Latest Posts
Mortgage Shopping 101: Locking In The Best Rate
Part 4 of a 4 part series on shopping for a mortgage focuses on locking in the best mortgage rate.
Way to Save #26: Research, Research, Research
When buying a car, choose your make and model carefully. You obviously want to buy a car that’s within your price range, but don’t forget to consider other costs, like insurance, gas mileage, maintenance and repair. These numbers are available in new car guides at your library or online at websites like www.kbb.com and www.edmunds.com.
Mortgage Shopping 101: Negotiating
Part 3 of a 4 part series on shopping for a mortgage focuses on negotiating your mortgage.
Way to Save #25: Negotiate Price, Not Payment
Always negotiate price, never payments. Payments can be manipulated so that practically anything is affordable. Salespeople will always try to get you to talk payments. Good negotiators always talk price: the payments will take care of themselves.
Way to Save #24: Avoid New Cars
Avoid new cars. Because cars are made better now than they used to be, buying used isn’t as risky as it used to be. Buying a car even two years old can save you from 25% to 40%.
Mortgage Shopping 101: Finding the Best Deal
Part 2 of a 4 part series on shopping for a mortgage focuses on finding the best deal on your mortgage.
Way to Save #23: Don't Buy Until You Try
Avoid buying sports accessories until you know that the activity is a fixed habit. For example, don’t buy a gym bag until you’ve been to the gym 20 times. Don’t buy good inline skates until you’ve racked up 200 miles on the cheap ones. Reward yourself with a Walkman after you’ve jogged 20 miles with … Continued
Way to Save #22: Trial Memberships
If you insist on joining a health club, try joining for a month or buying a series of single-day passes first to make sure you’re going to have the time and discipline to stick with it. Avoid long-term membership contracts.
Mortgage Shopping 101: First Things First
Part 1 of a 4 part series on shopping for a mortgage focuses on the basics of your mortgage search.
Way to Save #21: Home Workouts
Buy inexpensive workout and aerobic videotapes and use them at home with your TV. You could easily get a better workout than you’d get at a health club, and you can own the tapes for $5 to $10 each. Rent them first until you know you like them.
Way to Save #20: Skip The Gym
Walking or jogging in your neighborhood is free and fresh air is better than the air in a health club.
Way to Save #19: Shop At Home
When clothes shopping, start at home. Many of us go to the store and buy clothes when we already have similar items at home that we’ve forgotten. Do a careful inventory of your clothes before you buy anything, including the ones you have tucked away in the back of your closet or attic. Added bonus: … Continued
Way to Save #18: Share The Cost
Share the cost. If you’re going to buy something that is useful to your neighbors and only needed occasionally, start your own “co-op.” Splitting the cost of a ladder, lawn mower, gardening equipment, tools, and many other expensive items will reduce their cost by at least half (depending on how many people are in your … Continued
Way to Save #17: Buy At Yard Sales
Buy at yard and garage sales. This is the smartest shopping you can do, providing you confine your purchases to only what you actually need.
Way to Save #16: Throw A Yard Sale
Open your own temporary store by having a garage/yard sale. You probably have lots of stuff that you don’t want or need, and that’s just money that’s lying around your house. Spend a day going around your home and identifying everything that you haven’t touched in a year. That’s stuff you should probably either sell … Continued
Dealing With Debt: Debt Settlement
Maybe you’ve seen the ads: go to a debt settlement company, cut your debts in half. Is it for real?
Way to Save #15: Buy Pre-Scratched
Buy your furniture and appliances pre-scratched. Scratch-and-dent can save you plenty, especially when you bargain down the price even more.
Way to Save #14: Don't Get Features You Don't Need
Don’t pay for extra features that you don’t need. Fancy extras on everything from cars to VCRs are often high-profit-margin items for manufacturers and dealers. Even if it only costs “a little more” why buy things you’ll never use? Fewer gadgets can also mean longer product life with less in repair bills.
Way to Save #13: Department Store Credit Cards
Get 10% to 15% off by opening a department store credit account. Stores often offer you substantial discounts to induce you to sign up for (and get hooked on) their high-interest credit cards. Fine. Take them up on their offer and get your discount. But when the statement comes in, pay the bill in full … Continued
Way to Save #12: Keep Receipts & Mail Rebates
Keep receipts and send in rebate slips. Very few consumers actually return rebate coupons. Which is, of course, exactly what the manufacturers are hoping for. Don’t be a sap… get what you’ve got coming. Keep your receipts and don’t hesitate to return anything that disappoints you in even the slightest way. Keep in mind that … Continued
26,081 - 26,100 of 26,382
