Here are some other websites we thought were helplful:

General information about money

The Beehive has information about many money subjects in plain language.

Consumer Action has brochures and answers to your questions about banking, credit cards, insurance, car loans, long distance and more.

Hands On Banking is an overview of banking and managing money from Wells Fargo. There is audio for each page of the site which is also available in Spanish. You will need the most recent version of Flash to view this site.

Buying your first home

An online workbook from the Fannie Mae Foundation, which is the largest foundation in the country devoted to affordable housing.

There are state agencies that can help first-time home buyers with special types of loans. You can check out the programs offered by the California Housing Finance Agency.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has tips for making sure you get a fair loan.

Individual Development Accounts

You may qualify to open an individual development account (IDA). These are special types of savings accounts to help low-income families save for a home, education or to start a small business.

EARN is an example of an IDA program in San Francisco.

Click here for a list of IDA programs in California. Or you can click here to find a program in another state.

Other web tools

This is an online show about what buying a car really costs with the finance charges. It is from the Wisconsin On-line Resource Center and you will need to have the latest version of Flash to watch this. They also have a good segment on the real costs of using rent to own stores.