Relief Society Financial Night

Who would've thought that an evening devoted to finances could be so informative and interesting? Not me. I've had an aversion to anything involving finances since I was in grade school and had to figure out how much change I would get back after using a 5-dollar bill to buy 9 apples at 35 cents an apple. Well, not anything involving finances. I'm not averse to owning cash, for instance. But how do you get it in the first place? And what do you do with it after you've got it? How do you make it last? These and other questions were answered with sound advice at our Relief Society Financial Activity last week.

Brother Denton told us about his calling as the ward employment specialist and how the LDS employment center has workshops and specialized, personal coaching available to not only help you find a job, but also how to improve your resume and make yourself more marketable. He also reminded us that there is a free financial class and lessons available online at Provident Living (click on Family Finances on the left side of the front page).

Next, Suzan Wallen spoke to us about her experiences as she learned to budget. She showed us a few books that helped her, including The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn and Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine. She told us that a major contributing factor to having a successful budget and a happy life is to change your attitude from one of “have-not” to “having”. Suzan mentioned that she would be happy to relate more of her experiences and explain more about budgeting and saving money to anyone interested in learning more.

Caren Hahn then shared an article from BYU Magazine by Riley M. Lorimer called “How to Build a Solid Financial Future”. One of her handouts also illustrated an ideal way to plan your finances and budget. She made the point that insurance should be the bedrock, and that budgeting and living within your means should be the foundation. She explained that it is important to know where you are financially and to know where you're going – to have financial goals.
Finally, Heather Johnson enlightened us with the benefits of using coupons and the many ways to get discounts. She broke down her preferred methods into different levels of simplicity and time involved on her handout. She told us about several websites (also in her handout) that she has found helpful in saving money on groceries for her family.

Afterward, we enjoyed yummy chocolate and vanilla-strawberry trifles Heather made. We also drank hot chocolate which Heather bought for only twenty five cents a box using her coupons!

There are a few extra handouts available if anyone wants them, but for your convenience, here are some of the useful websites that were mentioned:

1) mvelopes.com (a budget planning site based on the original cash in envelopes method)

2) BYU's personal finance site (has lots of ways to help with budgeting, saving and planning ahead)

3) Pinching Your Pennies (a great site to find deals online and in Utah, just scroll down till you see the "Utah Shopping Secrets" Facebook page to find some great deals)

4) Savvy Shopper Deals (excellent for grocery discounts - go to the Shopping Wizard and you can search by item. Heather said she found the training videos to be extremely valuable in getting her coupon education)

5) Money Saving Mom (has good nation-wide deals, especially for drugstores like Walgreens)

6) Deal Seeking Mom (has a good page on Walmart deals - the link's right at the top)

7) Coupons.com, SmartSource.com, and RedPlum.com (all internet coupon websites)

8) Hillbilly Housewife (not a coupon website, but it was mentioned for it's cheap, cooking-from-scratch recipes)

Note: I'd like to thank my mom for helping me out with this when I was sick and my brain was drawing lots of blanks. Thanks, mom! =)