conditions
  4. Select your U.S. mobile number or email address and deposit account

1 Mobile network carrier fees may apply.
Zelle® and the Zelle® related marks are wholly owned by Early Warning Services, LLC and are used herein under license.

Bill Discovery will automatically connect you with your eligible bills by searching the biller database and if you consent, your credit bureau data. Once the bills are located, you can add them to your list of bills in one click. Bill Discovery greatly reduces the time it takes to set up Bill Pay and reduces the chance of manual input errors.

Bill Discovery will continually search for new bills and alert you if new bills have been found.

Bill Discovery is available in both Online Banking and the Mobile App.

The following are screenshots of how you can set up and use this feature.

You first must consent to have your bills be found through the biller database and your credit bureau data. If you wish to have your credit data used, it is a soft inquiry and your credit score will not be impacted.

 

Once you provide consent and click Find My Bills, you will be presented with a page of potential payees.

 

If biller(s) require additional verification upon selecting the biller, you will be provided with the additional verification fields.  If the biller does not require any verification then you can add those directly by clicking the Add button.

 

If you are not yet using Bill Discovery, you may see the following banner ad to begin using the feature.

 

After initial entry into Bill Discovery, new billers found among billers from the biller network or in your credit report will appear in the top, right area of your window.  When clicking “Get My Bills”, you will be walked through the process of adding your bills in the same manner as the initial setup.

 

Yes, you can easily schedule an appointment at any of our offices or with one of our Mortgage Loan Officers through our online scheduling tool.

My Card Manager shows the most recent 50 debit card transactions posted within the last 30 days. Additional history can be viewed within the Accounts menu.

Sometimes a merchant will pre-authorize the card for an amount that may be more than the spend limit you allow on the card. In this case, your card will be denied.