Together, we learned a lot in 2010 that can make 2011 easier. As we close out a year that has been difficult for many, here are lessons from Watchdog stories past.

As readers of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Dave Lieber column first learned, The Watchdog learned in 2010 that consumers should ask why a particular store or company sells a product or service at a price far below what others are asking. Watches, electronics and other items sold at lower prices are sometimes import models that cost less because they don’t come with a U.S. warranty. “Too good to be true” applies more than ever.

Similarly, if an investment adviser is hawking a financial product that offers much higher returns than other investments, investigate why. Every state has a government-run website where you can check the background of financial advisers. In my home state of Texas, check out Texas financial advisers and their records at www.ssb.state.tx.us. The U.S. government site is www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.

If a website showcases a TV reporter touting a product, do an Internet search to see whether the reporter and TV station are real. Creating fake media is a new tactic. Also, beware of websites that display logos of the major TV networks or Oprah Winfrey’s show and claim “as seen on TV.” Anyone can slap a logo on their Web page.

Adult children should consider keeping a closer eye on elderly parents, who can fall prey to swindlers. Stress that they shouldn’t make investments without consulting others. Tell them not to buy anything from salesmen who knock on their door or call or send come-ons by mail or e-mail.

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Beware of door-to-door salesmen selling alarm systems or trying to get you to switch electric companies and that evergreen scam, concrete guys who “just finished a job down the street.”

Skip reading the “terms and conditions” of any transaction at your peril. Donald Hufstedler thought he was getting a free book for only a $1.95 shipping charge. After he got a bill for $90, he called and complained. He was told that he had unknowingly agreed to the purchase. The ad stated, “You’ll get a free* trial.” Don’t ignore the asterisk. Fine print is never fine for you.

Watch for sales words and phrases that should scare you (not entice you): deep discount, pennies on the dollar, greatly reduced prices, promotional gift, prize, incentive, complimentary gift and, of course, that four-letter word, free.

For Texas readers: Instead of worrying about your smart meter, get smart about your electricity contract. Do you know the rate you pay per kilowatt-hour? Most people don’t. Do you know when your contract expires? If you are paying more than 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, you may be overpaying.

For Texas readers: Go to Google’s search page and type in “Dave Lieber Electricity Guide” to find my suggestions about how to shop for a better deal. Or for a hard copy, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Dave Lieber, Star-Telegram Watchdog, P.O. Box 1870, Fort Worth, TX 76101. Hundreds of Texans have saved using my guide.

Get your free annual credit report, as is allowed under federal law, at the government-approved website www.annualcreditreport.com. But once on that site, beware of links that offer other services for sale. No need to buy them. (And don’t get confused with freecreditreport.com, which sells a lot of information and isn’t government-approved.)

In financial disputes, explore small-claims court as an option. You don’t need a lawyer. And if you win, the other side usually has to pay your filing fees.

Don’t put outgoing mail in outdoor blue collection boxes. Go inside the post office to drop off your letters. It’s too easy to steal from the outdoor boxes. Even the post office advises this.

If a friend sends you an e-mail, especially from a foreign country, claiming that he or she is in trouble, don’t believe it. Check with relatives and friends. Usually it’s a con artist assuming your pal’s identity.

Once every six months or so, audit your monthly bills. Contact your credit card companies and ask for a lower interest rate. Ask for better deals from companies that provide your TV, land-line and cellphone service, electricity and Internet connections. Ask for specials. Tell them the competition is offering a lower rate. If you don’t get your price lowered, try again in a few weeks. Plans change constantly, and unless you ask, they won’t tell you.

Use your cellphone to take photos and videos of car accidents you are involved in, unruly salespeople, people you sign contracts with, anything to back your story later.

If someone pressures you to buy now before a “deal” goes away, run for the exit door.

If you have a problem with a collection agency, read the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and learn your rights.

No, sorry, but you didn’t win that foreign lottery. How do I know? Well, you should never be asked to send money to get legitimate contest winnings.

In Part 2, here, I’ll share a few simple principles that should help you avoid problems in 2011.

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Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is available in hardcover, as a CD audio book, ebook and hey, what else do you need. Visit our store. Now revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber

See the listing here.

Plus, a big congratulations to community activist Don Young, who was “Critic’s Choice.”

The weekly wrote:

The old phrase “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog” applies perfectly to community activist Don Young, a small guy with a lot of fight in him.

Young has been looking over the shoulder of the gas drillers in Tarrant County since they first arrived, constantly letting news media and the public know what’s going on. He’s tireless in his efforts to protect Fort Worth from the negative impacts of urban drilling. The town could use more like him.

