Great consumer tips -- and they come from Uncle Sam
Posted
Jun 16 2008, 09:25 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
The federal government may not be winning many popularity contests, but our partner blogger J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly found a treasure-trove of wonderful consumer tips in a U.S. government publication, the 2008 Consumer Action Handbook.
The fact is, there are plenty of useful federal government Web sites about all sorts of personal-finance matters. (Two we've found particularly helpful are www.irs.gov and Social Security Online.)
The Consumer Action Handbook contains advice about extended warranties (usually not worth the money), credit insurance offers (just say no) and other ways that companies try to suck money from your bank account.
Some more examples (to read even more, click on the links):
And, here's a big catchall: If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. "Offers that often fall into this category are promises to fix your credit problems, low-interest credit cards, deals that let you skip credit card payments, business/job opportunities, risk-free investments, and free travel," J.D.'s post says.
