The Poor Man’s Budget: a 5 Week Course – Learning to Live Within Your Means

Do any of these describe you?

• More month than cash
• Decent income, no idea where the money is going
• Fixed income, can’t make ends meet
• Low-wage earner, struggling to make it work
• Single parent, struggling to make it work

Do you have dreams and desires that have sat on the wish list for way too long because you can’t afford them?

This course will help you:

• Assess where you are,
• Learn the difference between wants and needs,
• Learn when to avoid the deals and when to embrace them,
• Discover spending habits to change or update,
• Discover where you can recoup lost income, learn how to pay down debt,
• And more!

These lessons all come straight from the author’s life as head of a low-income family. This author lives squarely in what many have come to label, “the working poor”. “The Working Poor” are those who have jobs of some description, but are unable to or struggle to pay the bills on a regular basis. This author is not a financial advisor in any way, not an accountant, nor a debt-loan officer. Therefore, the lessons taught here are down-to-earth, practical, and will leave the student walking away with a clear idea of where they are, where they need to go, and how to get there. Further advice regarding debt management, savings options, etcetera beyond what is shared in this course, should be referred to a trusted financial advisor in your area.

As this author is also a Christian, financial and household lessons from the Scriptures may be mentioned occasionally. The Bible is a very practical book, and heeding its lessons in these matters has assisted many people in turning their financial picture around.

Course Composition

This is a 5 week course, with a one-hour session Monday to Friday. Each week covers a different overall theme, and each day builds on the previous day within that week. The first two weeks build on each other and the final week ties everything together with a celebration social at the end.

You can expect that each day’s session won’t last longer than two hours or be shorter than one hour. If you require a private meeting from your instructor to assist you in completing a given day’s assignment, please mention this to them at your earliest convenience.

Resources and Requirements:

If you anticipate taking this course from your phone or tablet, without access to a printer, or if you just prefer a book in your hands, you will need to grab a copy of the Student Workbook.  This workbook that will contain the necessary worksheets and homework reminders for the next five weeks. If you need more of a given worksheet than what is included in the workbook and can’t access the documents provided with this course, please feel free to request a worksheet PDF from your instructor.  If you do not have Amazon Prime, please order your workbook so that it arrives before the course starts.

You will also need:

• Large manila envelope,
• Pencil – preferably an ever-sharp or similar to avoid losing sharpeners or running out of sharpened pencils.
• Access to the Internet in class and after class at home or at the local library.  Some exercises will be best done with access to the Internet to make use of maps, rental websites, online banking information, utility package research, etcetera.
• Clipboard or thin binder by Week 3 if you don’t already own one.
• Calculator will be necessary as well.  If you have a smartphone, tablet, laptop or computer, your calculator is already provided, but if you prefer a separate device to the one you are taking the course on, make sure to have a calculator on hand.
• Access to a scanner or multi-function printer to scan your assignments and send them in during each day’s or following each day’s session if you prefer to do things on paper as opposed to the online documents that will be provided with this course. From time to time, your instructor will need copies of your work to facilitate other sessions along the way as well.

Course Fees
Part of learning financial management is to learn appreciation for funds spent on a given pursuit. To that end, we strongly suggest you choose the option to pay $5 each day you attend class. In total, that will work out to $125 including bringing your $5 to the celebration on the last day. Anything worthwhile requires effort. Your instructor will create an invoice for you that will track your $5 payments.  If you have the funds up front and prefer to pay that way, you may, but we do encourage the $5 per day method instead.

If you can’t afford the daily fee or the total cost of the course up front, your instructor may do a financial assessment with you to determine covering costs later in the course timeline.  From time to time, sponsorships may be available.

Nature of Class-time
Your instructor will have a blue pen and a red pen on hand, and will have a very hands-on approach to guide you through each day’s assignments. Time will be given to students who don’t understand the assignment or need guiding through it. Please use the text areas in the webinar screen to ask questions and get help. This course is therefore, not one overly filled with lectures, but one where most of the session time will be spent working on each assignment and doing your best to complete it ahead of the next session.

Punctuality
You are strongly encouraged to show up early, and be logged in with your own mic and video muted, ready for class time to start punctually. During the review week, your instructor will look back over the previous four weeks’ attendance records and if many of your fellow students are regularly tardy, they may take a moment to discuss the importance of punctuality with regard to holding down the necessary job to cover their budget sheets. If you are part of a particular class that is always punctual, perhaps a special surprise on the celebration day to honour such behaviour might be anticipated.

Augmentation
This course is by no means the end-all when it comes to teaching people how to live within their means on a limited budget. Many other worthy resources also exist, and some by very respected Christian leaders in the field. Feel free to augment this course with such additional resources as your instructor makes you aware of them so that you can continue learning to improve your lot in life.

NOTE: The concepts and lessons taught in this course may be quite foreign to you. To help you put them into practise, it is strongly recommended that you choose the appropriate accountability partner. Don’t choose someone who enjoys spending the same way you do, rather, choose someone who seems to have a better grasp on their finances to keep you accountable as you learn to put these principles into action.