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New Money Articles
Mystery Shopping
Get paid to shop! Good info on how to get started as a mystery shopper, including 2 websites that give free info about the companies that hire mystery shoppers: www.mysteryshop.org and www.volition.com/mystery.html. You do not have to pay to apply, so avoid those scams asking you for money to get the info.Mystery shopping is not, however, the ideal job that many probably envision at first. The pay is low—sometimes all you get is compensation for the shopping. You work as an independent contractor, and if you are working for many different companies—which you will have to do to have steady work—record keeping and figuring taxes can be onerous. To make decent money, you must organize your shopping so that it can be done serially. You may have to do things you don't want to do, such as demanding a new room at a hotel. One thing you probably won't like too much is taking notes while at the site and writing the report online for the company later on.
Qualifications include being able to write well, with accuracy and detail, using correct grammar. In fact, the better your reporting, the more likely you will get assignments. Anyone can apply to be a mystery shopper, but only those who can write well and are reliable will be chosen repeatedly. You do have the right to reject assignments, however.
The assignments, often sent by e-mail, typically tell the shopper what she will be doing, when the job must get done, and the approximate pay, which can vary. You may only get reimbursed for the cost of a meal at a restaurant, while shopping at a department store might pay $10 to $50 per assignment.
Shoppers usually pay for travel to and from assignments, but can make $500 to $1,000 per month on 20 assignments.
Here's a good story about how 1 mystery shopper does it, and how much she makes. Used Car Guide — Vehicle Leasing
An FTC publication for used car dealers, but useful for consumers, also, when shopping for a used car.
Here's a good consumer guide to vehicle leasing by the Federal Reserve Board. Its main sections explain the differences between leasing and owning—what costs have to be paid at the beginning of the lease, during the lease, and at the termination of the lease; ways to compare different leases and items that can be negotiated; and what your rights and responsibilities are. Buying and Selling Cars and Trucks — Cars.com
Description: Cars.com is your online source to buy new and used cars. Sell your used car, or research car prices, reviews and more.
At this site, you can sell your vehicle by listing it in their database, or you can buy new or used vehicles using the same database. It has pages showing production cars and concept cars featured at auto shows. You can research vehicles by category, look at videos, and read expert car reviews on selected models. Includes a section on car shopping tools and tips, and lists for best and worst gas mileage, best and worst resale values, most popular new cars, this year's best bet cars, and best crash-test ratings. At the bottom of the page is a list of today's headlines on automotive news.There is also a chat section at CarTalk.com where you can chat about your vehicle, or ones that you are interested in. However, this website has an extremely annoying car-honking-horn sound that repeats every minute or so, and it seems to be on every page. It's especially annoying if you are using a tabbed browser, and have multiple pages loaded in the background.
Below are some of the pages at Cars.com:
Description: Best Fuel Economy by Vehicle Class: The vehicles with the highest fuel economy within the most popular classes.Description: Best Fuel Economy for 2006 Models: The 25 most fuel-efficient 2006-model-year vehicles.Description: Worst Fuel Economy for 2006 Models: The 25 least fuel-efficient 2006-model-year vehicles.Description: Best Car Resale Values by Vehicle Class: Which vehicles retain the most value after leaving the dealer's lot? See the best residual values by vehicle class among 2005 models."The residual values are a percentage of the manufacturer's suggested retail price (including destination charge) and are provided by Automotive Lease Guide. These 2006-model-year vehicles are expected to hold the most of their original value within their vehicle class after three years. Find the residual value of any other 2006-model-year vehicle with our residual values tool."
Description: Cost to Fill Up: See how much it costs to fill up the tanks of select new cars.Description: Crash Test Ratings and Crash Test Videos: Search the IIHS's best and worst crash test ratings for 2005 model vehicles. "The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does not test all cars. Like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, IIHS concentrates its crash tests on the highest-volume vehicles.
This table represents the 2006-model-year vehicles IIHS selected as top safety picks. The winning vehicles afford the best protection in front, side and rear crashes, based on IIHS tests."
You can watch actual videos of crash tests. This one shows the crash tests for the Honda Civic. Buying Cars and Trucks
This is a good site to find information about buying cars and trucks. For new vehicles, this site lists not only the Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price (often referred to as the MSRP, “sticker” or “list” price), but also the dealer invoice price, which is the price the dealer paid for the vehicle, and the transaction price, which is the price buyers are typically paying at new-car dealers. Kelley Blue Book (KBB) calls the transaction price the New Car Blue Book Value, and this will be very useful for haggling for the best price at the dealer. Another nice feature is that when you specify a specific model that you are looking for, including options, KBB will list available local dealers for that model in a sidebar. Check the dealers you would like to get a quote from, submit the form, and they will send you a quote. KBB lists the local dealers based on your zip code that you give it when accessing the site. It stores the information as a cookie so that when you go back, you don't have to input your zip code again, unless you turned off browser cookies. Detailed car descriptions also include what you may or may not like about the car.
