SMMC News & Events Blog

This blog highlights news, events, and informative articles on personal finance from University of Illinois System's Student Money Management Center. Feel free to navigate to different categories with the list of topics on the right or search for a specific topic next to the view all link below.

Friday the 13th is often considered an unlucky day, but let's talk about how to improve your luck with 13 financial planning tips!

Money can be messy - it's not just about numbers, calculators and excel sheets. If you're looking for new ways to manage your money mess, we have the budget hacks for you! Learn how to take what we know about human behavior and choices to build better financial habits.

Budgeting empowers you to work toward reasonable financial goals, keeping you from overspending and accruing debt. Explore steps you can take this week to start building a budgeting habit.

Explore the differences between renting & buying and what to consider when deciding what's best for your situation by watching this webinar recording from April 13, 2022.

We have defined a few financial terms to make it easier to stay up-to-date on how COVID-19 is impacting our finances.

Discover tools to help you prepare for dealing with potential financial emergencies by watching this webinar recording from March 30, 2022.

There are many measures we can use to track our personal finances. Typically, we talk about the subjective measures of financial well-being in the Student Money Management Center, because we're focused on helping our learners understand the nuance of financial decisions. However, traditional, objective financial measures, like net worth, can also be helpful in tracking our progress towards financial goals and gaining confidence.

Friday the 13th is often considered an unlucky day, but let's talk about how to improve your luck with personal finance!

There are so many things to be grateful for in this life. As we go into the holiday season, in this article we will discuss about how gratitude impacts our finances. 

Here are ways you can help support small businesses during COVID-19.

Learn ways to enhance your overall wellness in a virtual environment. 

A college degree is a significant investment, often funded through a cornucopia of funding types. This article describes how to increase the overall return on investment in a college degree, including short- and long-term strategies. Since the majority of students borrow to pay for school, we pay particular attention to student loan management methods that can save students and alumni money.

Learn about how inflation impacts individual consumers by watching this webinar recording from September 28 2022.

Mobile wallets are a digital way to keep your financial tools and resources in your mobile device. Learn more about the risks & rewards of mobile wallets so you can best protect your hard-earned money.

Explore methods of communicating and managing money in relationships by watching this webinar recording from February 8, 2022.

In episode 95 of Making Cents of Money, basic needs and needs security and some adjacent terms, like financial fragility, are discussed by our co-hosts, Kimber and Andrea.

It’s a new year, and with that comes a slew of advice on financial topics to tie into your resolutions. But before you listen to that influencer, click that link, or even take guidance from a family member, there are important factors to consider. In this episode, Making Cents of Money dives deep into the topic of using caution before giving or receiving financial advice.

In episode 20 of Making Cents of Money, Budgeting, Nikki, Andrea, and Jake cover a few of the most popular budgeting (or spending plan, if you prefer) methods to help you think about building a financial plan.

In episode 22 of Making Cents of Money, Buying a Car!, Nikki, Andrea, and Jake explain the true costs of car ownership as well as the terms and tools to know about before you buy your next vehicle.

In episode 36 of Making Cents of Money, Buying a Home!, Andrea, Jake, and Nikki explain terminology, tools, and the basics steps of buying a home.

In episode 25 of Making Cents of Money, Choosing a Financial Professional, Andrea, Jake, and Nikki talk to Kathy Sweedler from University of Illinois Extension about type of financial professionals, credentials, and how to choose one that best meets your needs.

In episode 94 of Making Cents of Money, Andrea and Kimber discuss the cost of living and why it matters when comparing costs and how far your dollars will go if you relocate.

In episode 98 of Making Cents of Money, Kimber and Andrea talk about the costs of car ownership and what to consider when deciding on if a vehicle is a need or a want for you. 

In episode 24 of Making Cents of Money, Cryptocurrencies, Andrea, Jake, and Nikki talk to Professor Lamont Black from DePaul University about cryptocurrencies, discussing everything from the blockchain technology behind them to their utility in the world of fintech.

In episode 26 of Making Cents of Money, Emergency Funds, Jake, Nikki, and Andrea discuss the value of building emergency funds and a few ways to get started.

In episode 35 of Making Cents of Money, Employment, Andrea, Jake, and Nikki continue the podcast series on economic indicators by discussing metrics related to employment.

