Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kelli Green (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Live Better Tips podcast,
where we're here to guide youthrough the holiday season and
beyond with advice that trulymakes a difference, whether it's
staying safe while shopping,keeping your budget in check or
finding moments of joy andconnection with loved ones.
We've got you covered.
Today, we're joined by ourentire Centric Marketing team,
where we'll explore how to spotholiday scams, share practical
(00:22):
tips for smarter spending anddive into ways to keep your
mental health a top priorityduring this bustling time of
year.
Plus, we'll take a moment toreflect on this year's
achievements and what's in storefor the future.
Thanks so much for listening,all right.
Well, this is a little different, guys, for our podcast that
(00:42):
we're doing this month and kindof wrapping up 2024.
Normally you're joined by me,our host, kelly Green, but today
we've got multiple people herein the room, not just a single
guest, but three additionalguests who are not really new to
Centric or new to our marketingdepartment, but they may be new
to the podcast.
So, just for our listeners, ify'all want to, whomever wants to
(01:05):
go first maybe tell us who youare and what do you do here at
the Great Union.
Kelli Gilliam (01:10):
I'm Kelly Gilliam .
I'm the Centric Live BetterManager.
We host free financial wellnessshops for employers.
I've been here for about 18years.
Haleigh Murphy (01:20):
And my name's Haleigh Murphy.
I am also in the Live BetterDepartment.
I'm the Live Better Ambassador.
I work alongside Kelli.
Like she said, we teachfinancial education and I've
been here about seven years.
Joy Bowie (01:31):
And I'm Joy Bowie.
I'm the digital mediacoordinator for Centric.
I've been here a couple ofmonths, but I've been in banking
since '08, so I'm no strangerto banking, but I handle all
things digital for Centric.
I love it.
Joy and I kind of have aninteresting story.
She and I have worked togetherin our previous role at another
financial institution, back whencommunity banking is very
(01:54):
similar to the credit unionworld, but that was when we were
kind of, I would say, earningour stripes there back in the
day at a local financialinstitution but doing all things
some levels of marketing, butmore so from a digital
standpoint, and just overallmember experience.
That was kind of our kind ofour forte back then.
(02:14):
So, as we were talking about,you know, this time of year can
be a lot and it can be reallyhigh, high, high, highs, or low,
low, low, lows, sickness, thewhole nine yards.
A lot of us are kind of underthe weather today, but I'm just
grateful that we're all here andable to join each other.
But some of the things I wantto kind of take us through is
talking about scams, and so Iknow maybe some of us have
(02:36):
probably been privy, or reallywere privy, to a lot of things
by working here at the creditunion as far as different scams
and so forth that happened toour members, that might even
happen to you guys.
Is something like that everhappened?
And, if it, if so, like?
How did you work through that?
Kelli Gilliam (02:50):
Oh yeah, just recently I purchased from an
online vendor and I got a textfrom UPS saying they needed to
verify my information fortracking.
And I was like this isn't.
Ups never sends this text, soyou know, I just went ahead and
deleted it because I knew thatit was spam.
But I know a lot of people werenot used to those kind of texts
and they may put in all thatinformation.
(03:10):
So you have to be careful, youhave to know you know what's
real, what's not.
Haleigh Murphy (03:15):
So I just recently had something very
strange happen that was a scam.
Um, I received a ring in themail, like in a box with like
the paperwork the whole nine,and it said it was a moissanite
ring.
And I called my husband.
I was like I think I opened aChristmas present I wasn't
supposed to open , and he's likethat's not from me.
And so I called my dad and Icalled my mom and nobody had
sent it.
(03:35):
So I was like, well, let mejust Google it.
And I looked at the paper and IGoogled whatever, and it popped
up immediately that it was ascam.
And, sure enough, like the as Iread about it, it said that it
would have come with a QR codeand when you scan that QR code
it would have taken yousomewhere and put a virus on
your phone, basically, I guess,and so thankfully I didn't scan
the QR code, but it was on thatyep and uh, it was in a pretty
(03:58):
red box.
I was like, oh my goodness.
Kelli Green (04:00):
So sent me a ring yeah, it's like that, like
another sweetheart scam,whatever you know, and you think
about that Well, does it?
Haleigh Murphy (04:06):
make sense, because you're like trying to
figure out who sent it to you.
You're gonna like do whateveryou can to figure it out.
Joy Bowie (04:13):
Right, you know, not recently, because I kind of
learned from this experience,but the last time I moved I
just, you know it's hectic, it'scrazy so I just went, changed
my address, so I thought it wasat the US Postal Service website
and I did the littleverification, I did my little
dollar thing, and then a coupleof days later I started getting
fraud alerts from my bank atthat time and they were telling
(04:36):
me hey, somebody's charging this, did you do this?
Did you do that?
And thank goodness you knowthey have that service Centric
does too.
That says, hey, was this you?
Because it was a fake websitethat I'd gone to and I've been
in banking a while and I fellfor it.
Like I didn't look and see, wasI really at the postal services
(04:57):
website or did I just click onsome Google link that popped up?
Kelli Green (05:01):
Especially thinking of things like that.
You know, and knowing that weare in the financial industry
and we see and hear a lot ofthings, so we may be a little
bit more aware and more cautiousthan most folks, right?
I mean, we probably wouldn't beattuned to checking, you know,
our transactions on onlinebanking or paying any attention
to text messages if we were notaware of the threats that do
exist.
(05:22):
And you know, something that wewant to think about, too, is
that we're doing a lot moreonline shopping this time of
year, so anything you may see onsocial media you know we're not
putting this on Facebook orInstagram or anything of that
nature, but sometimes you knowthose.
If it looks like it's too goodto be true, nine times out of 10
, it really is.
And when you click on thoseURLs, it just takes you down a
(05:43):
journey and they're capturingyour computer information and
whatever clicks you put in there.
