Money bus offers free tips on saving, spending

There isn’t actual cash on the “Your Money Bus,’’ but Boston is the first stop on the nationwide tour of 25 cities in which local business specialists and financial planners offer free one-on-one financial advice. A certified financial planner can cost $150 to $300 per hour, but during the two-day event that started yesterday and runs through today from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., planners by the Government Center MBTA station will give tips on saving money, spending wisely, and getting on the right financial track.

“Basically, we want to point people in the right direction to resolve some of the financial issues they have,’’ said certified financial planner Janice Swenor of Westminster-based Langtree Associates. “There’s not a whole lot we can do in 15 to 20 minutes, but if we can point them to the place to go to really start the process.’’

Your Money Bus is sponsored by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, TD Ameritrade, FiLife.com, and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors’ Consumer Education Foundation. Locally, the event is also sponsored by state Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill’s office. Scott Campbell, Cahill’s deputy treasurer and chief of staff, attended yesterday’s opening.

“I hope that the lessons and strategies you learn at today’s event will provide you with the knowledge and resources to help make each of your personal and financial goals a reality,’’ Campbell said to the group. “It is crucial that we spread the importance of financial education, especially in the current fiscal climate.’’

Knight Kiplinger, the editor in chief of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, agrees. “A lot of people have never begun the self-education in personal money management. They know their job and what interests them, but they never took personal money management seriously,’’ Kiplinger said. “This brutal recession has taught us all some painful lessons. It’s too bad it took such pain to motivate a lot of people to do things that they should have done in the first place.’’

Among the dozen or so tables arranged between the Your Money Bus and the Government Center station entrance yesterday were families and individuals looking for free financial advice. Among them was the Vilarsons, an immigrant family from Haiti living in Hyde Park.

The patriarch, Yvon Vilarson, 43, works as a food server at Massachusetts General Hospital for about $15 per hour. He said he came to the United States in 1983 and is in the final stages of becoming a citizen. He worked hard until he could afford to send for his wife, Clermonde, 41. Now, they have three young children - two boys and a girl - and Vilarson has found that he can’t support a family of five on a single income and struggles with other common household expenses.

After consulting with a financial planner yesterday, Vilarson learned he can borrow from his Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) account to pay for his wife’s work authorization, so she can apply for a job to help support their children while they’re in school. They can also use a cheaper, pay-as-you-go phone with no set monthly fee. Finally, the planner suggested he get a consumer credit advisory firm to work to get his credit - spoiled from late phone and credit card payments - back on track.

“It was very good. She told me a lot of good stuff I didn’t know,’’ Vilarson said. “As soon as I heard about this, I said I was going to go and start asking some questions so that I can know which way to move - especially right now with housing, rent, and credit card debt.’’