SALISBURY— “A penny saved is a penny earned” or so the phrase goes. In this economy, however, it’s probably best to save a little bit more than a penny. Being educated on saving money as early as possible helps people in the long term achieve financial success. Getting kids and teenagers to care about budgeting before they even start their first job brings its own special challenges, but Young Adult Librarian Amanda Brill for Rowan Public Library is up to the task by forming her own “Budgeting 101” program at the RPL Headquarters.

On Nov. 7, Brill hosted her “Budgeting 101” class for kids and teens ages 11-17 to discover what kind of expenses they will need to consider once they are adults with full-time jobs of their own.

“I’ve been wanting to do a budgeting program with the teens for a while mainly from my own experiences of being terrible with money right out of college. Having that knowledge of my own experience, wanting to prevent other people from having that as well. Being able to go the grocery store and know what you’re going to get before you get there. Being able to have money in your bank account as early as you can,” Brill said.

Brill broke the session down into separate categories. She made the kids ask themselves, why do you need a budget? What is a budget? She also presented particulars on how salaries work and the basic expenses adults have like groceries.

“Those are the most important things that I think people need to know as early as they can so that they can use those skills as they go into adulthood,” Brill said.

RPL did a similar “Couponing 101” program earlier in the year, but this was the first “Budgeting 101” class they have offered. Brill grilled them on how to deduct from paychecks, look up apartments online, calculate expenditures, explained pet fees, and paying off student loans. She provided them with a list of careers and the average salary in North Carolina for those jobs, so they could go off of that to figure out what their finances will amount to.

“I wanted to give them the experience of what it’s going to be like for them. At its basic level, a budget is your income minus your expenses. Knowing that ahead of time to help them make the right decisions in the future,” Brill said.

Brill would like to do the class again in the future, but hopes she can improve on it next time. She wants to acquire more thorough financial information and go more into detail on salaries. Though only four kids showed up, Brill believes a smaller number of participants comes with its own advantages.

“Having only the four kids gives me the chance to talk one-on-one and joke around with them a little bit. Some of my other programs have 15 kids so it’s kind of hard, so I think it went really well. I think they walked away with a little bit more information. I hope they did,” Brill said.

Many financial missteps can be avoided with guidance and rational decision making. Making a “Budgeting 101” class available to younger people puts them on the path towards accomplishing their financial goals, as long as they don’t make any mistakes that gets them into debt as Brill can attest to.

“Don’t get a credit card when you’re 22-years-old and right out of college. Only a debit card,” Brill said.