April 2010

In facing last year’s recession many consumers are struggling to manage their personal finances. To assist consumers and to give back to the community, Compuscan Academy is hosting a range of Free Workshops on Money Management in the Western Cape. Knowledge is power and by educating consumers on the ways they can manage their finances better they can hopefully enhance their financial situation. The project kicked of with the first workshop being held on Saturday, 13 February 2010 at the Drakenstein Public Library in Paarl.

Our Money Management workshops are informative and deals with the following common issues:

• Taking charge of your financial situation
• Avoiding financial distress
• Assessing and understanding your financial status
• Budgeting and planning your personal finances
• Making good saving decisions
• Understanding your credit report, default information and judgements
• Managing your credit accounts responsibly

During the Paarl workshop, concerns such as the uncertainty about future prospects, job losses, interest rate increases, increased food / petrol prices and being black listed was also discussed and the workshop concluded with a question and answer session.

The attendees commented that they thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and that the facilitator, Tass Schwab was excellent. Most of the attendees had never attended a workshop like this before and felt that they learnt something new and would be able to make a positive change within their own lives. The overall feeling was that by the end of the day they were more relaxed and better equipped to handle their financial affairs.  

This is what some of the attendees had to say:

• “There was good communication with all of us and we were made to feel part of the workshop.”
• “Many more of these types of courses should be held.”

The attendees were in addition offered the opportunity to get a copy of their free credit report. They were asked to bring along their ID Documents as proof of identity in order for Compuscan to give them access to their credit reports. On their credit reports they could see what their current creditworthiness status is when applying for credit. Furthermore, the report made them more aware of their credit history and how they can put into action a plan to set realistic financial goals.

Compuscan Academy is committed to creating awareness about the importance of being financially healthy as well as what preventative measures to take to avoid falling in a ‘debt trap’. We hope that the attendees enjoyed their time at the workshop and sincerely hope that they can put into practice these money management tips in their daily lives.

Our next workshop is begin be held on the 30^th of March at the Community Centre in Maccassar.

If you would like to get involved in helping us with more of these free financial health workshops, please contact us at on +27 (0) 21 888 6000, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.compuscanacademy.co.za