AMSTERDAM, N.Y. -- Joe Mosso isn't alone in thinking money is an extremely difficult thing to manage. Many of us have questions about the best way to do it.
Mosso though, and found answers, through a financial literacy course offered by two local credit unions.
"Whoever thought I would have a bank come and teach me stuff I didn't know?" Mosso said.
The course covers everything from creating a basic budget to understanding your credit score.
"That's a big piece of the course because your credit score follows you wherever you go nowadays," Bruce M. Beaudette, Sunmark Credit Union President and CEO said.
It is basic financial info Mosso now knows and takes to heart. He now balances his checkbook every month and has a place to keep all his financial documents.
It seems like the price of everything is going up. Now two local credit unions are coming together to bring relief, not with financial aid, but by offering a free financial education. Our Mark Repasky explains.
The days of frivolous spending are over. Mosso's aware of where every dollar goes, realizing even little purchases add up.
"We think 'It's only a dollar or a dollar fifty, I can get that today, it's no big deal.' But when you add it all up over the course of a month or a week, it's a lot of money," Patty Macek, MCT Credit Union Manager said.
After years of living pay check to pay check, Mosso now has a savings account.
"I just know today, there's better accountability for the money I have so I don't have to scratch my head and say ‘what did I do with last week's pay check?’" he said.
Financial literacy classes have been so successful that Assemblyman George Amedore is pushing legislation that would require them for every high schooler across the state.
"We're empowering people to be smarter, to be better educated, to be more self sufficient, instead of relying on government for hand outs," Amedore said.
Starting courses like this sooner may help a nation of spenders become better savers.
For Mosso, even in tough economic times, the course has given him the confidence to dream big and look at buying a home.
"It doesn't have to be a castle but it would be something that is ours and would be saved for," Mosso said.