You know and you say yes totheir terms of agreement.
You know you never know whatyou're signing your life away
for.
So, really, just the overalltips for that.
If you're not expecting it,it's likely not true.
Okay, the government's notgiving away money.
No, free money, no rings,nothing like that.
No free money, no rings,nothing like that.
(06:04):
And so just be cautiouswhenever you're, you know if
you're receiving anything from atext message to a phone call,
to a gift in the mail especiallythinking of emails and so forth
that you might receive.
Just be very cautious of that.
If you have any questions, orif somebody especially is
reaching out to you, then theysay they're from your financial
institution.
Call your financial institutiondirectly.
(06:25):
My recommendation is just tohang up and call them directly.
No-transcript as a blessing aswe go throughout this holiday
(06:52):
season and throughout next year,so kind of thinking about
avoiding the scams, you know,also knowing that when we're
spending this extra moneythroughout the holidays, have
you guys maybe taken on adifferent opinion of how are you
budgeting, or so far?
Kelli Gilliam (07:10):
I set a rule this year.
I was like my kids are gettingfour gifts and a stocking.
I normally blow my goal.
I normally think I need to domore, but actually I have stuck
to that.
They have four gifts under thetree.
They're a little shocked.
They're like I only have fourgifts.
Yes, you have four gifts andyou'll have a stocking, but it's
(07:32):
just kind of like putting it onpaper and setting a goal in a
dollar amount.
Right Is what I've done so far.
I think I'm going to stick toit.
Kelli Green (07:39):
I love it, though it's not necessarily about
what's under the tree.
I mean, we reflect as a kid.
What were the things that youcan really remember, like is it
a toy you got, or was it anexperience you know and there
may be to be, like this one toyor this gift or what have you
that you receive that you willremember because maybe it has
sentimental value or it's reallyspecial because of the
(07:59):
individual that gifted that toyou.
But more so, a lot of times,people and just us in general
and thinking about our kids whenwe talk with them about it what
was the most special experienceor what is so special to them
during the holiday season?
And nine times out of 10, it'snot the junk under the tree.
Haleigh Murphy (08:21):
You're right, you know 100%.
So we actually um last year wedecided that we would open a
Christmas saver with Centric andwe just sat, my husband and I
sat down and we decidedeverybody that we were going to
buy for and we wrote them down,like Kelly said, pen to paper
and put a number by their nameof how much we wanted to spend
on that person and added that upand then divided that total
over 12 months, and so we justhad it set up to where that
amount of money was transferredout of our check into our
(08:43):
CineSaver.
And so this Christmas will bethe first Christmas that I've
got all of my money that I needto be able to not overspend.
Say this is what we're spendingfor each person.
Kelli Green (08:56):
And that's just being intentional.
It's so intentional and tell usa little bit about how did you
set up that account?
Haleigh Murphy (09:01):
So it was super easy.
So I actually did it onlinewith our app.
So when you go on the app, youcan just select that you're
willing to open another account.
It takes you directly to ourwebsite and so I opened it and
they had it open for me and Isigned everything through
DocuSign within the same day.
And then same thing withsetting up our automatic deposit
and just there's a form.
(09:22):
With your direct deposit, youcan fill out how much you want
to transfer over into youraccount and you can fill it all
out on the app.
Sign everything throughDocuSign Super, super easy.
I love it.
Kelli Green (09:31):
That's fantastic.
Joy, any budgeting tips youthink that you want to share
with us that you're maybeconsidering this year?
Joy Bowie (09:37):
As a mom of four, I always had to be very
intentional about what I spendand I'm like Kelli, I tend to
think it's not enough, you know.
But I honestly and and I'm suremy kids have some favorites and
I have a couple of favoritesfrom growing up but I think, as
far as the holidays go, what Ireally look back on myself and
what I want them to look back onis experiences like you know,
(09:59):
the time we spent together, thetime we spent doing things for
others and then just you know,like I really enjoyed I remember
the holidays with mygrandparents and who are no
longer here, and and that sortof thing.
So I really it's really, youknow, the reason for the season
is much more important to me.
So I kind of have to take astep back and say, okay, let's
(10:20):
scale this back, let's berealistic, because you know they
have birthdays, they have otherthings.
Kelli Green (10:26):
So we're just gonna , you know I love it and it's
the getting together and thetime you spend with your kiddos.
You know that's always say Itry to save my PTO throughout
the year and really just ourtime off to be with them,
because you know you think 18years, maybe, you know while
they have their full attention,really, because you know we hold
the paycheck right now.
It's really wild I'm justkidding Sometimes it's true, but
(10:49):
but really you know you thinkabout what is it that you want
your kids to remember?
And a lot of it, too, is kindof reflection on what meant the
most to us whenever we werecoming up, and so I value that
time that I have with my girls.
Yes, of course I've tried topurchase and make a way for the
things that they've asked for,but it's not without ensuring
(11:11):
that we're intentional andunderstand the true reason of
Christmas and also not thatthey're receiving.
But what are they giving toothers?
And it doesn't have to be agift.
I mean it could be the gift oftime, words.
This is.
Y'all may think this is cheesy,but I'm going to share this
with y'all.
So a friend of mine who's likeshe's a grandmother really, but
you know I'm an old soul, so myfriends tend to be, you match me
(11:32):
with their gray hair.
Yeah, for those of you who arenot watching, you don't know
necessarily what we look like,but you're just listening.
But one of the things that shewas sharing with me, so she her
husband, has passed on and she'sbeen a widow for about 10 years
, but here recently she's beendating a gentleman and something
(11:58):
that she said you know she'slike Kelly, you're never going
to guess it.
She's like.
I went on chat, gpt, no joke.
And she said I got it to writeme 12 days of Christmas.
