“If some of this basic information about finances was available to everyone, imagine the kinds of problems people would be able to prevent themselves from getting into,” says Rosa Diaz.
Diaz says that before she began taking financial classes, she would not have been able to talk about different financial strategies and how she handles her household’s budget. For example, she did not know that if you apply for a credit card at a department store and are turned down, it lowers your credit score. “I don’t think people realize that as you keep trying to get credit, you’re actually less and less likely to get it, because your credit score is going down.”
She attends financial education workshops through Mujer Avanzando, a partnership between The Resurrection Project, an interfaith nonprofit community development group serving neighborhoods in southwest Chicago, and the nonprofits Instituto Del Progreso Latino and Mujeres Latinas en Accion. In addition, the Center for Economic Progress offers volunteer income tax preparation to Diaz and other members of Mujer Avanzando. Last year, they helped 1,500 families file for tax credits such as the EITC.
Diaz’s energies are focused on her long-term goal: to build a more prosperous future for herself, her 10-year-old son Christopher, and her daughter Stephanie, almost 7, who suffers from a heart defect. In addition to working part-time at a community college, the single mother is also studying for her associate’s degree in information technology and networking.
Diaz plans carefully to stretch her income, and the EITC and Child Tax Credit are integral parts of the plan. She has been a beneficiary for several years and appreciates the opportunity they provide to plan ahead. One year, her EITC refund enabled her to pay off her small student loan and avoid paying additional interest. She also uses the money to pay for her children’s glasses, clothes, and other necessities.
“It’s such a relief to me—psychologically, emotionally, and materially. It really is a ‘relief package,’ as they say!” Diaz says. She adds that she never buys on impulse “because I know what the consequences are. I am such a penny-pincher, you wouldn’t believe it… I do it because I don’t want us to go hungry.”
But the EITC does give the children something to look forward to. The family can’t afford to celebrate Christmas lavishly, but Diaz tells her children that they can each get a toy they’ve been wanting once the EITC refund arrives. The children have learned to be patient.
She is optimistic about the future. “I feel blessed even though I’m kind of struggling right now,” Diaz says. “I have to look at what I can do with everything I have here, and how I can learn more so I can do things better.”
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