One of the topics I am really concerned about lately is inflation and the prices of everything. The cost of everything has increased so much over the last 6 months. The cause doesn't really matter because there isn't anything we can do about right? I am not trying to get political with this all I am trying to say is we need to be smart about how and where we spend our money.
Especially those of us with very limited income like people on disability.
We have been looking at maybe getting a car with better gas mileage. Scary thought right now. Buying a new car. So I have been doing a lot of research. Interest rates are on the rise, gas prices keep going way up so that means the cost of food and other items that have to physically go somewhere go up. So then other prices get raised because everyone wants a piece of that pie!
I need a vehicle big enough to fit my wheelchair or mobility scooter. Plus comfortable for road trips that we take a lot. And thinking about a new car means thinking about payments, trade-ins and credit scores. Oh my!!
I use the Consumer Finance website at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau a lot. They have quite a bit of information about credit reports and how they work.
I found this website that is helping me out a lot too! They have calculators for everything I can think of. If you are thinking of getting an electric or hybrid they have an environmental impact calculator. I love that it helps you look at options for reducing our environmental impact.
The other totes cool thing about this website is the games, I love free games! Anytime I find these websites I am like....yelling at Gillian....hey play these games. She loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-themed one. Here take a look.... I can't do the description with the way I put them in so here it is. The top photo is the instructions on playing. Which buttons you use and what you are looking for. The 2nd photo is gameplay. It is a green motorbike on a city street map. With a lap counter, timer and your speed and position.
It was definitely a fun distraction while I was doing the research! But back to the serious stuff. I was looking at all the different options and they have a fuel calculator!! You can take the vehicle you are looking at buying and put in the info and it will tell you how much fuel you can expect to pay for!! That is amazing with my budgeting. I use it just to budget my fuel money for the week.
So now that I have your head spinning as well.....how are you doing in this economy? Are you looking at making a big purchase? Are you going to wait? Tell me in the comments! Let's start a conversation...