Original message from: brown.consulting@yahoo.com
To the listserve,
Thanks
to everyone who responded to my request for budget, safety net and
intake tools. As promised, below is a summary of the responses. I hope others find it useful too.
(Please note that the listserve does not accommodate all the attachments people sent, so I've noted -- and named -- them below. Please feel free to e-mail me directly at brown.consulting@yahoo.com if you want me to forward you any of the attachments.)
________________________________
From:April Charney
<April.Charney@jaxlegalaid.org>
the chapter 13 bankruptcy schedules are a great place to
start and then you can add a rule of thumb for how many months or years of a
safety net you believe is acceptable for safety.
From:"Porro, William"
<WPorro@miamigov.com>
We use the Dave Ramsey model.
From:Douglasmoritz
<douglasmoritz@comcast.net>
As a self
employed person, this is a unique view of buyer’s credit because you need a
formula for the relationship of mortgage debt to liquid assets, which banks
won’t use.
Loan amount
should not exceed liquid assets plus a cushion of at least 25% for
deterioration of those assets. Borrower still has to meet total debt-to-income
ratios.
25% cushion
is subject to negotiation for existing borrowers that show excellent payment
history.
From:Diana Meyer
<dianaameyer@gmail.com>
Freddie Mac's Credit Smart tools on their website are good.
Tribe Coaching has a financial literacy board game if your are
interested. www.tribecoaching.com
From:Inger Brinck
<ipbrinck@gmail.com>
I'm not sure this is what you're looking for, but there is something called the
Self-Sufficiency Calculator. It was developed in California by the Nat'l
Economic Development & Law Center, which is now called the Insight Center
for Comm'y Econ Development. Getting access to the actual calculator requires
registration, but here's the link to the website with more info about it: http://www.insightcced.org/index.php?page=calculator ('http://www.insightcced.org/index.php?page=calculator')
Also, there is one for Washington state: http://www.thecalculator.org/ ('http://www.thecalculator.org/')
From:April Charney
<April.Charney@jaxlegalaid.org>
another set
of forms are the financial affidavits that all persons seeking divorce with
children have to fill out with the courts to set child support. Usually these
forms are free online at your clerk's office website.
From:Anthony Busch <tony@prioracfm.com>
I have
developed cash flow budgeting and management software for the business owner to
improve the performance of their business. If you are interested in learning more about this software, please visit
my web site atwww.prioracfm.com or call me on my cell so I can
answer any questions you may have.
I have also
developed a Family system, but it is a bit on the advanced side.
From:ishrag dirar <ishrag@yahoo.com>
You might want to check these links:
http://www.starone.org/home/tools.financial;jsessionid=B3F051CA761BD32CCA27E4D 1C53C0F68.falcon1e ('http://www.starone.org/home/tools.financial;jsessionid=B3F051CA761BD32CCA27E4D 1C53C0F68.falcon1e')
http://www.community-wealth.org/_pdfs/articles-publications/individuals/paper-ibarra.pdf ('http://www.community-wealth.org/_pdfs/articles-publications/individuals/paper-ibarra.pdf')
From:"Williams, Andrew"
<awilliam@incharge.org>
1) As far as a personal safety
net calculator, we don’t have exactly what you are looking for; however we have
a wide variety of financial calculators available at http://www.incharge.org/Credit_Counseling/Resources/Calculators/Default.aspx. ('http://www.incharge.org/Credit_Counseling/Resources/Calculators/Default.aspx.')
2) We have an online budget
calculator available at http://www.incharge.org/Credit_Counseling/Resources/Calculators/HomeBudget.aspx ('http://www.incharge.org/Credit_Counseling/Resources/Calculators/HomeBudget.aspx') that you are welcome to utilize with your clients.
3) You can use our evaluation
tool at https://webcounseling.incharge.org/debtslider/InChargeDebt.aspx?vdn=8016 to begin a discussion with your clients. The tool helps to measure the
consumer’s financial stress and debt levels and calculates a stress rating
based on eight variables. This tool is a great
conversation-starter.
If a consumer’s debt stress level is high (rated on a scale from 1 to 10) they
can opt to complete an online counseling session where our system will utilize
root cause information , income, assets, credit file data, and budget data to
present potential solutions to the consumer. Because we utilize credit
report data, the consumer is not required to have their financial records
to complete the online counseling session.
