This manual contains information for consumer education, which is defined as the process of imparting to an individual the skills, concepts, knowledges, and insights required to help each person evolve his or her own values, evaluate alternative choices in the marketplace, manage personal resources effectively, and obtain the best buys for his or her expenditures. Guidelines for consumers are presented in 20 chapters: (1) Appliances, (2) Automobiles (including automobile insurance), (3) Clothing, (4) Credit, (5) Education, (6) Funerals, (7) Home Furnishings, (8) Housing, (9) Insurance, (10) Legal, (11) Medical, (12) Medicaid, (l3) Medicare, (14) Money Management, (15) Schemes, (16) Selecting and Buying Food, (17) Shopping, (18) Social Security, (19) Wages (including unemployment compensation), (20) Welfare (including the food stamp program). Appendixes list state and local resource information, federal sources of consumer information and complaints, other agencies for information and complaints, and local consumer agencies for information, complaints, and legal services. Addresses in each appendix are listed under topical headings (e.g. family counseling, handicapped, nursing homes), and a topical index is provided for the manual as a whole. (WL)