News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Sunday December 21st 2025
Five Ways to be Smarter with Your Money in 2025
By JEAN CHALIFOUX KIELY, Director of Consumer Banking at Sunrise Banks
Welcome to 2025! We are now about one month into the new year, which means you may now be at a crossroads when it comes to any resolutions you have made.
Resolutions centered around money and saving tend to rank high in popularity at the start of the year. Even if you have not laid out a plan yet to be wiser with your money, there is no reason to give up one month in. You can commit to changing your money habits at any time and at any level, and hopefully, you will see the benefits, both short-term and long-term, pay off.
Our team members at Sunrise Banks work with people who want to improve their financial habits all the time. With the right tools and strategies, you can create smart and easy ways to build your savings.
Here are five ways you can start to act now:
Track Your Spending and Set Clear Limits
Start by tracking every expense, no matter how small, for one month. Use an app or spreadsheet to categorize your expenses such as groceries, entertainment, bills, etc. At the end of the month, look for places where you can cut back.… Read the rest “Five Ways to be Smarter with Your Money in 2025”
A Correction of Great Importance
By the alley
The alley has been deeply honored to feature Sue Hunter Weir’s “Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery” column for 231 issues. Her extensive research into those buried in Minneapolis’ oldest Cemetery has revealed to readers hundreds of early residents who lived in and shaped our city.
Among those folks buried are an unknown number of early African Americans who lived in Minneapolis, most unnamed and in unmarked graves. They include those who escaped slavery or who helped the freedom seekers escape, and those who served in the Civil War. Sue has been working with Elyse Hill of Hill Research to tell the stories of all the African Americans buried in the Cemetery. The January issue of the alley highlighted one such person: Hester Patterson, a freedom seeker, whose story is at once both inspiring and horrifying.
And the correction? Hester’s last name was misspelled in print. The correct spelling of someone’s name is vital in historical records, particularly for a population whose humanity has long been cruelly repressed. Misspelling Hester’s name feels especially egregious to us for that reason. And we are truly sorry.
Related Images:
Woodford Anderson, Civil War Veteran and Freedom Seeker
from the series Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery…
231st in a Series
By SUE HUNTER WEIR
Woodford Anderson was not a young man when he ran towards freedom. He was enslaved when he was born near Burlington, Kentucky, on March 10, 1820. When he was 20 years old, he was sold to George Curtley. Curtley, a captain in the Confederate Army, took Anderson to Waverly, Missouri, where Anderson served as a cook. In the fall of 1862, when he was 42 years old, Anderson left Curtley and met up with Union Army soldiers. In a deposition that is included in his 60-page pension file, he said, “I was just following the Union Army as a contraband.”
In May of 1863, Anderson was sent to Fort Snelling in Minnesota. Although he had not formally enlisted at that point, he was sent on Sibley’s expedition to the West where he served as a cook for the 1st Minnesota Mounted Rangers. On March 10, 1864, after he returned to Fort Snelling, he formally enlisted as a private in Company D of the U.S. Colored Troops.
His unit was sent to Nashville, but he was sick most of the time.… Read the rest “Woodford Anderson, Civil War Veteran and Freedom Seeker”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
