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New Rent Smart Fact Sheets!

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension has created two Rent Smart fact sheets to assist housing applicants, tenants, and landlords understand the housing laws that apply to application fees and evictions. These fact sheets describe scenarios around the return of application fees and the notices required to begin the legal eviction process. Application Fees […]

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Rent Smart Classes Available for Spring 2024!

Rent Smart is designed to help those individuals who have little to no rental experience and those who have had difficulty obtaining rental housing.  Participants may be first time renters as they graduate from school, homeowners transitioning to renting, individuals with poor rental or credit history, or individuals who have other issues that may cause potential […]

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La Follette students highlight benefits of universal child savings accounts in Wisconsin

Five graduate students from the La Follette School of Public Affairs demonstrated that universal child savings accounts could have significant benefits for the state when they conducted the first statewide cost-benefit analysis of the idea last fall. Stephanie Mertens, Ian O’Connor-Giles, Adam Riley, Sam Schneider, and Tyler Williams completed the study on behalf of UW–Madison’s Division of […]

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Encouraging Financial Discussions Foundation Series – October 2022

2022 EFC FOUNDATIONS SERIES EFC – Encouraging Financial Conversations is a program designed for case managers, social workers, and other frontline staff to help empower clients achieve their financial goals and manage their money. EFC participants will learn techniques and strategies to help their clients create a financial goals action plan, build and maintain good […]

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Grandparents Scam Alert

Recently, a citizen alerted the Oshkosh Police Department that they received a phone call from a female stating that their granddaughter was in custody, that the caller was the granddaughter’s attorney, and that they needed several thousand dollars cash in order to bond her out. This was a scam known as the Grandparent Scam and […]

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Credit Report Changes Coming July 1

Staying on top of what’s in your credit report can help you spot errors and possible instances of identity theft. Additionally, a positive credit history helps you access housing and financial products, and to get the best interest rate when applying for loans, insurance, and more. Extension Educators from UW-Madison Division of Extension want Wisconsin […]

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Financial Resources During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Financial resources continue to be available to those needing assistance during the pandemic. The Division of Extension has compiled many of these resources into the Financial Resources to Help Get Through COVID-19 website at https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/toughtimes/covid-19-financial-resources/. This website has information on state and federal programs including unemployment assistance, rental assistance, utility assistance, and many other resources […]

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Food Safety in the Time of COVID-19: Is our Food Supply Still Secure?

We have heard that the U.S. food supply is safe and secure during the coronavirus epidemic, but we’ve also heard that some farms have had to dispose of food items rather than send them to processing.  Is our food supply still secure? Dr. Frank Yiannis, deputy commissioner of FDA, indicates that there is plenty of food; it’s just […]

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Back-to-School Shopping on a Budget

Households with children in grade school and high school will spend almost $700 on back-to-school shopping this fall, according to the National Retail Federation.  Clothing, electronics, and school supplies are the top three expenses listed by families in the Federation’s annual July survey.  Households with a college student will spend closer to $1000 this year […]

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