Paul F. Goebel
Director

goebel@unt.edu
MBA - St. Edward's University
BS Advertising - University of Texas at Austin

Paul F. Goebel is the founding and managing director of the University of North Texas’s national award winning Student Money Management Center. Paul is responsible for the center’s operations, program development and educational outreach efforts. He has been invited to speak at local, state, and national conferences and symposiums on student money management services and program development.

What is the best money advice you would offer to students?
Start to build a savings plan for the future. A savings account is a great way to start saving money, which you will use in the future to build wealth through other investment products.

What was the biggest financial mistake you made? Looking back now, what would you have done differently?
I lived far beyond my means the year after I graduated from college. I lost thousands of dollars due to the high interest rates I was paying on my credit cards. Looking back I would not have accrued such a high level of debt on my credit cards and I would not have tried to adapt my lifestyle with friends earning more than me.

What is one of your financial priorities?
Pay off my car note one year ahead of schedule.

Danielle Champagne
Assistant Director

champagne@unt.edu
MBA - The University of North Texas (in progress)
MEd - The University of North Texas
BBA Finance & Business Economics - The University of North Texas

Danielle Champagne is the current Assistant Director of the Student Money Management Center at the University of North Texas. She currently oversees the Financial Success Program that provides individual student financial consultations and the assessment creation and planning for the Center. Her educational background includes finance, economics, and student affairs and college administration. She is currently working on an MBA in Strategic Management at UNT. Her current research interests include first-generation and minority college student recruitment and retention, assessment of student learning and outcomes, and the impact of debt on college students and recent graduates.

What is the best money advice you would offer to students?
The best advice I have for students is to budget and track their spending. Most people do not know where their money goes throughout the month, and end up spending it in ways that do not work to achieve their goals. Once you start planning your spending and keeping track of where the dollars go, you can see the trigger areas where you spend without thinking. By understanding your behaviors and patterns, and setting small spending and savings goals, you can overcome mindless spending and focus on accomplishing larger financial priorities.

What was the biggest financial mistake you made? Looking back now, what would you have done differently?
My biggest financial mistake was living beyond my means when I started college. I had been working full time and was making a good salary, but once I started school my income dropped dramatically. I depleted my savings and then started to live off of credit cards. I ran up several large debts and they went into collections. Looking back, I could have spent time saving more money when my income was high, since I knew ahead of time when I would be starting school and that my expenses would increase while my income decreased. I could have saved myself a lot of stress and debt if I had budgeted and planned proactively.

What is one of your financial priorities?
Currently I am working on increasing my savings to pay down a large chunk of my student loans. I have begun to build a retirement portfolio, with the money coming directly out of my paycheck, but I do not have a large pot of savings other than my emergency fund.

Velma Gray
Office Manager

velma.gray@unt.edu
BS in Communication from Texas Woman’s University

Velma Gray is the office manager of Student Money Management Center. Velma is responsible for the center’s loan programs, day to day office operations and maintenance, and provides backup assistance to the educational outreach efforts. Prior to her current position, Velma was a mortgage lender with in the private sector, and a public information specialist with city government. She often served as a grant writer for non-profits and various church organizations. She also own/managed her own business and produces mom and daughter lip gloss line. Velma is married with 1 daughter and 1 granddaughter. Velma received her BS in Communication from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas.

What is the best money advice you would offer to students?
It does not matter how much you make. If you would discipline yourself to save at least 20 to 30% of your income, this will add financial security to your retirement years.

What was the biggest financial mistake you made? Looking back now, what would you have done differently?
Trusting someone else or agency to make money decisions for me. I would have educated myself on savings, investments and securing my future for retirement.

What is one of your financial priorities?
Now that I have the financial “liberty” in my finances, my greatest desire is to teach it to someone else.