As the holiday season approaches, your thoughts are probably already turning—with considerable help from retailers nationwide—to gifts, goodies, and twinkly-eyed elves.
Unfortunately, however, many Americans find themselves in the throes of financial nightmares instead of dreams of a winter wonderland. And with todays tightened economy, its easy to fall prey to money woes not just at the holidays but also all year round. Your best defense is to practice smart consumerism, says Art Beroff, coauthor of The Bargain Hunters & Smart Consumers Field Guide: How To Buy Almost Anything For Next To Nothing!
(PRWEB) October 23 2003--As the holiday season approaches, your thoughts are probably already turning—with considerable help from retailers nationwide—to gifts, goodies, and twinkly-eyed elves.
Unfortunately, however, many Americans find themselves in the throes of financial nightmares instead of dreams of a winter wonderland. And with todays tightened economy, its easy to fall prey to money woes not just at the holidays but also all year round. Your best defense is to practice smart consumerism, says Art Beroff, coauthor of The Bargain Hunters & Smart Consumers Field Guide: How To Buy Almost Anything For Next To Nothing! (Avebury Books 2003, available at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com).
Beroff offers these tips for shopping smart and saving your money as well as your frame of mind:
1. Study up. Research brands, features, and prices before you make a purchase. Doing the homework is not just for school kids," Beroff says. As we stress in The Bargain Hunters & Smart Consumers Field Guide, this is particularly important for big-ticket products like cars, computers, and furniture, but is also valid for clothing and even groceries." By keeping an eye on print and media advertisements as well as comparing goods at various stores, youll be able to determine the brands and outlets that give the best value and prices before you buy.
2. Check it out. Before you contract with a service provider—painter, plumber, auto mechanic, dentist, doctor, or real estate agent to name a few—ask family, friends, and coworkers whom they use and would recommend. Besides the tip on a reputable provider, youll often get better service when you name the person who referred you. If you dont get a referral from someone you know, ask the provider for references, and then take the time to call them. You can also check with the Better Business Bureau, online at www.bbb.org, or by telephone through the number in your local phone book.
3. Get the guarantee. Retailers often offer price guarantees on bigger-ticket goods. If the item goes on sale for less than what you paid within the next 30 days, for example, theyll refund you the difference. If your merchant doesnt offer you the guarantee, ask for it.
4. If it sounds too good. You know the old adage, If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Believe it. Dont fall for scams that offer a fantastic return on your investment, especially from people or organizations youve never heard of. The only way to earn money is to work for it; despite what youd like (and theyd like you to) think, no one is going to give it away. Again, check with the Better Business Bureau as well as with your own common sense.
5. Complaint Department. Dont be afraid to complain to the owner or manager if youve received poor service or products. If youre not happy, merchants and service providers want to know so they can correct the problem and keep you as a customer. They will often not only replace the product or refund your money but also give you a discount on a future sale as a gesture of goodwill. Make sure," Beroff cautions, that your complaint is valid and non-antagonistic; your goal is to get what you paid for and create a merchant-ally (an important collaboration we explain in The Bargain Hunters & Smart Consumers Field Guide), not an enemy or an undeserved freebie."
6. Share fare. Eat out but spend less by sharing meals—with the added bonus of a slimmer waistline in addition to your fatter wallet. As restaurants serve larger and larger portions, Americans veer farther and farther into obesity. You can easily combat this while slicing your meal ticket in half by splitting a meal with your dining partner. By the time you finish the beverage, bread, salad, and entrée, youll find you may not even want dessert. And theres nothing to be embarrassed about: most restaurants cheerfully allow meal sharing. Just dont take advantage by asking to split all-you-can-eat or buffet meals.
7. Be chary with charity. Dont donate to every charity that asks. Many so-called charities are in reality scam operations skilled at tugging at your heartstrings and tapping into all that guilt bubbling just below the surface. Many legitimate charities spend more money on their own operations than they give to their causes. When in doubt, check with the Better Business Bureau. Or donate to a cause close to home such as a charity administered directly by your local house of worship, give a helping hand to an individual or family you know personally, or donate your time instead of your money by volunteering at a local shelter, youth organization, or other worthy cause.
8. List mania. Keep a running grocery list on which you note staples and favorite foods as you run low. If you have the time (and the energy), prepare a weekly menu and list the ingredients that you dont already have on hand on your shopping list. (If you have neither time nor energy, develop a repertoire of easy-prep meals for which you can buy a standard list of ingredients like hamburger, tomato sauce, and chicken.) Take your list to the market and dont buy items that arent on it. Youll be surprised how much you save when you bypass all those impulse purchases as well as the staples you already have three of at home but tend to buy anyway when you dont have a list.
9. Go easy on the cards. Dont sign up for all those credit card offers that come in the mail. Having a lot of cards actually hurts your credit instead of helping it," Beroff says. Potential lenders see a host of credit cards as an opportunity for you to get into a lot of debt. And as we explain in The Bargain Hunters & Smart Consumers Field Guide, theyre right." Use only one card per household (or one per spouse) and pay it off at the end of each month. If you cant afford to pay it off, shop for one with a lower interest rate and lower annual fee.
10. Borrow instead of buy—for some things. You can save a lot of money by borrowing books from the library instead of buying them from the bookstore and renting movies instead of going to the theater. Borrow instead of buy does not, however, apply to furniture and appliances. Rent-to-own stores charge exorbitant rates; by the time youve paid them off, you could have bought that television or sofa three times over. Its far less expensive," Beroff says, to purchase the product you want from major retailers simply by asking what they have on special. As we illustrate in The Bargain Hunters & Smart Consumers Field Guide, you can get great deals at a fraction of the retail price when you buy display models, end-of-season items, and other products that may be heavily discounted but unadvertised."
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For more information on The Bargain Hunters & Smart Consumers Field Guide: How To Buy Almost Anything For Next To Nothing! call TC Boodman at (850) 636-4006 or visit http://www.aveburybooks.com.
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