Budgeting & bargains Expert Voices Today

A Good Time to Buy a Car

One of the standing jokes in my house is to say, when something is on sale for a ridiculously low price, “they are actually paying you to buy it.” When it comes to the state of the nation’s car companies that may actually be true. I just saw an ad for Saturn, a division of GM. Not only were they offering “employee pricing,” which is always a good deal, but they were providing cash rebates on top of it. The economy—at least the automotive part—may be in a lot worse shape than I thought. More…

Revenge Has Never Felt So Good

I am going to write a check today for $6,000 to cover an expense I was not anticipating, and I got to tell you I don’t feel overly bad. I am buying a new furnace. Now, to be honest, I would rather be spending the money on a baseball signed by the 1961 New York Yankees, a Diebenkorn drawing, or even donating the money. But the furnace which came with the house—and has been nothing but trouble from day one—is shot. It gets colds in New England in the winter and so the new furnace comes today. So why I am not furious? Two reasons. 1. I am finally old enough not to get cranky about things beyond my control. And having a furnace die on me is indeed beyond my control. More…

Maybe You Don't Need a Hybrid

The next time a car ad comes on telvevison--and odds are that is going to occur during the first 15 minutes of any show you choose to watch--pay some attention when they start quoting how many miles you can get to the gallon, mpg (That, of course, stands for miles per gallon.). What has gone pretty much unnoticed is that many traditional cars today now get the same mpg as hybrids on the highways. Hybrids are great. And they are particularly wonderful if you do a lot of stop and go/city driving because it is then that they switch over to the electric part of their engines. More…