November 10th, 2008 by Reed Allmand 
The 2005 bankruptcy law requires that debtors filing for bankruptcy take two mandatory classes designed to educate them about personal finance. The first class is a credit counseling course which must be completed before filing for either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy and the second class is the Personal Financial Management course which must be completed within 45 days after filing bankruptcy; but before receiving a discharge through bankruptcy. This is important because if the debtor does not complete this second course after filing for bankruptcy, the Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy may be closed without a discharge.
There are three main objectives of the Personal Financial Management course:
- The help the debtor understand the benefits of creating short-term and long-term financial goals.
- To teach the debtor how to create a budget.
- To teach the debtor how to balance a checkbook and reconcile bank statements.
The purpose of these courses is to help the debtor become financially literate and avoid another bankruptcy.
Take the Personal Financial Management course with a company approved by the US government. See the approved list for Texas here http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/ccde/DE_Files/DE_Approved_Agencies_HTML/de_texas/de_texas.htm
About Reed Allmand
Allmand's vision is rooted in his own financially precarious childhood in Abilene "My father always had difficulty holding a job and supporting our family, so after my parents divorced when I was 12, my sister and I got jobs to help make ends meet," he recalls. "I remember what it felt like as a child to worry that our car would be repossessed or home foreclosed on."
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