Be Adventurous in the Current Economy

Although it may be an interesting turbulent time there appears to be a lot of positives that consumers and investors can take advantage of.

For example:

- Car shopping. Many car dealerships being hit hard by the current economy are beginning to offer better and better deals to car buyer. The trick is that you need to be patient and work them against each other, and also realize that financing may be a sticking point if you need to go through a bank instead of a car dealership themselves. Recently my wife and I had found a great opportunity at a local Honda dealer and recently purchased a 2009 Pilot. We did this because it was once of the rare times that we have ever seen Honda offer such great price on a vehicle.

- Internet shopping. If you have been looking for a particular item it's a great time to browse the internet for deals.

Best way to find deals. Begin at either Google.com (do a quick search for price comparison) or Amazon.com (to find out quick reviews about most products). Next when you find the website you would like to purchase from be sure to use your resources and do a search for "coupon code" etc. This can turn up a lot of hidden treasures and can save you a bundle of money.

To make up for loss of sales companies have been offering steep discounts to get new members or increase sales.

- Buy last years model. When looking to buy something (cars, tv's, etc) consider purchasing the previous model or years product. Many sellers are trying desperately to move these items and continue to offer steep discounts. You may not get the latest/greatest, but you can get a very similar product a great discount.

- Investing. Consider if you have not already begun saving for you future the opportunity of putting away money pre-tax (401K, IRA, etc). This can automatically increase your current savings by using pre-tax money to begin building your nest egg. A good starting point is finding a discount brokerage account and buying a few index funds. **Remember that this is a long-term investment** By investing now you can continue to purchase stocks at a depressed value (even if the market continues to drop).

Overall, may sellers are trying to keep drumming up business and continue to offer sales and discount to keep products moving off the shelves. So if your patient and do your research good things can happen and great deals can be found.

The Dude Abides.