Welcome

Chapter 1: Planning Your Spending

All financial successful households understand this prime truth:

It’s not about the income. It’s about the spending.

No matter how much money you earn, you can spend it all in a matter of hours or days or weeks. Just ask the large percentage of mega lottery winners who end up back where they began financially (or worse) within a matter of one or two years.

Complete the following lessons to learn more about the relationship between financial success and expense planning (aka budgeting).

 

Fixing Your Bills and Spending

Fixing your bills and spending refers to trying to fix them at a set amount to be paid at the same time each month, not correcting what is broken.

Watch the following video to learn how to turn variable and even periodic expenses into fixed monthly expenses.

17-Minute Video

To successfully pass the module quizzes, we expect that you will need to view each lesson video.
 

Budget Forms and Apps

There is no one way to create or use a budget (also known as a spending plan). You need to find the spending plan format that works best for you, not for someone else.

In this video, we’ll review percentage-based spending plans like the 50-30-20 and Money Pie budgets, the “Refrigerator Budget,” the traditional budget, the envelope budget, and the automatic budget, along with having a discussion about which budgets work best and when.

14-Minute Video

To successfully pass the module quizzes, we expect that you will need to view each lesson video.

Stop Punching Holes in Your Money Bucket

While the biggest problems in our finances often come from the biggest financial obligations we incur, such as a mortgage or car loan too big for us to afford, we often encounter households that allow so many small and frequent purchases to accumulate that they financially choke on what are individually insignificant expenses.

Watch this video to get a better understanding of where your money is going. It’s not about depriving you of what you enjoy but of ensuring your money (in large quantities and small) goes to your top priorities.

16-Minute Video

To successfully pass the module quizzes, we expect that you will need to view each lesson video.

The Money Fit 52-week Savings Challenge

Financial experts have long promoted savings as the first and most important “bill” you should pay each month. Adhering to the mantra to “Pay Yourself First” leads to a more stable and secure household, allowing you to weather emergencies and unexpected expenses while also preparing for short-term expenses that you cannot pay for with a single paycheck.

In the video below, go through week-by-week steps to help you start your household savings now, without the pain associated with the recommendations to start saving 10% or 15% of your income now or impractical advice to double your savings every month. The Money Fit 52-week Savings Challenge will have you saving 10% of your income long before this time next year.

16-Minute Video

To successfully pass the module quizzes, we expect that you will need to view each lesson video.

5 Strategic Savings Moves

How much should you have in your emergency savings fund? Where should you keep the money? Should you mix it with your vacation money?

Watch the following video to discover some definitive answers to these and other questions about your emergency savings.

14-Minute Video

To successfully pass the module quizzes, we expect that you will need to view each lesson video.

Chapter 3: Your Credit and Your Debt

Credit and debt seem to go hand in hand.

Unfortunately, too many people think they are one and the same. The reality is that you can have an excellent credit rating but have a lot of debt. You can also have a terrible credit rating and no debt.

The ideal is to have an excellent credit rating and no debt. This is not just an ideal but quite possible.

Complete the following chapter 3 lessons to learn how credit and debt are related and how they affect so many aspects of your daily life.

The 550 Degrees of a FICO Score

If you were developing your own credit score, would you not think about creating it on a 0-100 scale? Or maybe 1-1,000? It sure seems logical, right?

Instead, the most common credit scoring model (FICO) has a score range of 300 on the low end to 850 on the high end. We may not know why FICO chose this range, but we can help you better understand the following:

• Why does your credit score matter? Who uses it and for what purposes?
• What does the excellent credit really mean and what can it do for you?
• What scoring range(s) will get you the best interest rates on a home loan?
• Why do you have three FICO scores and why are they different?

15-Minute Video

To successfully pass the module quizzes, we expect that you will need to view each lesson video.

Where Can You Get Your Free Credit Scores

Is there such a thing as a free lunch? Problably. There’s also such a thing as a free credit score. Actually, there are lots of free credit scores.

