>> Good afternoon, everyone. I am Keith Combs, manager of Financial Empowerment

with National Disability Institute. Thank you for joining us today. We are excited

about the topic that we are going to be discussing and on the benefits of establishing

and living within a monthly spending plan. This is a series for our REI network and

today's webinar is sponsored by Acorda Therapeutics, Bank of America, and

Walmart. Nakia Matthews, the NDI technology and the manager will provide us with

some basic housekeeping tips. Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone. Actually, this is Elizabeth Jennings providing support for

Nakia Matthews today. So, I'm going to be sharing with you some housekeeping tips.

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Jennings, today's post, and I will be happy to assist you.

Hank you, Elizabeth, very much. Again, we would like to thank our sponsors today,

including Walmart, Bank of America, Acorda Therapeutics, the Burton Blatt Institute

and IRS who without their sponsorship and support, we would not be able to provide

the webinar such as we do today. And we would also like to extend a special thank

you to Acorda Therapeutics today as well.

If you are not familiar with National Disability Institute, we are a national research and

government organization with the mission to promote income preservation and asset

development for persons with disabilities and to build a better economic future for

America's with disabilities. The NDI Real Economic Impact Network is an alliance of

organizations and individuals dedicated to advancing the economic empowerment of

the people with disabilities . The network consists of more than 900 partners and

more than 100 cities in the United States . The network includes nonprofits,

community tax coalitions, asset development organizations , financial education

initiatives, corporations and private sector businesses, federal, state and local

governments and individuals living with disabilities. All of the partners join forces to

embrace, promote and pursue access to and inclusion of people with disabilities in

the economic mainstream. On today's agenda, we are going to start with welcomes

and introductions. We are going to move into the benefits of establishing and living

with a monthly spending plan. Have a discussion of why spending plans are important.

Introduce you to a zero balance budget and how to use that zero balance budget

plan. Tips to reduce expenses we will have time at the end for questions. The

outcomes that we hope everyone in attendance today will have a better

understanding of the webinar is the definition of a balance spending plan, the

importance of living within a monthly spending plan, how to identify and change

spending habits, the importance of setting and working toward goals, and how to

make sound financial decisions.

The presenter for today is Marlene Ware, and she is the director of financial stability

with the National Foundation for Debt Management . Marlene has been a certified

credit counselor with NFDM 40 serves as the financial Director. of stability. Her areas

of expertise are financial coaching, development of financial curriculum and delivery

of financial literacy presentations. She teaches financial education courses for Habitat

for Humanity and is also a certified debt counselor. She also travels to yellow ribbon

events and speak to regarding death returning guard and reserve members that

directly impact their military careers. We are so very excited to have her teaching with

us on this topic today and with that, I'm going to turn that over to you.

I'm pretty excited to be here today because a little transparency, I love

[ Indiscernible ] so thank goodness this is the career area that I am in. And I do go all

over and speak to many people . But I will tell you the majority of the folks I work with

are low to moderate income folks. I have not had the pleasure or opportunity to do

marketing with anyone that is higher income. So, most of what I'm going to talk about

today will have everything to do with low to moderate income people. And it will

maybe, hopefully, impact the way you work , the folks at you work with. But before we

begin, let me ask you what compels you. Why are you even here today? Why would

anybody want to hear anybody talk about budgets unless for transparency reasons

you love budgets. But, are you working with people who have given up on their

current method of money management? Are they hounded by collection companies?

Are they unable to get credit? Is there some reason other than just an intrinsic

reason? They look for a different way to control their cash flow? Do they come to you

and do they lament about not having enough money ? Do they lament that the

creditors are after them? Even if they are feeling that they're really not ready for

personal accountability or that they really are ready, are they talk about goals that they

want to accomplish ? Do they sound like they have a good reason to begin some level

of money management? If you're talking to anyone about and they have not got in,

they're not going to stick around for the final result and that happens all the time to

do there appear to make money management and ongoing effort? A commitment to

themselves and ? Will it will install them up front but it is a forever deal. Kind of like

eating a healthy diet. If you start eating a healthy diet and you get all tremendously

mean feeling good, and stop taking the medication, that does not mean to start

eating ice cream and , same thing with managing money or using a budget. Once

you're in, you're in for a long time.

So, here we are. We are ready to mitigate your clients interested in doing a budget

and why would you even get them involved? Maybe because they realize that they do

have control over their spending. Their budgets bob and weave and they have ups

and downs and they are updated with every change in their life. It's not static. A

budget is not static. They control it. Nobody is going to tell them what to do, they have

the reins. It's their budget, it's their life, it's their money. They will discover their

personal spending sabotage and I see this all the time. People disappear. I start

working with somebody, I'm excited, they are excited, we start the budget, and then

they go away. And I don't see them for some time. And then they come back again.

