Money Blue Book

I do a lot of online shopping shopping. In fact, I’m looking to buy a cheap laptop soon and will absolutely buy it online. Other than groceries or items I need right away, I try to plan ahead and purchase everything through the internet where I can often obtain the best deals.

Here are the basic steps I take when I am looking to buy something online at the best price possible:

1) Use Froogle

My first stop is to compare prices using Google’s Product Search engine. The program used to be called Froogle but Google changed the name a few months ago. Personally, I liked the old name better and still refer to it as Froogle. Not a whole lot of people use it, but I use it often.

Froogle works the same as your usual Google search engine except it compares prices based on your keyword search. It scours the web for store and auction prices and surprisingly yields a decent size list of results. It gives you an idea of the range of prices online retailers are charging.

2) Use eBay

After I have a general idea of the range of market prices, I visit eBay to run keyword searches of the item I want to buy. As I mentioned in an earlier eBay related post, it is always best to run several searches using different combinations of keywords to maximize your chances.

After factoring in the cost of shipping I compare the eBay total selling prices with the Froogle prices including shipping to see which one is most favorable. Generally, I prefer to purchase from online retailers rather than from eBay sellers because I can more easily contact and trace down the online retailer at its source if I need to resolve a purchase dispute, but if the price is right and the eBay seller is trustworthy, I will go with the online auction route.

3) Use Craigslist

Some people like to use Craigslist because it’s free to use but I generally avoid it as a buying option. The wild west frontier feel of it makes it too risky and unregulated to suit my taste. Craigslist doesn’t have a system of referral reviews yet, which makes the environment more enticing for scammers.

I’ve also found that eBay sellers tend to offer better deals than Craigslisters. I personally would only buy something through Craigslist if I had the option of arriving in person to pay for and pick up the merchandise.

4) Make the Purchase Through A Shopping Portal Giving Cash Back or Reward Points

After determining which place offers the best deal, it’s time to make sure you are maxing out all possible discount and cash back opportunities. If you have to choose between several choices, it’s almost always best to choose the option that will allow you to purchase via a shopping portal to earn extra cash back or reward points. Recommended portals include Ebates, Jellyfish, and Fatwallet.

Even if you decide to buy through an eBay auction, you can still earn extra cash back by clicking on the eBay link through a shopping portal like Ebates. Ebates offers customers 1% cash back when they make winning bids via their portal’s eBay link.

5) Use A Cash Back Credit Card To Fully Maximize Your Savings

Finally, when it comes time to paying for your online purchase, you may want to consider making payment using a credit card that will provide you usage incentives such as reward rebates or cash back. Because online purchases generally do not fall under the special categories such as grocery stores or gas stations that can qualify you to earn bonus rebates, your best bet is to utilize a card that will earn you at least the standard 1% cash back for your entire purchase amount. A few such as the Fidelity Investment Rewards Visa and the Amex Blue Cash Card offer an ever better 1.5% back for all online purchases. Browse around my list of credit card rewards for more suggestions.

Over the years I’ve spent way too much money paying speeding tickets and appearing in traffic court to contest routine moving violations. Despite my recent out of state $1,000 speeding ticket, my in-state traffic record continues to indicate zero points and ironically, my auto insurance premium even recently went down. Due to the nonuniform enforcement of out of state traffic violations, I’ve been lucky so far in terms of my insurance premium not going up, but eventually my luck might run out. As someone who preaches the wisdom of frugality, I have to include speeding tickets and moving violation penalties such as reckless driving, improper lane changes, and running red lights, as examples of frivolous and terribly unnecessary expenses that ought to be prevented.

Speeding tickets are a complete waste of your hard earned money. The best way to avoid having to pay the high price of an expensive speeding ticket is to avoid getting a speeding ticket to begin with. Obviously, the no-brainer way to avoid getting one is to simply not speed. But if you’re like the majority of people who safely travel above the limit on occasion, here are strategies I’ve learned to adopt that help to minimize the chances of being pulled over by the police for speeding or getting nailed at a speed trap.

Tips On How To Avoid Getting Busted By Traps and Cops

1) Don’t Speed - This one is obvious. If you don’t speed, you have nothing to fear. Unless you are a baby boomer over the age of 65 though, chances are you will likely speed, so this advice is probably not practical.

2) Know the Speed Limits and Where Popular Speed Traps Are - I frequently travel through certain interstate highways where police cruisers and speed traps are plentiful. I’ve learned to slow down more when I approach these danger areas. The police have certain areas they like to patrol. Beware of their favorite speed trap locations - less congested down hill slopes are their favorite areas, particularly ones that follow a long uphill climb. They like to wait at the bottom of the long hill with their radar detector guns and clock you as you appear at the top of the hill crest.

3) Don’t Rely On a Radar Detector Or Jammer - In my opinion, radar detectors are absolutely useless and a complete waste of money. I’ve sat in my friend’s car armed with a radar detector only to have it go off randomly every few minutes whenever it detects stray signals, like the signal given off by automatic doors at grocery stores. Pretty much everything sets them off and their warnings are unreliable. Even if it detects a positive signal, most likely it’s already too late because the officer has already gotten a positive lock on you. Jammers are illegal in most jurisdictions so you should not own one to begin with.