So a poem for each 12 days ofChristmas, for gifts that I'm
gifting him for the 12 days ofChristmas.
And I was like, well, I don'thave time to go and buy my
husband gifts.
So I'm like, what could Ipotentially do?
So my husband's love languageis words of affirmation.
So potentially do so.
My husband's love language iswords of affirmation.
So before I go to bed eachnight, I have.
(12:18):
I'm now going to be on my thirdWell and the the timeframe, you
know that we're we're, you knowproducing this video right now,
but, um, this podcast.
But I'm on our third day of umof Christmas of writing him a
note, and so he's been seeingthem on his nightstand each
night and he's like what I gotanother one I said I told you
it's the 12 days of Christmas,like this is, you know, and so
he's not a big gift person.
(12:38):
Like I just got him to give mea couple of gifts, you know,
sending me some links for gifts,like this weekend, and anyway,
I just knew, with knowing youknow those kind of things, so
it's like all right and thatreally meant a lot to him.
He's like, oh my gosh, this isreally kind, it's really nice.
You know, for those that maythink that's a little cheesy,
but nonetheless, my guy, mysweet little, she's 70 year old.
(13:01):
For him, you know that she'slike that's what I'm, you know,
doing for him and of course helives in in, you know, a few
hours away from her, so she'ssending those gifts to him.
But it's like how intentionaland kind.
So thanks, nana, that's what wecall.
Her is Nana, so if she'slistening, I'll send
appreciation her way, butnonetheless, so you know, it's
(13:22):
not always about the gifts, butjust like the things we do to be
intentional, you know, forfolks, and one of the things I
love too that we do here at thecredit union is understanding
you know what are the thingsthat we enjoy as individuals,
you know, and knowing what areways that we like to be
celebrated or recognized forachievements or what are our
favorite things, and so reallyrecognizing people with those
(13:44):
special things.
I feel like that's moreintentional than just like
here's a gift card, appreciatethe joy, but it's like from PJ's
, which is her favorite coffeeplace.
You know she might really lovethat.
You know you don't giftanything to Kelly.
You know Kelly's not your giftperson, but Haley loves all the
things.
You know she's like you'repleased with whatever.
So I love that and that's howyou have a good mix of a great
(14:05):
team.
And so kind of like the moresofter or more sensitive side of
things you know that we'retalking about in the holiday
season, because we've got thehigh highs and we may have some
really low lows and those thingsare okay and I think just
making folks aware and allowingus to give grace in order for us
to receive, that too is reallytalking about mental health
(14:26):
during the holidays and I don'twant this to necessarily be
something that we just talkabout this time of year, but
really every, you know anytime,something that we just talk
about this time of year, butreally every you know any time,
because life in general has away of just being stressful and
so, while we know that theholidays are a joyful time, you
know we really want to thinkabout what are some maybe some
hurts or some circumstances thatmight come to pass that cause
(14:50):
folks to have some challengesthroughout.
You know this time, so justanybody want some challenges
throughout.
You know this time, so justanybody want to share.
Maybe you know some commonstressors that people are facing
, maybe during the season.
Kelli Gilliam (15:01):
I think a lot of people you know your schedule
gets so full.
You have work parties, you havefriend parties, you have family
parties, you have your ownfamily, you know, at Christmas,
and then, to top it off, itfeels like everybody's getting
sick at this time of year and sothen it kind of, you know,
pushes parties off, and I think,just everybody.
I think you've got to manageyour time and you've got to see
what's important.
(15:22):
You've got to manage your timeand you've got to see what's
important.
You may not be able to go tothis party or that party and
you've just got to figure outhow to make it work best for
your family.
So I feel like there's a lot ofpressure at this time of year.
Also, you know a lot of sportsare in full swing.
You've got basketball in fullswing, you've got soccer.
I think it's just a lot at onetime, right a lot at one time.
Kelli Green (15:48):
Right In prioritizing rest.
I think we have to have marginin our life and knowing when to
rest.
Right Are we being led to dosomething nice for someone?
Are we being driven because, ohwell, so-and-so is going to be
there?
Oh, we really need to do thisbecause X, y, z.
What's our intention?
Joy Bowie (16:02):
You know Right, and just knowing it's okay to say no
, you know, I need to prioritizemy rest right now and it's okay
to say you don't have to do allof the things you know.
So many people I know right now.
You know, the unfortunate thingthat comes with the middle age
is that we have aging parentsand grandparents and some of us
are losing our parents andgrandparents.
(16:23):
So many people I know that havelost parents this year, so
maybe they're experiencing theirfirst Christmas or Thanksgiving
without their parents.
So really just being able totake the time to grieve and to
just enjoy the little pieces ofthe holidays that they can to
bring them joy is reallyimportant.
I love it.
Kelli Green (16:44):
It's so true because you and we never know
really and truly what people aregoing through.
You know people paint theprettiest smile on their face.
You know you never know whatthat may be, that may be hiding
behind.
And so if you see somebody andyou love their outfit or you
think something's really niceabout them, say it.
You know, if you've got afriend that maybe you haven't
talked to in a while, shoot thema text, write a note, hammer it
(17:07):
.
Notes are some of the thingsthat I have loved my entire life
to receive, and it's somethingthat it would take just a second
for us just to check in onsomebody.
You don't have to add a gift toyour list, but maybe the
greatest gift of all would justbe of acknowledgement.
Hey, I haven't talked to you ina while, just checking in on
you.
Hey, I'm praying for you.
(17:28):
You know, I know the seasonmight be a little challenging
for you.
Maybe they've recently lost hisspouse, or they're going
through a divorce, or maybe theyhave illness in their family.
You just don't know.
And just being sensitive tothose things I think is really
important.
And Joy, you made a comment too.
And Kelly, talking about thestress and making time, you know
, just to be to say no to things.