But, the whole thing with budgeting is at first, there's a little bit of pain. It's like hiding

the potato chips under the bed. Only to bring them out later when nobody is looking

or eating the candy bar in the closet when nobody can see you. It's the same thing

with spending sabotage. Like, going to the grocery store and getting your groceries

with your debit card and then going ahead and taking that extra $40 home with you

when the question pops up, do you want to take money home with you? Putting it in

your pocket and, you know, not letting it actually be what it is. You're taking money,

you're not spending money on groceries. Or maybe it's a simple thing like wandering

around in the, you know, Walmart until you actually find something to spend your

money on. There is a lot of sabotage. I see sabotage a lot. A spending plan or a

budget or whatever you want to call it isn't going to work until you are ready. Just like

a diet. If you're not ready to lose weight, if you're not ready to get healthy, it's not

going to happen. There will be ready set priorities based on their needs, not wants

which comes from really closely looking at their bank statements , they will want to

weed out the things that they don't really need, but some people don't even look at

bank statements, they just look at the bottom line, how much is left. They don't look

at where the money is going. So, using a budget, they actually get to look at where the

money is going because they're looking at their bank statements. They are writing

things down. Here's another reason. It takes 21 days to change a habit. 21 days. If

they can stick with it for a month, if they can do a budget for a whole month and see

results and I'll tell you, I was just speaking to a group of women last night and I have

not been there for a month and as soon as I sat down, one of the women said, I did it.

I saved money last month. I wanted to save $200 but I managed to save $150. And

she was one of those women who never had money. But it took her a whole month of

going through all of her spending to realize that she did have money left over. They

will be able to keep Opel from the door. That's a big one is working with low to

moderate income people. There's always the fear of not being able to pay something.

If there is no more calls from creditors, if there is no minute last-minute calls to the

electric company before the service is shut off, they're going to see the merit in a

budget. And also, they're going to learn that money is a tool. It's just a tool, that's all it

is. It's not a punishment, it's not something that you should be ashamed of.

Everybody does it. Warren Buffett doesn't, for heaven's sake. And it should not be

scary. It's not the enemy. They will find themselves planning to spend money, not

spontaneously spending money. That's the difference. Once you plan, that is kind of

a zero balance budgeting is about. You plan where you're going to spend your

money. You can still have fun, but you are in control and that is the part of budgeting

that I like. We give ourselves a little bit of control, a little bit of power.

If other -- if any of you have ever taken the Dave Ramsey class, I think it is called

peace University or something like that , I took it to go because I wanted to see what

everything was about with Dave Ramsey and his spending plans and he does the

zero balance budget. And I happen to believe in the zero balance budget because that

means every penny is accounted for. There is never an opportunity where you have

money left over at the end of the month that to spend. You will anyway with a zero

balance budget, but it's not like, oh, great, I've got $200 left over, where can it go?

What do you want to do and where do you want to spend the money? That's not a

deal with a budget. A budget is possible. Dave Ramsey came up with this idea and

maybe he's not the only one but the zero balance budget . He has lots of other

theories I don't necessarily agree with but this one I do. And it's basically putting a

name to every single dollar of your income. It involves your clients become intimately

involved with her spending. They have control. The money differently their hands

without them knowing where it is going. It's a choice. There is no miscellaneous

category, and a lot of us do that. They say, well, just in case I need money, I will say

about $200. There is no miscellaneous. This is thoughtful. You plan where your

money is going to go. So they use their bank statements and if you have ever looked

at your bank statements, he cuts we use debit cards now, you get a real good feel for

where your money is going. So, they look at their bank statements and they plan

where their money is going. It's already going. So, now they are going to see where it

is going and plan for it.

And that means is if you go to Starbucks every day on your way to work that fit your

budget, go for it, go to Starbucks every day your budget. If you go to Starbucks every

day but now you realize that your $10 short on pain when you need to pay every

week, okay, maybe you can go to Starbucks. But, that's a choice you make. There

budget is fluid. It moves with their wants, needs, goals, it's always changing because

our lives are not static. Today everything is good, tomorrow we need tires on the car.

So, it's fluid. You can't have a master plan. You can't have some kind of a budget

that you stick inside the cupboard door and look at that and that is your money Bible

for the year. That's not the way it happened it's a month-to-month ongoing in touch

with your money type of deal. So, they have to stay in touch with their budget. They

have to make tweaks. They have to look at their bank statements, they have to know

what is going on, and that is kind of cool. That's kind of cool because, especially with

some of the young women that I work with, you do see the power that you get.

