After friends and family—and your pets—few things in your life will be more valuable/important than learning how to manage money.
If you don't learn that, you will have stress-related problems no matter how much money you make throughout your life. Learning how to manage your finances will benefit YOU and your loved ones.
Money management goes far beyond home-ownership, although that is a main goal of many people. Learning to handle your finances underlies everything you do and every choice you make.
START TODAY
Learn about banking, managing your money, taxes, credit, identity theft, borrowing basics, investing, home ownership, retirement planning, buying a car, managing your mortgage (and home upkeep), financial planning (to help you realize your dreams), insurance and small business ownership.
Begin keeping a list of your income and all of your expenses. This will serve you well throughout your life. You must have a realistic understanding of your income and expenses to do anything. Make it simple: Get a little notebook, keep it with you at all times, each time you spend anything at all, note it down:
- Groceries, restaurant purchases;
- Coffee (one cup per day from Starbucks x $3.00 per cup = $1,035 per year . . . this could be your mortgage payment for one month, or, if you are caught up, this is a round-trip ticket to anywhere in the world so you can have a great vacation);
- Cigarettes, newspapers, magazines, lottery tickets, sports, movies, bus tokens, parking, school lunches, dry cleaning, landromat;
- Absolutely everything . . .
-
And, please check your credit report at least once a year: Part of this is because the American credit scoring system is such a mess, that 80% of Americans have an error on their credit score. 80%! Many of those people think they are doing great because they are not missing payments, but in reality incorrect reporting costs you money each and every month. Incorrect reporting means that pay more interest on everything you charge: clothes, shoes, car, your home . . .
This is YOUR life; do not hide anything from yourself. We promise, it will make your life easier.
HSBC provides grants for "YOUR MONEY COUNTS" to enable groups such as Marin Family Action to present financial education seminars in Bay Area 
classrooms (and we will have online seminars and Webinars beginning Spring 2010). We know that by planning and goal setting, you can achieve anything you desire.
We work with you to establish financial goals. We talk about:
- Setting and negotiating with creditors to lower balances and/or interest payments
- Making financial restitution with Banks and other lending groups in order for clients to secure checking and savings accounts
- Meeting requirements for Shelter program rules
- Home ownership
- Financial Literacy Interim Report
A typical financial report is attached. While this may seem overwhelming when you initially view the form, this type of information will help you get on track with your finances and a clear view of where you are and where you need to be (or would like to be) can be developed through this form.
Just click here, print a copy out, and fill in the blanks: Financial Worksheet
