121 real programmes, every one checked against its official source. Each says plainly what it is — money you keep, money you repay, or free help — and names the free path where somebody normally charges you for it.
The IRS names this one directly. Promoters advertise on radio and TV claiming they can settle your IRS debt cheaply through an offer in compromise. The IRS’s own words: "In reality, you pay …
FREE SERVICE ⚠️ Accredited representatives and VSOs — free help with a VA claimU.S. Department of Veterans AffairsVA states it plainly: "the services an accredited VSO representative provides on your VA benefit claims are always free." Accredited attorneys and claims agents, by contrast, CAN charge fees…
FREE SERVICE ⚠️ Debt relief, credit counseling, and the advance-fee ruleFederal Trade CommissionThe FTC’s position is unambiguous: "You don’t need to pay a company to talk to your credit card company on your behalf — you can do it yourself, for free," and for student loans the free ser…
FREE SERVICE ⚠️ Paid help with a Social Security claim — 42 U.S.C. § 406Congress / Social Security Administration (statute)Applying for SSI or SSDI is free, and helping someone fill in the application is not a regulated activity — a friend, a caseworker, or a community organisation can sit with you and do it. Wh…
FREE SERVICE ⚠️ Unclaimed property — free at your state office (NAUPA / MissingMoney)State unclaimed property offices, through the National Association of Unclaimed Property AdministratorsSearching for unclaimed property is free, and NAUPA says so on its own front page: "Search for your unclaimed property (it’s free)," through MissingMoney.com, "a free website, managed by NAU…
FREE SERVICE 211 (free local help line)United Way Worldwide and local 211 providersDial 211 from any phone and a local specialist will search what is actually funded and open in your county right now — rent and utility help, food, healthcare costs, mental health, substance…
FREE SERVICE Adult education and family literacyU.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult EducationFederal grant money flows through OCTAE’s Division of Adult Education and Literacy to state and local programmes so adults can "acquire the basic skills necessary to function in today’s soci…
FREE SERVICE ATTRA / NCAT — free national sustainable-agriculture helplineNational Center for Appropriate Technology, under an agreement with USDA Rural DevelopmentAgriculture specialists answer roughly 35,000 farmers a year — regenerative grazing, organic production, marketing strategy, climate resilience — free to the farmer, since 1987. Hands-on tec…
FREE SERVICE Bank On Certified Accounts / FDIC #GetBankedCities for Financial Empowerment Fund (Bank On) and the FDICIf you have been shown savings and CD offers in answer to the question "need an account for direct deposit," check what those offers actually require. A certificate of deposit with a $1,000 …
FREE SERVICE CFPB consumer complaintConsumer Financial Protection BureauA free complaint that a company has to answer. The CFPB routes your complaint to the company and most companies respond within 15 days, with up to 60 days where a response is still in progre…
FREE SERVICE Continuum of Care (CoC) — the homeless services systemU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — through local CoC lead agencies and providersThe Continuum of Care is how federal homelessness money reaches the ground: HUD funds nonprofit providers and state and local governments in each community to deliver shelter, rapid re-housi…
FREE SERVICE Cooperative Extension — free county-level expertiseUSDA NIFA and the land-grant university systemMore than 100 land-grant colleges are obligated to share research-based knowledge with EVERY county in the United States, through county Extension agents — a public system from the Smith-Lev…
GRANT — money you do not repay (eligibility-gated)
LOAN6 programmesLOAN — you repay this, with interest
2 programmesCOST-SHARE — you pay first, reimbursed after inspection
TAX CREDIT6 programmesTAX CREDIT — reduces taxes owed, no cash up front
INSURANCE8 programmesINSURANCE — risk coverage you pay premiums for
FREE SERVICE57 programmesFREE SERVICE — expert help, not money
VARIES11 programmesVARIES — check the specific program; not necessarily a cash grant
Not financial or legal advice. Program terms change — verify eligibility, amounts, and deadlines with the administering agency before acting.