Topic 2: Spending & Savings Plans

Budget Scenarios 1& 2 (pdf) (Community Vision) Tool: Budget scenarios see how money choices in sample budgets affect bottom line in step 1. Step 2: adjust spending choices for our budget scenarios.  (Budgeting, Income, Prioritizing, Fixed/Adjustable Expenses)

Bill Calendar (pdf) (CFPB) Tool: Editable PDF of a calendar to help users to visualize when bills are due.

Creating a Cash Flow Budget & Adjusting a Cash Flow Budget (pdf) (CFPB) Tool: Instructions to help the user set targets for how to allocate income moving forward, and an editable PDF to add income and expenses. (Income, Cash Flow, resources, worksheet, getting through the month)

Blank Cash Flow Budget & Basic Budget Template (pdf) (Community Vision) Worksheet: Blank worksheet to use to fill in when creating a cash flow budget and basic budget template that compares budgeted amounts compared to actual expenditures, and see how you can improve your cash flow by adjusting your expenses on this calendar. (Budget Reconciliation, Worksheet, Expenses)

Cutting Expenses (pdf) (CFPB) Ideas for finding ways to reduce your expenses. (Paying bills, getting through the month, budget)

Personal Finance Spreadsheet (xlsx): Amazing excel spreadsheet with financial goals, monthly income, expenses, unsecured debt, net worth, bottom line, amortization table, (personal budget tracking, weekly, balance, extra payment)

Prioritizing Bills (pdf) (CFPB) Tool: Making a short-term plan can help you identify the consequences of failing to pay certain bills. This can help you prioritize your expenses if you just can’t pay everything. (Paying Bills, job, insurance, housing, debt)

Financial Coaches, Let’s Be Upfront About Economic Structural Racism (article) (Dedrick Asante-Muhammad) We should acknowledge that people of color trying to stay afloat in our regressive economy are doing so with a leaky boat. Financial education messaging is too often presented as if individual behavior and attitudes are the cause of our growing economic challenges rather than our social, economic, and political systems.

Our Broken Economy, in One Simple Chart (article) NYTimes. Only a few decades ago, pay for the middle class and the poor was rising even more rapidly, in percentage terms, than the pay of the rich. In recent decades, by contrast, only very affluent families — those in roughly the top 1/40th of the income distribution — have received such large raises. Yes, the upper-middle class has done better than the middle class or the poor, but the huge gaps are between the super-rich and everyone else. The basic problem is that most families used to receive something approaching their fair share of economic growth, and they don’t anymore.

Sample Paycheck #1 (pdf) Sample Paycheck #2 (pdf) (Community Vision) Content: Sample Paychecks to help show parts of a paycheck, learn what different deductions mean (withholdings, deducations, etc).

Choosing how to get paid  (pdf) (CFPB) Tool: A detailed handout on ways to receive income and benefits with definitions, benefits, risks and helpful tips (Income, Definitions, Benefits, Risks, Cash, Paper Check, Direct Deposits, Payroll card, Government Benefits Card).

Evaluating your prepaid or payroll card  (pdf) (CFPB) Tool: Evaluate the cost of prepaid or payroll cards with categories such as fees for adding money and getting cash, checking my balance, Loss and errors, managing a card, and using my card. (Choosing Financial Products and Services, payroll, pre-paid)

Increasing income and benefits (pdf) (CFPB) Worksheet: Details strategies and ideas for ways in which one can increase income. (Increasing Income, Strategies, Short Term, Long Term, Planning)

Improving Cash Flow (pdf) (CFPB) Strategies you can use to improve your cash flow.  (getting through the month, cash flow budget, expenses, income, public benefits, bills, tax withholding) 

Common Monthly Leaks (pdf) Essential Expenses (pdf) (Community Vision) Worksheet: See how small common purchases add up over time.  (Worksheet, Expenses, Spending leaks, prioritizing expenses)

Saving and Asset Limits (pdf) (CFPB) Tool: If you receive public benefits there can be limits on how much you can have in assets before the benefit is cut off. It’s important to understand these limits to make sure your savings goals don’t affect the benefits you receive or are applying for. (saving)

Oregon Helps (link) (211info) Link to an online screening tool (Eligibility Estimator) for numerous government benefit programs that encompass food and nutrition, health care, housing and utilities, children and family resources, and financial benefits and services for older adults and adults with disabilities. Answer questions about people in your house, income and expenses. This site will estimate your potential eligibility for 33 programs and assistance.  Available in English, Spanish, Russian, and Vietnamese.

Link to Radio segments on Personal Finance (Warm Springs CAT)

This includes a variety of 2-4 minute radio segments about managing personal finances, from KWSO 91.9FM. (Spending, Saving, Assistance, Records, Personal Finance)