Keep Your Cash

One of the great attributes of human beings is their adaptability. Even those who are afraid of change will adapt to a situation if they absolutely have to. It definitely takes longer for some people to adapt to new situations than it does others, but in time all people generally learn how to accept new circumstances and make the best of them.

One of the key things that need to happen to move acceptance along is a person becoming so tired of feeling bad about a situation that they find a way to turn it around. That sometimes takes looking at the situation in a different light, or just finding the bright side of it.

The never ending flood of bad news about the economy, streaming into the living rooms of everybody who owns a television, has slowed down considerably. Only to have it be piped in by advertisers for everything from grocery stores to restaurants. At first this was a little worse than having the news stations obsess nonstop about the situation because being exposed to advertisements is unavoidable. They get you on your mobile phone whenever they can, they pop up when you check your e-mail, and they sneak up on you in flyers stuck to your windshield. The only way to get used to this new way of life is to adapt yourself to the reality of it and find out what you can get out of it. As it turns out there is a lot you can get out of it.

Anybody who has been grocery shopping in the last couple of months knows that food prices are coming down. It was an obvious thing to happen, but since it did not happen right away, it came as a pleasant surprise to some people. All the major food stores are fighting tooth and nail to keep their old customers and going for the big prize of getting new customers. High end grocery stores that would usually be passed over because their prices were not competitive are now a delightful option, and they have much bigger selections of items, as well as gourmet choices. To maximize this very fortunate link in the chain of recent events, do not limit yourself to one store. Shop at two or three stores to get the best prices available for everything you buy. This is completely feasible now that all the major grocery stores are within a couple of miles of each other.

Dining out has never been cheaper now that most restaurant chains have taken on a defensive stance in keeping themselves open and busy. Two eat for the price of one coupons are in newspapers, being sent in the mail, and available on the internet. So eat drink and be merry.

Haggling is now cool again. This bargaining tool was traditionally known to be available to the consumer who was shopping swap meets and flea markets. It is now completely acceptable and highly recommended in all places of business, big and small. One of the tricks to be even more successful in your negotiations is to bring one of those advertisements from a competitor along to prove to the sales person that you can get a better deal elsewhere. Looks like those advertisements come in handy after all.

Buying a new car is fun and exciting, but it can also be risky to your wallet. Even if you have quite a budget to work with, there’s no point in paying more than necessary for your car. And there are different ways you can end up paying more if you’re not careful, both on the price of the car and the financing of the new car purchase.

First, do your shopping before you go to the dealership. Look in newspapers and advertisements at the cars you’re interested in. Comparison shop online. Find out how much the full coverage insurance on the car you want would be per month. Also, find out about how much the monthly payments will probably be on the car—you can usually find this in newspaper ads and online to get a baseline idea.

If it’s in your budget and all is well with your first choice, then you’ve done the step many people ignore that costs them money—you know what you want. It’s much harder for the car salesperson to talk an informed consumer into a more expensive purchase than it is to take someone with only a vague idea and put suggestions in their head about what they really want (learn more about negotiating with car salespeople).

As part of deciding exactly what you want, by the way, don’t stop at make, model and color. Decide the features that you must have in this car and those that you can do without, as well as some that you can compromise on one way or another. Added features can dramatically raise the price of a car—or lower it—after you’ve already decided what you’ll pay.

Next, know exactly how much you can pay down, and strongly consider shopping around for financing. You might be tempted, now that you know exactly what you want, to run for the dealership and buy that car! Give yourself some breathing room though and take it slow and steady. Go to your credit union or bank and find out the terms of the new car loan if you got it through them. Look at other banks and shop around.

You can secure financing before you go in the form of a pre-approved loan if you wish. Or you can take the quotes with you to the dealership, negotiate the price of the car, and then ask them if they can beat those terms. Know your credit score when you walk into the dealership to avoid being told it’s too low too qualify for a certain low APR. Just be sure you’ve nailed down the price of the car before you start talking about financing, or they’ll adjust the price they give you to make up for lower interest rates.

Also, if you’ve decided you need a certain car only with certain features and the cars on the lot have lots of extras, consider ordering a new car with only what you need. This alone may prompt the salesperson to lower the price of a new car on the lot.