Learning how to budget responsibly by paying for the things you need and saving for those you want was just one of the lessons taught by banking executive Rohit Khiani, who came out Friday to give the crew from My Brother’s Workshop a crash course in money management.
The lesson could not have been imparted to a more receptive audience. For about the past year, My Brother’s Workshop has been helping to turn around the lives of 18 willing young men, who come out every weekday and help to rebuild neighborhoods throughout the St. Thomas community.
After going through some practice exercises, where the group budgeted their projected Carnival expenses and created a spending plan for their bi-weekly paychecks, many said they understood the importance of saving and realized how quickly expenses can add up.
And in the current economic climate, where just about everyone is counting their pocket change, the lesson was a timely one. Cooking more at home instead of eating out and cutting out spending on new clothes and other non-essentials were just a few options the group explored. They also practiced filling out a deposit slip and at the end of the day, completed the paperwork for their brand new savings accounts, which will start out with a balance of $50.
Khiani, vice president of Merchants Commercial Bank, said he would be checking back in with the group in the next couple of months to monitor their progress.
"The whole thing was a very positive experience," said Tishaun Queeley, who made sure during the exercises to budget not only for himself, but also for his son. "I definitely think I’m going to be budgeting a little more and spending a little less."
Many others in the group said the My Brother’s Workshop program, run by St. Thomas resident Scott Bradley through the Reformed Church, has helped a lot by teaching them things like managing their money, respecting themselves and keeping an open mind about new experiences.
"We always feel like there’s hope here," said program participant Orel Destin.
For the past 13 years, the Teach Children to Save program through the American Banking Association’s Education Foundation has partnered with banks across the country to teach students the importance of saving. This year, the foundation initiated the Million Child Challenge and called on partner banks to help spread the message to 1 million students.
Khiani said Friday he thought the money management lessons would best be imparted to younger adults and high school students who have not already been "armed with this kind of knowledge."
"This was really a great way for us to proactively go out in the community and teach the children something that will really help them later on," he added.
Merchant’s Commercial Bank also held a similar workshop Monday at Gifft Hill School on St. John.
