our own financing until you’ve agreed on the final price.

-Try to avoid financing your car for more than 4 years. The reason is that in a few years you may owe more than what the car is worth.

- If you buy a new car, the instant you drive it off the lot, it will depreciate between 15 and 25%. It makes more financial sense to buy a 2-3 year old car.

- You can save a substantial amount of money by buying your car from a private individual rather than from a dealership, where there are big commissions involved. Be sure, however, to have the car inspected by a mechanic you can trust before your final commitment. If you do go to a dealership, again, do your research. Check the Better Business Bureau to see if they have complains a

Buying a new car can be a costly mistake if you don’t do your homework. Here we show you how to do the research, and why buying a brand new car can cost you more than you think.

Let’s face it. Most people spend a week or more planning a vacation but do absolutely no research on how to buy a car, where a single mistake can cost you thousands of dollars!

There are several things you need to know before shopping for a car. If you do your research right, it will be easier to deal with the salesperson who rarely has your best interest in mind.

Consider this: Car salespeople are TRAINED salespeople. They are taught everything from how to greet you so you can trust them, to how to sugar-coat potential problems, to how to convince you that this is the best car you can buy. And, above all, they are trained to overcome any objection you throw at them. They know them by heart! The result? If you are not prepared, you will feel like a small fish swimming with sharks. You will lose, big time. A lot of money.

Now, where should you start? A great place to start is the internet. There are several car-buying websites that will help you and educate you on everything you need to know to buy the right car, at the right price. More about that in a few moments.

I mentioned before that buying a brand new car can be a costly mistake. Here is why:

Let’s say you are considering buying a brand new car that costs $22,000. If instead you consider a similar car that is 2 to 3 years old with low mileage, you could expect to pay around $15,000 to $17,000, saving 25% or more! Besides, if you buy a new car, it depreciates substantially the moment you drive it home.

Now, if money is absolutely no issue in your life, then by all means go ahead and buy a new car. But for most people, buying a slightly used car makes better financial sense.

The problem is that we have been conditioned for so long to believe that it’s the “American way” to buy the latest and greatest. We believe that the car we drive is a reflection of how successful we are, and we want people to notice. But in reality, this way of thinking is killing us financially.

Best ways to buy a car:

- Do your homework. I cannot stress this enough. You have to know exactly how much a car is worth before you leave your house. There are plenty of services that can help you in your research, like Consumers Reports, Experian Autocheck (in case the car was involved in an accident), carbuyingtips.com, Edmunds.com and many more. See our website for more information.

- Shop for a loan BEFORE looking for a car. Go to your bank or credit union, where you will get a much better rate than at a dealership. This will give you a great deal of power when negotiating. (Otherwise they may say, “Well, you know, we can’t give you that interest rate with YOUR credit score”, no matter what your credit score may be, and you will end up paying extra money every month!). But don’t mention that you have your own financing until you’ve agreed on the final price.

-Try to avoid financing your car for more than 4 years. The reason is that in a few years you may owe more than what the car is worth.

- If you buy a new car, the instant you drive it off the lot, it will depreciate between 15 and 25%. It makes more financial sense to buy a 2-3 year old car.

- You can save a substantial amount of money by buying your car from a private individual rather than from a dealership, where there are big commissions involved. Be sure, however, to have the car inspected by a mechanic you can trust before your final commitment. If you do go to a dealership, again, do your research. Check the Better Business Bureau to see if they have complains ag

u that this is the best car you can buy. And, above all, they are trained to overcome any objection you throw at them. They know them by heart! The result? If you are not prepared, you will feel like a small fish swimming with sharks. You will lose, big time. A lot of money.

Now, where should you start? A great place to start is the internet. There are several car-buying websites that will help you and educate you on everything you need to know to buy the right car, at the right price. More about that in a few moments.

I mentioned before that buying a brand new car can be a costly mistake. Here is why:

Let’s say you are considering buying a brand new car that costs $22,000. If instead you consider a similar car that is 2 to 3 years old with low mileage, you could expect to pay around $15,000 to $17,000, saving 25% or more! Besides, if you buy a new car, it depreciates substantially the moment you drive it home.

Now, if money is absolutely no issue in your life, then by all means go ahead and buy a new car. But for most people, buying a slightly used car makes better financial sense.

The problem is that we have been conditioned for so long to believe that it’s the “American way” to buy the latest and greatest. We believe that the car we drive is a reflection of how successful we are, and we want people to notice. But in reality, this way of thinking is killing us financially.

Best ways to buy a car:

- Do your homework. I cannot stress this enough. You have to know exactly how much a car is worth before you leave your house. There are plenty of services that can help you in your research, like Consumers Reports, Experian Autocheck (in case the car was involved in an accident), carbuyingtips.com, Edmunds.com and many more. See our website for more information.

- Shop for a loan BEFORE looking for a car. Go to your bank or credit union, where you will get a much better rate than at a dealership. This will give you a great deal of power when negotiating. (Otherwise they may say, “Well, you know, we can’t give you that interest rate with YOUR credit score”, no matter what your credit score may be, and you will end up paying extra money every month!). But don’t mention that you have your own financing until you’ve agreed on the final price.

-Try to avoid financing your car for more than 4 years. The reason is that in a few years you may owe more than what the car is worth.

- If you buy a new car, the instant you drive it off the lot, it will depreciate between 15 and 25%. It makes more financial sense to buy a 2-3 year old car.

- You can save a substantial amount of money by buying your car from a private individual rather than from a dealership, where there are big commissions involved. Be sure, however, to have the car inspected by a mechanic you can trust before your final commitment. If you do go to a dealership, again, do your research. Check the Better Business Bureau to see if they have complains a

ears old with low mileage, you could expect to pay around $15,000 to $17,000, saving 25% or more! Besides, if you buy a new car, it depreciates substantially the moment you drive it home.

Now, if money is absolutely no issue in your life, then by all means go ahead and buy a new car. But for most people, buying a slightly used car makes better financial sense.

The problem is that we have been conditioned for so long to believe that it’s the “American way” to buy the latest and greatest. We believe that the car we drive is a reflection of how successful we are, and we want people to notice. But in reality, this way of thinking is killing us financially.

Best ways to buy a car:

- Do your homework. I cannot stress this enough. You have to know exactly how much a car is worth before you leave your house. There are plenty of services that can help you in your research, like Consumers Reports, Experian Autocheck (in case the car was involved in an accident), carbuyingtips.com, Edmunds.com and many more. See our website for more information.

- Shop for a loan BEFORE looking for a car. Go to your bank or credit union, where you will get a much better rate than at a dealership. This will give you a great deal of power when negotiating. (Otherwise they may say, “Well, you know, we can’t give you that interest rate with YOUR credit score”, no matter what your credit score may be, and you will end up paying extra money every month!). But don’t mention that you have your own financing until you’ve agreed on the final price.

-Try to avoid financing your car for more than 4 years. The reason is that in a few years you may owe more than what the car is worth.

- If you buy a new car, the instant you drive it off the lot, it will depreciate between 15 and 25%. It makes more financial sense to buy a 2-3 year old car.

- You can save a substantial amount of money by buying your car from a private individual rather than from a dealership, where there are big commissions involved. Be sure, however, to have the car inspected by a mechanic you can trust before your final commitment. If you do go to a dealership, again, do your research. Check the Better Business Bureau to see if they have complains a

h. You have to know exactly how much a car is worth before you leave your house. There are plenty of services that can help you in your research, like Consumers Reports, Experian Autocheck (in case the car was involved in an accident), carbuyingtips.com, Edmunds.com and many more. See our website for more information.

- Shop for a loan BEFORE looking for a car. Go to your bank or credit union, where you will get a much better rate than at a dealership. This will give you a great deal of power when negotiating. (Otherwise they may say, “Well, you know, we can’t give you that interest rate with YOUR credit score”, no matter what your credit score may be, and you will end up paying extra money every month!). But don’t mention that you have your own financing until you’ve agreed on the final price.

-Try to avoid financing your car for more than 4 years. The reason is that in a few years you may owe more than what the car is worth.

- If you buy a new car, the instant you drive it off the lot, it will depreciate between 15 and 25%. It makes more financial sense to buy a 2-3 year old car.

- You can save a substantial amount of money by buying your car from a private individual rather than from a dealership, where there are big commissions involved. Be sure, however, to have the car inspected by a mechanic you can trust before your final commitment. If you do go to a dealership, again, do your research. Check the Better Business Bureau to see if they have complains a

our own financing until you’ve agreed on the final price.

-Try to avoid financing your car for more than 4 years. The reason is that in a few years you may owe more than what the car is worth.

- If you buy a new car, the instant you drive it off the lot, it will depreciate between 15 and 25%. It makes more financial sense to buy a 2-3 year old car.

- You can save a substantial amount of money by buying your car from a private individual rather than from a dealership, where there are big commissions involved. Be sure, however, to have the car inspected by a mechanic you can trust before your final commitment. If you do go to a dealership, again, do your research. Check the Better Business Bureau to see if they have complains against them and how those complaints were handled.

- And, by the way, you can save another substantial amount of money by selling your used car to a private individual instead of selling it to the dealership. A dealership will offer you $800 for a car worth $2,000 so they can make $1,200 profit when they sell it to the next person.

- If you don’t feel comfortable negotiating, bring along a friend who is. You can buy them lunch and pay $20, but save hundreds of dollars or even thousands!

- If you are a woman, be ware. It has been shown time and again that women end up paying more for cars. Take along a male friend whose only job need be to frown and shake his head now and then.

- And finally, when you pay off your car, don’t rush to the dealership to buy another one. Enjoy at least a few months with no car payments, and use that money to pay off other debts.

Remember, buying a car is an important commitment, so do not take it lightly.

Make sure you check out our website with more tips and resources on how to get out of debt. Get free information, tips and resources at http://www.overcome-debt.