Register now for our Saturday Money Classes | Free Financial Workshops for Residents of Erie & Huron Counties

Limited seats are available. Information on the three sessions is below:

1. Budgeting & Managing Debt

This seminar should focus on helping attendees take control of their day‑to‑day finances and reduce financial stress. Key elements include:

Building a Practical Budget:

• Teach participants how to track income, categorize expenses, and create a spending plan that balances needs, wants, and savings. Show how to use simple tools (apps, spreadsheets, or envelopes).

Understanding Cash Flow:

• Explain how to anticipate upcoming expenses, manage irregular income, and avoid common pitfalls like lifestyle creep.

Debt Types & Prioritization:

• Break down good vs. bad debt, the differences in interest rates, and how credit card, auto, student loan, and personal loan debts work.

Strategies for Paying Down Debt:

• Introduce frameworks like the debt snowball (behavior‑focused) and debt avalanche (interest‑optimized), and help attendees decide which fits their situation.

Avoiding Debt Traps:

• Discuss predatory lending, minimum‑payment dangers, and habits that lead to recurring debt cycles.

Participants will leave with action items to get started

2. Understanding Credit & Developing a Saver’s Mindset

This seminar blends credit education with behavioral finance to build long-term financial discipline.

How Credit Works:

• Explain credit reports, credit scores, factors that influence them (payment history, utilization, length of history, etc.), and how lenders use credit.

Building & Repairing Credit:

• Provide actionable steps such as reducing utilization, paying on time, disputing inaccuracies, and using secured cards or credit‑builder loans when appropriate.

Healthy Borrowing Habits:

• Cover how to use credit responsibly and avoid behaviors that damage long‑term creditworthiness.

Cultivating a Saver’s Mindset:

• Shift the focus from reactive financial behavior to proactive planning. Discuss financial habits, delayed gratification, automation of savings, and emergency funds.

Behavioral Triggers:

• Help attendees identify emotional spending, impulse triggers, and ways to build consistent saving habits over time.

Attendees should walk away with the ability to improve and protect their credit and a psychology‑based framework for becoming lifelong savers.

3. Introduction to Investing

This seminar is designed to build confidence and remove the intimidation factor around investing.

Why Invest:

• Explain the power of compound growth, the cost of waiting, and how investing helps achieve long‑term goals like retirement, education, or building wealth.

Basic Investment Types:

• Introduce stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, real estate, and cash equivalents at a beginner-friendly level.

Risk vs. Reward:

• Cover diversification, volatility, market cycles, and how different risk tolerances shape portfolio decisions.

Retirement Accounts & Tax‑Advantaged Options:

• Provide a high‑level overview of 401(k)s, IRAs, Roth IRAs, and employer matches—why they matter and how to use them.

Getting Started & Staying the Course:

• Teach how to set goals, choose beginner‑friendly strategies (such as index investing), automate contributions, and avoid emotional decision‑making.

Participants should leave understanding how investing works, what tools they can use, and how to confidently begin building a long-term portfolio.