Best ways to save money $

Originally Posted by JARblue

My parents' kitchen remodel included installing an I-beam in the ceiling because they discovered the structure supporting bathroom above was not sufficient

Originally Posted by BrianMSmith

Good credit, you can get mortgages and auto loans for 3% interest, which is like free money because inflation is at least 3%. On a mortgage, your effective payment goes down by the inflation rate - assuming your income at least keeps up with inflation - over 10 years your effective payment is much lower than it started at. Keep your cash invested in equities instead of paying cash for a car or a mortgage - house prices typically grow at about the inflation rate, stocks do better.

Originally Posted by old guy

After reading a post about refinancing his Z, it got me to thinking about easy proven ways to save $ that we can pass on, to help others.

I was raised on the premis that if you can't pay for it at the end of the month you can't afford it!
There are always exceptions of course, mortgage, autos etc.
But in every circumstance you want to pay as little interest as possible!
That's why you pay off your credit card every month, 15 yr. home mortgage etc.
Interest paid gets you nothing, that said don't ever be afraid to say " I can't afford it now" you'll be a lot better off in the future, I promise.

What are your tips?

Originally Posted by kenchan

set ur goal get a job to match

Originally Posted by jchammond

Dang; don't know why I didn't think of this earlier.....A fresh set of muffler bearings will free up friction on the exhaust pipes & yield better mpg.


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Originally Posted by Spoiler

Heres my tip..... Don't pay the asking price, always ask for a discount. You may not get it, but you can ask... Questions are free...

Originally Posted by cooltoy

No. Just keep the card for the offer period. Having several cards actuall lowers your ability to get credit, if you ever need it. The balance, even if you don't use it counts as debit against you.

Originally Posted by scottIN

I follow the Dave Ramsey plan - no debt except for your house on a (max) 15 year loan. No credit cards - cash (or debit card) for everything.

I know a lot of posters said 'But I get X% cash back!' Well, the problem with that is that every study shows you spend more money using a credit card vs. a debit card. So to get your couple hundred dollars at the end of the year, it's probably cost you thousands. And as Dave says, he's never had a millionaire tell him 'Wow! Getting that cash back is what made me a millionaire!'.

Another thing that came up in here was 0% financing then investing the cash you would have paid. That works until it stops working. Let's say you did that on a zero down car. Two months later, the economy tanks, the market crashes, your investment is worth 50% of what it once was, and you lose your job. Oh - and you're upside down $5K in your car already. You can't make the payments or sell the car. Trying to arbitrage 0% / investing doesn't factor in risk. If you don't believe there is any risk, you should go borrow as much money as you can on your house, your cars - whatever - and put it into the market.

A year ago, my GF and I were doing ok - no problem making payments, went on vacations, went out all the time. But we had huge payments - mostly the cars. Doing the debt snowball, we're down to just one payment and paying it off @ $5K / mo. When we're done in a couple of months, you know where that $5K goes? In my pocket! So let's say I want a new(er) car. I can now save $20K in 4 months, add that to my paid off car, and have $45K for something new. And still no payments. We're already planning a vacation to Costa Rica for New Year's. Know how long we have to save up for it? One week. Because our only payment will be our house ($800 on a 15 year fixed).

I've sort of become a Dave Ramsey evangelist. When you understand what debt does to you, it all makes sense. Did you know that debt is the most heavily marketed product? Why? That's how car dealers, furniture stores, banks and so many others make their money. My banker has 3 Porsches. My debt paid for those. I understand that now.