You see. Nothing is going to happen. Without some kind of a goal. I can't lose

weight unless there is a reason to. I also can't work the budget unless I have a goal. If

I have a goal, 20 make it a whole lot easier. If I'm going to set a budget intrinsically

just because today I feel like I want to do a budget and it's going to be a short-term

event, there has to be something outside of me that makes me do a budget. The goal,

you're has to be a goal. I work with families a lot. I also work with individuals. I also

work with couples. But, that's a really good time when you start to do a budget. That's

a really good time to sit down and have a kitchen table dialog. Where do you want to

take this? If we are going to budget our money, how do we want to do it? What things

are important to us? What reason do we have to watch our money besides just

paying the electric bill and having enough money for groceries? What is another

reason? So, give everybody a family in the chance to contribute and narrowed our

collective goals or individual goals to one or two that might be accomplished within the

confines of their budget. That means short-term. Because you want them to succeed.

Success is the key. Give them a chance to succeed. So, if they set a short-term goal ,

and this is how I would do it, this is where I have done it, and this is really probably the

most fun of the budget because people get involved. So, you give everybody in the

family who is to participate in the budget a piece of paper. And you tell each of them,

write down three goals. Three goals that could be accomplished in the next three

months. What is it that you want? Do you want to go to the zoo? Do you want to buy

new outfits you have been looking for? Do you want to take the family for a movie

night? What is it you want to do that because David for over the next three months?

So everybody write it down. And then you compare notes. Does anybody have

anything in common? Is there something that you guys see within the family ? Or is

there something that you see individually that is going to work together? And, that

does not mean you only get to have one goal. If it's a family, then maybe the goals

are small and you can do two or three goals within a three month timeframe. So then

you take those goals and how much money you think you have saved for those goals

and you put it into a budget. So, there's the line. It says goals. Or there is a line that

says, you know, going to the zoo or out to dinner. Or there is the goal that says, we

are going to be taking a family vacation, whatever it is. It's in the budget. And every

pay period that you're putting money aside, he put money aside for that. But, given

the whole family a chance to get involved is pretty big as well. I don't know how any

of you have worked with the folks at you work with, but if I can give the kids in the

family a chance to make a difference , it's kind of like Habitat for Humanity. Kids can't

build the house for Habitat for Humanity of what they can do is get good grades. If

they get good grades, that counts as work hours toward the house. It's big, it gets them

involved, they have some control, some input. Same thing with a budget. If you can

say to the kids, this is our goal, this is what we want to do, how can you help me save

money? Do you want to be in charge of the electric? Do you want to turn off all of the

lights before we go to school in the morning? Or maybe one of them has a habit that

cost a little bit of money. Maybury every week they want to get pizza and, you know,

hang out with her friends. So maybe that is cut back on and that money can go toward

the goal. It's families and individuals that are very different with their money and they

all know what they can do but it is fun to watch. It's fun to watch if you get to stick

around with them. So, let's get to it. Using a balanced budget means that they have to

know every penny of money that is coming into the household. Some folks don't know

how to calculate their total household income. So, you may have to help them with

this scope, I'm sure you know how. You know, if they get paid weekly, they multiply

that by 52, divide that by 12 and that of their monthly income. If they are paid

biweekly, they multiply their take-home pay by 26. And then divide that by 12. But,

they want a very clear , complete idea of the amount of money that they, in that is net.

Their net income, not their gross after they've established how much money they

have coming in , even if it is food stamps, even if it is as SDI or child's poor,

everything counts in the total household income. That is the way a budget works. If

you hold something out, that is not your true income. So then, after they do that, they

have covered their bank statements from at least 3 to 6 months, because there are

things that, during a 3 to 6 month timeframe that might not, but every month. For

instance, if you go to the dentist. You don't go to the dentist every month but I'll bet

you within the last six months somebody went to the dentist and there were some

kind of a cost to that. Maybe you don't take the car in to get an oil change every

month but that within six months you do . You want to look at 3 to 6 months. And

because we are a plastic society, have them get credit card statement as well

because sadly, there's a lot of people that are just use their credit card as income. It's

not something they cannot use to get through the month. One thought that you knew

what they're looking at, this fixed, those are good that occur every month without fail,

don't change much month to month, like rent. If your rent is $900, your rent is $900.