The information on used cars is similar, but the relevant prices listed are the retail value, which is the price that a dealer would charge, the trade-in price, which is what a dealer would pay you for your car, and the private-party value, which is the value that you can expect to get or pay when dealing with anyone who is not a dealer. These prices, of course, depend on the condition of the vehicle, and KBB provides prices for various conditions.
For both new and used cars, you can research vehicles by make or model, or by category. Categories include sedan, coupe, convertible, wagon, hatchback, pickup, SUV, van/minivan, and luxury models.
You can list your vehicle for sale here. Your listing will be available at KBB.com and Cars.com, and over 175 other sites. The Basic Package cost $20 for 2 weeks, but includes only a manufacturer's photo. The $40 Enhanced Package includes free renewals until you sell your car and 3 photos of your vehicle, ad statistics and reporting, window sticker and bill of sale; and the $55 Premium Package additionally includes a money-back guarantee if you don't sell your car within 90 days, a free CARFAX report, and 12 photos of your vehicle.
The search engine for used vehicles allows you to search for vehicles of particular models, within a specified price range, and within so many miles of your zip code. The search results display the model year, the make of the vehicle, asking price, mileage, who the seller is, the category of the car, color, and how far the place of sale is from your zip code. Most of the sellers seem to be car dealers, but this is certainly a good way to find relevant cars in your area quickly.
This site also has buying tips, and other pertinent information, including finance and insurance quotes, reliability ratings, and resell value ratings. Includes pages listing cars that have the best resale value for the current year, and also the most researched vehicles on KBB.com.
Special features are the Auto Show Coverage, which provides information about new cars being displayed at auto shows, and there are special sections for motorcycles, personal watercraft, and snowmobiles.
This site allows you to check the record on a particular used vehicle by entering the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) into its search engine. The information displayed includes the following:
- Title Check - Is it salvaged, flooded, rebuilt, or a lemon?
- Odometer Check - Was it rolled over, rolled back, broken, or subjected to fraud?
- Problem Check - Was it involved in a major accident, was it stolen, was there fire damage, or was it salvaged?
- Registration Check - Was it leased or rented? Was it used as a taxi, police, or some other fleet car?
You can get unlimited vehicle history reports for $24.99. This package also includes crash test results, reliability ratings, safety recalls, and operating cost estimates for each vehicle.
Shopping — Short Takes
This site provides information on low air fares. You can look at the top 30 fares, or search for fares from one place to another. Has other features as well.
description: SalesCircular shows what's on sale at local retail stores every week by collecting data from Sunday newspapers and other ads.
Find the lowest prices at local stores, which include Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, Kmart, Office Depot, Office Max, Radio Shack, Sears, Staples, Target, WalMart and select local retailers. A nice feature, which you can find on the main page after selecting a specific state is what is free after a rebate. A drawback to this site is that it only specifies the store. You have to go to the store or its website and find the item. I'm also not sure how reliable it is, but it's worth a try, especially if you are going to buy a big-ticket item.
description: Epinions has the best comparison shopping information on Epinions.com. Compare prices from across the web and read reviews from other consumers on Epinions.com before you decide to buy.
If you want opinions by other people like yourself, check out this site. It says "Unbiased reviews by real people", although I don't know how they can know that—that the opinions are unbiased, that is. They probably are real people, however. Nonetheless, this site can certainly alert you to things to look out for, or to consider before purchasing.
description: Online Deals, Bargains, and Freebies! Updated daily!
The home page of this site has a long list of deals on computers, software, mortgages, whatever. You can get coupons for specific stores, and also codes. You can also search for specific items.
Froogle, of course, is Google's search engine for products. This works very well, and like the Google search engine itself, it is uncluttered, and simple to use, and it usually generates good results. Also includes a list of items recently found with Froogle. The list displays links, as well as a price range associated with that link.
description: Online Shopping: Compare Prices and Read Customer Reviews at ResellerRatings.com. If you are looking to compare prices, read customer reviews, or compare products and brands, then ResellerRatings.com is your source.
Here, you can compare prices, also, and find ratings for specific sellers. Includes a list of hot deals on the home page. This site covers mostly electronic products. Some of the deals are very good. Check it out. The Best Credit Cards
Here's the 10 most consumer friendly credit cards according to Consumer Reports.Free Language Courses
description: Learn French, Spanish, German, Italian and other languages with the BBC. Start up with our courses or brush up with our audio magazines. You can also check your level, get advice, have your say and share your stories.
Free language courses from the BBC. Major language courses include Spanish, French, German, and Italian, with shorter courses in Portuguese, Greek, and Chinese. Includes tips on learning languages. This is very good, but I think it would be even better if a textbook on the language is used with it. Includes audio and video, and many tests to ascertain your level of accomplishment.
Here's the Spanish course. The Spanish and French courses seem very complete. Note that you can go to any language simply by changing the language name in the URL.
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