With the holiday shopping season fast approaching, it's a great time to talk about Money Saving Myth #1:
sales shopping always saves money. "Retailers have been at this for a long time. And retailers know they've studied people this is a science." said Barry Boone, Owner of popular bargain website www.dealhunting.com.
The website is a collection of sales, coupons, and deals from about 2,000 online stores.
Boone says the biggest enemy of sale shopping is the impulse buy.
"If it's not something you really need and you didn't save anything you actually just bought something you didn't need." said Boone.
Boone recommends stepping back before buying. "Maybe go home get online do research find out if it's a good deal."
Money saving myth #2:
saving money depends on income.Experts say this is simply not true.
"What's important regardless of income is to pay yourself first." said Pat Piper with Bank of Oklahoma.
Piper says everytime you receive a paycheck it's important to set aside a certain amount. This becomes particularly important when you get a raise.
"Otherwise... it will just quickly become a part of your discretionary income and you'll never realize you got it." said Piper.
Money saving myth #3:
refinancing your home pays off."Refinancing your home doesn't always pay off." said BOK Mortgage Broker, Gretchen Casto.
Casto said refinancing does mean lower monthly payments, but if you've also extended the life of the loan you may eventually end up paying more for your home.
For instance, if you've already paid 10 years of mortgage, then refinance for another 30 years you have basically extended the loan to a 40 year mortgage.
Unless, said Casto, "you take the savings and consider putting it back against the mortgage so you can continue to pay balance down and pay it off sooner."
Our final money saving myth:
delay an oil change from 3,000 to 5,000 miles.Consider this, $25 for an oil change or $2,500 for a new engine.
Mike Encinas says some newer cars are able to go about 5,000 miles but that's driving in "ideal" circumstances. Something many of us don't do.
"Most of us drive several miles in heavy traffic, idle a lot waiting in traffic and that's hard on engines and hard on oil." said Encinas.
