Recipe Corner

I am proud to present the first installment of Central National Bank’s recipe corner! Where we are proud to present our favorite recipes with all our blog fans and friends.

 The debut recipe is one of my all time favorites Cookie Salad! It is always a hit and despite the name it is more of a dessert

 You can’t mess this one up and it is always a rave at potlucks. And one tip I have is right after you make it for yourself pass the instructions along to a friend with the extra of your buttermilk. If you are like me, I had no use for the rest of my buttermilk and didn’t want it to go bad, you’ve got about a week and a half before that happens.

Enjoy! And look for more recipes to come!

Ingredients

• 2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 12 ounces frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
• 2 (11 ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained
• 1/2 (11.5 ounce) package fudge stripe cookies

Directions

In a large bowl, mix together the pudding mix and the buttermilk. Fold in the whipped topping. Mix in the pineapple chunks and mandarin oranges. Chill until ready to serve. Crush cookies and mix in just before serving. You can also freeze it and make a frozen treat out of it for hot summer days.

Easy Auto Loans

Everyone knows how much easier (and sometimes a lot more complicated) life has become since the advent of the Internet.  This is obviously no exception to financial institutions, and they continue to make it easier and easier every day.

I have grown up with Online Banking.  Back before I had bills, all I needed to do was check my balance every once in a while.  When I started getting real bills, it was always difficult to convince myself to sit down and write out my checks and mail them off.  The ease of point-and-click Online Bill Pay solved that problem.

Now it’s time to get serious and purchase a new car.  Did you know that we can accept applications for auto, debt consolidation, personal, and even mortgages through the internet?  It’s quick – no need to write it out by hand and no need to mail it to the bank.  Most of the time you will receive response e-mail within 2 hours and can close the loan any time and at any branch that day!  Even though you are filling out a form, there is additional space for comments and questions, just as if you were sitting at your personal banker’s desk.  You can also fill out the application 24 hours a day making it convenient and fast.  Auto loan applications are accepted whether you are ready to purchase a vehicle today or if you are just getting started and want to know how much spending power you have.   Now there is no reason to put it off any longer!  To view more information, click here.

And as always there are lenders here to help both in the bank and on-line.

Biweekly Mortgages

Do you wish you could pay off your home mortgage loan more quickly than with a traditional 30-year fixed rate loan, significantly reducing the amount of interest you pay over the life of the loan?  Well bi-golly, a Biweekly Mortgage may be right for you.

Biweekly Mortgage payments are made every two weeks, resulting in 26 (sometimes 27) payments per year.  As a result of the number and frequency of payments, you can pay off the loan faster than with a traditional 30-year, fixed rate, monthly payment mortgage.  For example, a loan that ordinarily would take 30 years to amortize fully could be paid off after just 23 years of biweekly payments depending on the interest rate of the loan. A Biweekly Mortgage may also save you interest expenses over the life of the loan.  For example, a $150,000.00 loan at 7 percent rate paid monthly over 30 years will cost a borrower approximately $53,000 more in interest over the life of the loan than a Biweekly Mortgage for the same loan amount and interest rate.

I’m not sure about you, but an extra $53K might come in handy someday.

Gimme a little credit!

I admit when I left home and went to college, I was not the most financially savvy high-school graduate. Now at the ripe old age of 27 I wish I knew then what I know now, at least when it comes to my credit report.

I’m still not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to apply for seven credit cards in one day to get free one-size-fits-all t-shirts that sat in the back of my closet until finally making their way to the trash. Mind you, I never actually used any of those credit cards, so my credit report was safe, right? Wrong.

Why didn’t somebody tell me that was a sure-fire way to lower my credit score instantly? Maybe because I didn’t even know what a credit score was or why it was important.

Oh, and don’t get me started on student loans. You mean I actually have to pay those back someday? With interest? And who ever thought it was a good idea to offer me more loan money than I needed for tuition? Yet I gladly accepted it.

Well, I’m a little bit older and a little bit wiser, especially after I had the opportunity to attend a financial literacy seminar offered by my bank. Now I plan to make it my goal to spare the young and credit-naive the pain of learning from bad experiences. I recently had the honor of coaching a group of young adults who are enthusiastic about building a strong credit history for themselves. Maybe I can live vicariously through them as I watch them avoid the mistakes I wish I didn’t make!

Two Simple Ways to Make Your Life Easier

Are you a Central Online Banking user?  Do you have a CNB Debit Card?  If so, here are two tips that will make your life easier when you use these products:

 Central Online Banking

Do you find it hard to remember the 12-digit user id that you’re given when you first sign up?  You may not realize it, but you CAN change this user id to something that is simpler to remember!  Simply sign into Central Online Banking, then click on Options.  You’ll see a field called “Personal ID”.  Type in what you want your new user id to be and click Submit.  Now, you can forget your old 12-digit user id and log in with the one that you just created!  Note that your password will remain the same.

 Central National Bank Debit Cards

We all know how important it is to keep your debit card’s PIN number in a safe, secure place (preferrably your brain!).  But you may have trouble remembering the PIN that you were originally issued.  Some people even write their PIN numbers on the back of their card to remember it (big no-no!).  Did you know that you can change your PIN number?  That’s right, simply visit one of Central National Bank’s 70+ ATMs across Kansas and change your PIN.  To do this, first swipe your card and then go to Other.  Next, go to Change Personal ID Number.  From this menu option, you can change your PIN to whatever you like!

We hope these two tips will help make your life a little easier!