We already know that the Internet offers many ways to save money. First, you can invest online without the expense of a broker at BUYandHOLD. And, you can pay bills online at the last minute (my favorite). What else does the Internet offer? We'll give you a few suggestions on how to save money when you're connected. Alternately, I'll caution you on where deals might cut into your budget?

Shopping Plus: Decide what you need, and then head to Shopping.com, My Simon, BizRate or PriceGrabber. Each site maintains different databases, so you have - basically - four shopping malls that contain a variety of stores at the tips of your fingers. Each one will offer the lowest retail price for any given product, too.

Shopping Minus: If you find a "too-good-to-be-true" price for a high-end item, the product might be refurbished (like a computer). While refurbished items often represent good deals, they might not offer a warranty. Some manufacturers use online auction venues to sell merchandise. If you look around, you might find a great deal and a warranty to boot (see "Warranty" below).

Also, we discovered deals sometimes seemed so great that we were tempted to spend more than we planned, or that we were willing to purchase something simply because it was advertised for a rock-bottom price. My rule for this situation is to wait an hour or two before I click the "buy" button. That way I can talk myself out of something I don't really need.

Oh - check return policies. You are, after all, about to purchase an item without the benefit of viewing the actual product. Add up shipping charges before you purchase, too. Most stores offer a total charge including shipping before you ok the sale. Try to find a place that offers free shipping for your purchases. And, yes - despite my caveat above about unneeded purchases, it sometimes pays to buy five more dollars worth of merchandise to obtain free shipping, especially if the shipping costs more than five dollars. You can, for instance, purchase notebooks or some other inexpensive school supplies for next year and save yourself another shopping "trip."

Tip Plus: This tip from July 2004 Money Magazine is designed to help you find deals at your favorite stores. Just go to a search engine and type in the name of the store and either "rebate" or "coupon." It really works! We discovered several last-minute savings on various sites, including free shipping, slashed prices for that day only, and bargain-basement close-outs.

Tip Minus: If you find a great deal, don't overspend for hidden catches. Read the fine print. Otherwise, this tip is still a great idea for savings.

Opinions Plus: Before you buy a high-ticket item, or if you're unsure about a product, the service, or the merchant, head to Epinions.com or ConsumerWorld.org to read about the pluses and minuses. If you want to learn more about environmentally friendly products, or how to recycle that computer that you want to replace, visit Green Choices.

Opinions Minus: Many times I've purchased a product without an opinion check and I was quite happy with my decision. Imagine my surprise when I logged onto the above sites and found negative information about the product. First, consider the source. If a person sounds like they're chewing sour grapes, then you might consider whether this person feels this way all the time. See if you can find other posts by this person to understand if this is the case. However, if you find an opinion that is well articulated, note the problem that the person encountered as you may need this information in the future. Some lemons do make it off an outstanding production line (and visa-versa).

Warranty Plus: Warranties are a great idea, especially for laptop computers because keyboards often wear out long before the computer dies. In fact, my advice is to purchase the maximum warranty on laptops, as they constitute a high-end fragile object. You might almost double the lifetime of your laptop with this option. When I hesitate to purchase such a warranty, I always compare the price of the warranty to the price of high-end fragile products, and warranties always win.

Warranty Minus: Do not purchase a store warranty, as the manufacturer will replace or fix the item, not the store. Always purchase a warranty directly from the manufacturer.

Credit Card Plus: When you use your credit card for regular purchases and pay promptly, you might discover that the card company will want to increase your credit limit. This is great if you want a card to use for large-ticket items in the future; but that's about the only good thing about a credit card?

Credit Card Minus: A good rule to follow is to never spend more than you make. A credit card isn't free money. It's a loan with interest. A good rule of thumb is to add up your NET income (amount left over after all deductions are made from your gross income) and then subtract all your bills. What you have left is what you can either save or spend. If you don't have enough money this month for a washer-dryer, wait a month or two and use the Laundromat. When you have enough money saved, use your credit card to purchase the washer-dryer and then pay the credit card immediately to avoid interest charges.

One other good rule of thumb is to save 10% or more of your net income. If you save $100 a month, you'll have $1,200 saved by the end of twelve months (not including any interest you might have earned). $1,200 currently will buy a round-trip flight from Chicago to London with a night in a hotel, two round-trip tickets from just about any city in the U.S. to Nassau, or a round-trip flight from NY to Maui that includes a week in a three-star hotel. How did I find such great rates? Try the SideStep Search Engine (not a booking agency).

I don't believe there's a "minus" side to a little vacation time, especially at those prices?

Until Next Week,
Linda Goin