Money Tips - The Money Expert

Hi welcome to Martins Money Tips - Let us start off with some tips when it comes to buying a computer or laptop.

When you start out on the road to buying a computer, do you actually know what your want? if not then you will be astounded by the amount of options open to you.

And what about the high cost of buying a computer at the moment?

Most people think that when they buy a new computer it's like entering a new world of the wierd tech and they panic. Most people also seem to think that the price of a new computer will maybe break the bank.. but in reality there is no need to worry if you have a limited budget, you can still get the computer or laptop to fulfil your needs.

I have outlines 3 very simple ways that you can save cash when you set out on your tech shopping trip:

A) You must always get prices from several different shops for the best deal.

You may think.. well yes of course I do.. but a lot of people dont and they think they need the latest and best top of the range pc's within the most free giveaways with it. if you are using an old pc then an upgrade will make a big difference but you may not need the latest upgrade.

if your not a tech whiz and dont know a lot about computer hardware, get some deals from local dealers and the big stores. Also check out sites like dell.com to get an idea of the types of specs you can get for your money. When your shopping around ask lots of questions, collect the prices for comparison and also the features for each of those prices. this will enable you to find the best price for your budget. This can save you a lot of money!!

B) Find and install your own 'software'

Most of the computer you buy either in-store or online come with pre-installed software packages. A lot of these packages like 'microsoft office' will cost you extra and it may seem like a good idea to get this as part of the package. A better way to save here is to install the free alternatives like 'open office' which are fantastic pieces of software and seem no different to the paid versions. You can get for example free anti-virus software, games, spreadsheets etc.

So have a think before buying one of the 'bloated' computers with all the little quirky pieces of software that you will never use. You can save a lot here with the huge amount of freebie software packages around today!

C) Don’t be fooled into purchasing an extended warranty

If you are not a computer “techie”, then the offer of a 'warrentee' to cover the cost of breakdown sounds like a good idea but you would be wrong!! You will get a warrentee with your purchase anyway and by time the extended warrentee 'kicks' in your computer will be worth less than the cost of the warrentee itself. If you have a faulty computer that has been purchased then this will become evident within the initial warrentee period itself.

Think about this for a moment... a new pc is like a new car.. when it leaves the shop or show room it drops dramatically in value... therefore any money you spend on an extended warrentee could in fact buy you a second pc as a backup!! Technology changes almost daily so what you bought yesterday is no longer the latest model.

The most practical and important thing you need to think about is just to backup your important files and this can be done with the built in operating system software.

So next time your out shopping for a new laptop or pc or maybe just some other tech gadget don't be afraid to ask lots of questions and dont be pressurised into purchasing the same day!!!

When it come to buying and shopping on the internet there has been a huge explosion in terms of number of buyers. E-commerce itself is growing at a rate of around 25% per year and people purchasing with online vouchers and coupons has also risen by around 40% per house hold.

This increase is understandable as more people want a bargain and savings when purchasing and more of these voucher type bargain apear online. this is mainly due to less overheads, less staff costs and less of the store front requirement for a standard shop type look and feel. Here I will show you a few tips to use when you buy online yourself:

Tip number 1: Don’t buy off Ebay. You know the feeling when you get involved with an auction itself and emotion takes over and you end up spending more than you really wanted to spend and after thew auction elation ends and you come back down to earth, you mostly end up dissapointed.

Ebay is also now over run with both buyer and seller who add markup on the most popular items so the bargains to be had on ebay are now very few and far between.

Tip number 2: This is a simple but true tip when you buy online and it's simply 'Never pay the retail price'!! There will always be voucher or dicount code available for the purchase. For example if we want a nintendo wii console the before we try and online shops we goto google and type in 'Nintendo Wii Coupon' or 'Nintendo Wii Voucher code'

The ideal thing to do here is really about spending a small space of time to look through your top 10-20 results in google and yoou should be able to find you best deal that offers the best discount. In some cases you may be able to find a sale deal that you can use your coupon / voucher code with for even more savings.

Tip number 3: Like when you win your ebay auction and feel elation for a short period, this also happens with a new purchase. You also get the sense of excitment wating for the item to arrive in the mail but remember anything that can be bought and mailed out can normally be found cheaper and can be found at a much lower price online.

Normally you just need to wait for short period of around 2-5 days but this time is worth the savings that you make. So hold back on the impule buys and save youself some cash instead!
Tip number 4: One area that you need to be careful of online is the shipping costs of the items you are buying. Always work out the FULL cost of the item itself that Includes the postage and packaging costs.

Lots of site code offer free shipping and the more you can find the better the deal!!

Tip number 5: Today online there are hundreds of money saving and coupon websites available and lots of these sites also have printable coupons for offline stores and restaurants. Most of these vary between 10% and 40% so these are worth hunting down.

this is not just one of the best ways to find a best deal but combined with tip number 4 can lead to an exception deal for you and as I always say 'The money is better off in your pocket than theirs'!!!

So make sure that when you buy online you always check for voucher and coupon codes before your purchase to find extra savings. If you do this on a regular basis the you are on your way to becoming a master Money Savings Expert