Money-Saving Tips
I like to save money. It kills me to see people fork out hundreds of dollars for things that, if researched, can be found for much cheaper or (my favorite) free.
So here are some tips. For real financial advice, go to www.scottmarsh.com
General Advice
First thing to read is the Ten Commandments of Personal Finance. Live by them, and it will change your life!
I really liked some of the thoughts in “The Best Financial Advice Ever” and “Your Money Priorities, First to Last”
Price Tracking and Comparison Websites.
Whenever I am looking to buy something, I go to these sites to save money. I’ve gotten a $400 new camera for $150, $150 worth of new video games for $72, received free ice cream, doughnuts, routers, flash drives, and have saved many of my friends hundreds of dollars on new laptops:
-Before you buy anything online, go first to www.retailmenot.com to see if there is a coupon that works with the site you are buying from. Then go through the site, Ebates when you are ready to buy. Each purchase you makes earns you a small percentage cash back! It really adds up after awhile!
-To check out hot sales, go to www.dealnews.com and search for whatever you desire
-At Dealcatcher.com you can search for things as well, but I use it mainly to browse random deals. If I want something, but can wait awhile for it, this site sometimes comes up with killer deals that shows the item for half off or less.
–Pricegrabber.com is another place you can go to check prices at a variety of stores if there is not a “special” deal on either of the above two sites.
-Buying a book? There is no better place than DealOz.com
-Another tip when buying a specific product: do a google search for the model number (for example, “Fuji FinePix f30 camera”) and the word “review”. Look at sites that have already bought and used the product. Never trust sales people or on-the-box promises. See what real people have to say first!!!
-Other tips include checking locally. Craigslist.org is just about the best place to find good deals locally for almost anywhere in the U.S. Ksl.com is another good place (for Utahns). I recently got an hdtv for my parents, retail price $1100 for only $600 because of Craigslist.
Free Music & The Best Music Store
I really love music and I’m really against the illegal (don’t get technical with me–you know what I’m talking about) download of music. If one does a little digging, one will find many legal, and in my view, superior ways of listening to your favorite tunes.
First, there is Pandora.com. Pandora simply asks for a song or artist that you like and matches the song or artist with a whole host of music that is similar and makes a radio station based off of your preferences. If you like a song, give it a “thumbs up” and Pandora will play that song more often, give it a “thumbs down” and you’ll never hear it on that station again. The more you use it, the better the station becomes–and you can log into your stations from any computer. Plus, it is the best way under the sun to discover new songs and artists that you like, but never knew about! You can even play songs without attaching it to your browser with a free standalone player here. The catch is that you can’t play a specific song on demand. For that, you can use the excellent “Finetune” service. Last.fm is also good.
To buy songs to put on your mp3 player of choice, I recommend amazonmp3.com. I get almost all my music there–it is high quality, will play on any mp3 player or computer–no restrictions, AND each day there is a popular album on sale for $2-$5. I have gotten several albums (including 4 movie soundtracks) that way–it really beefs up your library!