Plan for that everything if you haven't, don't like it car payment or student loan, that is

a fixed payment that you have every single month. Those are easy to pull off of the

bank statement is that we don't even need their bank statements for those. But,

anything like that, any child support is a, any child care that they have to pay,

anything like that. Credit cards can go either way. I can like to think of credit card is

being cut because if I have a client with credit card debt, I like them to pay it down.

That means I don't want them to pay the minimum payment. I want them to pay the

minimum payment plus another amount that they can afford so that they can pay it

down. So, although some people you just use credit card within the fixed expenses.

So they built their budget by listing all of their recording fixed expenses. And the

average amount that they dedicate to those expenses every month. And I say

average only because maybe there's a little bit of wiggle room. I would never put her

billing fixed unless they're on the budget and. If they're on the budget plan which can

actually save them money, that would be a fixed expense but they won't know what

they were doing once they get started. They subtract those expenses now from their

total net income . Now they've got some money left over. So, write down the amount

that they have left over and now they're going to make a list of their flexible Extensis.

Flexible expenses are little bit different than fixed one's enemy take a minute to figure

out even what they are. And, they may have to use their credit card as part of the

input for this but I don't want to dissuade them, even if they are using their credit card

to pay some of their flexible expenses, they have to know what it is. It has to go on

their budget. Now, flexible expenses vary from month to month. So, that could be

credit cards, it could be their electric bill, it could definitely be groceries , it could be

the gas card, there's a lot of different things that come into their budget that change

from month to month. And, they will be able to pull that up off their bank statement.

Once they got all of those, that is when I want them to look for six months. Because

there are going to be things that show up that are not every month , but, they are

important enough to put into the budget. So, all of those flexible expenses, add them

up and subtract them from the left over net income after the fixed expenses. Well now,

this is what happens. Sometimes they are in the negative at this point. Because if

they have been using their credit card, credit card is income to them. So, if they are

in the negative and if part of this whole deal of budgeting is to be able to pay

democratic art, then you got to go back and tweak. They got to tweak those flexible

expenses. We'll talk about that more later but there are ways to cut back on the

flexible expenses. It has to be a dying from everybody family. This budgeting stuff is

not for somebody to do all alone. The whole family has to buy into this. Because there

might be tweaking that will impact one person more than another. So, we've already

done the fixed expenses. We've done the flexible expenses. Hopefully there is still a

little bit of leftover money. But now let's interrupt this broadcast for an important

message. As they are going to their bank and credit card statements, they're going to

find often every time that some of their recurring flexible expenses are for once rather

than means. Maybe we don't even realize that there is a difference between one kind

of spending and another. But, have them look at their flexible stances. Have them

stop right there, and with a pen, on their bank statements, circle the ones that are

needed. I need this and they need is different for you than it is for me, but a budget is

definitely going to tell you what you need and what you want. The things that Warren

Buffett needs are different than the things I need because I can't afford the things

that Warren Buffett can afford. So my wants and needs are different. Every one of your

clients, their wants and needs will be different. It's all dependent upon their income

and what must be paid. And I'm sure you do this as well. You have to have a place to

live. You have to have utilities, you have to have food to eat, and have to have

transportation. Those are for critical things that you've got to make sure you've got

those year after that, let's see, you know, where the lay of the land is. But, have them

figure out which ones are their wants, which ones are their needs. Two lists. And then

while they're looking at the wants, the things that they purchased as wants, how would

things be different? If they did have it, and what would change if they did not have it?

If they notice that three times a month they go to McDonald's and it has become a

flexible expense, as part of their food for the month, how would things change if they

did not go to McDonald's three times a month? If they go to the mall on payday after

work and they try to find some new article of clothing to buy, just because they had

gotten paid and they need a reward, how would your life change if they did not do it

that ? Would it change negatively or positively financially? But, if the dialogue that

they can have with themselves , and the dialogue they can have with you.

Sometimes, can't tell you a story? I have worked with so many women and there was

one woman who loved TJ Maxx. Loved TJ Max. Terribly. And, she would go to TJ

Maxx and just walk around and browse. Inevitably, she would bring things home. And

this was a couple of years ago. We had a long, long discussion about maybe not

going to TJ Max if that is her drug of choice as far as spending money. So, we did not

meet for about a week and we met again and she goes, I've got to tell you, I went to

TJ Maxx and because she was trying so hard not to buy anything, she was

overwhelmed with buying things. Her little shopping cart was so filled with things that

come in the store thought she was an employee putting things away. But, that did not

dissuade her. She went and bought everything and took everything home and lay

down in the next day she took everything back. It was just a reflex to buy whatever

she could because she thought that the buying was going to be over. She wasn't

going to buy anything again because of her budget. I don't know whatever happened

to her. I have not talked to her in a while but that was an eye-opener for her.

