If you haven’t ever read Consumer Reports, you should.  This month I opened my mailbox to see that I have yet another report to look over.  In there they show the Top 10 biggest money suckers in the consumer world.  Most products you pay for one time, but in this issue they are showing many products that will cost you money until the day you throw it into the trash and even then might cost $$$ to get rid of.

Our post on Consumer Reports Top 10 is sponsored by:

Let’s take a look at the list:
#10 - Bagged salad.  Consumer Reports found up to 83% of the bags tested had brown or “gooey” leaves.

#09 - Cell phone service ads.  CR found that most cell phone companies actually charge almost 30% more than they advertised, mostly through hidden fees. 
My suggestion?  Stick with the TracFone, nobody should be on their cell phone that much.

#08 - Whitening toothpaste.  Of all the 41 teeth whitening toothpastes tested, none of them preformed any better than the next.

#07 - Automatic shower cleaner.  If this one got you when it came out, you need to stop buying thing because it says “new” on the box.  CR shows that most of the time the shower area was worse after a month of use. 
My suggestion?  Use the product with the “scrubbing bubbles” and a brush, things get cleaner that way.

#06 - Pricey car batteries.  Stay away from over-priced brand name batteries for your car.  Most of the time they all preform the same, but will cost you more in the long run.

#05 - Quick stain removers.  Here is another “new” purchase.  Think before you buy and it really plays down to logic.  The Tide-to-Go removed only 6 stains out of 48. 
My suggestion?  Don’t eat like a pig

#04 - Bank gift cards.  I haven’t seen these around my area, but after reading about all the fees you could get charged, they are an insane rip-off.  If you don’t use the balance within 6 months you can get charged $25 twice a year, even after expiration. 
My suggestion?  Just get a gift card for Amazon.com or Walmart.com like everyone else.

#03 - “Wild” salmon.  Basically if you are buying out of season, you are paying much more for nothing more.  Out of the 23 that CR purchased, 13 were from salmon farms.  I guess it depends on when you want salmon, but usually it’s better to buy in the summer months.

#02 - Expensive packaging.  See that new Mayo container?  Nothing left in the bottom, right?  They claim “no waste”, but CR found that there was still 11% in the container!  Stick with the classic jar and don’t pay more for plastic.

#01 - Shrinking cereal boxes.  You guessed it.  You thought the cereal boxes looked smaller, but you just assumed it was because you were bigger.  Not so, Kellogg has trimmed the size of their boxes, but interestingly enough, the price stayed the same.  Keep an eye out. 
My suggestion?  Don’t even bother with that cereal, it’s bad for you anyways.  Stick with something more natural, that way, you pay more, but are actually getting something out of it.

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