Fruit Inspection

Tonight I went to a class at our church that I had been wanting to take for over 2 years. As a matter of fact, 2 years ago, I received all the books and study guides for the class. I made it through chapters 1 & 2, then found out I was pregnant. In addition to caring for 22 month old Savannah and puking in the bathroom, we were also building a new home and selling our existing home, which meant packing and moving. Needless to say, I never made it past chapter 2 and when I looked for the books today, they were still in the original case.

What class am I talking about? Crown Financial’s budget couseling course.

When I first found out I had an opportunity to be a budget couselor, I was very excited. It is definitely right up my alley! Besides the fact that I get to help people organize (my favorite word) their finances, I also get to use my money management skills.

I give my mom all the credit for my having these skills. I watched her budget their money from the time I could peek over the top of the kitchen table. When I became the treasurer of my church youth group, she taught me how to manage a checking account. And all throughout my childhood, she gave me opportunities to save my allowance to purchase things I really, really wanted. I can still hear her saying, “when it’s gone, it’s gone.” And she was right.

I think I did pretty well budgeting my finances as a single person with my own apartment and not the greatest paying jobs. There were times when I had less than a dollar in my checking account, but all my bills had been paid on time, and that felt good. Slowly, I even managed to open a savings account.

I became aware of the public need for budget counselors when I spent a little time as a loan officer for a local mortgage company. I was shocked as I reviewed applicant’s credit reports! No, shocked is an understatment! I truly did not know that there were that many people who didn’t understand how to manage their finances. I would say 8 out of every 10 people I met with, were in serious trouble. There were VERY FEW folks who came to me with good credit who could get into a home without borrowing money from relatives to pay off past debts and/or contacting credit bureaus to have their reports fixed to show deliquencies as paid. It was incredibly frustrating.

Equally disturbing to me was the fact that mortgage underwriters would willingly approve loans for people that, by looking at their salary and monthly bills, they could tell were going to be barely scraping by. Hook up cable and ya’ll won’t be eating THAT month! I don’t think the underwriters were evil people, they were following government guidelines. Maybe the recommendations needed to be updated. I don’t know. All I do know is I wanted to take every one of my clients by the hand and explain to them exactly what was about to happen. For several of them, I wanted to shout, “YOU CAN’T AFFORD THIS!!!” But it just wasn’t possible. It wasn’t part of my job. And that really would have pissed off the real estate agent that was trying to get a sale on a new home!

I kept that job only long enough to realize there is a huge need out there for budget counselors. Unfortunately I did get into trouble once with a credit card, and I understand the sinking feeling that comes along with owing more money than I made in one year! And I want to help other people get out from under that.

This particular course teaches money management straight from the Bible. Praying over purchases, being good stewards of that which God has given to us, and tithing are just the tip of the iceberg. I can’t wait to dig into the material and learn even more. And don’t worry, I plan to share many tips and tidbits as I go along in my studies! :)