Press
Local Family Wins Second-Annual Summit Credit Union ‘Project Money’ Competition
Cheryl Van Tessier, Finesse Public Relations LLC
(608) 467-4408, ctessier@finessepr.net
Tania Widish, Summit Credit Union
(608) 243-5000X4701, tania.widish@summitcreditunion.com
MADISON, Wis. — After all is said and done, Summit Credit Union’s second-annual
“Project Money” competition made a huge difference in the lives of the four contestants, as well as community members who followed their progress during the seven-month-long, reality-based financial challenge. Not only did they learn how to ‘do more’ with their money and achieve financial success, the four competing participants collectively boosted their savings by $13,169 and decreased their debt by $40,787.
Since the program’s kick off in June 2010, all four participants worked diligently with Summit financial coaches to develop goals and a budget to better their financial situations, but none more so than Brian Meixner and Rachel Seltzner, a husband-wife team who paid off more than $8,100 in debt from loans and credit cards, and increased their savings by $8,242.
“Our entire future has a brighter outlook,” said Seltzner. “Because of our focused budget, we’ll soon have all of our debt paid off. We can now be more at ease with our finances and enjoy life.”
Brian and Rachel, who dubbed themselves the “Budgeteers” early on in the contest, have something else to smile about, too. On Feb. 15, they were named the winners of Summit’s 2010 Project Money competition and received the grand prize of $10,000, based on points earned for their percentage increase in savings, decrease in debt and participation in program events*.
“Rachel & Brian were extremely focused and worked together as a team throughout the contest,” said Mike Bunge, Rachel and Brian’s Project Money financial coach. “Together, they made tough choices to cut spending, focused on the future and made lifestyle changes, such as: eating fresh produce from their garden, clipping coupons and even making hand-made gifts, all of which added up to make a big difference in their progress.”
Each of the Project Money runners-up also walked away with $2,500. Visit www.summitcreditunion.com/projectmoney to learn more about each participant’s journey and final results. Visit Summit’s Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/SummitDoMore and “like” the page to receive updates on the program.
Summit Credit Union will be kicking off the third-annual Project Money program next month. Applications for Project Money 2011 can be obtained at Summit’s web site starting March 1. The deadline for applications is March 31, 2011.
About Summit Credit Union:
Established in 1935, Summit Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative open to anyone in Wisconsin. Summit holds $1.5 billion in assets and has more than 118,000 members with a total of 24 locations throughout the Madison and Milwaukee areas. For more information, visit www.summitcreditunion.com or call (608) 243-5000 or (800) 236-5560.