(17:50):
But you know, it's reallyimportant, I think, for us to
set boundaries and to trulyprioritize self-care during this
busy time, and I don't meanthat's like isolation from
everybody, right, there are sometimes where that's okay, like
some people are fueled by thatwhen you take a minute by
yourself but don't stay in thatforever.
You know, and again, you know, Iwant to make sure that that we
(18:12):
say this, that we are notmedical or mental health
professionals.
We are just speaking, as youknow, full-time working parents
that have experienced life andsome of the things you know,
that that we know, maybe we havebeen, we've experienced
ourselves and just things tosafeguard.
But I would just definitely saythose that you know when you're
(18:35):
getting ready to set boundaries, like saying the no to all
these different things thatyou've been asked to do, and
feeling safe in that those thatdon't necessarily agree with you
saying no, you maybe need tounderstand where they're coming
from and that's okay that theydon't understand, because you
know who you are, you know whatit is that you need and just
really be true, you know toyourself in that.
(18:55):
So also, one of the things isjust kind of we're wrapping up
today, just talking aboutreflecting on 2024.
I can't even believe we'resaying that right now, but what
are some things that you feellike you know that you really
achieve in 2024 and you'reexcited for?
Just want to celebrate.
Kelli Gilliam (19:13):
I believe, in the Live Better Department, we have
had a very exciting year.
You know, I'm trying to also.
You know, as we're closing 2024, I'm looking at 2025 and I'm
like I don't know how 2025 isgoing to be able to compare to
2024.
We were actually able to addover 16 new partners this year,
so that's a really large number.
Um, so I'm just, I'm justhoping that, you know, we have
(19:36):
that same excitement in 2025.
Keep the momentum going.
We were able to, uh, host 159workshops and that is is free
for employees, for theirpartners.
It's so cool.
It's going to be.
I just hope that next year we'reable to make the same positive
(19:56):
impact as we had this year.
We're always looking forward toadding new partners.
You know we're looking forwardto just adding that positive,
free benefit to these employersas we're kind of looking at 2025
, you know, in wrapping up 2024,you know, just kind of look at
where you've been in 2024.
You know, we all the saying isyou live and learn.
(20:18):
So you know, what was yourmistakes financially in 2024?
How can you do better in 2025?
And that's what we're here for.
We're here to help, you know,set a plan, make a budget.
You know, host a free financialwellness check for your
employees.
You know, doing that is this.
You can set up steps for them.
You can actually help them.
Do you want to add?
Haleigh Murphy (20:38):
anything, yeah, so that's one of the my most
favorite things that Centricoffers is the free financial
wellness check.
I feel like it's so good and Ifeel like people don't even
recognize like what it is thatwe're offering.
So we will provide a full budgetand credit report review for
you, and you don't necessarilyhave to be a member, you don't
(20:58):
have to be a community partner.
This is something that Centricprovides just because we see the
benefit of you knowing whatyou've got shaken down and so,
and what's so unique about thisis you know, we can give you all
of the information and tell youhow to increase your credit,
right, but until you look at itand you say, okay, well, here's
my credit report, this is whereI've been, these are the things
that I have, this is maybecharged off, what do I need to
(21:28):
do?
And so having that and beinglike and having a, an expert to
tell you, okay, well, let's justnot, let's not mess with this
one, let's focus here, what areyour goals?
And having all of thatknowledge, and then we can
provide you here's you threeaction steps.
You do these three action stepsand we'll help you reach
whatever goal.
That is, and that is completelyfree Right, and so I think that
is just really my favoritething that we offer, and that's
what Kelly's kind of talkingabout.
We've been able to provide thatto all of these employers.
Kelli Gilliam (21:51):
And sometimes it may be a short-term goal.
It may be a long-term goal youmay be looking at hey, I'd like
to save up a certain amount ofmoney in this many months.
Or hey, our family would liketo buy a home in the next year.
Joy Bowie (22:11):
Well, we can actually , you know get with our mortgage
department and set you up anappointment and they can set you
steps to be able to buy thathome right um, and you'll be
prepared.
I love it.
It's really priceless becauseso many people don't know like
they.
They ignore it because theydon't.
They don't know enough about it, they don't know the steps to
take, they don't know that likeand it's scary, right like you
don't know the right steps totake.
It's like well, you know right,turn the blind eye to kind of
thing comes to sit down with anexpert in a non-judgmental way
(22:35):
that's gonna say, I'm going tohelp you, like, this is how I
can help you and these are thesteps you take to be able to
reach that goal.
It's just, I mean, it'sphenomenal.
I know I'm blown away by thatwhole Program.
Kelli Gilliam (22:47):
I mean We've.
You know, everybody's going totell you that sits down.
Everybody's been in your shoes.
Joy Bowie (22:52):
Right.
Kelli Gilliam (22:52):
We all started somewhere, we've all been
somewhere, we're all going toend somewhere.
So, like you know, you know,bring in a stronger financial
future for you and your family.
Kelli Green (23:05):
That's what it's all about, genuinely Well, as
we're wrapping up the 2024 year,we've got a lot of fun things
that are going to be popping offin 2025, lots of change, and so
, really looking forward to that, we have what we're referring
to as our journey to better,which is providing a brand new
banking experience for ourmembers, and we're very excited
(23:26):
about that.
It's going to be really neat,something unlike our members
have probably ever seen andreally experienced before, so
we're really looking forward toit.
Well, thank you all so much forjoining us for the Live Better
podcast.
As always, we hope that youwill like, subscribe and share
our information with those thatyou know.
As always, keep us in mind asyour financial provider for all
(23:49):
things living better.
Please make sure that you likeand subscribe and follow us on
social media, mycentric and alsoCentricFCU.
Keep in mind that Centric isfederally insured by the NCUA.
