Building a budget; financial experts share tips to save with students
MILWAUKEE - At Milwaukee’s South Division High School, senior Jamarri Burns is thinking about the future.
"Always spend money on the right things," Burns said.
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The football player has a different kind of coach to huddle with in the classroom.
Through the group SecureFutures, financial experts offer students one-on-one help twice a month. They are the money coaches.
Jamarri Burns
"I call it the blocking and tackling of finances," said Tino Arvanetes. He is the Growth and Client Engagement Director for Prescient Financial Solutions. Arvanetes volunteers his time with SecureFutures. His talks generally start by stressing the importance of a budget.
"A budget is really telling your money where to go before you look at the end of the month and say, ‘where did it go?,’" Arvanetes said.
"You receive money at a young age, and you’re just influenced by everything around you," said Lilyana Soto. "You just want to spend, spend, spend!" A year ago, Soto was sitting in an Milwaukee Public School classroom just like the one at South Division. When the bell rang, she’d leave school to work two part-time jobs. "I constantly would receive these big checks. You don’t know what to do with them. You just think, ‘I have money, I can buy something new.’"
Soto wasn’t saving. SecureFutures helped her understand the most important part of budgeting: needs versus wants.
"A need is literally a necessity – something you cannot live without," Soto explained. "Compared to wants where you may see something online and say, ‘oh, that looks nice. But you don’t need that.’" Soto found so much value in what she learned, she’s now volunteering with SecureFutures to help current students gain financial knowledge.
FOX6’s Bret Lemoine stood in front of the classroom at South Division and asked students to raise their hand if they’ve created a budget for themselves. Nearly every hand in the room shot up. But then Lemoine asked how many students actually stick to their budget. Few said they do.
"You can’t just be a great saver and not enjoy the fruits of your labor as well," Arvanetes said. "Go out and enjoy it – but to what extreme, right?"
To help sort it all out, Arvanetes suggests the 50/30/20 rule. Look at your monthly income and break it into three categories:
- 50% for needs - like rent and groceries
- 30% for wants - like a dinner out or a streaming service subscription
- 20% for savings, investments and to establish an emergency fund
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"Take inventory," Arvanetes said. "Take stock of what’s coming into your household and your back account." But how do you begin to budget for the unknown? "The rule of thumb," Arvanetes said, "is to have three to six months’ worth of money available to you if something does happen."
Burns told us he keeps a budget and checks his finances daily. For today and tomorrow, Burns hopes he’s on track for a financial touchdown. "I want to live a life that’s worth living.