Watch the following video to learn not only a bit of how FICO scores differ from VantageScores but where you can get each for free. Plus, you will find out how to get your scores each month, each week, and even each day!

15-Minute Video

To successfully pass the module quizzes, we expect that you will need to view each lesson video.

Credit and Your Car Insurance

Why would your credit rating play a role in how an insurance company determines your policy premium? It doesn’t seem logical, there the companies make a compelling argument. Learn how in the video below.

Also, learn more about the multiple factors that affect the cost of our vehicle insurance and what you can do to improve your credit score, thereby lowering your monthly car or truck insurance premium.

15-Minute Video

To successfully pass the module quizzes, we expect that you will need to view each lesson video.

Your Credit and Job Interviews

US law may prevent prospective employers from denying a job application due to personal bankruptcy, surprisingly they can take the applicant’s credit history into account when making the decision to hire her or him or not.

Watch the following video to learn which industries almost always include your credit history in their hiring processes along with what they use (spoiler alert – they can’t use your credit score).

Additionally, you’ll see your credit report from the prospective employer’s point of view to see what he or she might learn about you.

Finally, you will go through some of your rights as they pertain to your credit reports and the hiring process.

20-Minute Video

To successfully pass the module quizzes, we expect that you will need to view each lesson video.

Do-It-Yourself Debt Relief

When it comes to getting out of debt, you have many options to choose from. The following video will take you through four of the most important and helpful methods for getting out of debt on your own: Avalanche, Cascade, Landslide, and Snowball. Each has its advantages and will fit some people’s needs more than another.

You won’t find much about credit card balance transfers and debt consolidation loans, though, since these are not debt relief and certainly not debt-elimination methods. These two debt moves simply shuffle your debt and usually backfire on the borrower, leaving her or him with more debt than they started with.

Finally, you’ll go a little beyond the DIY methods to better understand your three debt relief options when you feel you need to turn to a third party.

31-Minute Video

To successfully pass the module quizzes, we expect that you will need to view each lesson video.

Upside-down Car Loans

Since the turn of the 21st century, it seems the government has come up with debt relief programs to help consumers struggling with just about any kind of debt: mortgage work-out programs to keep homeowners in their homes, student loan forgiveness and debt repayment plans, and even business debt relief options during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, you won’t find any government programs to help you keep your car or truck if you don’t or can’t afford to make your monthly payments.

Watch the following video to learn what your options are for dealing with an upside-down car loan, whether you can’t afford it or you have to get rid of it.

20-Minute Video

To successfully pass the module quizzes, we expect that you will need to view each lesson video.

ID Spy: Identifying and Minimizing Identity Theft and Identity Scams

Few experiences feel more financially frustrating than falling victim to a scammer you thought was legit. The following video will introduce you to 12 different types of identity thieves and scammers, from the traditional pickpockets to phishers and flaggers, from divers and posers to surfers and trolls.

Learn to recognize common forms of identity theft so you can better prepare yourself the next time someone approaches you with the intent to steal your personal information.

Finally, go through a list of six very easy-to-use steps for protecting yourself and those you love.

24-Minute Video

To successfully pass the module quizzes, we expect that you will need to view each lesson video.

Chapter 4: Housing Rights and Protections

Whether you’re a renter, first-time homebuyer, or long-time homeowner, you have legal rights meant to protect you from discrimination and unfair actions on the part of landlords, lenders, real estate professionals, and sellers.

Complete the following lessons to learn about the legal protections in place regarding your housing needs.