Hello and welcome to the Live Better Tips podcast,
where we're here to guide youthrough the holiday season and
beyond with advice that trulymakes a difference, whether it's
staying safe while shopping,keeping your budget in check or
finding moments of joy andconnection with loved ones.
We've got you covered.
Today, we're joined by ourentire Centric Marketing team,
where we'll explore how to spotholiday scams, share practical
(00:22):
tips for smarter spending anddive into ways to keep your
mental health a top priorityduring this bustling time of
year.
Plus, we'll take a moment toreflect on this year's
achievements and what's in storefor the future.
Thanks so much for listening,all right.
Well, this is a little different, guys, for our podcast that
(00:42):
we're doing this month and kindof wrapping up 2024.
Normally you're joined by me,our host, kelly Green, but today
we've got multiple people herein the room, not just a single
guest, but three additionalguests who are not really new to
Centric or new to our marketingdepartment, but they may be new
to the podcast.
So, just for our listeners, ify'all want to, whomever wants to
(01:05):
go first maybe tell us who youare and what do you do here at
the Great Union.
Kelli Gilliam (01:10):
I'm Kelly Gilliam .
I'm the Centric Live BetterManager.
We host free financial wellnessshops for employers.
I've been here for about 18years.
Haleigh Murphy (01:20):
And my name's Haleigh Murphy.
I am also in the Live BetterDepartment.
I'm the Live Better Ambassador.
I work alongside Kelli.
Like she said, we teachfinancial education and I've
been here about seven years.
Joy Bowie (01:31):
And I'm Joy Bowie.
I'm the digital mediacoordinator for Centric.
I've been here a couple ofmonths, but I've been in banking
since '08, so I'm no strangerto banking, but I handle all
things digital for Centric.
I love it.
Joy and I kind of have aninteresting story.
She and I have worked togetherin our previous role at another
financial institution, back whencommunity banking is very
(01:54):
similar to the credit unionworld, but that was when we were
kind of, I would say, earningour stripes there back in the
day at a local financialinstitution but doing all things
some levels of marketing, butmore so from a digital
standpoint, and just overallmember experience.
That was kind of our kind ofour forte back then.
(02:14):
So, as we were talking about,you know, this time of year can
be a lot and it can be reallyhigh, high, high, highs, or low,
low, low, lows, sickness, thewhole nine yards.
A lot of us are kind of underthe weather today, but I'm just
grateful that we're all here andable to join each other.
But some of the things I wantto kind of take us through is
talking about scams, and so Iknow maybe some of us have
(02:36):
probably been privy, or reallywere privy, to a lot of things
by working here at the creditunion as far as different scams
and so forth that happened toour members, that might even
happen to you guys.
Is something like that everhappened?
And, if it, if so, like?
How did you work through that?
Kelli Gilliam (02:50):
Oh yeah, just recently I purchased from an
online vendor and I got a textfrom UPS saying they needed to
verify my information fortracking.
And I was like this isn't.
Ups never sends this text, soyou know, I just went ahead and
deleted it because I knew thatit was spam.
But I know a lot of people werenot used to those kind of texts
and they may put in all thatinformation.
(03:10):
So you have to be careful, youhave to know you know what's
real, what's not.
Haleigh Murphy (03:15):
So I just recently had something very
strange happen that was a scam.
Um, I received a ring in themail, like in a box with like
the paperwork the whole nine,and it said it was a moissanite
ring.
And I called my husband.
I was like I think I opened aChristmas present I wasn't
supposed to open , and he's likethat's not from me.
And so I called my dad and Icalled my mom and nobody had
sent it.
(03:35):
So I was like, well, let mejust Google it.
And I looked at the paper and IGoogled whatever, and it popped
up immediately that it was ascam.
And, sure enough, like the as Iread about it, it said that it
would have come with a QR codeand when you scan that QR code
it would have taken yousomewhere and put a virus on
your phone, basically, I guess,and so thankfully I didn't scan
the QR code, but it was on thatyep and uh, it was in a pretty
(03:58):
red box.
I was like, oh my goodness.
Kelli Green (04:00):
So sent me a ring yeah, it's like that, like
another sweetheart scam,whatever you know, and you think
about that Well, does it?
Haleigh Murphy (04:06):
make sense, because you're like trying to
figure out who sent it to you.
You're gonna like do whateveryou can to figure it out.
Joy Bowie (04:13):
Right, you know, not recently, because I kind of
learned from this experience,but the last time I moved I
just, you know it's hectic, it'scrazy so I just went, changed
my address, so I thought it wasat the US Postal Service website
and I did the littleverification, I did my little
dollar thing, and then a coupleof days later I started getting
fraud alerts from my bank atthat time and they were telling
(04:36):
me hey, somebody's charging this, did you do this?
Did you do that?
And thank goodness you knowthey have that service Centric
does too.
That says, hey, was this you?
Because it was a fake websitethat I'd gone to and I've been
in banking a while and I fellfor it.
Like I didn't look and see, wasI really at the postal services
(04:57):
website or did I just click onsome Google link that popped up?
Kelli Green (05:01):
Especially thinking of things like that.
You know, and knowing that weare in the financial industry
and we see and hear a lot ofthings, so we may be a little
bit more aware and more cautiousthan most folks, right?
I mean, we probably wouldn't beattuned to checking, you know,
our transactions on onlinebanking or paying any attention
to text messages if we were notaware of the threats that do
exist.
(05:22):
And you know, something that wewant to think about, too, is
that we're doing a lot moreonline shopping this time of
year, so anything you may see onsocial media you know we're not
putting this on Facebook orInstagram or anything of that
nature, but sometimes you knowthose.
If it looks like it's too goodto be true, nine times out of 10
, it really is.
And when you click on thoseURLs, it just takes you down a
(05:43):
journey and they're capturingyour computer information and
whatever clicks you put in there.
