By Dani Woodland
As students step out of the real world for a few years to get educated, one thing they often neglect is their financial health.
Financial Vital Signs of Salt Lake City is a non-profit organization that aims to help people cure their unhealthy behavior.
?Students need financial help especially during this critical time in life,? said Sarah Monson, the community relations manager for Globus Relief, a sister organization to Financial Vital Signs. ?They are making decisions and forming habits that will shape the rest of their lives.?
Financial Vital Signs offers a physical fiscal check-up, which gives students five different scores for various financial goals. These signs are financial blood pressure, cash flow, misery fees, credit score and emergency savings.
Sherri Overby, program coordinator for the charity, said that a fiscal check-up works the same way as a physical check-up.
?A financial counselor can look at your Financial Vital Signs and tell you where you?re at, what bad habits got you there, and how to get financially healthy,? Overby said.
While many people need help with their debt and spending habits, Utahns have recently shown themselves to be especially debt-prone. Overby said that this is a result of attitude problems.
People commonly think that since they are poor, they have to be in debt, she said. They do not take into account how much their student loans will cost. When students graduate, they often think that because they make more money, they also need a lifestyle improvement.
Overby cited another factor that is almost an exclusively LDS problem.
?They think that if they pay their tithing, they will not go into debt,? Overby said. ?They don?t understand that the Lord expects them to work that 50 percent.?
Financial stress affects more than just the things a person can purchase. Monson said that she has seen people make themselves physically sick with stress.
?If you?re financially unhealthy, it probably means that you aren?t sleeping very well, you?re fighting with your spouse and yelling at your kids, you?re stressed-out and unfocused at work, and you constantly feel trapped and burdened,? said Dan Henrie, the founder of Financial Vital Signs. ?We just want to teach people how to take care of themselves.?
