Prosperity Renewal Tip #23

When buying a used car, never accept a financing package of longer than 36 months.

As much as we are told that a new Lexus, Escalade or BMW will give us the status, freedom and respect we deserve, purchasing a new high dollar vehicle is not a smart purchase for anyone during any economic climate.

Vehicles are not an investment; they loose value the minute you drive them off the lot. The smart shopper will search for a good used car.

If possible, pay cash for your next car. Since cars immediately begin to loose value, you will lose money by paying interest on an item that depreciates. If you cannot pay cash, pay at least 20% for a down payment to get a lower interest rate. Choose a shorter-term loan that is no more than 36 months.

Here is an example of how the length of the loan affects the total amount paid for the car:

$18,000 loan amount with 5.00% interest for a person with average credit

A 36 month loan yields a $539.48 monthly payment  You will pay  $19,421.28 over the life of the loan.
A 60 month loan yields a $339.68 monthly payment but you will pay $20,380.80 over the life of the loan.

You will save $959.52 in interest with the 36-month loan.

If you are getting a loan, get pre-approved so you will know how much car you can afford. This will put you in control of your loan and help you evaluate the financing deal offered by the car dealer.

Ways to implement this tip:

#1  Never buy a new car.
A car starts depreciating the minute you drive it off the car lot.  After two years a new car is worth as little as half its original sticker price which makes a 2-year old car one of the ideal used cars to purchase.

#2  Pay car off as soon as possible.
The quicker a car is paid off the more interest payments you eliminate.

#3  Do your due diligence when purchasing a used car.
– Get a Carfax report before purchasing
– Have car checked by your mechanic
– Read Consumer Report and similar magazines
– Get Blue Book price

Kingdom Focused!

Flora M. Kynard, author of
Prosperity Renewal: 14 Biblical Principles for True Financial Freedom
info@prosperityrenewal.org
www.prosperityrenewal.org
www.50milliondollarclub.com

Prosperity Renewal Tip #1

Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status.

Cars should be bought for their utility, not their prestige.  When you are considering an apartment, a condominium, or a house, thought should be given to livability rather than how much it will impress others.  Don’t have more living space than is reasonable.

Consider your clothes.  Most people have no need for more clothes.  They buy more not because they need clothes, but because they want to keep up with the fashions.  Forget the fashions!  Buy what you need.  Wear your clothes until they are worn out.  Stop trying to impress people with your clothes and impress them with your life.

Kingdom Focused!

Flora M. Kynard, author of
Prosperity Renewal: 14 Biblical Principles for True Financial Freedom
info@prosperityrenewal.org
www.prosperityrenewal.org

Related Articles:
Prosperity Renewal Tip #19
Prosperity Renewal Tip #27
How To Make $1000 Or More With A Garage Sale

Prosperity Renewal Tip #27 

Host a garage sale.

Unload the stuff you no longer need or want.

You have a lot more stuff stored in your house than you will ever need or use.  A quick check of your closets, basement, garage and other nooks and crannies should produce boxes of stuff that you own, but no longer have any use for.

Instead of keeping them in perpetual storage, sell it all. You can do it online through sites like eBay, Craigslist, Half.com or have a garage sale and get rid of it all at once.

The basic guideline: If you haven’t used something for the last year, you will probably never use it again.  Selling all this will keep your house less cluttered and will also bring in well over $100 in most cases.

Ways to implement this tip:

#1  Attract a crowd to your garage sale.  
To attract a crowd to your garage sale, run an ad in your local newspaper and post easy-to-read signs around your neighborhood. Check local regulations about posting notices, of course, and write signs in crayon if it looks like rain.
 
#2  Sell items that sell well at garage sales.  
Children clothes sell well at garage sales, adult clothes don’t — try a consignment shop instead.  List children clothing sizes and brand names, if you have them, in your ad.  Some parents make special trips to garage sales featuring labels like BabyGap and Gymboree.

#3  Involve your children in the garage sale.  
If your children are old enough to help, let them pick some of their older toys to sell.  A special children table with a sign like, “All proceeds go to purchase of our Disneyland souvenirs,” is often a big hit — and it’s a great way to teach your children about money.

Kingdom Focused!

Flora M. Kynard, author of
Prosperity Renewal: 14 Biblical Principles for True Financial Freedom
info@prosperityrenewal.org
www.prosperityrenewal.org

Related Articles:
Prosperity Renewal Tip #9
How To Make $1000 Or More With A Garage Sale

There have been many articles and reports written explaining supposed ways to cut your grocery bills. Sure, you can eat only bargain noodles and generic beans. That will save a little money. Wash out those plastic bags and reuse them. That will save a few cents. But there is one sure way to cut your grocery bills in half (or more!) that is easy and you can still buy brand name items. By intelligently using the system detailed in this report, you will see savings from the first day.

First, save coupons. Too many people think coupons are a waste of time, or that they only raise the prices that are charged on items. This is false! Buy a box of envelopes, and label your envelopes with the categories of food and products you buy regularly. You can be as broad (“vegetables”) or exact (an envelope for each brand of canned vegetables you regularly buy) as you want. Clip every coupon you come across and file them in the proper envelope.

Sunday newspapers are the best source for coupons. If you find a lot of coupons you can use on a particular Sunday, it may be worth your while to buy a second copy of the paper, to get another set of coupons. If your paper costs $1.00, you can make that back with two 50-cent coupons. The rest will be profit!

Next, watch the sale flyers. When you see items on sale that you have coupons for, that’s the time to buy. Here’s something a lot of people don’t realize. Say you have three 50-cent coupons for “Bill’s Beans.” You can only use one coupon per purchase. But, if you buy three cans at once, that’s three purchases, and you have every right to use all three coupons. Also, watch for stores that offer “double coupons.” That means that they will double the value of the coupon, usually up to 50-cent value coupons. Buy the sale items with doubled coupons, and your saving increase!

For best results, you should try to have a coupon for at least one-half to two-thirds of the items you buy on your shopping trip. Make a shopping list before you go and stick to it. This prevents impulse buys. Also, funny as it may sound, don’t go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. If you do, you’ll no doubt buy extra things that sound good to you at the time, but you may not end up eating.

That’s the first half of the system. Using coupons to their fullest extent is a major part of grocery bill cutting. Next comes rebates.

When you use any canned, boxed or bagged goods, save the package. Labels can be soaked from cans with warm water, and the outside layer of a box (the part with the printing on it) can usually be carefully peeled off. Use a few grocery boxes to organize these. Alphabetically is the best way. These can be stored in an unused closet or the garage. Also, keep your receipts. You’ll need them for rebates. Then, when you see a rebate for an item you regularly buy, you can get the required proof of purchase easily and quickly from the packaging.

Here’s how these fit together: For example, you have three 15-cent coupons for a 79-cent canned vegetable. The vegetables go on sale for 69-cents at a store that doubles coupons. You can now buy three cans of the vegetables for 39-cents each (69-cents minus 30-cents per coupon). Then, a few weeks later, the manufacturer has a $1.50 rebate that requires three proofs of purchase.

By sending in the rebate, you have now made a profit of 33-cents ($1.50 minus $1.17). Many manufacturers will reimburse you for the cost of postage to send the rebate and proofs in, so you get the full 33-cents.

Think about it. If you are able to do this with at least half of your grocery purchases (and you should, if you try), you can cut your grocery bill at least in half, if not more! All this for not a whole lot of work. It may seem a bit much at the start, but once you get a good, organized system in place, it will be quite easy.

To your successful journey,

Flora M. Kynard, Senior Personal Financial Trainer
Prosperity Renewal Ministries