From:"Werner, Lisa"
<werner@wesbanco.com>
You may like
some of the tools that are available through America Saves:
http://www.americasaves.org/resources/estimators.asp ('http://www.americasaves.org/resources/estimators.asp')
From:Gillian Franks
<gfranks@cvoeo.org> (Attachment A: Intake Form p.2)
But we have
found it useful for measuring before and after results.
The idea of
the “safe buffer” calculator is nice. Would you let me know if you find one?
From:Brendan Wilbur
<bwilbur@alternatives.org> (Attachment B: Intake Sheets1)
I work as a
financial counselor at Alternatives FCU and I use the attached intake form to explore many of the questions you have posed. I focus on
tracking your expenses and I try and stay away from words like budget, instead
using words like spending plan or savings plan. www.mint.com is a great tool for
seeing where your money goes if your bank or credit union is supported by their
system. Sorry to be so short, please feel free to follow up if you have
more questions.
Cheers, Brendan Wilbur
From:Shirley Worthington
<shirleyw@uwca.org> (Attachment C: MonthlyBudget_09 Utah)
This is a
tool we find useful—not sure that it addresses what you are trying to assess.
From:Marion N. Zajac
<MZajac@njeda.com>
I don’t have
a tool, especially here in the office, but I am a budget and tax professional,
as well as a microenterprise knowledge worker here in New Jersey and just
helped my daughter with such a plan – “how long could she eat, live and pay her
mortgage with no job?” This process would also be true of a business
owner.
Basically, I
led this conversation with a series of questions and her responses fed the
knowledge. Essentially, it could be put on paper by first understanding
the personal budget and defining the “want” vs. “need” spending analysis.
Next, we incorporated the financial resources from all avenues. Then we
calculate, based upon the annual “need” cost of living, how long she could
survive without a job.
If eligible,
you would need to factor into the numbers the amount and length of unemployment
paid by the state in which the client resides.
One other
comment, the client must have knowledge of their spend rate and habits and be
HONEST with you and themselves, something which is not always true.
From:Nancy Hudson
<hudson.2@cfaes.osu.edu>
A tool we've used with success with not only low-income/low literacy clientele,
but also general population is: Counting Your Money Calendar.
Do a search by title at: http://estore.osu-extension.org/ ('http://estore.osu-extension.org/')
You might also be interested in the Master Money Mentor curriculum also
available at that web site.
From:Jonathan Sprague
<jonathan.sprague@fpanet.org> (see Attachment D: Emergency Spending Plan 090317)
1) Attached
is a one-page monthly budget sheet designed to answer the
money side of that. It’s new so don’t have feedback yet on how it works in practice.
Also check the series of worksheets for people who have been laid off athttp://www.extension.org/pages/Sizing_Up_Your_Financial_Situation. ('http://www.extension.org/pages/Sizing_Up_Your_Financial_Situation.')
2) The
unicorn of personal finance. I know people who love the new services with
automatic bank account updates (Mint, Wesabe, Quicken Online, etc.). They do
eliminate the problem of manual updates, but the need to give them access to my
bank accounts has kept me wary, and they probably work best with people who
mainly use checks/cards rather than cash. All online budget tools I have
checked out are impossibly difficult to fill in, to update, or both.
3) Take a
look at http://www.suddenmoney.com/Public/Public/MoneyShockManagement/index.cfm. ('http://www.suddenmoney.com/Public/Public/MoneyShockManagement/index.cfm.') Probably not what you’re looking for but it helps a person in crisis get
at the personal priorities upon which financial priorities have to be built --
i.e. the logical priorities for a domestic violence survivor might be job,
checking account and rental apartment, but a planner ran her through the triage
and found that her one and only personal priority was taking care of her kid
with MS and all financial counseling had to take that as the starting point in
order to make sense to her.
From:Amy Klassen
<aklassen@DenverCommunity.coop> (Attachment E: Budget analysis and Attachment F: Budget Handout - Final - for writing on)
I like this
site for calculating debt and savings payments:
https://powerpay.org/
This site
has different quizzes and intake forms:
http://www.financialmentoring.net/downloads.html ('http://www.financialmentoring.net/downloads.html')
I’ve also
attached a form I created but honestly, I mostly just take
notes while my clients explain their situation. I ask them “what’s going on?”
and I have yet to get someone that is hesitant to tell me their story.