Okay, I've got it. Now, there is always going to be irregular expenses. Even though

they don't come up that often, it's something that we should, if you're going to do a

zero balance budget, we need to add these to our budget. And, they are the things I

was talking about before. Auto insurance, birthday gifts, taxes, medical bills, tires,

summer programs for the kids, the things that come up maybe once a year, but their

big things. Big things that you have to plan for . So, these irregular expenses, what

you have figured out what they are and how much they are, divide by 12. So if you

know you're going to need tires and they're going to cost $600, divide by 12, find a

place in your budget for those tires and it is $50 a month that you are going to add

and you're going to leave it there. It's going to stay with your budget, it's good to stay

in your bank account because at some point, you are going to need tires. Subtract

those irregular spencers from the rest of the leftover income. If there is a rest of your

income. And then tweak them. Tweak, tweak until you get it so that it is zero. And what

that often involves is you're able to put money in savings, because if you do account

for the nights that you want to go to McDonald's and that is in your budget, if you've

accounted for a [ Indiscernible ], getting tires on your car, all of those things and still,

there is $50 left over and you know that you want your income minus your expenses

to equal zero, awesome. You have $50, throw it in your savings, because savings as

part of the budget as well. In fact, that is probably the first thing you should do, plan

for your savings. Once you reach 04 this month, you are good. You're good to go. Your

income minus your expenses for this month are equal to zero. And maybe you won't

tweak much, maybe there will not be a lot of tweaking with this but you're always

going to keep this budget in the back of your mind. And you are going to paste it to

the inside of your kitchen cupboard. You are going to look at it. You're not going to

go, great, done, got a budget and put it in the desk drawer and let it go. It's something

you will pay attention to.

This little bit, this that I'm going to tell you, something to think about is probably the

thing that has the most impact overall with everybody. But I talk to. Everybody. It's the

debit card. The debit card creates a situation where we don't have to have self-control.

And, there is a slew of studies out there that compare cash and corresponding

behaviors, and they all came to the same conclusion. You spend more money with

plastic. And part of the reason behind this is the association factor. You don't feel like

you're really parting with money when you swipe your card in a terminal. And children

now don't understand when you say you don't have enough money because you do.

You got that plastic card. What are you talking about? There's plenty of money. There

isn't. You know it and I know it and if you ever looked at your bank statement and

look to see where the debit card spending is, you could be horrified. In fact, there

was the woman I was just worked with, awesome woman in Brooklyn. And, she told

me right away, right from the get go in January, she said this is, futile because I don't

even have any money. I don't have enough money. You've heard this. I don't have

enough money to budget, why do I need to budget? There's nothing there. That, we

motored on. And we did a budget and sure enough, she showed me the budget. She

did not have any money to spare. So then I said, can you do me a favor? I want you

to take your bank statements just for one month and I want you to write down

everything that came off of your debit card. Write it all down. And then I want you to

separate it out and tell me what you think you had to spend and what you did not

have to spend. Well, let me tell you. This was a big deal. This was a very big deal

with her. She got back to me and she said, I'm outraged. I'm absolutely outraged. I did

not know I was spending that kind of money. In one month, February, she spent a little

over $900. This is someone who has no money to budget. A little over $900. $600 she

said she could count as needs, 304 W. And she told me that she had been wandering

around in the CVS. She was trying really hard not to use a debit card. And she was

wandering around in CVS looking for something to buy. When it occurred to her that

what she was doing was looking for something to buy. Because she was bored and

she was in CVS and CBS has a lot of good stuff to buy. So, she just e-mailed me

back today and that was pretty awesome for me to hear. But, I work with people all

the time and one thing that I tell them is to stop using your debit card. And I've had

different people, that I'm always tripping in the back of their head when they bring out

the debit card because they know it is week to pull it out and use it. I know it is and

I'm chirping in their head when I'm not even there. So, have them pull out their bank

statement. And look at all of the stuff that they have swiped four. Write them all down.

There's going to be a lot. Some things they won't know. Some things they won't be

able to identify because if they are taking cash back to the register, they won't even

know. If they bought groceries and then added an extra $40 to the grocery bill, they

won't know that they spent an extra $40. Actually, they won't know it until they do the

laundry and find $40 floating around in the washer. It's when we take the money of

the terminal when we get groceries, it is absolutely mindless. We don't even think of it.

We just know that we took money and we are free to do whatever we want with it.

Have them keep a running total as they work through their statements. Was it a

want? Was it a need? And add it all up. And they may be her aside -- horrified, they

may not be horrified. They may go, oh, this is what I spend money on. And it's okay.

