Consumer Ripoffs To Avoid

In addition to spending less and saving more, another way to help your bottom line is simply by not getting ripped off. Here are a couple of key examples of the type of consumer rip-offs common in the states.

1) Rent to Own
– How rent to own works is that you make a payment plus some extra amount of money on a particular good with the expectation that your extra payments will go towards a down payment on what you’re buying. Rent to own is typically bad for the buyer. You end up making high monthly payments on something that typically declines in value, such as a washing machine or TV set.

2) Buying “kits” to clean up your credit.
– In order to have good credit you need to keep your bills current and pay off your debts. The main reason that “kits” are a bit of a ripoff is that they won’t tell you do much of anything beyond what a good trip to the public library or an internet search on the topic can tell you. Please, don’t spend any money buying an expensive “kit” because the same information is available for free elsewhere.

3) Buying Tapes and Seminars.
– There are three reasons why you should avoid this stuff. First, typically folks selling tapes and seminars have an ulterior motive- which is to get you to buy whatever they are selling. Second, tapes and seminars often make unrealistic promises – such as saying that you’ll be able to get rich in your spare time. Third, even if the product does have some usefulness, you can probably get the same info for free at your local library. Avoid this stuff, it’s typically a rip off.

4) You can get a good deal on a new car at 0% interest.
– This is a total fallacy. New cars typically lose a lot of their value in the first few years. How would you like to borrow $10,000 on a new car, only to find the same car is worth $8,000 later? That’s totally shooting yourself in the foot. Not only are you paying interest on the loan, the value of your underlying asset has declined by a huge amount – so even if you sold the car, you’d still be under water. Don’t rip yourself off this way.

Best,

James&Miel