New website offers finance management resources

By Alec Jennings
University News Service
September 18, 2008

A website launched this fall at Texas State University-San Marcos will provide students with tools to manage finances and to ease the complex transition from college to the professional world.

Money Savvy Cats, created by Kimberlee Davis, assistant professor consumer sciences, offers resources from budgeting and managing school finance to understanding credit scores and preventing identity theft. With students now having more access to loans from a variety of sources, knowing how to make the correct decisions can impact their credit scores along with other variables that will have an impact on future finances for years to come.

"In addition to student loans, you may have that credit card payment too," Davis said. "Whereas student loan debt is seen as good debt, credit card debt is seen as bad."

Moreover, today's students entering the work force have more complex choices to make. Instead of simply choosing a job by the salary itself, a job applicant will have to choose between differing insurance and retirement plans, as well as living expenses and other complex decisions. The website provides three primary resources:

CashCourse: A resource from the National Endowment for Financial Education, this website offers information for basic college finance management.

Just the Truth About Finances: With multi-media clips provided by students in the consumer sciences department, information is presented regarding identity theft, budgeting, planning for weddings and other general topics that can occur during a young adults life.

Resource Center: This section includes links to reputable websites for credit reports, credit counseling, do-not-call registries and more.

Davis' goal is building on the Money Savvy Cats website and introducing additional elements as resources become available, with the end result being a larger, more comprehensive financial education program.

Money Savvy Cats is provided through cooperation between the Family and Consumer Sciences Program, Student Affairs and Financial Aid and Scholarships. The website can be accessed at www.vpsa.txstate.edu/moneysavvy.

For more information, contact the Family and Consumer Sciences Department at (512) 245-8489.