Achieving Short & Long Term Goals Through Financial Coaching & DMP

We first met Sharif P. in September 2012. At the time he was struggling with collection debts, managing his credit, and establishing a savings account. Fortunately, for Sharif, Apprisen had a financial coaching program available. Sharif realized it was going to take regular financial coaching to ultimately reach his financial goals. He took the initiative and enrolled.

After taking the initial assessment and identifying the areas of need, Sharif started Apprisen’s financial coaching program. One of the most important things that Sharif bought into this process was the desire make positive financial movement and his commitment to disclose his “financial pains” without holding back important information. The thing that Apprisen brought to the table was expert financial education and support without judgement to help him succeed.
Over the course of meetings, he discussed personal goals to accomplish. In the short term, he wanted to address his debts and did not want to face wage garnishment. Sharif felt that Apprisen’s debt management program (DMP) was the solution to support this goal and enrolled in October 2012.
Next, he put together a budget with Apprisen that prioritized establishing a savings account. He was able to start saving $200 – $300 each month. This was fortunate for Sharif because he soon he was in need of another car. Due to his budgeting and savings contributions, he had enough money to pay cash for one!
After reviewing his credit report during his coaching session in January 2013 his median credit score was 569. At that time, Sharif had many questions on how to rebuild his credit. As the financial coach in this situation, Apprisen was able to answer his questions and provide educational support that helped him learn to keep his credit in good standing after rebuilding it. During our final coaching session in June 2014, Sharif’s median score had increased to 651. He was thrilled to see his credit scores increase.

He now had the financial tools and education that allowed him to continue his credit-building strategies and watch his credit scores rise.
Sharif had focused primarily on reducing his debt and establishing savings over the 2 years of financial coaching. Now, all three of his creditors were reporting his balances accurately, as he has paid them down through his debt management program (DMP). At long last, on June 15, 2015, Sharif made his final DMP payment and became debt free!
He informed us, in a letter, that as a result of the skills he learned during his financial coaching, he was able to broadened his skill set and increase his job market value by attending Vincennes University to acquire his Class A CDL License. Sharif visited his financial coach to express his gratitude to Apprisen for helping him reach his financial goals in the short term and prepping him for reaching his long term goals.