She’s been posting about her experiences and perspective on her blog:

This week our goal was to sit together and plan out our budget. It was stressful trying to find the time, but we did and have a goal. I wanted to say that there is an amazing feeling when you and your spouse are on the same page. When you spread out your bills and you see in front of you how much you are really paying for things. When we totaled up everything and looked at each other and said “I thought it was going to be worse. We can do this!”

There are other programs and classes that can help you get on top of your household finances. The one that I have personally used and have referred to from time to time on this blog is Crown Financial Ministries, which was co-founded by the late Larry Burkett. I was listening to Larry’s radio show in the early 1990s!

I’ve compiled a list of financial literacy programs in southeast Michigan so you can look up locations, dates and topics that work for you.

A snippet:

Five years ago, the Hildebrandt family of New Richmond, Wis., was juggling more than $100,000 in credit card and personal debt. Through frugality, determination and hard work, they are now — other than a mortgage — debt-free. …

For their debt-fighting prowess, the Hildebrandts were on Tuesday night named the winners of the Professional Achievement and Counseling Excellence (PACE) 2009 Graduate Client of the Year Award. This national award, given by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, recognizes the hard work and commitment they demonstrated in repaying their debts, and their willingness to become effective managers of their money and change their lifestyle.

Do you want to talk to the regional affiliates with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling about your debt?

In southeast Michigan, that agency is is Green Path Debt Solutions. The office is in Farmington Hills but they do work with, and schedule appointments in, Monroe.

In northwest Ohio, that agency is Apprisen Financial Advocates, which has an office in Toledo.

However, this headline will certainly be of interest to my Michigan and Ohio readers. The unemployment rate in Michigan has been 15 percent all summer.

USA Today is reporting Unemployed homeowners could get financial assistance.

A snippet:

The Obama administration is engaged in high-level talks about providing financial assistance to homeowners who’ve lost their jobs and can’t afford their mortgage payments.

The Treasury Department held meetings on the subject as recently as Thursday with key stakeholders, according to Laura Armstrong, a spokeswoman for Hope Now, an alliance of non-profits and mortgage servicers, and more discussions are planned.

Proposals include getting servicers to let jobless homeowners skip some monthly payments, according to Faith Schwartz, executive director of Hope Now.

There are more than 450 comments posted on that story.

Some of the chatter revolves around who is “deserving” of such assistance and whether bad choices such as overspending on homes, rather than unemployment itself, are causing personal financial problems.

This is nothing new. The “who deserves it?” question is the unspoken reason for nearly every application process involved with seeking financial help. That’s why you have to show at the very least, proof of income, for a lot of financial safety net programs. That’s also why you have to deal with an annoying amount of red tape for so many of those programs.

Others commenting on the story are pointing out that this idea is coming along a little too late to help a lot of families whose homes have already been lost, or who are in danger of doing so in the near future.

But a money-saving resource or program almost always involves eligibility dates and deadlines. Every college scholarship has an application deadline. Miss the deadline, and your application won’t be considered. And every sale at a grocery or drug store is valid only for the stated week or sometimes stated day. Buy milk one day before it goes on sale, and you are paying the regular price.

So we have been focusing my family’s money-saving efforts in other directions.

But I have been watching the news reports and headlines on that topic, and I’m not pleased with the recent analysis and statistics.

USA Today is reporting today that Many mortgage modifications push payments … higher.

A snippet:

Of loans modified from Jan. 1, 2008, through March 31, 2009, monthly payments increased on 27% and were left unchanged on an additional 27.5%, according to a recent report by banking regulators. Many modified mortgages fall delinquent — 25% to 40%, depending on the type of mortgage — often because of homeowners’ loss of income or additional outstanding debt, according to a report last month by CreditSights, a financial research firm.

“Payments have gone up …. (and) the payment relief can last for the first few years and then go up (again),” says Alan White, assistant professor of law at the Valparaiso University School of Law in Valparaiso, Ind. …

The majority of borrowers who’ve gotten mortgage modifications have seen their overall principal balance go up, according to an analysis by CreditSights and ICP of about 660,000 mortgages modified this year. In about 90% of the modifications, the principal balance after a modification was larger, CreditSights said.

