Origin SC is a nonprofit organization that provides financial counseling and housing services in South Carolina. When facing temporary financial hardship, creating a short-term budget can help ensure that essential expenses like housing, food, medication, transportation and utilities get paid. This type of budget focuses on necessities and lasts less than six months. It is important to communicate with lenders and service providers to establish payment plans or modify loans/services during difficult times.

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

2. Origin SC | Our Mission
• Origin SC, a non profit 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 make adjustments to 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
1. Housing
2. Medication
3. Food
4. Transportation
5. Utilities

10. 1. Housing: For Home Owners
– Forbearance: Your mortgage payments are reduced or
suspended for a period of time 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.

11. 1. Housing: For Home Owners
- 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

12. 1. Housing: For Renters
– In the state of South Carolina, under the new COVID
19 legislation starting in March 2020, all new evictions
will be suspended and no new evection proceedings
will be permitted until after May 1st 2020.
– This date could be changed depending on how long
the work places remain closed.

13. 1. Housing: For Renters
 However, it is important to note that rent will still be due
each month or as stated in the lease even though eviction
proceedings are paused for the time being.
So what does this mean exactly?
– Tenants may find themselves with a large bill if they cannot pay
rent for an extended period. Landlords may be willing to make
arrangements with tenants to delay or reduce rent payments but
they are under no obligation to do so.
– This could mean you will be paying late fees in addition to any
past due rent payments that are owed.

14. 1. Housing: For Renters
What should you do if you simply don’t have
funds to pay your rent?
 Contact your landlord and try to establish a
payment plan.

15. 2. 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)
 Use “Good RX” and other apps that can help find your current
medication at a reduced rate.
 See if the manufacturer of the medication has coupons.

16. 3. 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

17. 3. Food
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!

18. 4. Transportation
 Pay your car loan and auto insurance
- If you can’t pay your car payment, call your lender and make
arrangements.
- If you can’t pay your insurance, call your insurance company
first.
It is always better to be upfront and more often than not,
arrangements can be made, but you have to communicate!

19. 4. 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.
 How to cut back on insurance
- Do you need all of 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. 5. 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!!
www.mint.com

21. 5. Utilities
• 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.
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

22. 5. Utilities
• Cable (This is not a necessity)
– This should be one of the first budget cut backs 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.

23. Court Ordered Payments
• If your income has changed, call the court house 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!