1:47 PM ET: Updated 11/27/2009
Your taxpayer dollars are being spent by the Federal Reserve on a commercial that will appear before movie previews in 12 cities around the country beginning later this week, instructing you on how to "get the most from your credit card."

The 45-second commercial is a low-budget (but fine-looking) affair, composed of text, clip art and a slow, jazzy background track. It cost $15,000, the Fed says. You can see the commercial by clicking here.

Granted, this is not a taxpayer expenditure in the traditional sense, as the Fed funds itself with with fees and earnings on the assets it holds, turning the leftover proceeds over to the Treasury. Still, that means anything it spends money on (such as these credit card ads) reduces the amount contributed to Uncle Sam's coffers, adding to taxpayers' overall burden.

Whatever the commercial cost, it probably didn't add up to $180 billion in taxpayer dollars, which has been given or promised to those derivative cowboys at AIG, and it's not $74 billion of your taxpayer dollars, which has been given to GM, GMAC and Chrysler.

So while you're waiting for your holiday blockbuster to start, and hopefully did not put your popcorn and soda on your credit card, here are the five tips you'll get from the Fed regarding your credit card(s):

1) Pay on time.
2) Stay below your credit limit.
3) Avoid unnecessary fees, such as late fees. (See 1) and 2), above.)
4) Pay more than the minimum amount due.
5) Watch for changes in your account, like higher interest rates.

It's hard to imagine that people need to be told any of these five tips. Really? Things will go better for me -- in my finances and my life overall -- if I stay below my credit limit? Wow. Never thought of that. Thanks, Fed!

Still, if the ads get through to even a handful of movie-goers and they reform their spendthrift credit card behavior, it may be worth it. Assuming the commercial didn't cost $180 billion.

-- Frank Ahrens
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