Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend Sparking Change, an event hosted by Southern Indiana Asset Building Coalition in recognition of Money Smart Week.

The professional development workshop offered many relevant components from identifying your relationship with money, mapping your money dreams and highlights from 5 important community resources doing amazing things.

Syble Solomon, creator of the My Money Habitudes program was the keynote speaker and started the morning with her presentation on our emotional relationship with money.  Our ‘Habitudes’ are the habits and attitudes we carry about everything really. What we DO based on how we FEEL.

We played the ‘game’ associated with the My Money Habitudes program and discovered that there are 6 ‘Habitudes’ we have about money. Security, Spontaneous, Status, Selfless, Free Spirit and Targeted Goals. As we progressed through the game, we found which areas we are the most challenged in and where we need more balanced.

I found I was completely lacking in selflessness! This made me feel horrible until I realized it didn’t mean I was completely selfish or non-charitable. Actually I was strong in the security area which also means, according to the cards, that I am generous toward others. However, I am also overly concerned about my own security and making sure we have enough.

Two important things I realized from this activity were, one, that recent events can impact the way the results turn out. For example, several losses in my life over the last few years, including deaths and my husband’s multiple job losses contribute to my insecurity about our finances. Two, it won’t always be that way so there is hope that should I revisit this process in a year things might look different. That’s hopeful!

Making the connection between how I FEEL about money and my actual financial situation helped clarify what I need to work on to improve my relationship with my money.

After this session, we heard from Carrie Van Winkle, financial counselor for SIABC. Carrie shared on the dreams and goals we have financially and how we can achieve those despite challenges we may face. Some of those challenges may be temptations, stress, distractions and the expectations of others. She advised that the best way to achieve those SMART goals is to first specifically define them. Use a visual reminder, like a photo or word  and place it somewhere to be reminded of our goal. Accountability is a good prompter in helping us achieve the things we desire.

The day concluded with 5 organizations, Women 4 Women,  Bank on Louisville, Junior Achievement, Bellarmine’s Poverty Simulation and Southern Indiana Asset Building Coalition. Each organization was given 5 minutes to present 5 big ideas they are working on and how it will impact the community. It was exciting to see so many interesting and relevant resources but more importantly to me, I was impressed with how truly passionate the presenters were about what they are involved in. They really desire to offer programs and resources that make a difference.

It was a great event and besides a cool tote bag and the Money Habitudes materials I left with a sense of ‘What’s next” for my money? The good news is that the event gave me lots of great resources to tap into like a

• financial counselor at SIABC
• an opportunity to bring the Money Habitudes workshop into my home for my friends to experiences
• Resources to refer friends with children for financial education
• A new respect for the community we live in that cares so much about it’s people

For more information about any of these ideas, contact SIABC at 812 206 7520 or find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SIABC