But I would tell them , the money that they are using with the debit card, the things

that they really need to spend the money on, give themselves the cash allowance for

that. If you have ever brought down groceries with cash in a list, it's a whole different

event. Then going to get groceries with a debit card and the list. If you're hungry on

her way home from work and you have $20 as your cash allowance for this week, or a

debit card, you might be compelled to use the debit card because you don't want to

break into the $20. It's a hard thing to get used to not spending money any way you

want any time you want. But, if it is going to work, then you have to make it work.

You have to be conscious of every penny that you are spending. And again, that

doesn't mean that you have to be somehow punished for spending money. Spend the

money. Just make sure the money you're spending as part of your budget and you

can afford it.

And then there is the other plastic. I'm only going to say this once because this really

is painful. If someone is using their credit card as income and they have to use it, I do

debt management and I know people don't want to give up the credit cards. They

want to get rid of the debt that they don't want to give up the credit cards just in case.

So, this is what you say. If you are going to use her credit card, and you can't afford

it, then something has to happen. You have to earn more spend less. Bottom line. And

I say that all the time to people. If you can't make it happen, if your budget does not

work, you want to get out of debt, you want to stop using your credit cards, then earn

more money. Or go back to budget and find a way to spend less. Because increasing

debt with a credit card is kind of counterproductive to a budget. This whole voting

thing is to reduce debt while saving money. You want the power that comes with

saved money. You don't want to have more debt. There is no power in debt. There is

power in savings. So, I have a lot of tips. I have a lot of tips because a lot of people

that I work with are low to moderate income people and they have tips. So, I'm going

to tell you about these tests but I've got a few other tips as well. If you are getting

groceries and making meals for yourself or your family, I always believe in spending

cash at the grocery store. Not a debit card. I believe in clipping coupons for things

that you need, not things that have coupons attached. You don't need a whole

cupboard full of, you know, antibiotic hand wash, you need to to eat. So, clip coupons

for needed items. And, make your menu from the ads. So, when you're sitting there

with the Sunday as, create a menu based on what is on sale. If you want to save

money on your water consumption, don't let the water run. Don't run a dishwasher

when it is half full or a washing machine half-full. If there's any links, -- leaks, if your

toilet or bathtub is running, fix it. That'll stop the water consumption a little bit. Electric

usage. I had a woman one time told me that she and her kids were going to start living

in their van because they would not turn everything off in the house and the electric

bill was running $300 a month and she cannot afford it so she warned them they were

going to be living in a van. And she told them what had to do. So, they started turning

off the lights and unplugging computers. There were five kids. They were running

computers at night, leaving them on and that court gets so hot that that his money.

They were running TVs at night. They were leaving the pool filter on all the time. So,

they changed their attitudes and the electric bill went down. They did not have to live

in the band. But there are things you can do. Change or filter under air conditioner.

Put your electric on the budget plan. Per the lights off. Really, really, really do unplug

computers and TVs. Fast food, nothing wrong with fast food that use cash. Don't take

your debit card to the fast food store. Because then you will buy more. If you use

cash, that will save you money because it is not bottomless and you can only buy a

certain amount. Check the website for coupons. All fast food places have coupons.

Buy from the dollar menu. Skip your drink, bring water in the car. And gasoline. This is

the one that is kind of futile because gas just went up $.13 a gallon here so no matter

what I do. But, slow it down, turn off your air conditioner, empty your trunk. That's a

big one. Take things out of your trunk. And top up your tire pressure. And if you are

going to the movies, that's okay. If you want to go out, that's okay. But you know, if

you are on a budget, if you're trying to cut back, go to the matinee, use the library,

use the red box. When you eat out, go to the early bird special. Use your AAA

discounts. Or, stay home. Find stuff to do at home. At every bit of this is individual.

Every bit of this has to do with what your budget allows. And, my budget may allow

me to go out to dinner once a night was once a week or once a month. Your budget

may not. Everybody's budget is different. But, I've got a few more tips that I want to

give you. These are things I see and I use and they're always the first things that I

talk about. But the debit card away. If you really want to stick to a budget, put the

debit card away. Debit cards make you overspend. If you are taking money out of the

ATM, stop doing that. Because there is a fee. If you're not using our bank ATM, if you

are going into the gas station to pull money from the ATM, you are spending extra

money. And not so much if the funds happen in a hurry winner take money out of the

ATM. With your budget, plan how much cash you need and keep the cash with you.

