Don't Trade Your Used Car into the Dealership!

If you want to save money and possibly make money on your used vehicle, don't trade it into the car dealership!

The auto dealers are going to buy your car for wholesale, and then turn around and sell your car for a profit.  It may be tempting when you have your eyes on a nice ride, and you are anxious to get rid of the car you have.   Believe me, I have been where you are!

I was extremely tempted to sell my Volvo to a Ford Dealer who offered me a measly $3500 for the car.  Well I owed about $6000 to my finance company which meant I would've been out of a couple thousand dollars...a nice down payment on a new car.    Being the practical person that I am, I decided to take the advice my friends and put the car on www.Craigslist.com for free.  My friend have had great experience selling her car on Craigslist.  She told me that she sold her broken down Saturn that had issues in less than a week!  She was upfront about the much needed repairs and someone bought it as is!

I decided I would put my car on Craigslist to see what would happen.  It was in good condition, but in need of new tires.  I sold it in about a week, and even though I sold it at a loss (to account for the needed tires), I was only out of pocket a few hundred bucks instead of a few thousand.  If the car had some better tires, I would've been able to get at least what I owed on the car.

Save money and try to sell your car yourself.  You don't even have to spend any money advertising it, I didn't!  So now I'm free to lease or purchase a new car without rolling over any payments.  What a great feeling!

Great Finds on Craigslist.com!

My co-worker recently shared with me that he put his flat screen television and entertainment system on www.craigslist.com. He sold it within a week, making over $1000 toward a new HD flatscreen television!

Being that I have items to sell, and items I want, I decided to check out this totally free online classified site and I posted my car for sale. Well, I have also been wanting to purchase a hobby greenhouse so I decided to look for one. And, what do you know? I found EXACTLY the one I was thinking about purchasing that retails at $199. I called up the seller, who lives less than one mile from my home, and I negotiated her down to $100 from $150. It was so simple and she was extremely friendly.

I picked up the greenhouse and it was still brand new in the box and was never opened after she purchased it two years ago. What a great find for me, I saved $100 plus shipping costs if I had purchased this same greenhouse at www.greenhouses.com.

Craiglist has everything you can imagine from all states. Real estate, auto, pets, furniture, you name it they got it. People are posting items that are new and used right in your own neighborhood. Check it out. www.CraigsList.com

Here is that greenhouse that I purchased today.

Free Entertainment For Your Child's Birthday

Instead of spending a small fortune for a clown or other cartoon characters for your child's birthday, have all the parents or some of your friends dress up as wacky characters or fantasy characters instead!

Not only will this make the party fun and interesting, it won't cost you a dime! Especially if you have the parents use halloween costumes from previous years (as long as they aren't the scary ones). You can also opt to have the adults purchase and wear costumes instead of giving your child a gift -- that is a gift in itself...keeping money in your pocket instead of burning a hole in it.

Cool!

Beautiful Begonias - $7.99 per pot at Sam's Club

This beautiful pot of begonias was only $7.99 at Sam's club yesterday. They come in different color pots and the begonias come in red, pink, or yellow. They are beautiful. And the pot is pretty big, although it doesn't look that big in the picture. You will easily pay $20 or more for this anywhere else!

90% off at Michaels Arts & Crafts - Again

On my way to Target to get some medication for this horrible cold I have, I decided I should check in Michaels to see if they had anymore great savings. Back in January, I was able to get gorgeous silk poinsettias for $2 ea. (regular $19.99) and $1 ea. (regular $9.99 each). The ones you see in the top photo were only $1, so I bought 10 and put them throughout my house. And the ones in the bottom photo were $2, and I bought 5 of those, bringing my grand total to $20 + tax for 15 silk poinsettias. I saved $180!! The more expensive ones are huge and they have a yellow tip on the flowers. They are stunning!! Remember, you can only get this deal about the 3rd week in January. They have all kinds of Christmas decor, but you have to remember to save at least $50 if you want to really rack up. Otherwise, $20 will get you a whole lot!






Now, back to the great savings I got today. Of course, I went into Michaels looking for a great deal and that is exactly what I got! I bought 16 stems of silk Peonies and Hydrangeas for $12. The Peony stems were regular priced $7.99 each, and the Hydrangeas were regular priced $6.99 each (photos on left).

These were not cheap quality stems you can find at the dollar store! These were top quality stems you find in arrangements that can cost hundreds of dollars. Shop at Michaels, and you can really rack up, but you have to go at the right time and be on hunt for deals. Not all Michaels carry the same item. I bought these at the Michaels on 14 mile and John R. in Madison Heights, MI. I almost bought them out, but there are a few stems left (although not of this kind.) I have a plan for these!