Category: Cars

Save money when you buy, drive, maintain, and sell your car, truck or SUV

Cars, Travel

How to Save Money on Your Summer 2020 Road Trip

Summer is here and that normally means summer vacation, right? This summer, however, is very different. COVID-19 has made everyone feel nervous about doing whatever it is we normally do and for older folks like me, even more so. But it is summertime and we all do want to try and get out of the house and have the chance to enjoy the weather. Perhaps even get to the beaches or parks or some other place where we can relax and try to resume some normalcy. When we do any traveling this summer, it will most likely be by driving our cars to our destination. Will that be expensive? Is it safe? What can you do to insure those things and save money on your summer road trip?

Many people are planning a road trip this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic. Here's how to save money on your road trip and travel safely.

Driving Is Better?

According to sources like the AAA, driving is better and safer than flying this summer. During the time frame between now and Labor Day in September, people taking a “road trip” is expected to be up 72% from last year, with 62% of consumers planning to travel by car on their summer vacation. But one problem is that with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it can be overwhelming to figure out how to stay safe during your summer road trip and try to keep your road trip on the cheap.

Continue reading“How to Save Money on Your Summer 2020 Road Trip”
Cars, Entertainment, Frugality, Home, Shopping

Buy Everything You Need When It’s on Sale

Yes, it’s your biggest dream and a worthy goal. Only buy the things you want and need when they are on sale and always get the best deal when you do it! If only, right? Well, you may not be able to guarantee it, but you can at least try. And that leads me to my mantra and it must always be yours too: Never, ever buy any appliance, furniture, or any other item if it’s not on sale!

To save money on what you need, always buy on sale! Here's when and how to buy everything from homes and cars to clothing and home furnishings.

That must be your number rule if you wanna be “a star in my show”. And guess what? Retailers know you understand that and so they will use every way they can think of to trick you!

Continue reading“Buy Everything You Need When It’s on Sale”
Cars

The Best Deals and Discount Savings on Gas

All of us car and truck owners spend our money on gasoline every week and it’s especially true if you commute to work by driving as the main way you get there. The price of gas can fluctuate these days almost daily and fortunately in most states it’s been staying under $3.00 a gallon for some time now. But as we all know it can spike suddenly depending on world events. That’s why getting discount gas is so important.

If you're a driver, you're bound to spend a lot of money on gas. But there are plenty of discount gas programs available if you just use a loyalty card.

It’s not that difficult these days as there are over 20 different gasoline discount programs being offered right now nationwide around the U.S. These national chains offer fuel rewards programs. Is there one near you?

Continue reading“The Best Deals and Discount Savings on Gas”
Budgeting, Cars, Food, Home

3 Things You Can Learn From Early Retirees

Your retirement is something you think about with a smile and some pleasant thoughts even though it might seem like it’s light-years away. But if you get to your golden years with insufficient funds, it’s guaranteed to be a nightmare and very unpleasant! You don’t want to live through that scenario, I promise you.

If you're having difficulty saving enough money for retirement, take a lesson from those who have been there. Here's what you can learn from early retirees.

Saving up enough money over a 45-year career to maintain your lifestyle in retirement is pretty challenging. But there’s a lot to be learned from the people who have managed to hit their savings goals well before that point, people who then retire early. You can learn a lot even if you haven’t been bitten by the early-retirement bug. That’s why it’s important to concentrate and learn about these three things you can learn from early retirees when you think that your retirement is at hand. But before you find out the answers…

Continue reading“3 Things You Can Learn From Early Retirees”
Cars, Insurance

How to Save on Car Insurance

There are certain things that almost everyone is forced to deal with that will cost you money and auto insurance is one of the big ones. It’s always good to save money when you can, but even better when you save on the big expenses in your budget. Today I’m going to talk about how to save on car insurance so you can keep more money in your wallet while still protecting yourself.

Car insurance is critical to have, but can cost a fortune. Here's how to save on car insurance while still keeping yourself protected.

I haven’t talked about it much over the past five years, but every year I am forced to deal with my own auto insurance by doing my homework to try to save as much as possible on it. I simply hate making the payment for it, but we don’t have much of a choice as to whether to buy it or not since it is required by law in 48 of the 50 states. Only the states of New Hampshire and Virginia are exceptions, but even they have some requirements.* But if skipping on auto insurance sounds like a bargain, it isn’t. It’s time now to revisit car insurance and take a good hard look at the ways to save!

Continue reading“How to Save on Car Insurance”
Cars, Food, Health

10 Must Buy Generics (And 5 Branded Items Worth the Price)

There is a challenge I go through every time I shop and it’s one that I am betting you think about, too. It’s the brand names versus the generics thing that is kind of the “Ali versus Frazier” matchup that we all go through regularly!

When it comes to saving, generics are a great way to reduce spending. Here are 10 generics you should buy, plus 5 branded items I believe are worth it.

There is often some fear in people when it comes to shopping and buying an item they may never have heard about or seen before, and that’s even truer when it comes to generics. Those are the items that are not national brands, but swear that they can still do the job to satisfy your needs and wants!

Loyalty usually is a great quality, but it can be costly when you shop. Sticking to just one brand rarely makes sense when the only meaningful difference between a national brand product and its generic version is the price.

Continue reading“10 Must Buy Generics (And 5 Branded Items Worth the Price)”
Cars, Home

Freon and the Exploding Cost of Your Air Conditioning Units

Ever since 1970, we have been celebrating Earth Day and we just did that again this past week. You probably saw something on the news about it and maybe even participated to help celebrate it and defend the honor of our planet, too. Even if you didn’t actually celebrate it, you at least, hopefully, did some recycling of your own garbage that helped. And soon, like it or not, you’ll have to trade in your freon air conditioning for something more ecologically-friendly.

Freon air conditioning is a danger to our planet and is about to become significantly more expensive. Find out why and what you can do about it.

Let’s face it, Mother Earth has been fighting a huge battle against pollution now for what seems like forever and she hasn’t exactly been winning the war, has she? Climate change that has been aided by humans is a real issue and there are some ways you can actually help in the fight.

Continue reading“Freon and the Exploding Cost of Your Air Conditioning Units”
Cars

Re-Cycle Your Transportation Costs with These Car Alternatives

You probably own a car. In fact, you may even own more than one car, even if your name isn’t Jay Leno. Owning a car in the U.S. is not only the favorite form of transportation, but it’s a huge and important industry for us. There are about 300 million vehicles currently here in the U.S.A. and that number has been increasing steadily every year since 1960. Only China has a bigger car market than the U.S. and that is simply because there are so many millions and millions more people living there. The penetration of cars per population here though is much, much greater!

Transportation costs can eat up your budget, so if you're spending money on a car (or more than one!), try one of these car alternatives to save money.

Here is something to think about. The cost of a new car today is on average $35,263, according to Kelley Blue Book. That doesn’t include gas, oil, insurance, and maintenance money you spend. Compared to a dependable alternative like a bicycle (about $250 for a pretty good one) or a motorcycle (at about $3,000-$5,000) and you can see the huge differences. Going for a scooter or moped brings you down to an even lower and even better bargain! So, have you ever considered these car alternatives?

Continue reading“Re-Cycle Your Transportation Costs with These Car Alternatives”