Top
Links to External Resources

Auto

Edmunds  Website that provides true market value pricing, unbiased car reviews, ratings and expert advice.

MSN Money  Simple rules and straightforward advice on how to navigate buying your first new car.

Mind Your Finances  Use this calculator to find out whether leasing or buying your car is a better choice for you.

WalletPop  Calculate the size of vehicle loan you will need based on your down payment, vehicle purchase price and terms.

Budgeting

I Will Teach You To Be Rich  Blog that teaches you to automate your investments and savings and spend wisely.

MSN Money Use this basic savings calculator to determine the future worth of your nest egg.

Mind Your Finances  Use this savings goal calculator to find out what it will take to help reach your savings goals.

College & University

SavingForCollege.com  Useful resource to help better understand how to meet the challenge of paying higher education costs.

Federal Student Aid  Find out if you are eligible for federal financial assistance including grants, loans and work-study programs.

Billshare  Divide and track shared expenses with your roommates.

Bookfinder.com  Compare prices on new and used textbooks for sale and save money.

CollegeBoard  Calculate how much college will cost by the time you or your child are ready to enroll.

FinAid  Calculators to help you figure out how much school will cost, how much you need to save and how much aid you’ll need.

Credit

The Internet Crime Complaint Center  Refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime.

Federal Trade Commission  One-stop national resource to help you deter, detect and defend against identity theft.

AnnualCreditReport.com  Request a free annual credit report from each of the  consumer credit reporting companies.

The Federal Reserve Board  Tips for understanding credit cards that can save you money on interest and fees.

CreditCards.com  Find out how long it will take you to pay off your credit card and see how much you’ll pay out in interest.

Credit Karma  A way to get a truly free credit score with no hidden costs or obligations.

Debt in Focus  A free and anonymous service to help bring your debt into focus.

E-Wisdom.com  This credit card optimizer will help determine the best distribution of your credit card debt.

Family Credit Management  Use this credit card pay-off calculator to see what it will take to pay off your credit card balance.

myFICO  Prepare for your next auto loan, home loan or plan for retirement and set savings goals.

Housing

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development  Great home-buying tips.

Bankrate.com  Should you refinance? This calculator will help you crunch the numbers.

Taxes

Internal Revenue Service  The nation's tax collection agency and administrators of the Internal Revenue Code enacted by Congress.

Jackson Hewitt  Explore what-if scenarios with income tax calculators.

H&R Block  Free tax tools, calculators and rate tables.

Financial Tips & Tools

A Collection of the Best Money Posts

The Young & Free Spokespeople from regions throughout North America have produced an incredible amount of content. To make it easy to find the best money-related written and video blog posts, we've assembled this handy list of links.

Auto

Video: Leasing vs. buying
by Janelle in Michigan

9 ways to save money at the pump
by Larissa in Alberta

Purchasing your first car
by Keith in Ontario

Saving at the pump
by Rob in St. Louis

Banking

Video: The difference between banks and credit unions – part one
by Larissa in Alberta

Video: The difference between banks and credit unions – part two
by Larissa in Alberta

Video: The difference between banks and credit unions – part three
by Larissa in Alberta

Video: the difference between banks, credit unions and piggy banks
by Josh in South Carolina

