Short term solutions when you don't have enough

1. When Ends Don’t Meet
Short Term Solutions When You Don’t Have Enough
Homeowner

2. Origin SC | Our Mission
• Origin SC, a nonprofit organization, empowers
individuals to achieve financial and housing stability
through advocacy, counseling, and education.
• Founded in Charleston in 1888
• Now serving all of South Carolina

3. About Origin SC
Since 1888, Origin SC has
remained one of the leading
nonprofit human service
organizations in providing
professional financial and
housing counseling services
in the Charleston area.
Formerly known as Family
Services, the organization
rebranded as Origin SC in
2016. 13 Wentworth Street where Family Services Agency was
located in 1959.

4. About Origin SC
In 2003 Origin SC added our housing
component.
The Homeownership Resource Center
Programs include:
• Homebuyer education
• Homeownership Preservation
• Fair Housing
• Financial Education & Coaching
• Credit Improvement

5. Privacy Policy
Origin SC will not share your
information with any agency
without signed permission
from you.

6. What is a Budget
A budget is a financial planning tool for managing
how you will spend your money. It’s used for finding
a balance between your income and expenses.
– It lists your money coming in and expenses going out
helping to make sure they equal each other.
– We can view it as a plan that reminds us of what to
do with our money and where it should go.

7. What is A Short-Term Budget ?
• Think of this as a financial tool used for survival.
It can help us adjust our spending lifestyle when
our income has been temporarily reduced or in a
financial crisis.
 Helps ensure important bills get paid such as
mortgage/rent and food stays on the table.
 This typically lasts less then 6 months.

8. Today’s Topics
• The Big 5 - necessities that must be paid
• Court Ordered Payments
• What about my other bills?
• What about my debt?
• How to catch up

9. The Big 5
Try your Best to pay your bills in this
order
1. Housing
2. Food
3. Utilities
4. Medication
5. Transportation
*priorities may change per household*

10. Prioritizing and Budgeting your bills during
a Crisis (monthly surplus $170.00)
BILLS MONTHLY PAYMENT MONTHLY NET INCOME $2000
Rent $750.00 $1,250
Food $200.00 $1,050
Utilities $215.00 $835
Medicine $65.00 $770
Transportation $385.00 $370
Expenses $100.00 $270
Savings $100.00 $170

11. Housing
Communicating with your lender is very important during a
time where payments are hard to make below are a few
options your mortgage company may offer.
– Forbearance: Your mortgage payments are reduced or
suspended for a certain period that you and your lender both
agree upon. At the end of that time, you resume making your
regular payments as well as a lump sum payment or additional
partial payments for a number of months to bring the loan
current.

12. Housing cont’d
- Loan modification: You and your loan servicer agree to
permanently change one or more of the terms of your mortgage
contract to make your payments more manageable for you.
Modifications may include reducing the interest rate
and/extending the term of the loan.
For more information: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0187-
when-paying-mortgage-struggle

13. Food
Keeping food on the table during a financial crisis can be challenging and
stressful. Below are some tips to help ease the pressure and anxiety around
providing ourselves and our families with well balanced meals.
1. Create inexpensive meal plans & make a shopping list for those meals
only! (If it’s not on the list, you probably don’t need it!)
2. Cut going out to eat
3. Look online for budget friendly meals

14. Food cont’d
Continued……..
4. Cut back as much as possible (It’s ok to live on PB&J, Ramen
noodles, and rice and beans for a short time.) This will pass!
5. Some schools still provide free meals for students
6. Ask for help from food banks, churches, and other community
organizations.
7. Don’t over-buy out of fear!

15. Utilities
• Gas, Electricity, and Water
– If you can’t pay the bill, call and see if you can pay less or skip
payment for a month. Don’t just pretend it’s not happening.
(understand you will be required to catch up at some point.)
• Phone
– If you can’t pay, call the companies and see if you can adjust
your package or if they have better rates.
– If they tell you that you can skip a payment or pay later, make
sure you find out the due date of that payment and get it in
writing.
COMMUNICATION is key!!

16. Utilities cont’d
• Internet
– If you are working from home and or have children using the internet
for school, this might be a need/necessity. Work with the internet
provider to get the best rates.
 Shop around many providers are offering limited free service. Do watch out
for what contract requires and what payments will be after the limited free
period.
 Some cable companies offer special pricing for clients who have children on
free and reduced-price lunches at school.
Please remember that any and all missed payments will need to be paid back
and that it is important to pay these if you can.
www.mint.com

17. Utilities cont’d
• Cable (This is not a necessity)
– This should be one of the first budget cutbacks you make. If you are in
a contract, ask if the provider will extend the service contract date and
allow you to cut back temporarily until the hardship is over. If they
refuse, cancel it and you can deal with the broken contract fee at a later
time. **If you can’t pay for your utilities, transportation, food and
shelter this needs to go.

