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Personal Finances

Find information and practical advice to cope with unemployment,  manage your personal finances, get help with credit counseling, and avoiding scams. 

Coping with unemployment

Learn now about coping with job loss using these free online resources.

Wisconsin Job Center Publications feature these has online versions brochures:

• Adjusting to Unemployment
• Family Finances: Getting By on Less
   

Other online resources provide more help.

• UW Extension Publications, Family Finance and Consumer Issues has numerous articles on coping with stress, job loss, personal finances and managing your limited resources.
   
• Bankrate.com provides free, objective information on many financial topics. See How to Survive a Lost Job.
   
• MSN Money is another free site with information on many topics including personal finances and job loss. See A Survival Guide for the Unemployed  and 5 ways the tax code can help you in a layoff.
   
• Survive Layoff (PDF) provides strategies, tips, techniques and tools to help you with layoff.  This publication is from the Working for America Institute.
   
• Get Unemployment Help from the AFL-CIO provides practical tips on managing your budget, dealing with creditors, putting food on the table, staying healthy and finding work when unemployment happens. They provide an unemployment check list and When the Paycheck Stops. En Espanol, Quando el Cheque se Acaba; Una guia para sobrevivir el desempleo. (PDF)

Managing your finances

Learn more about budgeting, using credit, saving, investing, and getting ahead financially.

• The Family Financial Management Tool Box.  Working on family financial management issues requires tools to help get the job done.  Included in the toolbox are activities  on various financial topics, as well as fact sheets and worksheets on financial matters. This site is sponsored UW Cooperative Extension.
   
• Other UW Extension publications include:
  Planning to Stay Ahead
  Taking Control of Your Spending
  Rent Smart
  Using Power Payments to Pay Off Debt
   
• Financial Tips from the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.
   
• MoneySKILL, a personal finance course, is a highly interactive, reality-based Internet curriculum. Its purpose is to educate students to make informed financial decisions. The course consists of 34 "How To" modules on income, money management, spending and credit, and saving and investing.
   
• Investment Basics provides an introduction to common savings and investment options to help the beginning investor. This publication is provided on the Internet by UW Cooperative Extension Publications.
   
• Investing in Your Future, A Basic Investing Home Study Course This 11-unit home study course was developed for beginning investors with small dollar amounts to invest at any one time. Sponsored by Rutgers University Cooperative Extension.
   
• Financial Planning Tool Kit  This web site provides no-cost advise on the whole range of financial planning topics including calculators and planning tools. 

Credit Counseling

Find a Licensed Consumer Credit Counselor in Wisconsin (Adjustment Service Company). View a list from the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.

Wisconsin Debt Collection Practices,  Anyone attempting to collect a debt arising from a consumer transaction in Wisconsin, whether a merchant doing its own debt collecting or a third-party debt collector, must follow Wisconsin’s debt collection law.

Credit Repair from NOLO.com provides advise on getting out of credit problems. NOLO.com provides online, do-it-yourself legal solutions for consumers and small businesses.

Avoiding Consumer Scams

These resources help you be an informed consumer and avoid being a victim of consumer fraud, deceptive advertising, and just plain BAD DEALS.

Avoid "deals" that sound good but are not. The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) provides guidance on topics like:
Rent to Own
Payday Loans
Refund Anticipation Loans (RAL)

Consumer Fact Sheets  Find helpful advice on hundreds of topics - from advertising to telecommunications - written in easy-to-understand language by experts who research and answer consumer questions every day. Brought to you by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection.

Consumer.gov. Consumer information from the Federal government including.

Federal Trade Commission. You'll find publications with advice on avoiding scams and rip-offs, as well as tips on other consumer topics.