Experts offer tips on stretching dollars

A woman worked two full-time jobs just so she could drive a full-size Dodge pickup with a multitude of high-end options.

Outrageous as that sounds, it's a good example of financial management. The woman had the energy for both positions and didn't try to afford the vehicle without the income to support it, said Melisa Bryant, a disability program navigator with the Idaho Department of Labor in Grangeville.

"What is your Heineken? What is your most important thing and what can you not give up?" asked Bryant, speaking at a Lewiston workshop Wednesday aimed at teaching consumers how to make their dollars stretch.

People who ask those questions are more likely to manage their money well regardless of how much they make, Bryant said.

Linda Emerson, executive director of Consumer Credit Counseling of Northern Idaho in Lewiston, agreed. One of her clients for years was a physician with an annual income that exceeded $160,000.

Yet the professional had managed to amass three pages of debt by making the same bad habits she's seen in households supported only by Social Security checks. The only difference was the additional income allowed the debt to reach greater proportions, Emerson said.

Digging out of debt takes persistence, but is easier when consumers start by paying down their credit card bill with the highest interest rate even if it isn't the one with the largest balance, Emerson said.

One of the keys is setting aside extra each month beyond the minimum payment, even if it's as little as $20, and applying it to the principal in accordance with the rules of the card, Emerson said.

Consumers should document what they do and check to be sure the money is being applied how they specified, said Karen Richel, financial educator at the University of Idaho extension office in Moscow.

That strategy is something Richel has had to practice in recent weeks as she used a tax refund to pay down a student loan. Even though the check had the loan number and was stapled to a letter explaining what was to be done with the money, it got applied to more than one loan. It wasn't until she made telephone calls that the problem got fixed.

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Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.