Family Finance Resource List - Dubuque County
BLOG
The Money Tip$ blog offers new posts a couple times each week from three ISU Extension and Outreach family finance specialists, including our Dubuque County specialist Susan Taylor, on topics such as long-term goals, day-to-day financial decisions, managing credit and getting ahead. Bookmark the blog and revisit often:
http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/moneytips
BANKING
Helping People in Your Community Understand Basic Financial Services, Financial Services Education Coalition –
Money Smart, FDIC – self-paced based program – http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/msbci.mscbi.html
BUDGET
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach – /financial
More for Your Money – interactive website – Income/Expenses, Debt Management, Credit and Savings – http://web.extension.illinois.edu/money/
Federal Trade Commission – www.ftc.gov – consumer information - the federal government
Federal Citizen Information Center – http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov
Consumer Acton Website – http://www.consumeraction.gov
CREDIT
Annual Credit Report - http://www.annualcreditreport.com or call 877-322-8228 (toll-free) or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
Form is available at: www.ftc.gov/credit
CRAs - Credit Reporting Agencies
Equifax – www.equifax.com (1-800-685-1111)
Experian – www.experian.com (1-888-397-3742)
Trans Union – www.transunion.com (1-800-888-4213)
Specialty Credit Reports
Medical Reports – http://www.mib.com/html/request_your_record.html
Insurance Reports – https://personalreports.lexisnexis.com/access_your_personal_information.jsp
Check-Writing History – www.Chexsystem.com
Opt Out of Credit Card Offerings
www.optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-567-8688 to get off pre-approved credit card offers
Credit Card Smarts – 16 topics on credit topics – http://web.extension.illinois.edu/creditcardsmarts/
Parent Smarts – http://cfe.ace.illinois.edu/credit/parentsmarts/index.html
Six worksheets to discuss with your college bound student about credit and credit cards.
Understanding Credit Scores - http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/WhatsInYourScore.aspx
Security Freeze - Iowa - Eligibility: All consumers.
Fees: No fee for identity theft victims. All others pay $10 to place the freeze, $12 to temporarily lift, or $10 to remove the freeze altogether. Effective date of law: July 1, 2008.
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
www.ftc.gov
Identity Theft – www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/
Do Not Call Registry – (1-888-382-1222) remove from telemarketers – include cell phone number too. Or www.donotcall/gov
Direct Marketing Association – eliminate junk mail - https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/regist.action
Eliminate Spam e-mail – www.spam@uce.gov
HOT LINES
Extension has resources from all the extension systems in the U.S. You can ask an expert with your question – www.eXtension.org
Iowa Concern Hotline – 800-447-1985
There are trained individuals who answer questions – even an attorney to ask legal questions
COUNSELING
Consumer Credit Counseling of Northeast Iowa – 1-800-714-4388 - http://www.cccsia.org/
810 Locust St., Dubuque, IA 52001-6705 - (563) 582-3885 or 1-866-720-9049
Debt Repayment, Credit counseling, bankruptcy, etc.
Updated: July 2012