You know and you say yes totheir terms of agreement.
You know you never know whatyou're signing your life away
for.
So, really, just the overalltips for that.
If you're not expecting it,it's likely not true.
Okay, the government's notgiving away money.
No, free money, no rings,nothing like that.
No free money, no rings,nothing like that.
(06:04):
And so just be cautiouswhenever you're, you know if
you're receiving anything from atext message to a phone call,
to a gift in the mail especiallythinking of emails and so forth
that you might receive.
Just be very cautious of that.
If you have any questions, orif somebody especially is
reaching out to you, then theysay they're from your financial
institution.
Call your financial institutiondirectly.
(06:25):
My recommendation is just tohang up and call them directly.
No-transcript as a blessing aswe go throughout this holiday
(06:52):
season and throughout next year,so kind of thinking about
avoiding the scams, you know,also knowing that when we're
spending this extra moneythroughout the holidays, have
you guys maybe taken on adifferent opinion of how are you
budgeting, or so far?
Kelli Gilliam (07:10):
I set a rule this year.
I was like my kids are gettingfour gifts and a stocking.
I normally blow my goal.
I normally think I need to domore, but actually I have stuck
to that.
They have four gifts under thetree.
They're a little shocked.
They're like I only have fourgifts.
Yes, you have four gifts andyou'll have a stocking, but it's
(07:32):
just kind of like putting it onpaper and setting a goal in a
dollar amount.
Right Is what I've done so far.
I think I'm going to stick toit.
Kelli Green (07:39):
I love it, though it's not necessarily about
what's under the tree.
I mean, we reflect as a kid.
What were the things that youcan really remember, like is it
a toy you got, or was it anexperience you know and there
may be to be, like this one toyor this gift or what have you
that you receive that you willremember because maybe it has
sentimental value or it's reallyspecial because of the
(07:59):
individual that gifted that toyou.
But more so, a lot of times,people and just us in general
and thinking about our kids whenwe talk with them about it what
was the most special experienceor what is so special to them
during the holiday season?
And nine times out of 10, it'snot the junk under the tree.
Haleigh Murphy (08:21):
You're right, you know 100%.
So we actually um last year wedecided that we would open a
Christmas saver with Centric andwe just sat, my husband and I
sat down and we decidedeverybody that we were going to
buy for and we wrote them down,like Kelly said, pen to paper
and put a number by their nameof how much we wanted to spend
on that person and added that upand then divided that total
over 12 months, and so we justhad it set up to where that
amount of money was transferredout of our check into our
(08:43):
CineSaver.
And so this Christmas will bethe first Christmas that I've
got all of my money that I needto be able to not overspend.
Say this is what we're spendingfor each person.
Kelli Green (08:56):
And that's just being intentional.
It's so intentional and tell usa little bit about how did you
set up that account?
Haleigh Murphy (09:01):
So it was super easy.
So I actually did it onlinewith our app.
So when you go on the app, youcan just select that you're
willing to open another account.
It takes you directly to ourwebsite and so I opened it and
they had it open for me and Isigned everything through
DocuSign within the same day.
And then same thing withsetting up our automatic deposit
and just there's a form.
(09:22):
With your direct deposit, youcan fill out how much you want
to transfer over into youraccount and you can fill it all
out on the app.
Sign everything throughDocuSign Super, super easy.
I love it.
Kelli Green (09:31):
That's fantastic.
Joy, any budgeting tips youthink that you want to share
with us that you're maybeconsidering this year?
Joy Bowie (09:37):
As a mom of four, I always had to be very
intentional about what I spendand I'm like Kelli, I tend to
think it's not enough, you know.
But I honestly and and I'm suremy kids have some favorites and
I have a couple of favoritesfrom growing up but I think, as
far as the holidays go, what Ireally look back on myself and
what I want them to look back onis experiences like you know,
(09:59):
the time we spent together, thetime we spent doing things for
others and then just you know,like I really enjoyed I remember
the holidays with mygrandparents and who are no
longer here, and and that sortof thing.
So I really it's really, youknow, the reason for the season
is much more important to me.
So I kind of have to take astep back and say, okay, let's
(10:20):
scale this back, let's berealistic, because you know they
have birthdays, they have otherthings.
Kelli Green (10:26):
So we're just gonna , you know I love it and it's
the getting together and thetime you spend with your kiddos.
You know that's always say Itry to save my PTO throughout
the year and really just ourtime off to be with them,
because you know you think 18years, maybe, you know while
they have their full attention,really, because you know we hold
the paycheck right now.
It's really wild I'm justkidding Sometimes it's true, but
(10:49):
but really you know you thinkabout what is it that you want
your kids to remember?
And a lot of it, too, is kindof reflection on what meant the
most to us whenever we werecoming up, and so I value that
time that I have with my girls.
Yes, of course I've tried topurchase and make a way for the
things that they've asked for,but it's not without ensuring
(11:11):
that we're intentional andunderstand the true reason of
Christmas and also not thatthey're receiving.
But what are they giving toothers?
And it doesn't have to be agift.
I mean it could be the gift oftime, words.
This is.
Y'all may think this is cheesy,but I'm going to share this
with y'all.
So a friend of mine who's likeshe's a grandmother really, but
you know I'm an old soul, so myfriends tend to be, you match me
(11:32):
with their gray hair.
Yeah, for those of you who arenot watching, you don't know
necessarily what we look like,but you're just listening.
But one of the things that shewas sharing with me, so she her
husband, has passed on and she'sbeen a widow for about 10 years
, but here recently she's beendating a gentleman and something
(11:58):
that she said you know she'slike Kelly, you're never going
to guess it.
She's like.
I went on chat, gpt, no joke.
And she said I got it to writeme 12 days of Christmas.
