GET PRICE ALERTS. Willing to wait for a bargain? Enter the most you’re willing to pay for an item and Price Grabber
(www.pricegrabber.com) and DiscountMore
(www.discountmore.com) will e-mail you when they find a site selling it at or below that price. It’s worth the wait!
SKIP THE CELL PHONE STORE. Sixty-one percent of people who bought their phones online from a site like Amazon.com said they were “completely” or “very”
satisfied with how much they paid, according to a recent survey by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. A mere 46
percent who went to a walk-in store said the same thing. One reason: In our spot-check of stores, salespeople’s knowledge
of the different phones and plans varied widely.
GET A FREE EXTENDED WARRANTY. Paying with a credit card often doubles the length of a manufacturer’s warranty if you put the whole purchase amount on the
card. (Also be sure to pay off the balance the following month to avoid interest payments!) American Express, many Signature,
and most gold and platinum cards issued by Visa and MasterCard offer this service as well. So forget about buying a separate
extended warranty.
AVOID OVERPAYING FOR THAT CAR. Even if you get a great deal on the price of a vehicle, you can end up paying hundreds of dollars more than you need to by
signing on for the wrong loan. Over half of all loans are for five years or more, according to the Consumer Bankers Association.
The problem with these long loans is that although your monthly payments may be lower, you will pay more in interest and,
at some point, you could end up owing more than the vehicle is worth--a sticky situation if you want to sell the car or end
up totalling it.
SHOP ONLINE FOR MEDICATIONS. Check prices at Drugstore.com and Express-scripts.com. You can often save 25 percent or more. (Also check out
BestBuyDrugs.org, run by
Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of this magazine, to find out whether a generic drug makes sense.)
Click any of the links below for a selection of articles from the Spring 2007 issue of ShopSmart;)
Editor's Letter
Greetings from ShopSmart Editor-in-Chief Lisa Lee Freeman
Great sites for gift givers
Fun and funky presents to buy online for grads, dads, brides, and anyone else on your list
How to order wine
Order the right wine at any restaurant (even if you have no idea what you're doing)
Online shopping
The best shopping sites you’ve (probably) never heard of
Vitamins
Which multivitamins should you take, if any?
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