Budget planning

[ellyodd]

How do you plan your budget? I can't figure out how to do this at all, I spend money I don't have. Well, I do have them, but I spend money the wrong way and suddenly don't have enough for... toilet paper and pasta. I don't have loans and stuff like that, I really, really want to avoid that. But if I don't figure out how to make plans on what to buy when, I'll probably need a serious loan some day... Right now, I live on my own, and I have about 150 us dollars a month after rent. That's for toothpaste, food, fun and stuff I need (like transportation). And it's not easy to balance anything with 150 dollars a month, you know...

I would appreciate ANY tips. And if you have an accountant, what exactly do you use him/her for?

[R]

Hi Elly,

I'm just new on here but I wanted to reply about your problem ..perhaps you could use the envelope system.. by putting the amount you figure for food, transportation, recreation ect. in separate envelopes. If you keep your money for those expenses inside & put the reciepts in there you can see whats happening to your money & feel a bit more in control of it.
I have an accountant for investments & I have no clue what thats all about. I just hand over extra money I didn't spend & sign anything he wants & have no choice but to trust him. I know the amount almost doubled & then things went bad with investments & I think now I just have the same as I put in there many years ago.
R

[ellyodd]

Hi, welcome to the forum

Well, I have tried to make a budget of how much to spend on this and that, but it always goes wrong. Haven’t put the money in envelopes though, just wrote the numbers on a piece of paper. Maybe I should try that, thanks! I will probably have problems still, because I don’t have enough money, but that part I cant do anything about

My bills are getting paid automatically, so I don’t have to worry about that part.

Unless you are a millionaire, I don't think the guy wants to steal your money, so I think its ok to trust him
I hope he invests in the right things now...

[Lucere]

Seems to me that a lot of financial consultants and accountants are missing the boat by not gearing their business to people with dyscalculia. I suspect there are a LOT of people with dyscalculia out there that need help.

If you are not making a lot of money, the envelope system sounds good. The only trouble with that is that, if you pay all your bills first, then keep all the cash in envelopes, your checking account will register a very low balance, and that would seem to be bad for your credit rating...

I don't make a lot, and cannot yet afford to hire a personal accountant, yet I make too much to be keeping it in envelopes. I'm going to try paying all my major bills online. But I would still need to keep track of the overall balance in my checking account.

Lucere
lucere.blogspot.com/

[ellyodd]

I was thinking... there must be a lot of dyslexics out there who has problems understanding this too, cus they can’t read the official letters and stuff like that... But I've never heard of any accountant helping with that. But that would be a good market... an accountant advertising for dyscalculic people.

Checking account, what is that in Danish... hm... Like, check books? I don't have that. I get money once a month, they go into a bank account, the bills are getting paid automatically (a Danish system, most people have that) and then I go to the atm for money every time I need some. I want nothing to do with credit cards etc. right now, so the not being able to get credit-part about the envelope-system doesn’t bother me.

I would loooove to get visa, Amazon here I come... but I don't have the money to spend

[Lucere]

So I kinda took the initiative, and contacted the Executive Director of the Learning Disabilities Assoc. (U.S.) and asked for advice about budgeting, if there are any financial counselors for dyscalculics, etc.

It's just that, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that dyscalculics are being discriminated against by lenders, and credit institutions, etc. And that bothers me. It might not be the case in Europe, but in the U.S. ) it is.

Here's a copy of the letter below. It'll be interesting to see if I get a response:

Lucere

Dear Ms. Browning:

I'm a member of a new discussion forum on dyscalculia, (see: dyscalculia.proboards40.com/index.cgi?board=living&action=display&thread=1102368002&start=0 ) and we are beginning a discussion about how dyscalculics can learn to budget their money, and just handle finances in general.

I'm also in the process of trying to clear up credit problems (see my weblog, lucere.blogspot.com/). In trying to clear up my credit record I'm beginning to realize that there really isn't much out there to help dyscalculics with financial problems. Also I'm realizing that the way the credit system is set up discriminates against anyone with dyscalculia. For example, I was just told by my credit counselor that I shouldn't request to see my credit record (even if it is for the purpose of clearing up my credit & paying off my bills!) if my credit rating is low, because just pulling my record will lower my credit rating further. For awhile, when applying for a refinance loan, I asked lenders to speak slowly and explain terms, because I have dyscalculia. But now, I realize that this could cause them to discriminate against me, and turn me down for a loan because I'd be considered a risk.

So if you are not already set financially, or married to a partner who is good with money, if you are poor, and/or single, and/or female, and/or a minority and dyscalculic, you already have the system working against you! (I'm located in the United States, but the discussion forum is international)

Do you know of anyone who specializes in working with dyscalculics and finances, who can advise us on handling money, budgeting, and dealing with lenders and bankers? Because our Dyscalculia Forum is international, can you let us know if there are any other dyscalculia associations in Europe or Denmark (where the person who runs our forum is located).

Do you have any thoughts about this, or possible solutions?

Thanks for your help,


Lucere (my online name)
lucere.blogspot.com/

[Lucere]

So I got a message back from the executive director of the LDA, Jane Browning. Here's what she said:

"There is a group in Denver called the National Endowment on Financial Education which develops training curriculum for a very broad array of special interest groups. They have produced books for parents of children with disabilities, women receiving financial assistance (TANF), people just coming out of prison, adults with mild mental retardation and many others. I can talk to them about our producing something for people with learning disabilities and especially dyscalculia; I would hope you would be involved with me in talking to them about this. Great idea on your part, and thanks very much for getting in touch.



Jane Browning

Executive Director

Learning Disabilities Association of America

4156 Library Road, Suite 1

Pittsburgh, PA 15234-1349

412-341-1515 ext. 202

4112-344-0224 (fax)

www.ldaamerica.org

Join LDA in creating opportunities for success"


----- Apparently, there is nothing available to help us with budget planning, or anything like that. But at least there is a possibility of putting something together through the National Endowment for Financial Education.

I told her that I'd be happy to help in any way.

Elly, sorry, there was no answer to your question about an LD organization in Denmark! I'll keep an eye out for it though, when I'm browsing the web...

Lucere

[Lucere]

....In the meantime (sigh), I still haven't balanced my checkbook..... !!!

Lucere

[ellyodd]

Hi Lucere

Wow, that was a quick answer!

Dyscalculia is still so unheard of, so I kindda thought there wasn’t any help to find yet. It's cool that she wants to help, though, right?!

I hope you feel like going further with this - and let us know about your "work"

So you don't get your accountant to help with balancing your checkbook??

[Lucere]

I can't afford an accountant yet, sorry to say. I'm the accountant, and not a very good one!

Yes, it sounds like she does want to help. and I'll be very interested in helping out, too. I keep you all posted on what happens with this.

Lucere

[ellyodd]

Good luck!

[prometheamoth]

Any update on this?

[prometheamoth]

I would at least know what kind of financial professional I would be looking for to do this for me.