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Stop Getting Ripped Off: Why Consumers Get Screwed, and How You Can Always Get a Fair Deal
New York Times bestselling author of Gotcha Capitalism and MSNBC.com "Red Tape Chronicles" columnist Bob Sullivan strikes again to help you evade the financial traps big businesses set for unwary consumers—and shows you how to get the best possible deals every single time.
Today's marketplace is full of hidden fees, fine print, and other booby traps designed to trip you up and take your money. You may be losing big even when you think you're getting a steal! But with Sullivan's keen guidance and sensible advice, you can save money and regain control of your financial life. Clearly and concisely, Sullivan reveals
• why American consumers make such easy targets for corporate America (you'll be stunned, for example, at how poor our math skills are)
• how Wall Street will skim off one third of your retirement money (avoid this trap with Sullivan's new "Pitfall-Proof Pyramid")
• the myths behind credit-card reward programs and "the 21st-Century Bank Account"
• the real numbers to focus on when buying a new car
• why you should spend more time shopping for your mortgage than your home
• the key questions you must ask before buying life insurance
• the secrets to saving for college and paying off student loans the right way
• the best deals on cell phones and pay-TV service
With Sullivan's empowering message, financial savvy, and knowledge of consumers' wants and needs, you can outsmart the system, keep your hard-earned cash, and finally stop getting ripped off. And you'll become part of a growing grass-roots movement to rein in the abuses of corporate America before consumers get hurt by another boom-and-bust cycle.
Today's marketplace is full of hidden fees, fine print, and other booby traps designed to trip you up and take your money. You may be losing big even when you think you're getting a steal! But with Sullivan's keen guidance and sensible advice, you can save money and regain control of your financial life. Clearly and concisely, Sullivan reveals
• why American consumers make such easy targets for corporate America (you'll be stunned, for example, at how poor our math skills are)
• how Wall Street will skim off one third of your retirement money (avoid this trap with Sullivan's new "Pitfall-Proof Pyramid")
• the myths behind credit-card reward programs and "the 21st-Century Bank Account"
• the real numbers to focus on when buying a new car
• why you should spend more time shopping for your mortgage than your home
• the key questions you must ask before buying life insurance
• the secrets to saving for college and paying off student loans the right way
• the best deals on cell phones and pay-TV service
With Sullivan's empowering message, financial savvy, and knowledge of consumers' wants and needs, you can outsmart the system, keep your hard-earned cash, and finally stop getting ripped off. And you'll become part of a growing grass-roots movement to rein in the abuses of corporate America before consumers get hurt by another boom-and-bust cycle.
309 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
3 people are currently reading
151 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 28, 2015
Bob Sullivan manages to take what one would expect to be a boring topic and makes it not only a good read, but a fascinating page turner.
I consider myself to be pretty financially savvy, but learned several new, practical tips in his chapters on managing retirement funds, credit cards, and purchasing a cell phone plan. Bob also includes additional chapters on topics such as purchasing a house, student loans, purchasing cable, and a few other things I'm forgetting at the moment.
However, even if you know everything about all of the above topics the book is still a must-read for his opening discussion of how and why corporations are able to "rip people off" and the appalling financial illiteracy of the US population.
While I did check this book out from the library I would actually recommend purchasing it as it will come in handy as a reference book for many future purchases.
I consider myself to be pretty financially savvy, but learned several new, practical tips in his chapters on managing retirement funds, credit cards, and purchasing a cell phone plan. Bob also includes additional chapters on topics such as purchasing a house, student loans, purchasing cable, and a few other things I'm forgetting at the moment.
However, even if you know everything about all of the above topics the book is still a must-read for his opening discussion of how and why corporations are able to "rip people off" and the appalling financial illiteracy of the US population.
While I did check this book out from the library I would actually recommend purchasing it as it will come in handy as a reference book for many future purchases.
July 9, 2010
One of my favorite personal finance books is, Getting A Financial Life: Personal Finance in your 20’s and 30’s. I bought the book for all of my siblings at one point or another because I think the book has a lot to offer. I really like this new book as well. The book is subtitled, Why Consumers Get Screwed, and How You can Always Get a Fair Deal. Sullivan does a great job outlining how industry’s goals, making a profit, are not aligned with your best interest, getting things at the best price.