Chapter 4: Legal Protections

Although the highstory of the fair housing movement extends back to the Civil War of the 1860s, the federal government began passing current fair housing and anti-discrimination laws and protections during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

These laws and protections include the following:

• 1964: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act
• 1968: The Fair Housing Act
• 1968: Architectural Barriers Act
• 1972: Title IX of the Education Amendments Act
• 1973: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
• 1973: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
• 1974: Section 109 of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act
• 1975: Executive Order 11063-Equal Opportunity in Housing
• 1975: Age Discrimination Act
• 1990: Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act
• 1990: Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act
• 1994: Violence Against Women Act
• 1994: Executive Order 12892-Leadership and Coordination of Fair Housing in Federal Programs: Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
• 1994: Executive Order 12898-Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations
• 2000: Executive Order 13166-Improving Access to Services for Persons With Limited English Proficiency
• 2001: Executive Order 13217-Community Based Alternatives for Individuals With Disabilities

Examples of Illegal Practices and Discrimination based on Protected Classes include:

• Refusing to rent, sell, or negotiate housing
• Setting different terms, conditions, or privileges for sale or rental of a housing unit
• Imposing different sales prices or rents
• Evicting a tenant or a tenant’s guest
• Refusing to make a mortgage or provide other financial assistance for housing
• Appraising a home differently because of its occupants or its neighbors
• Charging higher interest rates and additional fees than normal
• Limiting privileges, services, or facilities of an apartment complex
• Assigning a tenant to a specific building or particular section of a community/complex
• Denying or providing delayed maintenance and services
• Falsely denying a unit is available for rent or a home is for sale
• Making statements on advertisements that indicate a preference against a protected class

Learn more below about each specific class of discrimination

Race

Race involves more than skin color discrimination. Race-based discrimination may also involve the individual’s hair texture, facial features, interests, habits, and cultural customs. Race tends to include much broader populations than color alone.

Examples of racial discrimination in housing can include:

• a prospective landlord requiring applicants to submit a photo with their application
• a rental application including a field for identifying race
• a realtor refusing to show you a home in an upscale community
• a lender charging you higher interest or additional fees because of your race
• an online lender requesting a photo of you before processing your application

Color

Skin color can be associated with a race, but it is not the same. Color may involve variations of lightness or darkness of skin pigmentation, but skin color may not imply a specific race. Color discrimination can occur between communities with different races or even within communities of the same race.

Examples of housing discrimination based on color:

• Landlords refusing to rent to someone with dark skin
• Realtors refusing to show homes in certain areas because the prospective buyer has “middle eastern” looking skin

Religion

Religious discrimination in housing can take many forms, but it revolves around the single difference of your religion. Housing providers, lenders, realtors, and others involved in the sales or rental processes may not treat you differently because of your religion, whether you have shared it verbally or whether they assume it based upon the clothing you wear, your language, or your personal grooming habits.

Examples of religious discrimination in housing might include the following:

• Falsely telling a prospective applicant dressed in a hijab that there are no rental units available when a sign outside clearly states there are
• A lender refuses to provide you a loan because they only work with borrowers of their own faith
• An apartment identifies as a “safe Christian community” in its flyers
• A realtor steers a prospective buyer away from looking at homes in one neighborhood to instead show homes in another neighborhood where many residents are of the same faith
• A property manager allows Christmas lights but not non-Christian holiday decorations
• An apartment complex allowing a community room to be used for parties and secular gatherings but not for religious purposes by the tenants.

NOTE EXCEPTION: If a religion, church, or faith-based organization runs a housing complex for non-commercial purposes and does not discriminate based on race, color, or national origin, it may give preference to adherents of its own faith.

National Origin

Often identified by discrimination based on the person’s limited English proficiency, this class of discrimination also extends protections to immigrants.

Examples of such discrimination include:

• Being denied housing because you do not speak English
• Being unfairly targeted by rules against immigrants
• Being denied a housing application because of your immigrant status
• A realtor refusing to show you homes for sale in a certain area
• A realtor recommending homes for sale in a community for immigrants
• Being denied housing because your manner of dress suggests you come from outside the country
• Advertisements stating immigrants are not permitted or wanted
• A landlord or seller requiring extra forms of identification, such as a Green Card, Passport, or Social Security Card.

