December 2007

Welcome to this winter edition of Credit Action e-news. We trust that this finds you well and that you are having an enjoyable festive season! Please keep reading to find out more about what we have been doing and how we are helping people to stay in control of their money.

Get money training from Credit Action

The past year has seen an increasing interest in financial capability and financial inclusion in both the voluntary and statutory sector. As a result of this and continuingly high levels of debt, more and more organisations and individuals are looking for ways that they can support their clients or those in their communities to improve their money management skills and to take control of their finances.

For a number of years, Credit Action has delivered budget training to support and community workers and volunteers through our Budgeting the IDEAL Way course. Our training equips delegates to work alongside clients in managing their money more effectively, helping to create an accurate and sustainable budget and signposting to specialist services where further help is required. It is suited to support workers and volunteers, who may often represent the first line of support for those in financial difficulties. It has been used by housing associations, credit unions, local councils, women's refuges and other charities and community groups. We have received excellent feedback from delegates.

We have recently set up two public training days:
London Friday 1st February 2008
Birmingham Wednesday 13th February 2008

The cost of these training days is £80 per person, with discounts available for charities with income of less than £100,000. We are also able to provide in-house courses for organisations. More details about the course can be found on our website: http://www.creditaction.org.uk/training.html. If you would like any more information about our training or would like to book a place on one of our courses, please contact Lindsey at office@creditaction.org.uk or on 0207 436 9937.

Credit Action helps people budget on the go

November was the launch month for the Moneybasics Spendometer, a mobile phone budgeting tool that allows its users to set budgets, monitor spending, and generally stay in control of their finances in a way that is fashionable and discrete. The tool can be downloaded for free from www.moneybasics.co.uk or www.creditaction.org.uk/Spendometer by anyone who can access the internet on their mobile. The application is designed so that spending can be logged in under 10 seconds – the average person would think nothing of someone looking at their phone for this length of time. Most would just assume that the person was checking or sending a text message. Thus, this should make it more practical for many, particularly for young people, to budget without worrying about looking geeky!

The tool also boasts a ‘going-out function.’ It would be unreasonable to assume that someone is going to open up their phone every time they go the bar to buy a round of drinks. This function allows budgeters to watch their spending by doing the work before and after they have been out so the night itself is not disrupted. Why not try out the Moneybasics Spendometer yourself?

New website launched!

Last month Credit Action went live with a brand new website. It offers benefits both for its users and for Credit Action staff. Users should find it easier to navigate their way to pages of interest. While the majority of the content remains the same, an additional sidebar named ‘Popular Sections’ now makes the most commonly viewed pages available wherever the user is on the website at the click of a mouse. Orders for Moneymanuals and other materials can now be made online, in addition to being able to order over the phone, via the Ordering page. There now is also the option of contributing financially to the work of Credit Action online thanks to the creation of a Donations facility.

On that note Christmas gives us a good opportunity to say a massive thank you to all of you who support us, whether that’s financially or through other means, your help is vital and greatly appreciated. Without the vital role that you play we would not be able to promote better thinking about money to our nation.

Further to the changes already outlined, the new look website is easier to keep up-to-date as modifications and additions can now be made quickly from our London base so it should now be more current and relevant than ever! Please visit the Credit Action website at: www.creditaction.org.uk to have a look for yourself. If you have any comments or suggestions we would appreciate your feedback.

A Happy Christmas from all of us here at Credit Action!