Page 3 - MidWeek - June 7, 2023

I remember an extremely busy day when I was juggling a lot of projects and on the road doing errands. I was at my third stop of the day picking up supplies when I reached for my credit card but found that it was not in my wallet. I then searched my purse, but it was not there either. Finally, I searched all my pockets — but still nothing. I didn’t panic, but I was getting a little concerned.
The young cashier was friendly as I explained that I had just used the credit card at my last stop less than 15 minutes prior. The rifling of my purse got faster and faster. I wanted to dump its contents onto the counter, but decided to start back at my wallet where the card should have been.
As I continued my search, the cashier told me my bag needed a thorough spring cleaning. She then launched into a whole story about how she regularly cleaned out and organized her bag every week, and how I should do
the same. She explained how it would not only help me more easily find things, but it would also make me feel better. Thirty seconds later, which felt like a lifetime, I finally found my card. Apparently, I had wrapped a largereceiptarounditsothat it hid the card completely.
While the cashier’s intentions were well placed, I had recently cleaned out my bag so spring cleaning wasn’t the issue. The card was where it supposed to be, and the receipt was where it supposed to be. Wrapping a large receipt around my card was the problem. I should haveseparatedthetwosothe card would be mission ready.
This incident got me thinking of workshop walls where outlines of each tool clearly indicate the specific place each one goes — and makes it very easy to know if one is missing. It’s too bad handbags and wallets are not designed in that way!
According to Forbes, 84% of U.S. adults had a credit card in 2021 — so approximately
June 7, 2023 MIDWEEK 3
PAULETTE ITO
SVP Marketing
Hawaiian Financial Federal Credit Union
Spring Cleaning Paulette Ito
7 of 8 Americans have a credit card they need to safeguard. Credit card theft (fraud) is a huge problem that costs all of us big money. Credit card theft occurs when someone uses stolen credit card information to make unauthorized transactions. According to Bankrate.com, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received nearly 390,000 reports of credit card fraud in 2021, making it one of the most common kinds of fraud in the nation.
In December 2022, the Nilson Report indicated that U.S. losses from card fraud will total $165.1 billion over the next decade. While the problem of credit card fraud looms large, there are some relatively easy things you can do to prevent
yourself from becoming another statistic. Being organized and developing regular routines with your payments are good first steps. More helpful tips include the following:
• Regularly check your credit reports for suspicious activity.
• Frequently review credit card statements for unauthorized transactions.
• Never use public Wi-Fi for financial transactions. Helping you to better
organize your life is one of the main goals of the “Get Your House in Order” campaign. And, to help you organize all your most important information in one place, we created the Ho‘okele life-planning booklet. Your Ho‘okele guides you in the
collection and storage of important legal and financial documents, and prompts you to consider some matters you may not have thought of, such as travel insurance, creating a family contact tree and health directives. Plus, your Ho‘okele guidebook helps ensure that none of your important documents are incorrectly filed between receipts, so you can always find what you need, when you need it.
Everyone should download and begin filling out a Ho‘okele guidebook regardless of age. Some items may not yet be applicable to some younger people, but beginning the process early is beneficial. The ultimate goal of the “Get Your House in Order” campaign is to make sure you are mission
ready for anything and everything that comes your way!
The “Get Your House in Order” campaign releases a new Ho‘okele guidebook section during each quarterly phase. Ho‘okele versions 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 are now available. This free life- planning guide is available to everyone only from the Hawaiian Financial Federal Credit Union website (hificu. com/gyho).
For more information about the “Get Your House in Order” campaign, email GYHO@hificu.com. Also, tune in to KIKU at 10:30 p.m. every Monday to watch Yunji de Nies talk with local experts on how and why to get your house in order.
Scan to download
Tune in
GET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER TV show every Monday at 10:30p.m. on