So a poem for each 12 days ofChristmas, for gifts that I'm
gifting him for the 12 days ofChristmas.
And I was like, well, I don'thave time to go and buy my
husband gifts.
So I'm like, what could Ipotentially do?
So my husband's love languageis words of affirmation.
So potentially do so.
My husband's love language iswords of affirmation.
So before I go to bed eachnight, I have.
(12:18):
I'm now going to be on my thirdWell and the the timeframe, you
know that we're we're, you knowproducing this video right now,
but, um, this podcast.
But I'm on our third day of umof Christmas of writing him a
note, and so he's been seeingthem on his nightstand each
night and he's like what I gotanother one I said I told you
it's the 12 days of Christmas,like this is, you know, and so
he's not a big gift person.
(12:38):
Like I just got him to give mea couple of gifts, you know,
sending me some links for gifts,like this weekend, and anyway,
I just knew, with knowing youknow those kind of things, so
it's like all right and thatreally meant a lot to him.
He's like, oh my gosh, this isreally kind, it's really nice.
You know, for those that maythink that's a little cheesy,
but nonetheless, my guy, mysweet little, she's 70 year old.
(13:01):
For him, you know that she'slike that's what I'm, you know,
doing for him and of course helives in in, you know, a few
hours away from her, so she'ssending those gifts to him.
But it's like how intentionaland kind.
So thanks, nana, that's what wecall.
Her is Nana, so if she'slistening, I'll send
appreciation her way, butnonetheless, so you know, it's
(13:22):
not always about the gifts, butjust like the things we do to be
intentional, you know, forfolks, and one of the things I
love too that we do here at thecredit union is understanding
you know what are the thingsthat we enjoy as individuals,
you know, and knowing what areways that we like to be
celebrated or recognized forachievements or what are our
favorite things, and so reallyrecognizing people with those
(13:44):
special things.
I feel like that's moreintentional than just like
here's a gift card, appreciatethe joy, but it's like from PJ's
, which is her favorite coffeeplace.
You know she might really lovethat.
You know you don't giftanything to Kelly.
You know Kelly's not your giftperson, but Haley loves all the
things.
You know she's like you'repleased with whatever.
So I love that and that's howyou have a good mix of a great
(14:05):
team.
And so kind of like the moresofter or more sensitive side of
things you know that we'retalking about in the holiday
season, because we've got thehigh highs and we may have some
really low lows and those thingsare okay and I think just
making folks aware and allowingus to give grace in order for us
to receive, that too is reallytalking about mental health
(14:26):
during the holidays and I don'twant this to necessarily be
something that we just talkabout this time of year, but
really every, you know anytime,something that we just talk
about this time of year, butreally every you know any time,
because life in general has away of just being stressful and
so, while we know that theholidays are a joyful time, you
know we really want to thinkabout what are some maybe some
hurts or some circumstances thatmight come to pass that cause
(14:50):
folks to have some challengesthroughout.
You know this time, so justanybody want some challenges
throughout.
You know this time, so justanybody want to share.
Maybe you know some commonstressors that people are facing
, maybe during the season.
Kelli Gilliam (15:01):
I think a lot of people you know your schedule
gets so full.
You have work parties, you havefriend parties, you have family
parties, you have your ownfamily, you know, at Christmas,
and then, to top it off, itfeels like everybody's getting
sick at this time of year and sothen it kind of, you know,
pushes parties off, and I think,just everybody.
I think you've got to manageyour time and you've got to see
what's important.
(15:22):
You've got to manage your timeand you've got to see what's
important.
You may not be able to go tothis party or that party and
you've just got to figure outhow to make it work best for
your family.
So I feel like there's a lot ofpressure at this time of year.
Also, you know a lot of sportsare in full swing.
You've got basketball in fullswing, you've got soccer.
I think it's just a lot at onetime, right a lot at one time.
Kelli Green (15:48):
Right In prioritizing rest.
I think we have to have marginin our life and knowing when to
rest.
Right Are we being led to dosomething nice for someone?
Are we being driven because, ohwell, so-and-so is going to be
there?
Oh, we really need to do thisbecause X, y, z.
What's our intention?
Joy Bowie (16:02):
You know Right, and just knowing it's okay to say no
, you know, I need to prioritizemy rest right now and it's okay
to say you don't have to do allof the things you know.
So many people I know right now.
You know, the unfortunate thingthat comes with the middle age
is that we have aging parentsand grandparents and some of us
are losing our parents andgrandparents.
(16:23):
So many people I know that havelost parents this year, so
maybe they're experiencing theirfirst Christmas or Thanksgiving
without their parents.
So really just being able totake the time to grieve and to
just enjoy the little pieces ofthe holidays that they can to
bring them joy is reallyimportant.
I love it.
Kelli Green (16:44):
It's so true because you and we never know
really and truly what people aregoing through.
You know people paint theprettiest smile on their face.
You know you never know whatthat may be, that may be hiding
behind.
And so if you see somebody andyou love their outfit or you
think something's really niceabout them, say it.
You know, if you've got afriend that maybe you haven't
talked to in a while, shoot thema text, write a note, hammer it
(17:07):
.
Notes are some of the thingsthat I have loved my entire life
to receive, and it's somethingthat it would take just a second
for us just to check in onsomebody.
You don't have to add a gift toyour list, but maybe the
greatest gift of all would justbe of acknowledgement.
Hey, I haven't talked to you ina while, just checking in on
you.
Hey, I'm praying for you.
(17:28):
You know, I know the seasonmight be a little challenging
for you.
Maybe they've recently lost hisspouse, or they're going
through a divorce, or maybe theyhave illness in their family.
You just don't know.
And just being sensitive tothose things I think is really
important.
And Joy, you made a comment too.
And Kelly, talking about thestress and making time, you know
, just to be to say no to things.