What I found most useful in the book was how he outlined in detail the fees associated with purchases such as buying a house or your cell phone contract. He goes through the HUD-1 form, explaining, for example, fees associated with Title Insurance should bring up a red flag in your mind at closing.
He also separates the readers into three buckets when he talks about credit cards: 1. People who pay off hteir card in full every month, or deadbeats to the credit card industry, 2. People who sometimes carry a balance, and 3. People who always carry a balance. Sullivan then explains how best to utilize your credit depending on the type of credit user.
The most useful chapter to me, however, was the chapter on “Getting a 21st Century Raise.” He explains how you can go about utilizing your off hours to generate extra income. I really liked some of his ideas about “having the conversation” with your boss about a raise, what you need to put together to get the raise, and what to do if you don’t get the raise.
As some of you know, Brent and I conceptualize money differently. He is great at tracking where he is spending money, but I need a plan looking to the future. For me, spent money is gone, so of little consequence. To get over this difference, we created a one page document. The first chart has our each of our incomes, yearly and monthly, gross. The second chart lists all of our debt: student loans, etc, laid out in total, and with our monthly amount owed. The third chart lays out our fixed expenses for the month: cell phones, TIVO, rent, etc. I then take table one (income) and subtract table three (monthly expenses) which equals the amount of money we have left at the end of the month to tackle our combined debt. We update the page monthly and have been using this method for about a year, to great success. It really allows us to see how much money we are paying off. (If you would like a copy of our sheet, drop me an email.)
Sullivan advocates a similar approach in his book, and calls it a debt map.
I think this book is great.
What I found most useful in the book was how he outlined in detail the fees associated with purchases such as buying a house or your cell phone contract. He goes through the HUD-1 form, explaining, for example, fees associated with Title Insurance should bring up a red flag in your mind at closing.
He also separates the readers into three buckets when he talks about credit cards: 1. People who pay off hteir card in full every month, or deadbeats to the credit card industry, 2. People who sometimes carry a balance, and 3. People who always carry a balance. Sullivan then explains how best to utilize your credit depending on the type of credit user.
The most useful chapter to me, however, was the chapter on “Getting a 21st Century Raise.” He explains how you can go about utilizing your off hours to generate extra income. I really liked some of his ideas about “having the conversation” with your boss about a raise, what you need to put together to get the raise, and what to do if you don’t get the raise.
As some of you know, Brent and I conceptualize money differently. He is great at tracking where he is spending money, but I need a plan looking to the future. For me, spent money is gone, so of little consequence. To get over this difference, we created a one page document. The first chart has our each of our incomes, yearly and monthly, gross. The second chart lists all of our debt: student loans, etc, laid out in total, and with our monthly amount owed. The third chart lays out our fixed expenses for the month: cell phones, TIVO, rent, etc. I then take table one (income) and subtract table three (monthly expenses) which equals the amount of money we have left at the end of the month to tackle our combined debt. We update the page monthly and have been using this method for about a year, to great success. It really allows us to see how much money we are paying off. (If you would like a copy of our sheet, drop me an email.)
Sullivan advocates a similar approach in his book, and calls it a debt map.
I think this book is great.
May 21, 2010
You go out to dinner with a group of friends and when the check comes you: panic, hope someone has a calculator, throw in money and hope for the best, or something similar. Now this is just a check at a restaurant -- how are you supposed to cope with buying a house or figuring out a cellphone plan?
You aren't. The central idea behind Stop Getting Screwed is that companies are taking advantage of your poor math skills. Luckily Bob Sullivan is here to give you tips to avoid risking your financial future because of unscrupulous companies.
The first third of the book explains the problem. It's not that you aren't a numbers person, it's that you were able to get through school and still be innumerate. It's that companies understand the science and psychology of numbers. It's that we're generally trusting people.
The middle portion gives you specific tools to use when buying a house, a car, getting a student loan, paying off credit cards and many other major financial decisions. I highly recommend everyone read this section.
The final third sets up a path to finanicial freedom, starting with savings and moving on to investments. If you think you'll never get to this point, then it's even more important for you to read the book.
