An ongoing habit of examining your resources and financial obligations and your financial obligations and taking purposeful actions in order to protect your reputation, mental health, and relationships.
Smart Financial Moves
● Limit your debt
● Maximize your income (how to get the most with your money, look for waste)
● Naming and claiming your priorities regularly
● Identify both short-term and long-term goals
Credit Cards – Trap or Tool?
● Using credit cards to build up your credit score
● Maintain one credit card with a low credit line
● Choose a card with a low-interest rate and/or cashback rewards program
● Exercise restraint and discipline
– Pay off your balance every month to avoid interest charges
– Use a credit card only for purchases that you could pay for with cash or your debit card and then pay the balance on or before the due date
● Abusing credit with impulse buying – being a slave to immediate gratification
– Shopping sprees
– Expensive gifts for other people
– Impulsive road trips you cannot afford
– Entertainment experiences that offer short-term or temporary satisfaction
● Digging the debt hole
– Pay the minimum payment each month
Renters Insurance
● Protects all of your personal possessions located within an apartment that you are renting
● Negotiate a policy with the company where your parents already have homeowners or life insurance policies
● Affordable protection for things you can’t afford to replace
● The average policy premium for renters insurance is less than $200/year
Student Loan Debt
● Income-Driven Repayment Plan – apply for this at StudentLoans.gov
● Direct Consolidation Loan – apply for this at StudentLoans.gov
– Additional information at StudentAid.gov
● Deferment vs Forbearance
– Push off payments, more interest, but you get more time to pay
● Delinquency (when you are late) and Default (when you stop paying)
– Both affect credit score
Making a Plan
● Use the worksheet to begin assessing your assets, liabilities, income, and expenses