CCCS of Buffalo - Dare to be Debt Free

How many times have you tried to create a budget and stick to it?  It’s something that’s so difficult for so many people, so it can be tempting to stop even trying.  But before you give up… know that budgeting can be critically important to ensure your financial health and stability.  There are concrete ways to make a difficult thing more manageable (and maybe even fun)! Why is budgeting so important? Tracking your expenses helps you control your spending, and save more money.   When you manage your finances without a budget, there really isn’t anything preventing you from spending beyond your means.  You may have a general idea about how much money you spend on certain things, but without actual (accurate) numbers, it’s easy to let your spending habits get out of control.  When you live on a budget, it’s much easier to see where you may be frivolously overspending, and when you can see waste that can be eliminated, you now have an ability to put that “extra” money into savings that yo

As most of us are well aware, trips to the grocery store and the gas pump are emptying our pockets and draining our bank accounts more than ever before… People talk about “inflation” all the time, but what does that really mean?  In plain terms, inflation simply refers to the increase in prices over time.  The inflation rate is a measure of how quickly those prices go up.   When the inflation rate is high, consumers lose purchasing power, meaning your dollar won’t go as far tomorrow as it did today.  The current annual inflation rate for the United States is 8.6%, up from 7% in 2021 – the largest annual increase since December 1981.  It averaged 3.27% from 1914 to 2022, reaching an all-time high of 23.7% in June 1920, and a record low of -15.8% in June 1921. Inflation can have a serious impact on everyday expenses.  Energy prices have risen 34.6% and food costs are up 10.1%, but most of us likely have not seen wage increases to keep up with those rising costs.  So how can we manage our

Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced the cancellation of $5.8 billion in federal student loans for 560,000 individuals who borrowed to attend schools owned by Corinthian Colleges, the for-profit college conglomerate that is now defunct. Corinthian was a notorious repeat offender that defrauded its students and the public over many years. This loan cancellation would not have been possible without the tenacity of so many individual student loan borrowers harmed by Corinthian’s tactics. Many of them came forward to law enforcement agencies and regulators to detail systemic abuses. Others even had the courage to make their stories public to urge government authorities to act, rather than sitting on the sidelines. Over the last decade, I had the opportunity to speak with many of them to learn about Corinthian’s conduct. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and state attorney general actively pursued Corinthian for its misconduct. The CFPB filed a lawsuit in 2014, obt