So you or someone you know is thinking of buying a hybrid car. Before you spend the money for the new wheels, make you sure you are doing it for the right reason.
Say you are buying a hybrid to save the environment and the polar bears. Or do it because you can zip down the HOV lane while the rest of the plebeians sit in traffic sucking in exhaust fumes. Or maybe so you can give the middle finger to Big Oil.
But don’t buy a hybrid car because it’s going to save you money.
We’ve all been there. You buy a new electronic product and it comes with a warranty, whether it is one year, three years, or five or more years. It works great and you are happy. Then the day after the warranty ends, the product breaks and you are plumb out of luck. You now have to go buy a new one and repeat the whole cycle again. That’s just how the cookie crumbles. Nothing lasts forever… unless you buy something with a lifetime warranty.
If deciding between two products, it might make sense to buy the one with a lifetime warranty if the price and quality is similar. When the product eventually dies or breaks, you can send it back in for a repair, replacement, or maybe even a refund.
Remember last year when the Equifax data breach exposed the personal information of almost 148 million Americans? Thanks to that hack, Congress passed a new federal law in May to help prevent identity theft. Starting today September 21, 2018, that new legislation goes into effect and you’ll now be able to freeze your credit report for free at all three of the major credit reporting agencies.
Read about the new changes and how you can freeze your credit today.
When I say “will”, I’m not talking about Will Smith even though he has protected Earth from being destroyed by aliens multiple times. I’m talking about the kind of will that protects our assets.
Estate planning and wills are one topic not many of us think about in personal finance. After all, no one expects to suddenly pass away if we are young and perfectly healthy. We’ve got tons of other things on our minds such as paying off student loans or saving money. But everyone should think about getting a will made.
Thinking about buying a gas station or convenience store? In the last year alone, three new gas stations have popped up in my part of town. This would seem like a good business to get into considering there are estimated to be over 263 million cars on the road in the United States and almost every single one of them needs to buy gas.
Before you plunk down your life savings to become a gas station owner, here are some things you should consider first.
It has been said there is a fine line between being frugal and being cheap. Frugalness is perceived as an admirable quality. Cheapness is not. Tell your friends you saved a bunch of money on car insurance by switching to Geico and they’ll all be patting you on your back. Tell your friends you are saving a bunch of money on car insurance because you decided to cancel your policy and everyone will consider you a cheap-ass. Don’t be a cheap-ass.
What is the difference between frugal and cheap and how do you toe the thin line between the two without crossing over to the cheap side?
You can rent just about anything these days from the rent-to-own businesses: sofas, dining room sets, mattresses, refrigerators, televisions, laptops, stoves, washer and dryer sets, and more for the low monthly fee with no credit checks, down payments, or even bank accounts needed.
Does it sound too good to be true? You betcha.
Are you thinking of starting your own blog? Whether you are looking to start a blog as a hobby or to maybe to earn some extra money, you should consider self-hosting your blog.
Here’s why a self-hosted blog is the only option you should consider.
When companies compete, customers win. This is no different in the financial services industry. Last month Vanguard fired their shot with an announcement that in August they will be offering nearly 1,800 ETFs commission-free for all online trades on their platform. Now Fidelity has responded with one of their own and it’s a doozy. This is a huge win for investors.
First of all, if your father is Warren Buffett then you can disregard everything I say in this blog post. For the rest of us, giving your parents all your money to invest for you is a bad idea. It’s not bad because I’m saying your parents are going to steal your money or go invest it all on pumpkins. Our parents have our best interests at heart, but they are actually making it worst for their children.