Denver financial office offering free budgeting assistance to locals

In a Gallup poll this month, more than half of Americans said rising prices caused financial hardship in their household as 13% said that hardship is severe. 

A poll from Quinnipiac found nearly half of Americans have less in savings than they did just a year ago.

CBS News Colorado chatted with a financial coach about the importance of budgeting. 

Edith Reed works for Denver's Office of Financial Empowerment and Protection, which operates under the Agency for Human Rights and Community Partnerships. 

Reed said "budgeting" should not be considered a bad word. 

"People feel like it's restrictive. What we try to do is get people to see it as empowering and something that they are in control of," she said.

OFEP offers free services to help Denverites get their finances on track, which includes free financial coaching. Reed is one of those coaches that assist people to get set and stick to a budget. 

She told CBS News Colorado one of the biggest financial mistakes is not having a budget at all. 

"Not knowing what their numbers are and being aware of what's going in and what's coming out," Reed said, "We kind of do that mental budgeting. So we think about just our fixed expenses." 

Reed says a lot of people do not factor in those flexible expenses like clothes, food and gas.

To reach OFEP you can call the main number at 720-944-2498 or email: FECdenvergov.org.

Services they provide include financial navigation, consumer financial protection and financial empowerment. 

There are financial empowerment centers throughout the city.