4) Behave Like Fish - This is my most valuable advice. Fish swim in large schools because there is great security in numbers - you should adopt their strategy. The more cars are around you the less chance you will be targeted by the police and they are likely to go after someone else. If you find yourself driving alone or as the lead car, be very careful because you are now a prime target. Always try to stay behind a faster driver or around drivers traveling at similar speeds.

5) Avoid the Fast Lane - It’s not referred to as the fast lane for nothing. The left lane is the passing lane and where police frequently focus their speed trap efforts. Try to avoid driving on the passing lane for extended periods, unless you are following a faster car.

6) Piggy Back Frequently - The lead car is the one in most danger of getting clocked by police waiting at a speed trap. Always try to make sure there is someone in front of you to take the brunt.

7) Be Very Aware of Your Surroundings - When I drive, I always try to be aware of what is going on around me. I scan far ahead and in my rear view mirror for patrol cars. I try to follow the stream of traffic and avoid standing out from the pack in terms of speed.

8) Recognize What a Police Patrol Cruiser Looks Like - Police cars come in different colors but they are usually the classic Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor model shown above. They are pretty easy to recognize due to their distinguishable front grill. Police cruisers also usually have a red and blue siren light mount on the top with numerous antennas sticking out in the back. They also rarely have things dangling on their rear view mirrors. If you see a car with one of those fuzzy dice decorations, chances are he or she isn’t a cop.

Good luck and drive safe!

I’m your typical guy. I enjoy following sports and I generally find shopping to be tedious and sort of boring. I can handle online shopping, but clothing shopping at a brick and mortar store for me is a major hassle and I always feel like I’m getting ripped off. $80 for a sweater…oh my. $65 for a dress shirt…goodness gracious. $65 for a pair of khaki pants…holy…

The scary part is that these are prices for men’s clothing. I can only imagine how much women have to pay for their clothes. Historically, women’s clothing have always been much more expensive than that of men’s. Who knows why - material maybe? But that’s a discussion for another later day.

I Prefer Shopping Online

So where does a reasonably frugal person like me shop? Well I’m definitely a point and click shopper. I do the vast majority of my shopping online since it’s much more convenient and substantially cheaper as well. But clothing is one of those things that you really need to try on before you buy. Fit is important and frequently, clothes look different online and in magazines than they do when you’re wearing them.

Malls Are Not My Thing

I enjoy the mingling feel at I get when I’m at the local mall but I really can’t stand shopping there for too long. Shopping at the mall wears me out physically and I just don’t have the stamina for it. The funny thing is that I like to run and have no problem running half marathons, but I just can’t keep up with the seasoned shoppers. Can’t explain why. Most of the time that I go is to accompany the girlfriend, or I have to buy a last minute present for someone, and don’t have time to order online and have it delivered.

I Like Outlets

For clothing shopping, I prefer sticking to the outlets like Marshalls, Ross, TJ Maxx and Filene’s Basement (with preference in that order). These outlet stores buy up manufacturers’ post season, over run, and close out stock items and offer them at very attractive prices. Most of the items are also frequently brand name and not just generic.

I enjoy the hunt and love being able to find brand name bargains. If you are not very particular about what you must buy, then outlets may be for you. At outlet shops, the clothing turnover is high and you never quite know what they’ll have, so it’s best to visit periodically. Popular sizes can also be harder to find but true bargains can be easily found. I get almost all of my dress shirts for work at Marshalls. I can buy a brand name shirt for $15, where the exact same item would cost over $50 at a department store like Macy’s. Outlet prices will almost always beat any discount sales offered at full price department stores.

You know the routine. You walk up to the retail or department store checkout counter to pay for the stuff you’re going to buy and the sales lady asks you if you’d like to receive 10-15% off your purchase today by applying for a department store credit card. Especially if you are buying a lot of things, it’s always a big temptation at the checkout line, but signing for any store credit card like Macy’s, Bloomingdales, or Home Depot just to get a one time discount may hurt you in the long run. You may save a few dollars now but it is likely to weaken your FICO credit score and be counter productive to any debt reduction plans you may have. They may be very easy to apply and qualify for, but they are nothing but debt traps, especially for college students looking to build credit.

It Will Ding Your Credit Score

Even if you intend to promptly pay off all balances, the mere act of applying for credit will hurt your FICO score because it is considered a hard pull credit inquiry. Although the hit is not significant, if you make it a bad habit of frequently applying for department or retail store credit cards to take advantage of one time discount offers, this could spell trouble. Every credit inquiry hurts your score so it is best to stay away from this temptation.

Department Store Credit Cards Have High Interest Rates

If You are trying to get out of debt or have been relatively debt free, you need to stay away from department store cards because they frequently have the highest interest rates. If you forget to make timely payment, your purchase discount savings could quickly be negated by high interest charges. Don’t fall into the discount trap. Remember, the discount is usually only a one time deal and you’ll be stuck with a worthless card afterwards. If you don’t heed this warning and still apply for them, remember to pay them off in full each month. This should be a debt reduction priority.

They Can Only Be Used For That Store

Unlike regular credit cards like Visa or Mastercard, department store cards can only be used for that particular store. If you have a Macy’s card, you can only use it at Macy’s, thereby severely limiting its usefulness.

When I was in college I remember naively applying for a Structures credit card to get a one time clothing discount. I rarely shopped there and the company is not even around anymore. It’s now a useless card with no purpose. Why clutter your life?