Well, what can you do instead?

Let’s say you need $150 off your expenses every month to make ends meet. Now, while it would be great to take that off your mortgage payment through the magic of refinancing … these statistics on the mortgage modification programs aren’t providing a lot of incentive to take that route.

Does it really matter where that $150 comes from?

In the long run, no.

What if you might be able to make that savings happen elsewhere?

Look through my Downsized Budget series to find money-saving tips in every category of your household budget.

The MintLife blog has this post: 3 dangers of conventional budgeting.

A snippet:

Spending an extra few dollars on lunch a couple of times a week or meeting a friend at a café every so often is probably not what keeps you in a financial hole or prevents you from achieving your financial goals. The more likely culprits: the size, timing, and frequency of big-ticket expenses like your car and home. Focus your energies there. Can you delay the purchase of a new car for another few months—or even longer? Can you buy a used car instead? Can you buy a house that costs less than the one you’ve been told you can “afford”?

Crown Financial Ministries has a calculator that specifically looks at three budget busters: debt + car + home.

A snippet:

It is not rocket science to know that not paying bills is a bad decision, but it is a decision that more and more families are finding themselves in as they are backed into the corner of mounting bills.  Many families are faced with the choice of making the best “bad decision” during the current economic turnmoil.

After you read that article, here are my follow-up points:

• Create a calendar or chart to track anticipated cash flow. You will list on this calendar the days that bills are due and also what days your paychecks and / or your unemployment benefits and / or your Michigan Bridge Card funds are deposited. While it is helpful to have day to day reminders to get the bills in the mail or electronically sent, the point is to remember that the Aug. 21 paycheck, for example, has to cover a bill that is due Aug. 26.
• Shift weekly expenses such as groceries and gas money to better cash flow weeks. We’ve been putting our gasoline purchases on one card and paying that off in full every month. This works for us because we’re not worried about filling the cars during weeks when the paychecks have to take care of other bills. Grocery expenses also can be shifted to different weeks of the month when you use programs such as Angel Food Ministries and Great Food for All, and / or stock up on commonly used grocery items during the  week that you find good prices.
• File all eligible reimbursements for mileage, medical expenses, etc. Do not let an insurance company, your employer or your client keep money that belongs to you at a time when you need it. I know some families reserve those funds for later in the year to be used for Christmas. But if you need money to pay bills now, file those reimbursements now, and pay those bills. You’ll probably have to cut back on Christmas expenses anyway this year.
• Review your communication and entertainment expenses. You have to know when to turn the landline or wireless phone off. We’ve had friends who have done that. I also didn’t have cable TV for four years at one point. But another possibility is looking for a package or service that costs less than what you are paying for. If you find money-saving steps in two or three of those services, you can save just as much money as turning off one of them.
• Remember that it is easier to stretch your money than find new money. One example: there are programs available to help southeast Michigan families pay a utility bill. But there is an application process and rules to follow, and the actual step of asking for financial help is in itself a hurdle for some people. You need to be as resourceful as possible with your money during the time when you still have some cash to work with, but can see the situation getting worse.

A snippet:

Debt Collectors are allowed to contact your friends and family members if they do not know how to contact you. However, when they contact them, they are only allowed to attempt to acquire your location information. If they already know how to contact you, or if they are disclosing to these people that you owe a debt the debt collectors have violated federal law.

I saw this link on the DebtResponse twitter.

In the meantime, if you live in southeast Michigan and are struggling with debt, the local Consumer Credit Counseling Service is Green Path Debt Solutions. That agency has been giving presentations and participating in community expos in the Monroe, Mich., area during the past two years.

It’s called the Income Based Repayment Plan. Here is where you can get more details:

• CNN report.
• Detroit Free Press report.
• Repayment calculator at FinAid.org.
• IBRINFO.org.

How do you get the federal student loans? You file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

The Parent PLUS loans are not eligible for this repayment program.

CreditCards.com has this report from Sally Herigstad: When your ex doesn’t pay on joint account.