The credit union can be strange when it comes to loans. Just to give you an example....
I was saving hard with them for the 2nd half of last year. I was intending to buy a car as I was doing a lot of driving in my job and was getting mileage expenses. I went in my CU in Feb this year with €4500 in my account, which I needed for the car.
I decided I'd leave €1500 in the account and take out a secured loan because I have never had a CU loan before and in case I need to get one in the future I thought I'd take one out which I knew I'd easily be able to repay (with the mileage expenses). Basically so that it would look good on my loan history.
I went up to the counter and asked could I withdraw €3000, leave €1500 in my account and borrow €1500 against that. The woman I was dealing with could not get her head around what I was asking. She said "Why don't you just get a loan for €4500?" I said "Because I don't want a loan of €4500, I've been saving up for a particular purpose and now I'm making a withdrawal for that. I'd like to only borrow €1500 please"
She more or less got annoyed with me and passed me on to someone else to discuss the loan! The other woman understood what I wanted to do and was fine with that. But she did suggest that when making loan repayments I should always make a small lodgement to savings e.g. €10, just because it looks good on your record for future loans.
The CU like you to have loads sitting in your savings, while you pay interest on a loan. They make money from you that way and they build up their capital.
Be wary of their advice. I think the best thing to do is try to build up your savings, dip in when necessary and replenish with regular savings.