Dave Ramsey's Five Important Vehicle Buying Tips

Car shopping can be an exciting activity … if you have the money.

In all of the excitement, be thoughtful and wise, since you’re getting ready to spend thousands of dollars. Here are some ways to car shop with caution and get a great deal, too:

• Knowledge is key. The most powerful thing you can bring to a car purchase (other than cash) is knowledge of what you are buying. If you know about the vehicle, what it costs and what it’s worth, then you won’t make a bad purchase. What's more, knowledge enables you to quickly spot a dishonest seller and walk away.
• Be willing to exercise walkaway power. This is where negotiations can turn in your favor. If the dealer won’t negotiate, you have the power to leave and find a deal elsewhere. That puts you in control. You’ll think clearly and won't make a bad purchase because you got car fever.
• Don’t get pressured. Dealers or ads will present you with a deal and say it’s only good until a certain date. Or, a private seller might tell you (truthfully or not) that there are other people coming to see the car who sound interested in purchasing. Don’t crack under the pressure. You were doing fine before you knew about the car and you’ll be fine afterward. The world doesn’t end with the deal.
• Ask for facts and figures, not opinions. If you ask the seller what kind of gas mileage the vehicle gets, you don’t want to hear, “Oh, it gets great mileage.” Get a concrete number of miles to the gallon. If you ask anything else about the car that is measurable, get specific answers.
• BYOM: Bring Your Own Mechanic. Definitely have a mechanic you trust inspect the automobile you want to buy. It’s not smart to trust a stranger who tells you that the car is in good shape. It’s your money, so make sure you are getting a quality product.
  

A little common sense will take you a long way when buying a car. Remember to always pay cash and never buy a new car unless you are a millionaire. Why? New cars go down in value like a rock. If you buy a $20,000 new car today, it will be worth about $8,000 in four years. You’re much better off buying a $10,000 car that is three years old and letting someone else take the depreciation hit.

Have fun and shop smart!

Dave Ramsey's The Secret To Saving Money

Saving money is not a matter of math.

You will not save money when you get that next raise. You will not save money when that car is paid off. You will not save money when the kids are grown. You will only save money when it becomes an emotional priority.

We all know we need to save, but most people don't save like they know they need to save. Why? Because they have competing goals. The goal to save isn't a high enough priority to delay that purchase of the pizza, DVD player, new computer or china cabinet. So we purchase, buy, consume all our dollars away or, worse yet, go into debt to buy these things. That debt means monthly payments that control our paychecks and make us say things like, "We just don't make enough to save any money!" Wrong, wrong, wrong! We do make enough to save money; we just aren't willing to quit spoiling ourselves with our little projects or pleasures to have enough left to save. I don't care what you make—you can save money. It just has to become a big enough priority to you.

If a doctor told you that your child was dying and could only be saved with a $15,000 operation that your insurance would not cover and could only be performed nine months from today, could you save $15,000? Yes! Of course you could! You would sell things, you would stop any spending that wasn't required to survive, and you would take two extra jobs. For that short nine months, you would become a saving madman (or madwoman). You would give up virtually anything to accomplish that $15,000 goal. Saving would become a priority.

The secret to saving? Focused emotion. The secret to saving money is to make it a priority, and that is done only when you get some healthy anger or fear and then focus that emotion on your personal decisions. Harnessing that emotion will make you move yourself to the top of your creditor list. Ask yourself, "Which bill is the most important? After tithing, who should I pay The answer is you! Until you pay God first, then yourself, then everyone and everything else, you will never save money.

The advertisers and marketing community are affecting our emotions every day and taking every dollar we have by making us see our wants as needs. It is time for this to stop! Emotions make great slaves, but they are lousy masters. No matter how educated or sophisticated we are, if we are not saving all we should be, we are being ruled by emotions, not harnessing them as financial planning slaves.

So whether you are saving for college tuition, a trip to the family reunion, new school clothes for little Bobby or Sally, or anything else, start saving now! It's never too late!

From Dave Ramsey's website - for more of his articles go here