In episode 33 of Making Cents of Money, Establishing a Vision for Your Life, Andrea, Nikki, and Jake talk to Donovan Sanchez, CFP and instructor of financial planning at University of Illinois Urbana Champaign about making meaningful money choices that allow you to live life now and make progress towards the future.

In episode 65 of Making Cents of Money, Financial Planner vs AI, we discuss the pros and cons of using Artificial Intelligence language model, ChatGPT, to answer financial planning questions with the help of Donovan Sanchez, CFP®.

In episode 54 of Making Cents of Money, Nikki & Andrea talk about some recent changes in setting new years resolutions and how to make finances part of your goals for 2023.

In episode 31 of Making Cents of Money, Financial Security and Stress, Andrea, Nikki, and Jake talk about statistics related to both financial security and stress and tips to deal with them.

In episode 99 of Making Cents of Money, Andrea and Kimber discuss financial socialization, how it develops, who contributes to it, and what it means for our relationship with money.

In episode 32 of Making Cents of Money, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Andrea, Nikki, and Jake explain Gross Domestic Product as part of an ongoing mini series on economic indicators. 

In episode 34 of Making Cents of Money, Gross National Happiness, Jake and Nikki discuss an alternative metric to Gross Domestic Product that some countries use to help monitor the health of their economies called Gross National Happiness.

In episode 30 of Making Cents of Money, Inflation, Jake, Nikki, and Andrea discuss what inflation is as one of many metrics to gauge how an economy is doing and how it impacts our spending power as consumers.

Making Cents of Money is partnering with the Illinois Department of Insurance’s Corbin Mcghee for a two-part series about Managing Risk with Insurance. In Part 1, learn why insurance is important and how the coverage you select impacts your wallet and your peace of mind.  

In episode 104 of Making Cents of Money, Andrea & Kimber discuss considerations for navigating financial management when it comes to relationships, be them romantic, familial, or with friends and roommates.

Can money really buy happiness? On this episode of Making Cents of Money, we unwrap the science behind money and joy with Donovan Sanchez who returns to discuss his primary research interest. From hedonic adaptation to pro-social spending, learn ways to boost well-being without breaking the bank. 

In episode 23 of Making Cents of Money, Money Personalities & Financial Well-being, Andrea, Jake, and Nikki discuss several financial personality inventories and the CFPB's financial well-being scale as tools to better understand financial values, habits, and internal feelings around money.

In episode 38 of Making Cents of Money, Renting!, Andrea, Jake, and Nikki interview IDFPR's Anti-Predatory Lending Database Director, Kari Beyer, about the ins and outs of mortgages.

In episode 107 of Making Cents of Money, Kimber and Andrea talk about National Financial Capability Month which runs the entirety of April every year.

In episode 106 of Making Cents of Money, Andrea and Kimber discuss the nuances of neurodiversity as it relates to navigating money management.

In episode 101 of Making Cents of Money, join Kimber and Andrea for pointers on pursuing your financial resolutions in the new year.

In episode 39 of Making Cents of Money, Protecting Pets, Andrea, Jake, and Nikki discuss pet insurance and other ways to handle the financial risk of vet bills for our pets with Presley Fee, Digital Financial Planning Program Coordinator at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

In episode 37 of Making Cents of Money, Renting!, Andrea, Jake, and Nikki discuss the basic steps and what to watch for when renting a place to live.

In episode 53 of Making Cents of Money, Andrea & Nikki discuss a few updates to consider when traveling before re-airing the Time to Travel podcast from July 2021.

In episode 97 of Making Cents of Money, Andrea and Kimber discuss a variety of ways to save on travel during the holidays (and beyond)! 

In episode 44 of Making Cents of Money, Nikki and Andrea talk about shopping for appliances, and they've focused on times when it may be a surprise shopping need!

In episode 105 of Making Cents of Money, Emily Harmon, Illinois Extension Family Life Educator, joins Kimber & Andrea to delve into the Transtheoretical Model which can help explain why behavior change relating to finances can be challenging.

In episode 27 of Making Cents of Money, Student Loan Update, Jake and Nikki gave a quick update on the state of federal student loans.

In episode 28 of Making Cents of Money, Tackling Insurance! (Part 1), Deputy Director of Consumer Education & Protection at the Illinois Department of Insurance, Patrice Dziire, talked to us about auto, home, renters, and life insurance.