How to Save Money on Your Next Car

Car dealership (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you are in the market for a new car, you may think that there are simply no ways for you to save money on your purchase. However, this cannot be further from the truth! There are countless ways for you to save money on your next car, and we are going to examine a few of the top methods here.

Conduct Some Research First

The fact of the matter is, not all car dealerships are equal. Some of them have higher prices than others, and some offer better deals. With that said, it definitely pays to shop around and conduct a bit of research before you step foot on a dealer's lot.

There are many websites where you can discover the average selling prices for various cars. In this way, you will know whether or not a dealership has overpriced its vehicles. Additionally, by accessing the Internet, you can shop around for the cheapest and best vehicle of your choice. 

Obtain Your Own Financing

Before you begin shopping for a car, you need to determine just exactly how much money you can afford to spend on one. In short, what size of a payment can you fit into your monthly budget? Contact your bank or local credit union and apply for a pre-purchase loan. If you qualify, you will be better prepared to determine what you can afford.

Try to save up as much money as you can for a down payment. This will help significantly in lowering your monthly payments or the term of your loan. Once you have been pre-approved for a loan, you will have about two months to find a car you wish to purchase.

Use the Power of Negotiation

After you have obtained financing and determined what you can fit into your budget, you will then be prepared to visit a few dealerships. Keep in mind, though, you should always stick to what you want to spend. In other words, never let a dealer take advantage of you. Additionally, make sure that the price you are offered includes everything.

By “everything,” we mean the price of the car, taxes, the cost of the title, tags and any other applicable fees. All of these expenses added together equal what is known as the "out of door" price for the car. Furthermore, never conduct negotiations over the phone or Internet--always negotiate in person. 

Get the Most for Your Trade-In

If you want to use your old car as a trade-in for the down payment, be sure to find out its Kelley Blue Book value before visiting any dealerships. Furthermore, do not mention your trade-in to the dealer until after you have negotiated the price of the new car. In this way, you will get a much better deal for both the old and new cars.

Never Give in to Pressure

The best tip when shopping for your next car is to never give in to pressure. A dealership is going to try to pressure you into buying one of its cars right then and there. The salesperson does not want you to think about your purchase because you very well may change your mind. However, remember that it is your money, and you have every right to walk away.

There are other dealerships that may offer you a better deal. If you do not like a price or need time to think about a deal, ask the salesperson for their business card and tell them you will call after you have thought over your decision. When you use these valuable tips, you just may be able to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on your next car.


Bill Akintoye works at Shabana Motors in Houston, TX. They buy used cars and provide appraisals in fewer than thirty minutes.

The Top Four Cheapest Cell Phone Plans for Even the Tightest Penny Pincher

Your cell phone plan is one of the most important concerns. Of course, if you are on a tight budget, you might want to spend less money. At the same time, it is not always the top priority to get a plan that offers too few services when there are many that offer unlimited everything. With that being said, you can enjoy some of the best plans that are inexpensive and should appeal to you even if you are among the tightest penny pinchers.

Bell Voice and Data Lite Promo 45

Samsung Galaxy phones are some of the most popular, and you can get them at a reasonable price if you sign up for a brand new contract with your wireless provider. One of the best plans is also extremely cheap at only $45 per month. It is referred to as the Voice and Data Lite 45 plan and offers 200 minutes, unlimited text messaging, which includes SMS and video messages, unlimited nights and weekends and 200MB of data. Should you go over your data by an additional 100MB to a total of 300MB, you will be charged an additional $15. Of course, you can enjoy using your Samsung Galaxy S4 or Samsung Galaxy Note II with free Wi-Fi at home, the office and other places to save your data. Get your great Bell.ca Android phone and sign up for the plan.

T-Mobile Individual Simple Choice

T-Mobile’s individual Simple Choice value plan is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to spend less money on their wireless plan. It is $50 per month and provides you with unlimited talk, unlimited text and 500MB of data. You can even use up to 2.5GB of data at the highest 4G speeds, although anything used thereafter is throttled down. If you are not a very heavy data user, you will find this plan to be absolutely perfect for you.

AT&T GoPhone

AT&T’s GoPhone plan is one of the cheapest you can find. You can even purchase a great new smartphone in the Nokia Lumia 520, which runs on Windows Phone 8, for only $99. One of the newest plans is only $40 per month and offers 500 talk minutes, unlimited text messaging and 200MB of data. For each additional 100MB of data, it costs only $5, which is a great deal.