They do leave out some details, though, so once I get a full picture, we do an
income/expense worksheet (also attached) and then go from there.
The budget
analysis is a sheet used by one of my teachers from
financial counseling school – combines basic info w/ income/expense/debt stuff.
I’ve heard
great stuff about Mint and Wesabe but I haven’t used them yet.
From:Ivan Barriga ibarriga@mission.coop
Hello Amy: We are developing a financial counseling program in San Francisco. I pasted a copy of our intake form below. Can you please share the responses to your questions with us? Thanks so much, Ivan Barriga
New
Response
Please complete this form for each new client
1 Site Coordinator/Case Manager Name *
2 Date of Referral *
MM/DD/YYYY
3 Client Phone Number
What is the client’s presenting issue? (please check all that apply and provide more detail as appropriate)
4 Credit *
No Yes
5 Debt *
No Yes
6 Budgeting *
No Yes
7 Banking *
No Yes
8 Setting financial goals *
No Yes
9 Other *
No Yes
10 Details/Other/Is there anything else about the client that will be helpful to know before the session?
Client demographic information:
11 Ethnicity
African-American Asian Caucasian/Non-Hispanic Latino/Hispanic Multi-Racial Native American/ Alaskan Native Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian
12 Date of Birth
MM/DD/YYYY
13 Gender
Female Male Transgender
14 English proficiency
Fluent (read, write and speak) Conversational (speak, some reading and writing) Low (minimal to no speaking skill)
15 Education attainment
Did not complete high school High school diploma or GED Some college or advanced training Four-year degree or more
16 Number of people in client household
Number
17 Zip Code
From:Keven Cotton <kcotton@cfed.org>
You may be
interested in posting your question(s) to theIDAnetwork listserv(http://www.cfed.org/act.m?parentid=18&id=121&listserv=228). ('http://www.cfed.org/act.m?parentid=18&id=121&listserv=228).') The
IDAnetwork listserv is an email gateway to the individuals, organizations, and
ideas that are collectively shaping the Individual Development Account (IDA)
field. As a member of the IDAnetwork listserv, you can exchange information and
ideas with other IDA programs. These groups provide financial counseling to
low-income consumers a help them to purchase homes, start a business or pursue
post-secondary education.
CFED has
also worked withMuslimah Ramadan at IMPACT
Technology, Inc. Her company provides The Financial Assessment System(http://www.cfed.org/imageManager/_documents/Youth_Eship_Materials/Sample_Assessment.pdf), ('http://www.cfed.org/imageManager/_documents/Youth_Eship_Materials/Sample_Assessment.pdf),')
which allows programs to easily assess their client’s cash flow, credit use and
debt summary and is designed to help clients gain a broader understanding
of their personal financial situation and improve financial behaviors. The
system allows programs to produce a Financial Assessment Report in real time,
which includes recommendations, strategies and instructional content that are
specific to the client’s needs. Clients are able to view their current
financial status and identify next steps needed to reduce debt and begin
building assets. Feel free to contact Muslimah at: muslimah@financial-assessment.com
From:William Myers <Bill@RunontheBank.net>
I personally think the Responsible Debt Relief Program answers a couple of the
questions you are asking. Here's a web link: http://www.responsibledebtrelief.org/ ('http://www.responsibledebtrelief.org/')
From:Stephen Taylor
<staylor@khic.org>
You can try
the following link.
www.crown.org/Tools/Calculators/Budgeting_SpendingPlan
From:Bea von Hagke
<beavh@hilltowncdc.org>
Bankrate.com has a wide variety
of calculators to use, including one on emergency saving. I have used
some of these calculators in the past and have found them useful. I don't
know if they will suit your particular needs, but it's a start.
From:Tim Lohrentz
<tlohrentz@insightcced.org>
Have you
seen the self-sufficiency calculators that many states have developed? We
manage one forCalifornia:http://www.insightcced.org/communities/cfess/calculator.html. ('http://www.insightcced.org/communities/cfess/calculator.html.')
Thanks
to everyone who responded to my request for budget, safety net and
intake tools. As promised, below is a summary of the responses (with
attachments pasted as noted). I hope others find it useful too: