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Posted
Jun 24 2009, 11:18 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
It should come as no surprise that as soon as the U.S. Senate passed "cash for clunkers" -- legislation granting vouchers to people who trade in their gas-guzzlers for new, more fuel-efficient cars -- a host of scam operations would pop up trying to profit.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is warning consumers not to be deceived by official-looking sites that claim to offer information on how to trade in your car. Sites that ask for personal information or offer a preregistration opportunity should not be trusted, the agency said.
"There's only one official site for the government, and that's NHTSA's CARS.gov Web site," said NHTSA press officer Eric Bolton. "Folks should go there and not rely on ‘cash for clunkers' sites on the Internet as they are not official."
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Posted
Jun 08 2009, 12:27 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
It irks us that gas prices are rising at a good clip. Other than grousing, is there something productive we can do to mitigate pain at the gas pump?
To that end, we signed up at Fuelly, an easy-to-use Web site that will help us track our gas mileage, compare it with that of similar vehicles, and improve our driving techniques to get more miles per gallon. Plus, the social-networking aspect of Fuelly will make this fun.
J.D. Roth at our partner blog Get Rich Slowly wrote about Fuelly when Matt Haughey and Paul Bausch created it a year ago: "I think this is a great idea. Fuelly taps the power of the masses to compile real fuel-efficiency data so that users can find ways to save money. Brilliant."
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Posted
Jan 16 2009, 12:06 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com.
Congress will consider the incoming Obama administration's request for an $850 billion stimulus package. Within that package, says the Consumer Federation of America, there should be an incentive for Americans to buy new cars.
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Posted
Dec 23 2008, 05:59 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
What would you think of a bailout proposal that rewards people who buy new cars? That idea is the basis of several bills introduced in Congress. Car buyers would get a $10,000 incentive in one form or another to buy a new car and, in the process, heal the ailing U.S. auto industry. It's certainly not the strangest car-related stuff we've read recently. (That would be an article about a Beverly Hills physician who powered his car with biodiesel made from liposuctioned human fat.)
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Posted
Dec 19 2008, 05:59 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Filed under: spending, savings, The Simple Dollar, car models, gas prices, prices, cars, used cars, gas mileage, car loans, car shopping
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar. In just a few short months, the price of gas at the station I regularly use has dropped from $4.09 per gallon to $1.49 per gallon -- an absolutely amazing drop. Not long ago, I spent $82 filling up my truck (which has a 20-gallon tank). The other day, I filled the tank for under $30. From a strict personal-finance perspective (and ignoring the larger global economic concerns) this is fantastic news for most people. If you have to fill a typical car tank each week (12 gallons), the price change is saving you somewhere on the order of $30 a week. That's $120 a month, an amount that can really help with debt repayment, saving for a down payment, or preparing for retirement. This shift in gas prices comes at an interesting time for me and my family. My wife and I have been carefully studying potential automobile purchases, and our calculations had led us to focus on automobiles that are efficient with their fuel. Using our numbers, assuming a $4 to $5 gallon of gas going forward, fuel efficiency was so valuable that it often trumped a higher price at the dealership.
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Posted
Oct 27 2008, 07:52 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
I paid $2.65 a gallon at the pump over the weekend. Not that long ago, the same station was charging $4.67. Every day as I wait for the bus, I check the gas station signage, and every day it drops a little lower. Compared with the hue and cry about how expensive gas was getting, I've barely heard a peep about the tumbling prices.
Then again, the current economic upheaval continues to demand attention. No wonder nobody seems to notice that the average price of gas has come down about $1.47 since mid-July-- and a lot more than that in some areas. In fact, it's gone below $2 in many places.
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Posted
Sep 30 2008, 12:53 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"Frugal Babe" knows how to get the most from a car. Her 1991 Honda Civic has 214,000 miles and is still going strong. Her husband's 1990 Audi has 110,000 miles. If one of the vehicles dies, they'll become a one-car family. So when a reader complained that her parents are trying to force her a buy a brand new, "safer" car to replace a paid-off Subaru, Frugal Babe was ready with advice. Part of it came in the form of a question: How many people "on the interstate driving 80 mph, talking on the phone, 15 feet behind the car in front of them, bought their new car because of the safety features?" Or, allow us to paraphrase: Are you really making a frugal choice if you buy a huge vehicle for safety reasons and you figure that allows you to drive like a jerk?
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Posted
Sep 09 2008, 12:10 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Las Vegas car dealer Dan Towbin got smart and closed his Hummer dealership. Now he's going to sell Europe's ubiquitous and tiny Smart car. It's due to America's collective decision that smaller is better when it comes to vehicles. The super-sized Hummer is "yesterday's fashion statement ... sort of the automotive equivalent to Hula-Hoops," Sheldon Sandler, an investment banker who specializes in dealerships, told The Wall Street Journal's Deal Journal.
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Posted
Sep 03 2008, 02:12 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Better gas mileage can be had from what used to be standard in cars -- the manual transmission, or stick shift. But how many drivers know how to use one these days?
It's a lost art, but a very efficient one. For its October issue, Consumer Reports bought two versions of seven different cars -- ranging from a $15,800 Scion to a $24,000 Mini Cooper -- and found a gain of 2 to 5 mpg with a standard versus automatic transmission in the same model.
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Posted
Aug 01 2008, 01:24 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from ConsumerReports.org. With elevated gas prices, many commuters are looking at alternatives to save money. Some people are opting to downsize their vehicle to a smaller, more fuel-efficient car, others are moving to two-wheeled transportation like motorcycles and scooters, and many other commuters are choosing to forfeit the car and take public transportation. However, for those who can't change their means of transportation or don't have access to public transit, a car pool can be a great way to save money by sharing gas and toll costs, providing driving companionship, and, when you alternate driving, saving wear and tear on your car. To gauge the impact gasoline prices have had on American motorists, the Consumer Reports National Research Center recently conducted a random, nationwide Auto Pulse survey.
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