Sexual Discrimination and Harassment

You cannot be denied housing or housing services based on your gender, and you have the right to housing and related services (e.g. maintenance) without being subjected to sexual harassment.

Examples of sexual discrimination in housing include:

• Charging different rent based on gender
• Quid pro quo situations where the landlord or representatives request or require sexual favors in exchange for services
• The landlord or representatives make lewd comments about the tenant’s body or subjects the tenant to unwelcome touching, kissing, or groping

Personals identifying as LGBT may also have protections under the Fair
Housing Act, HUD’s Equal Access Rule, or state and local anti-discrimination laws.

Familial Status

While local state and federal restrictions exist regarding maximum occupancy of dwellings, a property owner cannot deny your application because of your familial status, whether single, pregnant, foster parents (or in the process of becoming a foster parent), married, living together as an unmarried couple, or as the parent(s) of one or more children.

Here are a few examples of illegal discrimination based on familial status:

• It is illegal for property owners to evict you if because a child has joined your family unless it causes your household size to exceed the legal limit.
• It is illegal for property owners to force families with children to live on a specific floor (e.g. first floor or third floor).
• It is illegal for property owners to refuse to rent to families with children.

NOTE EXCEPTION: Residential housing communities designated for older persons may include rules that exclude families and children based on age.

Disability

Persons with disabilities have legal protections provided by the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). One or more of these laws and statues will apply to public or private entities that own, operate, or lease places of public accommodation, most private housing, government housing, public housing, federally-assisted housing programs and activities, and any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

Protected disabilities include deafness, blindness, intellectual disabilities, partially or completely missing limbs or mobility impairments requiring the use of a wheelchair, autism, cancer, cerebral palsy, diabetes, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia.

Examples of discrimination based on disabilities include:

• Refusing to rent to someone with a disability without offering reasonable accommodations
• Evicting a person with a disability without offering reasonable accommodations
• Asking to see the tenant’s medical records or even the severity of her or his disability
• Refusing to allow a disabled tenant to make reasonable modifications to the living unit at their own expense (e.g. lowering counters and sinks, modifying kitchen appliances, installing ramps)

Fighting Unfair and Discriminatory Housing Situations and Policies

If you are unsure as to whether you have been the victim of housing discrimination, contact a local HUD housing agency to discuss your concerns. In cases of miscommunication, your concerns may be resolved satisfactorily without submitting a formal complaint. However, if you feel you have been unfairly treated for discriminatory reasons, gather your thoughts, note the facts as you understand them, and consider submitting a complaint to HUD using one of the following links.

1. HUD’s Regional Fair Housing Enforcement Centers
2. HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO)

Phone and online complaints may be offered in English and Spanish. Forms for emailing are available in Arabic, Cambodia, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Call (800) 669-9777 or (800) 877-8339.

Completing the Course

To COMPLETE this course, you will need to take the Final Quiz starting on the next screen. You will receive your certificate of completion after completing the following 10 questions.

If you get an answer wrong, you may try it again. There is no limit to the number of quiz retakes you may attempt.

Remember, your ultimate goal is not to get a good score but to be better prepared to rent or purchase housing.

Exactly! Well done!

Almost. Give it another try.

Not easy, so well done!

Oops, that’s not right. Give it another shot.

You nailed it! Great job!

Almost! Let’s have another go.

Right on the Money! Awesome!

Not quite. Give it another shot.

Woot Woot! You Got it!

Nope, that’s off. Give it another try.

That's bang on! Nice work.

Almost, but not exactly. Try again and you’ll get it.

Do you want to give that another go? Click on BACK button

Otherwise... congratulations!

Click the "Submit" button below to complete the Financial Essentials course and receive your CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION!

You’ve taken important steps in preparing for becoming a responsible renter and homeowner. This certificate marks a significant milestone along the way!