Boost Mobile Shrinking Payment

Boost Mobile has great unlimited plans that start at $50 per month. However, what is special about Boost is that your plan can be reduced to as low as $35 per month when you remain in good standing. For every six payments you make on time, the carrier will lower your payment by $5 until you ultimately reach $35 per month. This is a great package that includes unlimited talk, unlimited text and unlimited data.

How to Protect Your Credit Standing

A credit card is a payment card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows the cardholder to pay for goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for them. The issuer of the card creates a revolving account and grants a line of credit to theconsumer . The modern credit card was the successor of a variety of merchant credit schemes 

If we talk about a couple of investment services, now it’s time to talk credit scores! Your credit score is a measure of your financial stability and a key component to approve your loan. So, naturally, we have to keep track of our score. So Credit Sesame is one of the brand names that are designed for credit monitoring. This site actually lets you monitor your credit score for free.

Credit Sesame uses complex algorithms to give you a gauge of your overall credit worthiness in their own, very unique credit score. Although it is not an F.I.C.O. score, it’s still worth tracking. Also, your score is updated every month for monthly tracking of your progress.

Credit Sesame is a free credit score and credit monitoring provider. Not the type of free that only lasts for a week or two but, free for life. Credit Sesame was created in 2010 as a free tool for consumers to monitor their credit reports. They provide various tools that allow you to track loans, payments, credit scores and more and, they never ask you for a credit card!

Credit Sesame Review

Credit Sesame is 100% free, they provide a way to see how much money you owe to whom and great finance management tools and you can get credit score update per month. Credit score provided is not the credit score that you’re looking for. There is a difference between the F.I.C.O. score and any score calculated by anyone else. Credit Sesamedoes their own calculations.

Credit Sesame is becoming so popular with monthly monitoring tools; you can watch your report for security and growth. It’s always good to keep track of your loans. If you haven’t done so in a while, you may be surprised when you open your Credit Sesame account. Their debt and loan analysis tool can help you to prioritize your debts and get them paid off faster!

Credit Sesame has tools that help you save money by reducing payments on loans. You can even customize the alerts so that you get an email when it’s time to save!

When you get to the website ModestMoney.com, you need to give them your social security number and answer a few security questions. Once you’ve answered the security questions, you will be taken to your dashboard which is very user friendly.

My Overall Thoughts about Credit Sesame Review on ModestMoney.com is that it is a great company that has come up with a great product. It provides us a platform that makes the lenders pays for your service through advertisement. The tools provided by Credit Sesame have helped consumers to take control of their financial stability and can definitely help you.

What Type of Retirement Account is Right for Me?

When starting their careers after school, new members of the “real world” are likely given some options to invest their money. This can be multiple different avenues, and many of them can help prepare for the future. If retirement is on a person's mind, they may want to look at a couple of choices to help strengthen their financial strategy.

We at World Financial Group know that individuals need to think about retirement starting at an early age. This can be a tricky process, but there are many options available to help people achieve their goals. Starting early is important, and it can prevent delays in a person's fiscal plan later on.

Planning for retirement necessary from the get-go

Everyone wants to retire comfortably, but there may be some issues on how a person will accomplish those goals. By setting a strict plan from the time a person is getting into the working world, it can improve the chances of retiring on time.

• Start saving now – There is never a point where it is too early to start putting money away for retirement, and delaying this process can hurt the chances of getting it done. 
• Know what is needed – Having set goals are only as good as the likelihood an individual can reach them. Saving a set amount and working to increase that level gradually may put the person in a better spot later on. 

Not all retirement accounts made equal

Young people need to look at a variety of retirement options, and considering these choices should be a long process. When finding the right type of plan, a person can adjust their strategy to ensure they are in the best position to save a sizable amount of money.

• Roth IRA – One of the best aspects of having a Roth IRA is that all withdrawals of the account are without any tax penalty. There are still some tax contributions, but the money taken out belongs to the person who owns the policy. This policy also allows for withdrawals before a person retires without a penalty, which can be beneficial if the account holder needs the money. 
• 401(k) – This policy allows for an individual to work with their employer in order to build their retirement savings. If account holders put a certain amount of their paychecks toward this account, they may be able to get their employers to match their contributions – thus providing a nice boost to their savings. 

These available options can help a person get the tools they need to retire successfully. However, these may be even better if a person combines them with other diversified savings plans such as a nest egg account and a college fun for any children they may have.

The Benefits of Mortgages for Boomers

Many home buyers are under the mistaken impression that they should try to purchase in cash. While cash-buying can certainly result in some benefits for home buyers, it also robs them of the chance to take advantage of the benefits of a home loan.

