Tips on saving or making money?

What are some good sites - or possibly some good, affordable books - that would give one basic, easy, advice and strategies for your average person looking to save money, and perhaps invest a little? I want a source that's not going to give me tons of ads, or try to sell me products, or try to convince me to invest money into products or services.

http://www.savingadvice.com

spend less than you make. only way you can know is to write down everything that you spend money on and cut back. go to the library and get a free book.

there is no secret to saving money. spend less than you make. stop buying debt and only buy what you have cash for and ask yourself do you really need this item or are you emotional spending because something is not right in your life.

I can't tell you that but below is what I have done to save thousands and it works:

The biggest ways you can do this are in expense categories that are recurring--those you must pay every month that represent a big part of your income. The quickest to address are downsize your car expenses ASAP. You can do this by selling what have at top price as listed on KBB.com private party value. If you take your time selling you should be able to get "Private Party" value for your car. Then plan to buy a lower cost, reliable used car that Consumer Reports rates as most reliable. That way you can minize your repair costs--this is typically a huge ongoing expense for most people. I have four older cars that are of these types that Consumer Reports recommends most reliable: Honda civic and Odyssey, Ford escort and Suburu (mine has 284,000 miles on it). Also, these cars get good gas mileage. Another priority when you buy to help you save $. When you buy use KBB.com and try to find cars selling for well under the Private Party value. I always buy well used cars this way. I wait until I see one advertised well below the private party value, then I call asap, give seller a $50 deposit and write up a contract I will buy it subject to my mechanic finding no major problems. You want to buy an older car for cash (like $1,500) so you don't have to pay any collission or other extra insurance and that reduces your expenses more. I have a Ford Escort wagon (I like wagons and vans because cops pull you over less on these family cars--we have way too many cops, not that I get tickets. But I just like to be left alone, I digress . . .) I bought my Ford Escort wagon for $1,500 five years ago and it has 180,000, miles and looks great, drives like a dream and has had the lowest repair cost of any car I owned. That is my dream car because you can buy them so cheap, about 1,000 for a 1993 easy. Then be sure you shope insurance coverage among various companies--Geico tends to have cheap coverage--to get lowest cost insurance. If you own a home, you can do that same idea by looking for a bargain house. With the depressed market this is a great time to buy a fixer upper well below market to reduce your housing expenses asap. Sell your current home at market rate. If you rent, you need to own because you reduce your expenses by deducting the payment from your taxes. If your credit score is above 500 you should be able to get a loan or find a lender who can help you get your credit score up. By the way, better to buy one of those well used cars with a loan to reduce your car expenses. In general you need to become a serious bargain buyer on quality cars and on houses. You can find bargain houses on the HUD website of foreclousres using a realtor. Just be sure to bid way low on HUD foreclosures--realtors will suggest you bid too high. Be cheap, cheap, cheap and you will reduce your monthly expenses on these things.

One other point, if you find yourself overspending on consumer stuff you buy, you need to get self control. Best way to do this is not a budget but fasting. Start skipping a meal and then work up to where you skip food one day per week. I fast a day a week regularly and am unbelievalbe disciplined. I must be because I provide for a family of 6: with 5 older girls, two in college, etc. Talk about expensive! But I never buy anything in a store on impulse because fasting has trained me to be way disciplined.

Source(s):
KBB.com used car values
Zillow.com home values. Multiply the value they give you by 1.15 and you will be close o market value. Also look at comparable sales on that web site for a per square foot value to apply to the home you are considering. Watch out with realtors. They tend to push you to pay too much but you must use a realtor to buy a HUD foreclosure. You can shop other bargain houses with motivate

http://www.givecash.li/

There are plenty of good books, check Amazon and read the reviews. You can also take a community class at your local high school or college.

Michael

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