It's your pocket money. Know where it is going. It's not random money to spend. Have

your savings. Any savings that you are able to budget, have it automatically taken out

of your paycheck so you never see it. If you don't see it, you won't miss it. And also,

this is a big one. Make sure that you are not the only time the family that is doing a

budget. Make sure everybody is on board. You cannot budget alone in the family.

You can't budget alone in a couple. Everybody has to do the budget with you.

Everybody has to be on board. So, start a dialogue. Talk about what is going to work.

If everybody isn't buying and, if not the time to do it. You've got to make it work so

everybody is happy. And then stick to the budget. Don't do it for a month and then

go, oh, good, I'm done, I'm good, we did a budget. It's like a tight. You don't do a dive

for one week. If you're going to be on a budget, you're going to be on a budget. It's

such a horrible, harsh word. But if you're going to watch her money and manage your

money, if you are going to make sure everything is paid on time, if you're going to get

rid of the creditors calling you, if you are going to build your credit, you have to watch

her money.

And also, if your bank does not have an online budgeting tool, if you are not with

Bank of America or Wells Fargo or whatever with those online budgeting tools, I

recommend everybody that they find an outfit they can look at their accounts. The

one I use is meant. And I wish they paid me for saying it, because I tell everybody. To

use it. Mint.com is a wonderful app that I can put my budget into that out. I put my

budget in and I can watch my money as I spend it and how close to the edge I am. I

can also look at all of my accounts every day. Partly because I worry about it. I got

identity theft. But, there are a lot of individual things that you all know that work. There

are things that your clients know that work. So, it's a group effort to find the best way

to watch the money , to make sure that every penny is accounted for, that there is

not that random money out there that is leaking away that everybody scratches their

head about. It's hard to believe, but I think that's about all I've got to say about

budgets.

Keith? >> All right. Well, thank you very much, Marlene, for that wonderful

presentation on budgets and the importance of reviewing those and sticking to those

and why everyone should have one. We do have a few minutes to go over questions.

And we've got some great questions that have come in and I'm hoping that you will

be able to assist us with those, Marlene. The first question is, how can we find

someone in our area to help a low income family go through this process and create

a budget?

Well, United Way in our area here, I'm done in Florida, they always turn with different

organizations that work with financial stability. So, that might be a good place to start.

211, also, if you have 211 in your area, 211 me hook you up with one of the

nonprofits that does this type of thing, budgeting , or just money management. I would

always go with a nonprofit, though. Not a for profit.

Okay, thank you very much. Is there any process that people should go through

maybe checking organizations out through the Better Business Bureau, anything

along those lines that you recommend?

You could. I trust you money United Way because they are a pretty tough organization

to even be recommended by. I think the main thing, though, Keith, would be you don't

need to pay a nonprofit organization or you don't need to pay a for profit company to

do this type of thing. There are tons of nonprofit organizations out there that will help.

Lots.

Wonderful, thank you very much. The next question is, we work with a large number

of individuals who are high functioning developmental disabled . Are you aware of

any programs or agencies that provide a budgeting class to disabled individuals on

very fixed incomes of only Social Security?

The one that pops into my head but it is not a national service source, Abilities. I don't

know if you have heard of them. That is in our area. But, my guess is that that is

another organization that United Way would be able to pull up and help with.

Okay.

Sorry, Keith. Just a reminder to everyone on the line, if you're looking for resources

such as curriculum for individuals with disabilities, please feel free to reach out to us

here at National Disability Institute. We'd be happy to support you in that endeavor.

Thank you, Elizabeth. The next question that we have is, I have a client struggling with

medical debt. Do you have any suggestions on how someone can work with their

medical providers ?

It depends on if it has gone to collections or not. If it has already gone to collections,

well, the damage is done if it has article into collections and even paying it generally

is not going to change the damage that is done. If it is not gone to collections, the

only hope is to go to whatever facility it is that holds the paperwork for those debts

and try to make a plan. Medical debt is tough because medical debt is so big, usually.

So, you just have to work with whoever provided the service and see if they will make

it more affordable for you. Here in Florida, for a long time, we had charity care which

would cover expenses , especially for nonprofit hospitals. I don't think we have very

many nonprofit hospitals anymore that use charity care. But, talking to the budgeting

office or the finance office and the billing office, talking to them before it gets out of

control is the number one best thing you can do. And all of you know, the best thing

you can always do is get on the phone right away and let them know that you're

having a problem. Because bottom line, they want to get paid. So if they want to get

paid, they're going to try to figure it out.

