Advice from Successful Savers

Shanielya Lee & Frank Huggins

“If anyone is going to go through the program, no one should come out of it without reaching their goals. It should be an almost 100 percent success rate.”

As a single mother of two, Shani Lee worked full-time, attended school, and began taking steps toward saving for her first home. Through her participation in a homebuyer club hosted by Manna, a CAAB partner organization that promotes affordable housing, Shani signed up for a CAAB Individual Development Account (IDA). While she put forth considerable effort, Shani felt that between the two organizations and her other commitments, she was stretching herself too thin and ended up closing her IDA after a few months. But she didn’t give up, and when her circumstances changed, she signed up for another attempt at reaching her dreams with the help of matched savings.

When she married Frank Huggins, Shani and Frank became eligible to participate in the Marriage Development Account (MDA) savings program—a program that, like the IDA, matches savings at a 3:1 rate, but is specially designed for couples. Shani and Frank were living with their two children in a spacious, affordable apartment, but did not get along well with the management, so when the time came to consider their options, the couple decided that a move was in order. They took care to assess their financial situation, ultimately determining that downsizing and saving up for a house was the best choice. Today, Shani is thankful for her second opportunity to gain greater financial literacy. “I was a single mother of two kids, going to school and working. I was really excited about the program as a single parent, but I wasn’t familiar with the process and dropped out when my schedule changed and I couldn’t make the classes,” she says, “But when my husband and I decided to purchase a home, I immediately thought of CAAB.”

The couple approached their savings goal at a steady, determined pace. Frank described the decision to save rather than spend a portion of his paycheck every week as easy, “It was a simple fact—we were on a mission to get a house,” he says, “and we were going to do whatever we had to do to make it happen.” And for the Hugginses, that meant condensing their rent by moving from their spacious apartment to the basement of a family member’s home. Like their everyday saving choices, this decision was a simple one too. “We took inventory of the whole situation and thought—are we getting the most for our money?” Frank explains, “The answer was no.” Shani echoes Frank’s dedication to their savings plan, “Especially with the economy being the way it is, what was there really to complain about? Our blessings? Nothing.”

In addition to cutting down their biggest bills, Frank and Shani researched their credit history and began paying off debts, taking steps to elevate their credit scores. Shani explains, “We met short-term goals and, as a result, in the long run, our credit is better. And all that contributed to the fact that we got the home loan.” The Hugginses consider the Money Management 101 course, required for all MDA participants, as a crucial factor in helping them to meet their goals. “Every time we came to class, we were being taught what was relevant at that particular stage,” she continues, “then we’d go home and put what we learned in class into action.”

Frank and Shani have a holistic approach to their savings method. They focused on the home purchase and increasing their credit scores, but the couple also recognized the importance of the seemingly small, everyday saving techniques. Today, Shani says, she would advise someone to “try to take an inventory on what you are spending your money on and eliminate what isn’t a necessity,” and she describes her experience, “For us it was Starbucks. I rerouted that money to the savings account. I also started to pack my husband’s lunch every day. If you can save a penny you can save a lot.”

Savings knowledge goes beyond the husband and wife, too. Shani and Frank have made specific efforts to teach their children, S’nai and O’shan, about the importance of being responsible with their money, “One of the missions of CAAB is to give people financial freedom. Now we have multiple savings accounts. Our children have savings accounts that they put money into every two weeks.” Even the financial education classes became a family adventure, “We took [the kids] to every class. During one of the classes, our son answered a trivia question correctly. He’s only five! They are very aware of all the work we put into this. They know what they’re doing when they are saving their money, too.”

As their move-in date approaches, the Hugginses are busy making preparations for their new home. “I’m excited to live in and enjoy our home and make family memories,” Shani says, “We’re going to build memories for our kids, giving them more than what we had, raise them in a home and be in a more stable environment,” but, she laughs, “we’re still not doing anything outside our budget.” Frank echoes his wife, “We’re going to enjoy each and every day as a family, because that’s what’s most important. We want to give them a better life but we want to give them knowledge and discipline. The basement we’re living in now is tiny in comparison to the spacious apartment we once had. We’ve made sacrifices but they know why we’re doing it.”

With excitement about their future ahead, the family encourages others who think their dreams are out of reach to connect with CAAB for the help they need to make their dreams come true. “If anyone is going to go through this program, no one should come out of it without reaching their goals. It should be an almost 100 percent success rate,” and further, “There was nothing negative about the program. Every dollar we put in, someone else is putting in three.”