Resourceful-Mom

Tire size surprise

In my mind, I never paid more than $100 for 4 tires when I owned my ‘91 Tercel.  Of course, when I talk to my ex husband, I’m off by about $50 but for 4 tires… that’s still not a bad deal. Years later, when I purchased the ‘99 Corolla and had to buy tires, I was shocked when I found that the tires were closer to the tune of $300 than my imaginary $100.   I was so shocked that I practically stormed out of PepBoys on a quest to find a “better deal”.  Well, to my dismay, there was no better deal.  Now, for a woman, it is very difficult to grasp that there is a situation where there is no better deal. Read more…

Paying for your next car

So, you’re in the market for buying a car?  Have you put any thought into how you are going to pay for the car?  If you are anything like me, your answer is “That’s ALL I’ve been thinking about!”   Well, good, let’s run through some of your options: Read more…

Buying the car you can afford

Many times, the car I want (luxury) is a far cry from what I can comfortably afford (economy).  This has less to with the sticker price and everything to do with the cost to maintain the car.

From a car maintenance standpoint, I suggest thinking worst case scenario.  Consider your income and responsibilities when answering this question.  How difficult would it be for you to fix or replace one, or more, of the following?

Read more…

Your past, is it true?

Depends on what they say about me

Your credit report is used by many financial institutions to determine if, according to your history of paying others, they can trust you to pay them back according to the terms agreed upon.

Since a credit report is used to tell the story of your financial past, it’s your responsibility to monitor what is being said about you.  Below are items that could potentially be on your report, in no particular order: Read more…

Get help with your car buying decision

Within the last 6 months or so, not far from where I live, I passed a house with a car for sale in the yard.  It was a Honda Accord and from what I could tell, it appeared to be in very good condition. Along with the phone number, the For Sale sign included specific instructions not to knock on the homeowners door concerning the car.  Odd, right?

Well, I called the number and asked about the car.  The car owner explained that he’d gotten the car for his daughter; however, she  recently went away to college.  He went on to explain that he’d been driving the car recently so he could attest to the fact that it was a good car, he was only getting rid of it because he didn’t need 2 cars. After asking him a few more questions, I thanked him for his time and ended the call. Read more…