Every year, April is National Financial Literacy Month. As an organization dedicated to spreading financial literacy and education, we honor this yearly event with workshops & seminars, educational materials, and a continuing commitment to helping people learn to better manage their money.

History of financial literacy

Financial Literacy Month has been around for over 2 decades. It was originally created by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) and designed to teach high schoolers why being financially literate is important. In 2004, the Senate voted unanimously to designate April as National Financial Literacy Month for all Americans, adults and students alike.

Various states have proclaimed state-wide Financial Literacy Months, also in April of each year. We’ve been honoring this event for over 20 years now, and we’re happy to see the tradition continue well into the future.

Besides nonprofit organizations like us and our friends at the NFCC & Jump$tart Coalition, other entities like banks, schools, and governmental bodies participate in this yearly event to spread financial literacy month ideas and increase Americans’ financial awareness and capability.

Why is being financially literate important to you?

Financial literacy prepares you for tough economic times

Financial literacy month 2022 comes as the economy is facing unique challenges. Small businesses and families haven’t fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, and war in Europe has led to further supply chain disruptions. Add to that unprecedented inflation resulting from expanding the money supply, rising gas prices, and people are finding their dollars aren’t going as far as they used to.

Financial literacy is part of the solution, as each individual will need to examine one’s own situation, learn what to do next, create a plan, and get professional help where needed.

During Financial Literacy Month, we want everyone, no matter how deeply affected their finances are by current events, to take some time to improve their financial literacy and apply it to their situation.

Financial literacy month ideas

For financial literacy month 2022, we want everyone to fit in some extra activity around increasing their financial knowledge. We know people are busy and we’re not going to assign a massive amount of homework; we just want everyone to spend a little extra time every week thinking about personal finance and brushing up on their knowledge.

Read up on our blog

First off, spend some time in our blog archives—we’ve been writing about financial literacy and other related topics for years. Bookmark us, subscribe to our newsletter, and read up on the many topics we’ve covered in recent years.

Financial literacy month is a broad topic and can encompass many different areas of your life. Start with the topics that are most interesting to you, and most relevant to where you find yourself this year, as forces outside your control impact your financial life.

If you have kids, be sure to check out our Tips for Teaching Financial Literacy at Home.

Free online courses

Then take a look at some of our online classes. We’ve got recorded versions of our most popular workshops, like Creating a Budget 101 and Understanding Your Credit Report.

You can get certificates of achievement for completing these workshops, and pre-and post-quizzes will help you track your progress. These online courses are available free, on-demand and at your convenience.

Free educational materials

Then check out some of our free financial resources and tools. We have free pdf downloads of educational booklets for more than 14 topics, from “Raising a Money Smart Child” to “Understanding Your Credit Report and Score.”

Try to make time this April to download one booklet per week, and spend some time with the material. In particular, make sure one of your downloads is our workbook, “The Power of Paycheck Planning.” This budgeting book has pages for tracking your spending and proposing a new budget you can live with.

Live workshops online

We frequently offer live, in-person workshops to our audience in the southern California region. We also frequently offer more classes than ever online, live via Zoom.

Follow us on Eventbrite to be updated whenever new online courses are scheduled.

One-on-one counseling

If you’re struggling with reduced income or debt payments you can’t keep up with, one-on-one counseling with a certified counselor can help. There’s no cost for this non-profit service, and you’ll have a chance to ask questions and get personalized advice that is tailored to your unique situation.

Besides coaching for debt related issues, we have HUD Certified housing counselors to help with foreclosure or eviction prevention counseling, reverse mortgage counseling, pre-purchase, and homebuyer education and more. This is the month to get smarter about your personal finances, and you don’t have to go it alone.

If you can set aside a few hours every week this April, you can increase your financial literacy and create a plan to financially withstand inflation, recessions, or any other unexpected life event.

Remember, there are certified credit counselors standing by to offer free counseling and advice. Contact us today if you need help.

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