The first step on the road to long term financial sustainability and peace of mind is education. Learning not to live above your means, saving, planning and budgeting properly are all very important skills often neglected by school systems around the world.

That’s why we were so delighted when we heard of The Hinkley Finance Club using Toshl Finance to help students learn about personal finances at the Hinkley High School in Aurora, Colorado in the United States. We gladly provided some tips about the apps (they didn’t really need much) and Toshl Pro accounts to help them with their noble goal.

The Club is already in its eight year of helping students better understand their finances. They meet weekly, after normal school hours, over a five-month period (January through May). The program consists of a series of personal finance workshops on such subjects as: The Financial Planning Process, Budget and Spending Plans, Savings and Investments, Credit, Insurance, Financial Institutions and Services, and Vocations and Careers.  These workshops are presented by the Club’s founder, David McConico, who receives assistance from various volunteer presenters.  These assistants include Bob Noyes, a Hinkley math teacher, who was also instrumental in organizing the Club.

Here’s what they had to say about Toshl Finance:

“In conjunction with the Budget and Spending Plans segment, we looked at a number of smart phone applications that would allow users to record expenses in a convenient manner as well as allow for the comparison of such expenditures to a budget. We selected Toshl Finance.  Toshl had all the features we were looking for (it is particularly user friendly and the students immediately grasped how to use it) and it was available on multiple phone platforms.

Finally, we were impressed with Toshl’s Excel download feature. Next school year we want to use Excel with our advanced students and having their personal finance data on a spreadsheet will provide an excellent segue to this session.”

The Club requires its members to 1) complete quizzes and online financial education modules, 2) open savings accounts, and 3) compete in financial games that involve financial rewards.  Participants are provided with financial incentives (up to $300) for achieving certain objectives. Meals are also provided to the students as part of the program.

It’s run through the FEET Center, a local non-profit organisation, whose volunteers help educate the students and run the program. In the future, they hope to expand to other high schools in the Aurora district and even set up financial education competitions with scholarships for the top performing team members.

At Toshl we certainly wish them all the best in their mission and hope their example will be followed around the world. With better financial education, people can have more stability in their lives, less stress and more time and will to improve all round.

Big thanks to the everyone at the Hinkley Finance Club and David Milanesi for providing us with a summary of their activities.