Beating the "Hard Times" in daily
financial affairs with Money Saving
Tips are a positive on folk's bank
accounts, but not the ONLY way
to protect our money.
We encourage "Comparison Shopping" ,
learning patience, giving us the opportunity to
exercise good judgment and time to study
solid choices, are a good part of saving money.
At the same time we need to be aware of a few
"tricks" or practices that trap consumers into
making bad choices when buying.
Zero Interest Rate...is No Bargain if too much
is paid for an item. Research has shown when
people are paying in Cash as opposed to credit
with zero interest rate they tend to spend less
and are more cautious of price.
Watch and be very careful of meeting all
the terms of a zero interest purchase or you will
end up with a higher price and penalties that are
more than what the interest would have been
f purchased on credit.
It's like being late on a credit card payment
with a huge penalty and an increase in the
interest rate on the remaining balances.
Manufacturers' Rebates
lure buyers to certain brands and most
often are the deciding factor in making
purchases. Studies show less than half
of all rebates are successfully redeemed.
One clever little trick is manipulating
redemption dates, "claiming the rebate
15 days or more after the purchase and
then with a rebate window of 10-14 days".
Another method of creating "slippage"
of rebate dollars is sending the rebate
checks in envelopes specially designed
to look like "junk mail". Many bulk pieces
of advertising are discarded without opening.
Smart Shopping Includes Checking prices
for incorrectly programed store scans at
checkout registers.
TIP: Remember when you are shopping take
a marking pencil or colored sticker to mark
special shelve marked prices or other specials.
It will make it easier to watch the price on the
cash register screen at checkout.