Even though most people may view mortgages as simply a debt that must be paid off, home loans come with their own advantages.

Flexibility

If a home buyer opts to only make a purchase in cash, their options dwindle considerably. Many properties may be out of their price range, narrowing their choices. Mortgage borrowers, however, have the freedom to choose the home of their dreams, not just the home they can pay for upfront.

Mortgages also give home buyers more flexibility in how they can pay off a home. Different payment plans can be selected, and if interest rates fall in the future, borrowers can refinance their loans to take advantage of the savings.

Protection

While paying for a home in cash may seem like a great way to prevent the risks associated with loans, it will also generally wipe out an individual's savings. This means that if another issue arises which requires financial assistance - medical treatment, college tuition, etc. - they will be at a disadvantage. A mortgage borrower, on the other hand, will be able to hang onto their cash in case such a situation occurs.

Additionally, many home buyers often forget that the costs of a home go beyond the purchase price. Closing costs must be accounted for, as well as things like maintenance and repair. Buying in cash can leave home buyers at a disadvantage when it comes to financing these things.

Taxes

Mortgage interest is tax deductible, as is the interest on a home equity line of credit. In addition, borrowers can roll the costs of property taxes into their loan amount, making it easier to pay them as part of a monthly bill.

Credit

All debt is often lumped into the bad category, but there's a difference between good debt and bad debt. A high-quality mortgage qualifies as good debt on a person's credit report, and as long as they stay current on their loan, it can give a big boost to their score, making it easier to borrow money in the future and receive low interest rates on credit cards.

Time

The greatest benefit of home loans is that they allow buyers to make a purchase sooner rather than later. Chances are cash buyers will have to put off homeownership for a long time in order to save up enough money. Depending on the market, waiting too long can make the cost of a home even more expensive, which in turn means having to wait even longer. Mortgage borrowers are able to finance a home purchase when they want to, giving them the freedom to make homeownership a reality.

The New Baseline - Why Oil Prices Won't Go Down

After a decade that saw oil prices skyrocket, only to come suddenly crashing back down, it’s easy to wonder where the market might be heading in the next few years. Despite these fears, though, every indication suggests that oil prices aren't going to drop far from their current level ever again.

The Big Drop

If you were on planet Earth over the past few years, then you've felt the pinch of the Great Recession. But people investing in oil and gas took a bigger hit than many, with oil prices dropping from more than $145 per barrel in July 2008 to just more than $30 per barrel that December.

Since then, however, prices have climbed a bit more slowly than in the lead up to the crash, hovering around $100 per barrel. Now oil investors are asking, "What might cause the next crash?"

The New Normal

It's impossible to say for certain that there won't be another big drop in oil prices, since the commodity is so intimately tied to the global economy. The world took a hit at the start of 2010 when a massive earthquake and tsunami crippled Japan.

But it's important to at least understand one idea: $100 oil should be the expectation.

There will always be ups and downs, but the lead-up to 2008 was a clear bubble, and the crash in prices simply mirrored the huge shock to the global economy. But as a recent infographic demonstrates, the oil market has seen some fundamental changes that will keep prices well above the levels we saw at the low point of the recession.

• Developing demand - In 2007, before the worst of the run-up in prices, the globe consumed around 85 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), according to numbers from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The U.S. alone made up nearly one-quarter of that, and Europe was another fifth. By 2012, American demand had actually fallen by more than 2 million bpd even after largely recovering from the Great Recession. European demand fell nearly as much. Yet, global consumption rose by nearly 3 million bpd, driven by growth in developing economies like China (2.7 million bpd), Saudi Arabia (844,000 bpd) and India (600,000 bpd). 
• Rising costs - While China is certainly driving the demand end of the equation, there are pressures on the supply side as well. Many Americans have heard about how hydraulic fracturing - or fracking - has helped sparked a domestic energy boom, and wonder why that isn't leading to lower prices. The problem is that these techniques are driving production purely because of these high prices. Production costs for conventional oil deposits vary dramatically from region to region, but tend to range around $20 or $30 per barrel. For fracking, the break even point is often closer to $80 per barrel.

With conventional wells starting to slow down and more oil coming from expensive new sources, oil investments are increasingly protected by the fact that nobody in the industry can afford for prices to drop too far below $100 per barrel. That means it might take some patience to wait out economic dips, but if you're worried about oil selling for cheap, you're probably worried about nothing.