(17:50):
But you know, it's reallyimportant, I think, for us to
set boundaries and to trulyprioritize self-care during this
busy time, and I don't meanthat's like isolation from
everybody, right, there are sometimes where that's okay, like
some people are fueled by thatwhen you take a minute by
yourself but don't stay in thatforever.
You know, and again, you know, Iwant to make sure that that we
(18:12):
say this, that we are notmedical or mental health
professionals.
We are just speaking, as youknow, full-time working parents
that have experienced life andsome of the things you know,
that that we know, maybe we havebeen, we've experienced
ourselves and just things tosafeguard.
But I would just definitely saythose that you know when you're
(18:35):
getting ready to set boundaries, like saying the no to all
these different things thatyou've been asked to do, and
feeling safe in that those thatdon't necessarily agree with you
saying no, you maybe need tounderstand where they're coming
from and that's okay that theydon't understand, because you
know who you are, you know whatit is that you need and just
really be true, you know toyourself in that.
(18:55):
So also, one of the things isjust kind of we're wrapping up
today, just talking aboutreflecting on 2024.
I can't even believe we'resaying that right now, but what
are some things that you feellike you know that you really
achieve in 2024 and you'reexcited for?
Just want to celebrate.
Kelli Gilliam (19:13):
I believe, in the Live Better Department, we have
had a very exciting year.
You know, I'm trying to also.
You know, as we're closing 2024, I'm looking at 2025 and I'm
like I don't know how 2025 isgoing to be able to compare to
2024.
We were actually able to addover 16 new partners this year,
so that's a really large number.
Um, so I'm just, I'm justhoping that, you know, we have
(19:36):
that same excitement in 2025.
Keep the momentum going.
We were able to, uh, host 159workshops and that is is free
for employees, for theirpartners.
It's so cool.
It's going to be.
I just hope that next year we'reable to make the same positive
(19:56):
impact as we had this year.
We're always looking forward toadding new partners.
You know we're looking forwardto just adding that positive,
free benefit to these employersas we're kind of looking at 2025
, you know, in wrapping up 2024,you know, just kind of look at
where you've been in 2024.
You know, we all the saying isyou live and learn.
(20:18):
So you know, what was yourmistakes financially in 2024?
How can you do better in 2025?
And that's what we're here for.
We're here to help, you know,set a plan, make a budget.
You know, host a free financialwellness check for your
employees.
You know, doing that is this.
You can set up steps for them.
You can actually help them.
Do you want to add?
Haleigh Murphy (20:38):
anything, yeah, so that's one of the my most
favorite things that Centricoffers is the free financial
wellness check.
I feel like it's so good and Ifeel like people don't even
recognize like what it is thatwe're offering.
So we will provide a full budgetand credit report review for
you, and you don't necessarilyhave to be a member, you don't
(20:58):
have to be a community partner.
This is something that Centricprovides just because we see the
benefit of you knowing whatyou've got shaken down and so,
and what's so unique about thisis you know, we can give you all
of the information and tell youhow to increase your credit,
right, but until you look at itand you say, okay, well, here's
my credit report, this is whereI've been, these are the things
that I have, this is maybecharged off, what do I need to
(21:28):
do?
And so having that and beinglike and having a, an expert to
tell you, okay, well, let's justnot, let's not mess with this
one, let's focus here, what areyour goals?
And having all of thatknowledge, and then we can
provide you here's you threeaction steps.
You do these three action stepsand we'll help you reach
whatever goal.
That is, and that is completelyfree Right, and so I think that
is just really my favoritething that we offer, and that's
what Kelly's kind of talkingabout.
We've been able to provide thatto all of these employers.
Kelli Gilliam (21:51):
And sometimes it may be a short-term goal.
It may be a long-term goal youmay be looking at hey, I'd like
to save up a certain amount ofmoney in this many months.
Or hey, our family would liketo buy a home in the next year.
Joy Bowie (22:11):
Well, we can actually , you know get with our mortgage
department and set you up anappointment and they can set you
steps to be able to buy thathome right um, and you'll be
prepared.
I love it.
It's really priceless becauseso many people don't know like
they.
They ignore it because theydon't.
They don't know enough about it, they don't know the steps to
take, they don't know that likeand it's scary, right like you
don't know the right steps totake.
It's like well, you know right,turn the blind eye to kind of
thing comes to sit down with anexpert in a non-judgmental way
(22:35):
that's gonna say, I'm going tohelp you, like, this is how I
can help you and these are thesteps you take to be able to
reach that goal.
It's just, I mean, it'sphenomenal.
I know I'm blown away by thatwhole Program.
Kelli Gilliam (22:47):
I mean We've.
You know, everybody's going totell you that sits down.
Everybody's been in your shoes.
Joy Bowie (22:52):
Right.
Kelli Gilliam (22:52):
We all started somewhere, we've all been
somewhere, we're all going toend somewhere.
So, like you know, you know,bring in a stronger financial
future for you and your family.
Kelli Green (23:05):
That's what it's all about, genuinely Well, as
we're wrapping up the 2024 year,we've got a lot of fun things
that are going to be popping offin 2025, lots of change, and so
, really looking forward to that, we have what we're referring
to as our journey to better,which is providing a brand new
banking experience for ourmembers, and we're very excited
(23:26):
about that.
It's going to be really neat,something unlike our members
have probably ever seen andreally experienced before, so
we're really looking forward toit.
Well, thank you all so much forjoining us for the Live Better
podcast.
As always, we hope that youwill like, subscribe and share
our information with those thatyou know.
As always, keep us in mind asyour financial provider for all
(23:49):
things living better.
Please make sure that you likeand subscribe and follow us on
social media, mycentric and alsoCentricFCU.
Keep in mind that Centric isfederally insured by the NCUA.
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