When To Buy A Car Part I

Here are some quick tips that will shave down the price.

Comparison Shopping
First caveat: Find a car you want at a decent lot. Check out the lots and find the vehicle that fits your bill. Get an idea of its condition, its price, its make and its model.
See if you can find the same make and model for less.

Research local: Go to the other car lots. Who cares if they wheels are about to fall off of this 1999 Cherokee, if it's less than your ideal one at another lot, who cares.
Research online: Go to online sites like Craigslist and eBay.

Then, go back to the dealership for that ideal vehicle, armed with the price and location of the cheaper car. When you are bargaining, this is your lowest price. Test drive your preferred vehicle. Allow yourself to fall just a little in love with it. Then start to haggle. Let the dealer sell you on the vehicle. Then, pause and consider; say to the salesman: "I like this one, but Weezel Motors has the same year and model for $2000 less. If you can match their price, it's a deal." What can they do? If they say no, you can go to the competitor and haggle for an even lower price there.
Remember the cornerstone of this: you want to find a cheaper car elsewhere that is something you would not take. If its cheaper and better on another lot: go there instead.

Shop On Quota Day
Most dealerships have monthly quotas and cut-offs. Sell X cars by the 31st of the month and you'll meet your quota. On the afternoon of that cut-off day, the salesman has either sold his quota and he can be cavalier; or he needs more sales so he needs your sale bad.
Usually, the end of the month is the cut-off. If you can get some inside knowledge from a mechanic or one of the clerical people that will help. This is something a salesman will ever tell you, they always want your business today.

Really win an iPod?

When iPods starting coming out everyone and their mother had a way for you to win one of these white Mp3 belching devices. Every site had a banner and a link at the top. Did anyone ever see one of these show up in the mail? I don't think so.
Gulfstream Internet Group (www.GulfstreamInternet.com) is looking to spread the word about it's site, iPod-Sweepstakes.com. There are lots of offers out there to get a free iPod, but most of them have a lot of fine print and many hoops to jump through. iPod Sweepstakes.com gives away a free iPod every single day. There's nothing to buy and no credit card needed. You don't even have to refer your friends. In addition, members can choose to earn a free iPod by completing advertisers' offers, like taking a survey, requesting free information or printing a coupon. It's very straightforward and easy to do. To date, they claim to have given away more than 1,000 free iPods so far.
If you check out iPod_Sweepstakes.com and manage to win one of their purported iPods please do me a favor: don't put any Nelly Furtado on your iPod. You can put on Christina Aguilera, Gnarles Barlcay even Danger Mouse but please no Nelly.

How To Pay Less Than Prime On Your Credit Cards

A week ago, MBNA sent my wife a "pre-approved" credit card with an introductory 3.9% interest rate for balance transfers. Cool. With the banks' best rates hovering around 6.5%, even six months at this low interest rate is a deal. She filled out the application, it got lost in the shuffle. Then another offer showed up from MBNA. I said, "If it's any more thatn 1.9% tell them to screw themselves!" She opened it and... 1.9% for six months!
MBNA makes the requirement that the balance transfer cannot transfer your balance from an other MBNA card. Most of the credit cards require this of balance transfer. That's not a big deal: between Dejardins, Scotiabank, Capital One, HSBC and MBNA, there is no reason for two cards to collide.
So how do you get below prime?

• Start with a debt. The best idea is to not be in debt in the first place. Getting out of debt on the cheap is the next best thing. Do a good job maintaining your debt. This means that these low interest offers will flood in.
  
• Sign up for a low interest card and move your balance over to this interest holiday (usually 6 months).
• Cancel the card that had the high debt.
  
• Pay down the debt as quickly as possible-- ideally pay 12+% of the balance per month.
• Four months into it, apply for the same deal from a different credit card company.
• When your second card arrives, transfer your balance over to this new card. Your interest holiday will kick in on the new card for five or six months allowing you to clear up your balance at less than prime.
• Cancel your previous low interest card.
  

Do NOT use this as a way to juggle and lower your debts. That's what the banks are hoping you will do.