Way to go, Don. We can always use more watchdogs.

George Gombossy of ctwatchdog.com

George Gombossy, the hard-charging Watchdog columnist for the Hartford Courant, was fired last week because, he says, of a dispute with his editors about covering negative stories about top advertisers. His career at the paper had lasted 40 years.

“We’re on the precipice of real danger in society here,” Gombossy told me Sunday night. “This is not about me. I’m fine. I’m going to be 62 in less than a month. I can retire. That’s why I’m in a position to raise this issue.

“We’re in a very dangerous situation where most media companies including the Hartford Courant are run by marketing people now instead of journalists, and they do not understand why we have the ethics that we do.”

Gombossy’s former paper is owned by the Tribune Co., led by Sam Zell. The company is now in bankruptcy reorganization.

Gombossy and I do – or, in his case, did – the same job, although at different newspapers. There’s less than a half dozen real consumer investigative columnists left in America. Yet these kinds of columns are widely popular with readers, especially these days.

The column that got him fired was about Sleepy’s, the largest mattress chain in the United States. Gombossy caught the company selling used beds as new. State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told him he was investigating.

But The Courant killed the column. You can still read it here on Gombossy’s new Web site.

After he was fired last week, Gombossy wasted no time. By midnight of his last day at work, Aug. 14, Gombossy had quickly launched an online version of his life’s work at ctwatchdog.com - now only a few days old. He says he will soldier on for the cause.

Gombossy informed readers of his departure in his final column that appeared on Sunday, Aug. 16. The real reason is not mentioned. Some may learn of it by reading this post.

There are two versions of that final column: Read the one the paper ran that didn’t mention his firing here. Read the unedited version on his Web site here.

Gombossy says he has hired one of his state’s top employment lawyers and “we’re committed to going all the way.”

Executives who made the decision to end his career at the paper are not bad people, he says. “They are very creative and trying to save newspapers from extinction, but they don’t understand the basic foundation of journalism which means that you don’t protect anybody.”

At his paper, he says, any stories about any of the top 100 advertisers have to be approved by top editors before publication. This extends to the public’s blog postings, too.

But Gombossy discards the argument that advertisers will cancel if they get angry and that could cost the paper money – and jobs. In his four decades at the paper, he says, advertisers may go away for a little bit in anger but they come back. “They advertise at the paper because they need to,” he says.

Gombossy’s Watchdog column was one of the paper’s most popular features. He estimates the newspaper and its sister TV station spent close to half a million dollars in the past two years promoting his place in the paper and his Friday TV piece on Fox61‘s Friday morning news. Gombossy lost his TV gig, too.

“My picture was on every bus in Hartford over the last two years,” he says. “TV ads of me and a dog that looked like me with my glasses were running until last week.”

Yet he says he doesn’t even feel like he was fired personally.

“It wasn’t the George Gombossy column. It was led by readers. It was readers that pointed out every single major column I ever wrote.

“It was the people’s Watchdog column. It wasn’t George Gombossy that got fired. It was the readers that got fired.”

Gombossy was told the paper will replace his feature with a milder, less investigative, help-you kind of column.

Now Connecticut consumers will have to develop a new news habit – Gombossy’s ctwatchdog.com.

Our ranks are growing thinner. I tip my soldier’s cap to you, George. Guys like us don’t give up the fight so easily.

Final note: Sunday night, as I prepared to post Gombossy’s side, I called the newspaper, but couldn’t get through its crummy voice mail system. If an editor or spokesman reads this and wishes to tell the other side, please contact me here.

Dave Lieber is The Watchdog investigative columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, a century-old newspaper which still believes strongly in watchdog journalism.

UPDATE: Thanks to journalist Gary Weiss for alerting me that The Courant has released a statement. Gary first posted it on his gary-weiss.com site here.

MORE: Here is the statement in full from Courant spokeswoman Andrea Savastra:

“The overriding consideration on stories reported by the Hartford Courant is making sure the facts are thoroughly checked out and correct. Our advertisers have no influence on what we report, including stories that may include them. This is a long time Courant policy.

“Our readers and advertisers do and should expect us to report stories we know are accurate and fully reported.  George Gombossys story needs and is receiving additional checking and verification. This is a common practice required by our editors with all Courant news stories, including columns by Mr. Gombossy, and while employed with the Courant, he was well aware of this and accepted and followed this policy over the years.

“While Mr. Gombossy’s position was eliminated, he was made aware of the newly-defined consumer reporter position that will be combined with our newspaper, television station and Web site.  He did not express interest.”