Video: Josh leaves his bank!
by Josh in South Carolina

Video: Josh learns about secured share loans!
by Josh in South Carolina

Budgeting

I have some budget tips for you!
by Josh in South Carolina

Video: Shoebox budgeting
by Larissa in Alberta

Budgeting for a staycation
by Myles in Alberta

X Spot: Bigger budget than Transformers 2
by Myles in Alberta

How do you budget?
by Chris in Alabama

How do you budget? Freshman budget
by Chris in Alabama

How do you budget? Sophomore budget
by Chris in Alabama

How do you budget? Junior budget
by Chris in Alabama

How do you budget? Senior budget
by Chris in Alabama

Try it Tuesday: Budget with cash
by Darryl in South Carolina

Budgeting basics part II: Tools to get you started
by Matt in Indiana

College & University

Save money on back-to-school shopping
by Larissa in Alberta

Getting last-minute student loans
by Jenn in St. Louis

Financial aid, even after starting school
by Matt in Indiana

Buy your books
by Chris in Alabama

Video: More college financial tips
by Seth in Maine

Three ways to save on textbooks
by Matt in Indiana 

Credit

Expert questions: Credit concerns
by Josh in South Carolina

What's a credit card?
by Michelle in New Mexico

Back-to-school credit card advice
by Dex in Alberta

Video: Josh learns about credit!
by Josh in South Carolina

Credit according to Pauly Shore
by Chris in Alabama

Credit cards: Good or evil?
by Rob in St. Louis

How to properly dispose of your credit cards
by Myles in Alberta 

Debt

Dissolving your debt: Your credit score
by Lee in Alabama

Deep in debt, debt snowball
by Chris in Alabama

Deep in debt, debt avalanche
by Chris in Alabama

Deep in debt, debt tsunami
by Chris in Alabama

Deep in debt, debt sleet
by Chris in Alabama

Tips for settling your debt
by Darryl in South Carolina

Dining

Health & food week: Good eats
by Michelle in New Mexico

Cheap & cheerful summertime snacks!
by Kaylie in Ontario

Receipts equal free food?
by Josh in South Carolina

Video: Save $$ at the grocery store
by Janelle in Michigan

Video: College week: Tailgating on the cheap
by Rob in St. Louis

Life for cheap: Eating
by Chris in Alabama

Tasty Thursday: Dorm food
by Seth in Maine

Video: It's BBQ time!
by Kelsey in Alberta

Sneaky ways to eat out and save
by Matt in Indiana

Video: Kooking with Kelsey
by Kelsey in Alberta

Entertainment

The best TV shows for free
by Josh in South Carolina

Save money at the movies
by Larissa in Alberta

Life for cheap: Dating
by Chris in Alabama

Renting movies: Part 1
by Chris in Alabama

Renting movies: Part 2
by Chris in Alabama

Cut down your cable bill
by Rob in St. Louis

Music week: Best free music sites
by Lee in Alabama

Financial Planning

What is a CD
by Rob in St. Louis

Short-term vs. long-term financial goals
by Keith in Ontario

The importance of saving early
by Keith in Ontario

Tax week: Top 10 tax-time tips
by Rob in St. Louis

Tax week: Scams
by Rob in St. Louis

Tax week: Refund anticipation loans
by Rob in St. Louis

Start an emergency fund
by Rob in St. Louis

Housing

Apartment tips from me!
by Kaylie in Ontario

Mortgage and home-buying 101
by Jenn in St. Louis

First-time homebuyers tax credit
by Josh in South Carolina

Video: Mortgage talk
by Dex in Alberta

Video: New apartments
by Josh in South Carolina

Money jargon, equity
by Chris in Alabama

Insurance 

Let's talk insurance
by Alex in Tennessee

Insurance 101
by Rob in St. Louis

Miscellaneous

The cost of a dog or cat
by Josh in South Carolina

Organization

Declutter your wallet with the Internet
by Larissa in Alberta

Saving

Try it Tuesday: Computer cheapskate
by Darryl in South Carolina

Save money with snail mail
by Larissa in Alberta

Video: DIY cleaning supplies
by Michelle in New Mexico

How USA Today says you can avoid raising bank fees
by Lee Taylor

Curb impulse spending using the $50 rule
by Larissa in Alberta

Mind on my money, money on my mind: beat my price
by Myles in Alberta

Saving money on your cell phone bill
by Seth in Maine

Savings tip: Keep the change
by Larissa in Alberta

A 5-minute saving tip
by Larissa in Alberta

X Spot: Things you might be overspending on
by Myles in Alberta 

Why are you paying for these things?
by Myles in Alberta

Saving Christmas green
by Myles in Alberta

Shopping 

Life for cheap: Clothing
by Chris in Alabama

Wedding gift ideas on the cheap
by Alex in Tennessee

Grocery store ripoffs
by Kelsey in Alberta

The art of looking good for cheap
by Lee in Alabama

Try it Tuesday: clip coupons
by Darryl in South Carolina

Video: Fashion on the cheap! (stylin' at Goodwill)
by Alex in Tennessee

Travel

Video: International travel tips
by Janelle in Michigan

Save on travel by shipping your luggage
by Larissa in Alberta

Video: Road trip tips
by Seth in Maine

Saving money in Las Vegas
by Josh in South Carolina

Thrifty Thursday: Plane tickets
by Josh in South Carolina

My Big 4 Essentials to Traveling on the cheap!
by Alex in Tennessee

Video: How to access credit union branches from anywhere
by Matt in Indiana