Non-profit financial literacy event held in CIE

Izayah Morgan / The Gatepost

By Francisco Omar Fernandez Rodriguez Arts & Features Editor The non-profit organization Planned to A.T. held a financial literacy workshop in the Center for Inclusive Excellence (CIE) on April 22. Their co-CEOs, cousins Ashley Rutland and Tiffany Pearson-Kilgore, taught their budgeting course at the event. Attendees were encouraged to follow along with the presentation on their phones, where they could answer questions asked to the group. Pearson-Kilgore said their goal as an organization is to teach people how to manage money. She said it’s important to “start thinking about what you’re spending your money on.” She asked attendees to think about what they spend on a daily basis, such as getting coffee in the morning or a snack before class. On a weekly basis, the expenses could be gas or public transportation, she said. On a monthly basis, it could be a subscription for a streaming service. She asked everyone to think about where they get their money, such as a job or their family. Next, they discussed needs versus wants. “Understanding your need versus your wants is really the baseline of understanding how to budget well,” Pearson-Kilgore said. She asked if an Uber or other rideshare service is a want or a need. She said it depends on the context, such as whether the person owns a car and when they need a ride. In the United States, it is common for people to spend a lot on their wants, she added. “A lot of times in America, we like to swipe, swipe, swipe our credit card and put ourselves in debt for things we don’t really need,” Pearson-Kilgore said. When going to buy something, it’s important to ask if it is really needed, she said. Could it wait, or could this money be used to earn interest, she asked. “Because that’s really going to get you financially stable over the long haul,” Pearson-Kilgore said. They did an exercise with the group where everyone wrote what they spent in one month on ten sticky notes. Then they were all placed on a white board under “wants” or “needs,” though many notes ended up in between. “If you’re not looking back to see what you’re spending you’ll never check yourself,” Pearson-Kilgore said. This exercise helps people notice where they’re spending their money, such as at a specific store or eating out in general, she said. Emma Laurie, program coordinator for the CIE, asked what to do when friends want to eat out. Pearson-Kilgore said she would go and just get an appetizer, or just a drink, or eat however she wants that time and turn them down the next time. Jerome Burke, director of the CIE, said one of his friends asked if they could switch from going out to primarily visiting each other’s homes, which is cheaper. They passed out sheets with SMART goals on them. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timebound, she said. For each letter, participants were asked to write a goal. For S, Pearson-Kilgore used the example of saving enough money for a downpayment for a car. For M, she asked how much money would be needed. For A, she asked where the money would come from, such as a job or allowance. For R, she asked everyone to be realistic on how long it would take to save enough money. This could shift the entire goal, too, which is perfectly fine, she said. For T, she asked for a deadline. This gives something to work toward and can push people toward achieving their goals, she said. “If you know that you’re really trying to meet your goal by a certain date, it gives you more of an incentive to actually meet accountability,” Pearson-Kilgore said.