You aren't. The central idea behind Stop Getting Screwed is that companies are taking advantage of your poor math skills. Luckily Bob Sullivan is here to give you tips to avoid risking your financial future because of unscrupulous companies.
The first third of the book explains the problem. It's not that you aren't a numbers person, it's that you were able to get through school and still be innumerate. It's that companies understand the science and psychology of numbers. It's that we're generally trusting people.
The middle portion gives you specific tools to use when buying a house, a car, getting a student loan, paying off credit cards and many other major financial decisions. I highly recommend everyone read this section.
The final third sets up a path to finanicial freedom, starting with savings and moving on to investments. If you think you'll never get to this point, then it's even more important for you to read the book.
January 25, 2010
great book. every single one of you should read this book. Then put into practice the things he talks about. If each of us fight the big corporations one piece at a time, we WILL make them change the way they do things and treat us.
fight with your wallet... if a company wrongs you, then forever more boycott their store or product. My husband and I already do this. We have a growing list of companies we will no longer buy products of, or purchase from their store. And we are changing banks because of their practices. We also buy as much as possible from locally owned businesses, even if we pay more.
There is also a lot of good advice on how to become more financially healthy. The $9 I spent on this book, will be returned many times with the sound advice I received.
fight with your wallet... if a company wrongs you, then forever more boycott their store or product. My husband and I already do this. We have a growing list of companies we will no longer buy products of, or purchase from their store. And we are changing banks because of their practices. We also buy as much as possible from locally owned businesses, even if we pay more.
There is also a lot of good advice on how to become more financially healthy. The $9 I spent on this book, will be returned many times with the sound advice I received.
February 1, 2010
MSNBC “Red Tape Chronicles” columnist Bob Sullivan gives the lowdown on the ways consumers are financially illiterate and advice for how we can stop getting screwed by various entities: TV companies, mortgage brokers, car salesman/auto loans, cell phone companies, student loans, various types of insurance, and investment brokers. This book is actually a pretty engaging read and much more informative than Dave Ramsey's material, which mostly focuses on convincing the reader to reduce/elminate his/her debt. If you're already motivated, skip Ramsey and get a load of Sullivan.
April 25, 2010
A good close to compreshensive consumer finance book split into 3 parts:
* sociology of business practices that are hurting society (and beg for regulation so that people cut it out);
* chapters on specific consumer decisions that vex us (cable service, buying a home); and the most useful,
* how to build a financial foundation by saving, paying down debt, and low-fee investing..
You could do a lot worse than reading a couple chapters to make yourself more confident in the choices you make. Worth the $15 (or free at the library).
* sociology of business practices that are hurting society (and beg for regulation so that people cut it out);
* chapters on specific consumer decisions that vex us (cable service, buying a home); and the most useful,
* how to build a financial foundation by saving, paying down debt, and low-fee investing..
You could do a lot worse than reading a couple chapters to make yourself more confident in the choices you make. Worth the $15 (or free at the library).
January 14, 2010
A very easy-to-read guide. It is both entertaining and shocking how much I get screwed . . . not in a good way. I'm going to put stickies all over this thing and start straightening out my finances. Ready, set . . . GO.
March 29, 2012
Must-read even if you're fairly financially savvy like I am. TONS of tips to save money and invest WISELY. Totally gotta set aside some time to convert my ebook highlights to actual notes. Covers everything from cell phones to insurance in layman's terms.
October 5, 2013
Good financial book. Learned a lot. About to apply some of these to improve my financial situation. Long way to go but at least I have a plan and some big goals. One thing I can attest to is that the 'just ask' strategy works more often than most people realize. Try it.
May 25, 2010
Twenty pages in and I come to the painful realization that I am completely innumerate.
March 27, 2010
Excellent detailed information! This was especially helpful to me since I'm looking to buy a condo and need to know how to best negotiate. It also helped me to save money by lowering my cable bill.
December 18, 2010
A wonderful book. Easy to read. Full of common sense information.
Want to Read
July 30, 2010Recommended by Becky's GoodReads feed...
September 12, 2017
This book provides ways to arm yourself when working with merchants.
February 22, 2010
Had some great ideas - a real eye opener.
February 21, 2016
Very little info that I didn't already know.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews