City Residents Asked to Save

Pittsburgh will mark America Saves Week starting Monday by encouraging residents to become “Pittsburgh Savers.” The focus of the week is to get people to start saving money with some goal in mind such as buying a home or creating an emergency fund. The Financial Education Consortium of Southwestern Pennsylvania is spearheading the effort and Chairman Richard Witherspoon says even people having a hard time paying their bills may be able to start saving. He says the first thing he does is ask people to write down every dime they spend for a month. Then they look for waste that could go to covering those bills and maybe a bit more. The consortium is offering several financial management classes and other events over the week and several partner banks will be offering participants the chance to open savings accounts with no minimum balance. Witherspoon says the savings plan does not have to be huge, even a few dollars a week will add up over time. Witherspoon stresses that learning to manage your money is as important as starting a savings account. He says the current financial situation facing the nation is due to the fact that we did not manage our money well.