18. Medication
 Continue to buy your needed medication.
 Contact your pharmacy to see if they are willing to work on a
payment plan with you (don’t apply for a credit card)
 Be Honest with your Medical provider about cost challenges and ask
if there a more affordable medication option.
 Use “Good RX” and other apps that can help find your current
medication at a reduced rate.
 Apply for Government aid like medicate, and the open marketplace.
 See if the manufacturer of the medication has coupons.

19. Transportation
 Cutting back on your car payment (be very careful)
- Some banks might offer modifications on your current loan and/or allow you
to add payments to the end of the loan.
- See if you can sell or trade in your car, pay any loan off and buy one in
cash.
- If you have more then one car, consider selling one
 How to cut back on insurance
- Do you need all the coverage you have, or can you go with less coverage
for awhile?
- If you don’t have a car payment evaluate your need for full coverage.
- Try shopping around for a lower rate. Call several different companies and
compare prices.

20. Property Tax
• If you owe property tax and cannot pay your
home can be taken to pay the delinquent
taxes. Most of the time your mortgage
company pays this but if you have a reverse
mortgage or home is paid off you need to
make this a priority.
• Try to contact the city tax office and set up a
payment plan. The worst thing you can do is
do nothing.

21. Court Ordered Payments
• If your income has changed, call the courthouse and try
to make other arrangements.
• You must show that you have exhausted every source
and made a diligent effort to comply with the Court's
order.
• You cannot just stop making payments!

22. But I Have Other Bills
I have enough to pay for the Big 5 but not much else
• Credit Cards
– Call and ask for assistance. Don’t feel forced to make payments if you can’t pay the
Big 5.
– Contact Origin SC and enroll in our Debt Management Program and see if you can get
a lower monthly payment and interest rate for all your credit cards.
– Credit card companies are usually willing to work with clients right now, but you must
contact them!

23. But I Have Other Bills
I have enough to pay for the Big 5 but not much else
• Student Loans
– Contact servicer and put loans on a hardship program or
Income biased repayment plans.
• Don’t just stop paying them they are federal debt and are subject to
wage and tax garnishment

24. But I Have Other Bills
I have enough to pay for the Big 5 but not much else
• Medical Bills
– Call and speak with the office to see if they can help. Trying to make
other payment arrangements is usually best.
– If the bills are older than 2 years and not from a state facility you may
be able to ignore them, they have the least negative affect on your
credit score.

25. But I Have Other Bills
I have enough to pay for the Big 5 but not much else
• Subscriptions
– Cable, Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu are just some services that might be
wise to cut back or eliminate for now.

26. I Can't Pay My Other Bills
“So what should I do if I can pay the Big 5 but not the other
stuff?”
• If you have called the companies and they are unable to
work with you…. Don’t pay them! It is more important to
pay the Big 5 than any of the other bills. Not paying any
other bills will hurt your credit score but you will have
food, shelter, transportation and medication. Once your
income increases again you can decide to resume
payments and work on rebuilding your credit score.

27. Do’s
• Pay the big 5 First
• Pay money you have (using
debit card/cash/EFT’s)
• Use your Savings
• Stop paying EXTRA on
credit cards
• File for unemployment (if
your work hours have been cut
back or cut entirely)
• Breath, take a walk, connect
with friends and family using
the internet or any other ways
you are able.

28. Don'ts
• Take a loan out
• Use credit cards
(without having the
money to pay it back
currently)
• Pay extra on debts
(you may need the
cash)

29. When Money Starts Flowing Again
• It is important to have a plan for every dollar you have right now!
– Write the amount you receive
– Write a list of the bills you need to pay
– Start by paying the Big 5 first
– End by paying what you deem the most important after the big 5 are
covered

30. Consequences of Not Paying Debt
• It may be necessary to stop paying debt to keep the Big 5 paid during a
temporary hardship
– This could have consequences like a lower credit score and calls from
creditors. (Just remember, they can bug you, but they can’t hurt you.)

31. Caution
• The budgeting in this
presentation is only
for short term
situations of less then
6 months and is not a
long-term strategy!

32. Think Positive and Don’t Quit!
Take control of your situation
and make the necessary
financial decisions to get
ahead!
843.628.3000 | www.OriginSC.org
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com