Financial Wellbeing
Money Management
Money management means how you control your money. This includes making a budget, saving, and investing. Click here for free tools to help you plan your money.
Budgeting & Spending
A budget is a plan that shows you how much money you make and how much you spend. There are different ways to make a budget. Some popular ones are:
- 50/30/20 Rule - Spend 50% on needs, 30% on wants, and save 20% of your income.
- Pay Yourself First - Save money before spending.
- Zero-Based Budget - Plan where every dollar goes.
- Envelope Budget - Use physical and virtual envelopes to set spending limits.
Money Habitudes® is a solitaire-like card game created to help you learn about your spending habits. If you are interested in events using these cards, contact Suzanne Holloway (suzanne.holloway@ufl.edu).
Saving & Investing
Savings means putting money aside for short-term goals, like emergencies, purchasing a house, or even going on vacation. Investing means using money to buy things, like stocks, bonds, properties, crypto assets, or even precious metals, that might grow in value over time.
Investing is riskier than savings. Your deposited money is not federally insured, and you could lose some or all of it. Despite the greater risk, investing can help you earn more money over time, especially for big goals such as retirement. Nonetheless, both are important parts of a financial plan.
To learn more about saving and investing, check out these links:
- Build Wealth Over Time Through Saving and Investing
- MyMoney: Save and Invest
- A Roadmap to Your Financial Security Through Saving and Investing
Credit Reports
A credit report is a summary of how you have used your money in the past. It includes personal information and your credit history. The three nationwide credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion - collect this information and can share it when requested.
Each credit bureau gets its information from different places, so your reports might look a little different. They try to keep everything accurate, but mistakes can happen. That's why it's important to check your credit report. It helps you fix errors and spot the signs of identity theft.
Federal law says you can get a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from the three nationwide credit bureaus. You can order your free report from a centralized unit in three different ways:
- Visit AnnualCreditReport.com
- Call 1(877)322-8228
- Complete and mail the Annual Credit Report Request Form to Annual Credit Report Request Service (P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281)
Additionally, according to federal law, you are also entitled to a free credit report if:
- You have been denied credit, insurance, or employment because of your credit report, and you should contact the agency for a copy of your report within 60 days of receiving a denial notice.
- You are currently unemployed and plan to seek employment within the next 60 days.
- You are getting public assistance.
- Your report is inaccurate because of fraud or identity theft.
- You have a fraud alert on your file.
If you find errors in your report, you have the right to dispute them and seek corrections. To learn more about credit reports, click here.
Consumer Protection
A scam is defined as a dishonest scheme to steal money or gain an advantage.
Identity theft happens when someone uses your personal information (name, address, social security number, etc.) or financial information (bank account numbers, credit card numbers) without your permission.
