Generosity pays

Giving can be a touchy question for many people. Often when I am reviewing monthly expenses with my clients here as a financial counselor and I get to the "Donations" item on their monthly expense worksheet, they scoff and say something like, "I'm the one who needs a donation." I frequently will press the matter a little further and encourage them to consider giving. And when I say giving, I mean money. Time is great, clothes are great to donate, but I'm talking about money here.

Giving can help you take a step toward freedom, freedom from the tyranny of money. Giving sets in motion a principle of the universe: when you give you receive. Suze Orman discovered this principle in working with clients as a financial planner. In her book, "The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom," Ms. Orman tells how she learned to give and how that resulted in prospering more. She decided to try it out on her clients and she found that as clients followed her advice to regularly give to charity, they prospered more. She says, "The better people felt about themselves, and the more they kept their hands open to receive by relinquishing money, the more their financial situation improved. It was thrilling."

If you are feeling like things are too tight or that there is not enough, release your grip. Give some money away. See if it will not come back to you and more. Furthermore, a newletter today from Learnvest.com points out: "The benefits of giving to others have been documented on a neural level in MRIs—even those forced to give money away showed activation in brain areas typically associated with receiving rewards." It makes you feel good. And feeling good can generate a lot of positive energy in your life. Besides it helps people, and gets your focus off your problems. Give it a try and report back how it works. I'll be waiting to hear.

Know the Score!

It's only a three digit number, but what an impact it can have on your life. The three digit number I'm referring to, of course, is your credit score. Do you know what your score is? Your credit score is a number that lenders and businesses use to determine how risky it is to do business with you. It is based on information that is in your credit report. A mathematical formula is used to rate you according to how you pay your debts(do you pay on time?), how much debt you have, how much of the credit available to you are you using, and many other factors.

How can it impact your life? A low credit score can cause insurance premiums to be higher, interest rates on car, house and other loans to be higher or you may not get a certain job. It is told that a poor credit score can cost you $250,000 over a lifetime. A good score gets you the best interest rates, premiums and other opportunities.

Have you put off finding out what your credit score is? Sometimes fear or maybe procrastination prevent us from taking charge of our financial lives. If you want to be in control of your finances instead of being controlled by them, face the fear and take a step to secure your future. Once you know what is there, you can take steps to improve your financial life. Take advantage of the class being offered here at FISC: Know the Score: Building and Keeping a Good Credit Score. For more info follow this link: http://www.fisc-cccs.org/assets/docs/Building%20Good%20Credit%206_2010.pdf . In this class you will learn some of the secrets of credit reports and you will also get a copy of your credit report from Transunion.

Day 26 and No Starbucks!

So me and my family have been challenging each other to save money...as much as we can...this year. One big expense was eating out every Friday night. The average ticket was about $38 plus tip. We have opted to eat out only 1 time each month and make homemade piiza on the other Fridays. Savings...$130

This doesn't include the last minute runs to McDonalds or Culvers because we were "too tired to cook" That was about another $50 per week. Now we stay home and cook. It might be Mac N Cheese and Spam but the Savings.....$200

I also decided to cut all trips to McDonalds for coffee or to Starbucks for even better coffee. Average was about $4 per work morning. Now I pack my breakfast and drink work coffee. Savings...$80.00

We also decided to stop any gas station runs for soda, water, candy, whatever...this was probably about $10 per week. Savings.....$40

When we get our tax return, we are going to pay off our vehicles...CAN"T WAIT! That payment is $400 per month.......Savings.....$400

I started making my own laundry soap. I was an avid TIDE user to the tune of $9 per jug. The homemade stuff works just as good and only costs $3 for 10 GALLONS! (Yes you heard me right). Savings....about $10 per month

MONTHLY GRAND TOTAL SAVINGS (drum roll please)........$860!!!!!!!

Can you say....Cha Ching??

Dave Ramsey-Check your facts!

Many of us here at FISC are Financial Information nerds-we just can't get enough. So we listen to many "experts" in the field such as David Bach, Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey. And we love them! But recently an article by Dave Ramsey was brought to our attention and had us giving him second thoughts. His article, "Do Debt Management companies Work?" was filled with errors and gross generalizations.

This especially disturbs us because it can stop people from coming to FISC to get help. Helping people is what drives us. FISC was started in the 1980's by a man, Dennis Jansen, who was on the verge of suicide because of his struggles with money. He went to his friend John Robinson for help. John helped Dennis learn how to budget and pay off his debt in a non judgmental way. The two of them began sharing their experience with others, usually at churches and found that many many people wanted help with their finances. They took a leap of faith, quit their jobs and launched a ministry to help people who were stressed and beat up by money.

We still teach the basics of what they taught, and use the same tools they used to help people get in control of their finances. The core concept is that we all must spend less than what we earn. When someone comes to see us, that is where we begin. How much do you earn? How much do you spend? How can you spend less than what you earn? If a person would have a large amount of credit card debt, and other types of debt, we can offer debt management plans.

A debt management plan usually allows you to lower interest, may lower payments and pay off the debt in 5 years or less.

