Article Title: Getting her finances in order led to new career for Aurora woman
Thea E. Reynolds’ own consumer debt drove her to launch a business to assist others learn how to manage their money.
“It’s my passion to help people get their money in order,” Reynolds said.
The Aurora resident recently started Budget In A Binder Inc., a business where she offers classes to teach people how to better organize their finances.
Reynolds also owns and operates a financial planning business, WaterSeed Wealth Management, a company she started about three months ago in Naperville at 2020 Calamos Court, Suite 200. Prior to that she worked for AG Edwards financial consulting firm.
Budget In A Binder is a separate business and is operated separately from the financial planning portion, Reynolds said. She has been teaching and perfecting the classes for the past four years. Up until now, she taught the classes at her church as well as around her dining room table.
She offers the course in two separate classes. During the first class, she uses a fictitious family budget. “We talk about the organization of a budget,” Reynolds said. The participants then record their receipts over the next 30 days before the second class.
They then see how much money they spent on McDonald’s or Starbucks coffee. “I’m not here to judge. I’m here to help them realize how they spend their money,” she said.
During the second class, participants create their own budget with an organizational leather three-ring binder that serves as a total money organization system. Reynolds talks about savvy consumerism, saving money on eating out, groceries, vacations and insurance.
Reynolds also addresses how to clean up a credit report and identity theft.
The entrepreneur shares her own experiences with debt. She explains that during the first few years of her 13-year marriage, she and her husband, Andy, racked up $25,000 in consumer debt. About five years into their marriage they decided they had to make some changes and start a budget. “We are now out of debt and our world is different,” she said. They also have an 18-month-old son, Isaac.
The cost to attend the two-session class is $99 per couple. This is an introductory rate. The cost will soon increase to $149 in 2007. Reynolds will hold the first of the sessions from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nov. 4 and 7 to 9:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at Reynolds’ Naperville office.
For more information, call (630) 799-1566.
