My buddy Cameron Huddleston’s new book, “Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk: How to Have Essential Conversations With Your Parents About Their Finances,” is a guide to negotiating that potentially awkward and/or painful subject of your parents’ finances as they age. (She recently sponsored a giveaway of two copies.)

In conjunction with the publication of her book, Huddleston has created a pair of great (and free!) financial resources.

The first is a document called the “In Case of Emergency Organizer: A Fill-in-the-Blank Financial Inventory to Give Your Loved Ones the Information They Need,” and it’s one-stop-shopping as far as financial information is concerned.

This PDF is write-able, i.e., you can type into it from your computer, tablet or smartphone. Then you can either print it out or send it as a document to your kids or whoever needs to have this info. Or you can print it out as a blank document and fill it in with a pen. #oldschool

Obviously you’ll need to lock it away safely, and make sure the person to whom you send it is careful with the document as well. After all, it will contain your Social Security number, bank account number(s) and other identifying information. But it sure beats your kids (or whoever) scrambling to find this stuff during a crisis.

Consider filling one of these out yourself as well, even if you’re young and hale. Suppose you became very ill, or were involved in some sort of accident: Would your relatives, or even your partner, be able to deal with things like temporarily paying your bills or finding your health insurance information?

 

 

 

Huddleston’s second resource (also free) is called “Scam Red Flags.” It lists the signs of a typical scam, and can be printed out and left where your parents, or any vulnerable adult, will see it often. (On the fridge, say, or on the bathroom door.)

Both can be found on the “resources” page of Huddleston’s website.

As long as I was offering up these two free financial resources, I decided to list five more.

 

 

In debt? You still have rights

 

Credit expert Gerri Detweiler, who has written or co-authored several books including “Reduce Debt, Reduce Stress: Real-Life Solutions For Solving Your Credit Crisis” and “Finance Your Own Business: Get on the Financing Fast Track,” has a very useful resource that I hope you never need to use. It’s another of her books, co-authored with Mary Reed, and it is available for free download.

“Debt Collection Answers: How to Use Debt Collection Laws to Protect Your Rights” is designed to help overwhelmed consumers know their rights. For example, some collectors use tactics that are against the law and you don’t have to take their abuse. Even if they abide by debt collection laws, you still need to know your rights about how – or whether – to make payments.

To download this free financial resource, visit Detweiler’s “books” page. “Debt Collection Answers” is the first book on the list.

 

 

A book and a video

 

I write fairly often for Money Talks News and consider the founder, Stacy Johnson, a friend. Thus I feel pretty good about recommending the next two free financial resources.

When you sign up for MTN’s newsletter, you get:

• A downloadable e-book, “208 Ways to Save Money Every Day”
• A video consumer finance course, “Life or Debt”

Both resources could change someone’s finances. They’d be great for any young people you know who are just starting out, or any not-so-young people who need to start over.

Head over to MoneyTalksNews.com and hang around for a minute or so. Eventually a pop-up will appear, asking if you want to subscribe. Once you do, you’ll be sent the links needed to download the e-book and access the course.

 

 

Free financial resource to save money on food

 

As I’m fond of repeating, food is the budget item with the most wiggle room. We probably can’t negotiate the car payment or the monthly rent, but we can change the ways we shop and eat – and that doesn’t mean living on the two-for-a-buck, store brand mac ‘n’n’ cheese, either.

“I think everyone should eat great food every day,” says food scholar Leanne Brown. That’s why she created “Good and Cheap,” a cookbook based on the SNAP budget of $4 per day. (“SNAP” is the artist formerly known as “food stamps.”)

To eat well you need to learn to cook – which means un-learning the idea that “preparing daily meals is a huge chore or takes tremendous skill.” Brown proves it in her book, which she has generously made available as a free PDF download – in English and also in Spanish – on her website, LeanneBrown.com.

Please share this link with anyone you know who struggles with meal prep and finances.

 

 

Free finance resource to save money, period

 

This one’s from me: I offer a free Google Doc version of a chapter from my first book. “Challenge Yourself to Save” offers more than 30 examples of what I call “stealth saving” tactics. These are designed to help you find “extra” cash in even the tightest of budgets.

Follow the link above to get these tips, and feel free to share the link. It’s essential to have an emergency fund, but these stealth savings tactics can also help you set aside money for a replacement vehicle, holiday shopping, a trip to the family reunion or whatever you need/want. It’s also a way to plump up that Roth IRA or to make it possible to contribute more to a workplace retirement program.

Speaking of my books: Here are discount codes for the e-versions (PDF) of both titles. Normally they’re $6.99 but with the codes below you’ll pay just $5 each:

“Your Playbook for Tough Times: Living Large On Small Change, For The Short Term Or The Long Haul” – visit the and use the code FREEFINANCIAL.

“Your Playbook For Tough Times, Vol. 2: Needs And Wants Edition” – visit the and use the code FREEFINANCIAL2.

(The payment platform accepts credit, debit and PayPal. And if you’re old-school enough to want paperbacks? The books are both available on Amazon.)

Readers: Do you have any favorite free financial resources to share?