Here is what Dave Ramsey said: "Debt management companies are a bad idea. Some of these outfits act like it's rocket science to try and get out of debt....Continue to reinforce to your clients that real debt help is found only in behavior change. That's why these companies don't work--they simply don't treat the source of the problem. True debt management is about one thing--controlling your money." Let me answer him. We agree! Our theme is "Changing the way you think about money." We work extensively to teach and challenge our clients to do just that. Now there may be what we call, "Debt Mills" out there who just want to figure out what your payment is on a debt plan, sign you up, and leave you without any further knowledge of how to manage money. But that is not us.

We have helped many people pay off debt, who if were not for the debt management plan would have had to file bankruptcy. Dave Ramsey goes on to say that being on a debt management plan will trash your credit. His words: "When someone uses one of these companies and then tries to get a conventional, FHA or VA loan, they will be treated as if they filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Not only that, but mortgage underwriting guidelines for traditional mortgages will consider their credit trashed." This is completely false. So, how does being on a debt management plan affect your credit score and ability to get a mortgage?

Being on a debt management plan is not factored into your credit score at all, so in and of itself will not lower your credit score. Over time, with paying off your debt on time every month on the debt management plan will improve your score. Now there can be a problem if a creditor says you have a past due amount and continues to report you past due. Your solution to that is to catch up on whatever that past due amount is. As far as mortgages, the lender will want you to be on a Debt plan for at least 12 months before getting a mortgage. After that you are considered as any other person, with the emphasis on the score. After a year on a debt plan you will have decreased your debt, so your score at that point should have improved unless you have late payments or past due amounts. That is the same on or off a debt plan.

A debt plan is not a bankruptcy, cannot be rated as a bankruptcy on the credit report and only those who are not knowledgable would consider it as a bankruptcy. And they would be wrong. From what I've seen, the ones who describe it that way are trying to sell you a product, either a refinance or a bankruptcy.

A Debt management plan is not for everybody. But financial counseling is for everybody, no matter who you are, it never hurts to get another perspective on your finances.

New Foreclosure Prevention Workshop

If you or someone you know is facing foreclosure, FISC's new workshop will prove to be very beneficial...

FISC offers FREE housing counseling services to help homeowners understand their options to avoid foreclosure. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED Call 800-366-8161

Learn about:

*Avoiding foreclosure rescue scams
*How to work with your loan servicer
*The role of your housing counselor
*Additional community resources
*The foreclosure timeline
*Documentation required by lenders

5:30 p.m.- 7:30 p.m.
Menasha Office: Every 2nd Thursday of the month
Oshkosh Office: Every 3rd Thursday of the month
Green Bay Office: Every 4th Tuesday of the month

PLEASE NOTE: Oshkosh and Green bay workshops will begin in July. Menasha will begin in August.

We passed the test!

As of May 7, 2010 FISC was once again accredited by COA. “What does that mean?”you may ask. Let me explain that a little.
A team came in and measured what FISC does against national standards of best practice, which emphasize services that are accessible, appropriate, culturally responsive, evidence based and outcomes-oriented. The process took about 9 months, many hours and many people. In addition to the Team members at FISC; representatives from Finance, People, IT, Environmental Services and the Leadership team were involved. All of the help was invaluable.
FISC wants people to know that it is a non-profit organization that people can trust. We will always have the interests of the people we serve as most important. By being accredited there is more proof that we care enough about our clients to go through this intense process and continue to strive to give the best care available.
FISC is a Consumer Credit Counseling (CCCS) agency that helps clients with budgeting, getting out of debt, housing issues, bankruptcy and financial education in the community. We are proud to be a program of Goodwill NCW.

Facing Foreclosure?

As many know and have heard on the news, foreclosure is a growing problem in Wisconsin. If you or someone you know is facing foreclosure, please take note of the following information...

• There may be programs available to you to help your situation. Check with your lender to see if you might me able to get a reduced payment through a mortgage modification or obtain a forebearance (payment plan to catch you up).
• FREE counseling is available! Contact your local CCCS agency for housing counseling. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY A DIME FOR FORECLOSURE ASISTANCE/HOUSING COUNSELING. STAY AWAY FROM ANY COMPANY THAT CHARGES AN UP FRONT FEE TO HELP "GET YOUR HOME OUT OF FORECLOSURE." THEY ARE SCAMMERS!!!!
• Beware of counseling agencies that also offer property flipping (in other words, if they can't help you with your mortgage they "conveniently" list and sell your property at a profit).
• Some counties offer a mediation program where you can request mediation to help resolve your mortgage problems during a scheduled mediation session. The cost is $100 and free housing counseling is a part of the process.
• If you are contacting your lender on your own to work out a modification or agreement: document all conversations, keep track of names and extension numbers and fight the good fight! It can be very frustrating calling a mortgage company and getting transferred, disconnected and given inconsistent information. Contact your lender at least weekly for status updates.
• Do not hesitate to get help when needed. the worst thing you can do is nothing at all. Ignoring your mortgage company will not "make it go away." Call FISC for help.