A FINANCIAL workshop is underway to help people get out of debt and make better choices with their money.
Scott Pearson, who organized the event at the Terrace Alliance Church, said he’d been listening to Dave Ramsey, the person who came up with ideas that are part of what’s being called “financial university” workshops here, and found Ramsey’s advice to be helpful.
And with the economy down for the past few years, Pearson believed it could help people out.
“With the Eurocan shutdown and in the last couple years, Terrace not economically doing well, people could use a bit of help learning to manage what they can do better with their money,” said Pearson. “My wife and I learned to budget a lot better and use our finances a lot better and put ourselves in a better situation to avoid a potential risk of debt.”
All people need to do is a few simple things and they will find out they have more money than they think they do, said Pearson.
“Most people, once they do a budget, right away they find they have way more money than they thought they did, and once you do that and get used to it, the security of having all the bills paid and you have extra money to do other things, you kind of get attached to that feeling and do not want to give up,” he said.
Last week, Pearson said the workshop, which takes place over 12 weeks, was about one-third of the way through.
“It’s been extremely well received,” he said.
About six families are attending, which is a nice sized group, he added.
Budgeting is a big thing for people who have never done one before, said Pearson.
“I think it’s changed a few perspectives on the theory of debt and history of debt,” he said.
A lot of people have commented that they had no idea our culture was so focused on marketing and debt.
And Pearson has picked up some more knowledge he can use.
“Yeah, different ideas of little things I can tweak in our own little budget and how to relate to my wife and communicate together and set our goals,” he said, adding he wanted a course on debt management to stress how a couple can come together, have the same set of goals, set a plan and achieve those goals.
“Then when you start running into hard times, you both have a plan and stick to one direction.”
But learning how to handle your money debt-free and doing it long-term are two different things.
“It’s a total life change and a different way of handling money, not just for the short term because then it’s not too good for you,” he said. “You have to do it for the long haul and results happen. It’s the same predictable thing, the same thing over and over and over again and it just works.”
Pearson hopes to do another workshop in the spring.