My Soapbox

I am graduating FINALLY from school this semester. I have been working on my senior project/thesis. I know, you all want to know what it is on -- you can't stand the excitement! I have been researching all semester on our new community of St. George and Washington County, Utah and the need for financial and housing education in the area. It may be boring to most of you, but I find this stuff fascinating. Let me spend a few minutes on my soapbox...
Let's be realistic. The entire nation has been cutting back on everything for the last few years. Some people can decrease expenses successfully however, others need the help of a professional to guide them through the daunting task of creating a budget and sticking to it.
Who knows how many thousands of consumers are underwater in their mortgages, meaning they owe more money on their home, than it is worth. Many of those homeowners feel that it is best to just declare bankruptcy or default on their mortgage loan and lose their house to foreclosure when they can no longer make their payments. Most of these consumers do not know what other options that they have. Plus everyone is doing it!
I was under the impression that there were not any available businesses to help educate the members of Washington County, Utah with their housing and financial needs. I had not heard of any such places that would help members of our community. Using research, I found that there actually are places available. They are non-profit businesses that do not have much money to spend on advertising, so their expertise is unknown to the general public. Most people I have spoken with in my neighborhood in St. George, had never heard of these businesses or knew of the services that were provided by them. Yikes! How is this happening?
When speaking with one educator, she said she hasn't been offering those kinds of classes because there aren't enough people who enroll in the workshops. She said that the general public is not motivated on its' own. They need some kind of incentive to come learn how to handle their finances. What?!? Are you kidding me? How about that you won't be going further into debt every month because you don't know how to balance your checkbook. Or how to shop for bargains? I can't believe the stupidity! I cannot believe that people think, "Oh, let's just all declare bankruptcy and let the banks forclose on our mortgages. Then we will only lose our homes and our redit will just be tainted for ten years. It will be a fresh start." Talk about not being responsible for your own choices.
Then there are other businesses swamped with customers. They teach monthly first time homebuyer workshops and have one-on-one counseling sessions for people who are interested in buying a home. Most of the members of the community attending these workshops are required to attend to get a housing grant for a down-payment assistance program through HUD. There is that incentive!
You would think that with members of our communities facing all of these financial troubles of the last couple of years, the demand for classes and workshops on these topics would be in such high demand that people would be standing in lines outisde the door to get help with handling their finances better. But what do I know?
I spend unbelievably low amounts of money on groceries, clothes, and household products because I have always needed to. It has been the story of my life. It is NOT something that is "cool". It is something that is neccessary. There are actually some classes called grocery smarts that my sister-in-law teaches. They could help people save a ton of money on stuff they use everyday if they do it right. Basically, there are sources out there everywhere, most of them completely free of charge to members of the community. They are in my community and yours. PLEASE USE THEM!