Thank you very much. We are receiving a lot of questions around motivation and how

do you motivate someone to want to take control of their finances? Do you have tips

or suggestions around that? They have to have a goal. You have to have a cold

compress it. There has to be a sin. If they don't have it. We are asking them just to

intrinsically start putting their money, they're not going to sit with. There has to be a

reason. Maybe they want to did not think it would be possible and show them how

they could retire if every month they start talking away $100. It has to be a folder they

will buy into. That's the only way. >> You mentioned either more or spend less. What

are some ideas of how clients in the past or more money?

I'm a big fan of part-time work. And temporary work. I know everyone else does like

me but I go to indeed.com and I have found.walking jobs for people, you know, $10 an

hour to walk her dog. Kelly services down here is real big and teleservices will put

people into temporary part-time jobs . It's not as easy for people to earn money and I

have been working recently with folks that you need to just little bit more money .

Some of them I said if you have an extra room in your house, maybe you could rent a

room out and some people have actually done that to get a little bit more money . It is

individual to whoever you're working with and what their situation is. Some people will

not want to work a second job or will not be able to use a second job. Get creative

and work outside the box. That is the fun part of our job, what is it in their life that we

could do to get them to earn a little bit of extra money? It's actually easier to spend

less than it is to earn more. But, if you go to indeed.com, indeed.com and look for

part-time jobs, you're going to get a lot of ideas.

Wonderful. Another question came in. You mentioned Mintz.com but are there any

other resources, apps that you are available that you use on a regular basis? >> Mint

is the one I use all the time. A lot of things have their own and are not really familiar

with a lot of the other ones. But, there are others out there, and you could do a

search. Just make sure anything that you're going to use, go on YouTube and find out

if it is a valid app to use, if it's a good one. Don't get into anything that is not secure.

>> This is Elizabeth. Also, you know, we here at NDI, we love amongst our staff to

check out all of the different apps that come up. Hello wallet, power wallet, Mint, cash

trails, pay perks, there's a lot of different apps that we test out . So if you come upon

something and you're kind of wondering about it or we also have someone here who

will kind of test the accessibility of different apps for us. So, if we can be of support for

you in that way, please return to us and let us know.

Elizabeth, do you guys have a favorite?

It depends on what staff member you are talking to. Some of that depends on age

and the tech savvy nest of the staff. So, it really depends. >> Thank you, Elizabeth.

We did receive another question in the chat box. How do you help someone budget if

their income is only for part-time work?

Actually just happened to me. It's really hard to budget money if your income is only for

part-time work because that may not be enough to make ends meet. So, the first thing

you have to do is write down everything that you have to pay. Have to. So, those four

things again. A place to live, utilities, food and transportation. Those are the four

things that you have to pay for. If your part-time income covers those things, then

you're going to have to cut back everything else. And it does become punitive at that

point if you're only able to work part-time. So, that's when you start looking, well, if I

have two bedrooms, can somebody live with me and share the load of the expenses

of living here? What can I put my electric on the budget and? Are there other

resources out there for low income people? Part-time work is often not an easy way

to run the budget because you are going to run into the red every month. Unless you

really cut back. And just look at the very basics.

And we did have someone pocketed the chat box , just to send a reminder to

everyone that folks can also take a look at referring to other programs and agencies

that that individual may be eligible for. Which is a great suggestion for many of the

questions that have come up today, relying on those other partners who are doing

some of the services or supports that would complement the needs of the people

you're serving. >> Thank you very much. Well, we are coming up on the one hour

time set for this webinar. And, there were a few questions that we were not able to

get to. So, I would recommend that I will take a look at those questions and/or get

those to Marlene and if there are any other questions that come up after the fact,

again, my e-mail address is kcombs@ndi-inc.org and I would be more than happy to

work with any questions after this webinar. But, again, we do want to thank our

speaker today, Marlene Ware and Elizabeth Jennings four hour technical support.

And, we are in the process of setting up for our next webinar which is going to be

April 9 April 9, 2014 from 3 PM until 4 PM. The topic that is going to be measuring the

financial capability of persons with disabilities. This webinar as well as past webinars

can be accessed through our website, www.realeconomicimpact.org . All of our

trainings and webinars are archived on the website for you to view after we deliver

them here. But again, we do want to thank everyone for attending the webinar today

and a special thank you to our sponsors . We would like to recognize again, Walmart,

Inc. of America, Acorda Therapeutics, the Burton Blatt Institute , and the IRS. Some

ways to remain and connected with the National Disability Institute, again, our

website is www.realeconomicimpact.org . They're also on Twitter, Facebook,

YouTube, Flickr and Tumblr, and thank you for your time today and we look forward to

next month's webinar.

Thank you, Marlene.

Thank you, guys.

Goodbye. >> [ Event concluded ]