Home > Money & Business > Personal Finance > Keeping a Safe Harbor: Maintaining & Protecting Your Home [Image: Unit 4] Unit 4. After the home purchase learn to maintain its value, properly secure and insure your home investment, avoid home repair rip-offs and prevent foreclosure. In addition, learn the life expectancy of your home appliances and home sytems and how to improve the health of your home. Sailing Through the Mortgage Process [Image: Unit 3] Unit 3: Understand mortgage terms and loan programs, know the questions to ask before choosing a mortgage and how to shop wisely for one. Be prepared when applying for a mortgage loan and know what will be needed at closing. Also learn how to avoid subprime loans. Staying on Course with Financial Management [Image: Unit 2] Complete Unit 2 materials cover: Organizing your family finances by setting goals, developing a cash flow worksheet and net worth statement, developing a budget and managing your credit. In addition, find helpful tips on homeowner tax planning, stretching your dollars and saving and preventing identiy theft. Navigating Your Way to A New Home - Unit 1 [Image: Unit 1 image] Unit 1 - Complete unit materials cover: renting versus owning, housing priorities, how to evaluate homes and house plans, how to determine housing price limits, how to choose your home-buying professional team, shopping resources, how to negotiate purchase price of home, your housing rights and what needs inspecting prior to purchasing a home.  more articles... Federal Incentive Payments for Low-Income Workers [Image: Managing in Tough Times Federal Incentive Payments for Low-Income Workers] Federal incentive payments for low-income workers explained. The 2009 Earned Income Tax Credit [Image: Managing in Tough Times Federal Incentive Payments for Low-Income Workers] Eligible working families and individuals can claim this important federal incentive payment to help them pay down their bills, increase emergency fund savings, and more. Louisiana posts most stories to money management Web site [Image: group of four] Louisiana submitted the most stories – 104 – to a national extension Web site called Managing in Tough Times. Selling Your Gold Jewelry Times are tough, and gold prices are high. People are looking for ways to raise extra cash. It is important to comparison shop to avoid gold buying rip-offs. Living on Less: How to manage through hard times [Image: grocery shopping] Many people feel fortunate that they managed to hold onto their jobs this year, but few were fortunate enough to see a pay increase. Some who work hourly or on commission are actually seeing a decrease in their pay check, which leaves many families trying to figure out how to live on less. Stretching Your Food Dollar [Image: Managing in Tough Times] Grocery shopping can be a real challenge, especially if you are on a limited budget. However, food is a flexible budget expense that can be reduced when money is tight. By planning ahead and managing your money wisely, you can still serve meals which are appetizing, easily prepared and nutritious. Getting the Most from What You Have [Image: Managing in Tough Times] Learn money-saving tips to help you stretch your dollars. Topics discussed include housing, heating and cooling, electricity, telephone, food, transportation, clothing, medical and recreation. Deciding Which Bills to Pay First [Image: Managing in Tough Times] When you do not have enough money to cover your family's basic living expenses, you must make difficult financial decisions. Learn strategies to determine which bills to pay and how to work with creditors. Live Well on a Shoestring Budget: Control Spending [Image: Managing in Tough Times] This four-page publication presents strategies to help individuals and families experiencing low or reduced incomes manage spending to maintain a quality lifestyle. Vehicle Maintenance - What can you (safely) do yourself, to save money? Some of the practical and performable routine maintenance tasks that vehicle owners can do themselves to save money. Click for more information...