Used Car Buying Tips

Summary:

Use these ten used car buying tips when you want a quality car at a great price.

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Some of these used car buying tips won't be new to you. Often the trick is just to apply what you already know. On the other hand, when it comes to expensive areas of life like buying a car, one new thing learned can save you hundreds of dollars. Try some of the following.

1. Make a low offer. Okay, you knew this one. A trick you may not have used, though, is to make a low offer, and then leave your phone number with the seller. Time has a way of making sellers desperate, especially after you just helped convince them that they are asking too much.

2. Be careful with car price guides. Use the "blue book" etc, but try not to pay more than wholesale. I can't think of many times when people I know have paid more than "bluebook," so these "average" sales prices are doubtful.

3. Talk to people. This is one of the simplest and effective used car buying tips. Just let friends, family and others know you're looking for a car. Quite often people would be happy to avoid the whole process of advertising and showing their car if they could just get rid of it by giving a good deal to a friend.

4. Check out the engine. Have a mechanic look at the car, and tell you what it's likely to need in the next year or so. Then make a list, so the seller can see in writing why you are offering less than he wants.

5. Auctions. See if there is a public auction in your area. If not, maybe you can go with a dealer friend and give him a $100 to buy a car for you.

6. www.carfax.com. It's around $25 to run vehicle background checks for a month - long enough to find your next car. They'll show the chain of title, accident reports for the car, and even safety and reliability scores for that model.

7. "Ugly" cars. Watch for cars that sit on the lot for months. Dealers will often sell these "ugly ducklings" at a loss just to move them. Again, you may want to leave your phone number with a low offer.

8. Rental company cars. They are sold fairly cheap when they get the new ones in. Buy at bluebook wholesale or less, because they have had many different drivers, so they've more wear than normal.

9. Repos. Credit unions and some small banks do their own selling of repossessed cars. You usually bid on paper, maybe with a $50 deposit, and then get your $50 back if you're not the winning bidder. If they don't sell their own repossessions, ask where they are sold.

10. Consider gas mileage. High mileage may be better, but maybe a car that costs $500 less will use only $400 more gas in the two years you expect to own it. Do the math.

Use the tips here the next time you are shopping for a used car. Meanwhile, why not learn a few negotiating strategies. This helps in many areas of life, and is the most important of these used car buying tips.

U.S. Account For Non US Residents

Summary:
In early days Gold was considered the standard currency for exchange between the people of various nations. Gold used to act as a standard and everything was seen with respect to it. Over the years and with the emergence of US as a global power, both politically and economically, the US dollar has gained unprecedented importance in world trade. Though officially gold is still a standard, the US dollar is now accepted almost all over the world as a standard.

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In early days Gold was considered the standard currency for exchange between the people of various nations. Gold used to act as a standard and everything was seen with respect to it. Over the years and with the emergence of US as a global power, both politically and economically, the US dollar has gained unprecedented importance in world trade. Though officially gold is still a standard, the US dollar is now accepted almost all over the world as a standard. For people who are in the business of where trade is across borders, the US dollar is the global standard. All freelancers and Web Developers and even exporters and importers who operate from various countries over the internet also need to keep a standard as far as the currency is considered and US dollar is the apt currency. A bank account with a US bank thus gains a lot of importance.

The US banking structure broadly classifies its customers into three categories:

1. The US citizens
2. Resident Aliens
3. Non Resident Aliens

As the names suggest the meanings of each of them is implied. The resident aliens are the non-US people who are residing in the US. These also sometimes include the people who have the Green Card. Non Resident Aliens, as the name suggests, are people who are neither citizens of the U.S nor are they residing in the U.S. The rules and regulations that govern the banking systems in US make it very difficult for the NRA’s. Well, the NRA’s are the most trouncing class, as they are treated most callously by the US banking laws. The laws put an austere procedure for NRA’s willing to own a US account; though definitely it’s not impossible for them as well.

So the question is what exactly are the benefits of a US account? Well here are a few:

1. First of all if you are in any sort of business that has even some amount of global appeal then you will probably, in the course of your trade, need to carry out transactions in the US dollars or any international currency. It’s great to go for a US account rather than in some other country because of the global acceptance of the US dollar.

2. And when I say global touch it includes all the deals that are carried out via the internet. So it includes all the web developer, content writers, freelancers etc. Even if your business is local, you can’t possibly deny the power of the internet and it would just be a matter of time after you actually go on the internet. So it’s actually to have a US account and take your business and ideas global.

3. Also if you are on the internet, there is a lot of possibility that you are dealing with US clients or people who are comfortable in dealing with US dollars. You having a US account would be a great advantage for you as it would make the entire process easier for you.

Earlier the laws very too strict, but now there are ways which make it possible for you to open a US account. These ways are still not a walk in the cake. One wrong move and you shall no longer be eligible for the account. But that’s not a big worry. There are guides which can help you with this. In fact I recently tried a guide myself http://www.non-us-bank-account.com and it really provided me a step-by-step formula for getting a US account opened. It was really nice and easy.

So what are you waiting for? Go ahead get yourself a US account and make your global presence more prominent.

Top Mistakes with Equipment Leasing

Summary:
When negotiating on equipment leasing contracts, small business and corporate accounts should review all the legal terms in order to avoid the top mistakes associated with leasing equipment.  These rules are applicable in multiple areas of equipment leasing from educational, computer and engineering equipment leases.

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When negotiating on equipment leasing contracts, small business and corporate accounts should review all the legal terms in order to avoid the top mistakes associated with leasing equipment.  These rules are applicable in multiple areas of equipment leasing from educational, computer and engineering equipment leases.

Mistakes to Be Avoided in Contracts

One of the primary mistakes made when negotiating their lease is the use of a very short contract. The short contract text may not address issues involving problems with software in computer leases or litigation issues such as employee piracy.  Other issues that are not addressed in many short contracts include:

• Software transaction agreements
• Troubleshooting Support Issues
• Clauses handling provider’s going out of business

It’s important to make sure that all parties have their expectations clearly outlined in the contract. The contract helps avoid mistakes in leasing equipment by detailing the obligations of both parties. Contracts that possess clarity and completeness are important and the shorter the contract, the more likely there will be legal risks and ramifications for the company leasing the equipment.

Performance Details

The contract should detail the performance of the equipment. If someone is leasing a computer system, a server or a backhoe, they need to know that it will handle the load they are preparing to deliver to it. The performance details are an area where equipment can fail in leasing if they are not clearly stated. It’s important to make sure that both parties have those issues clarified before closing on any contracts or deals regarding performance issues.

Structure Defects

Structuring agreements is key to understanding where responsibility lies. An equipment leasing agreement needs to stipulate the structure of the deal. In other words, the salesman is unlikely be the primary contact for system defects. The primary contact may be the manager in charge of that account, but they will likely only handle negotiation issues. Customer support issues may be directed elsewhere. That structure and allocation of responsibility must be clearly spelled out in the contract.

Equipment Hardware Leasing Specialties

When leasing computer equipment, there are often software leases that are required. It’s important to coordinate the duration of the software leases to be comparable with the duration of the equipment lease. It’s important to ensure the compatibility of all leased equipment with other equipment from different vendors. It’s also important to make sure that a project’s start and completion dates are commiserate with the equipment lease. Balancing the needs of the developers with the equipment support is a difficult thing to assess, but it’s important to make sure that the leases support the needs of the company small or large.

Solicitors Not Welcome

Solicitors (lawyers) are often not consulted during the initial drafting of equipment leasing. This is a mistake, especially for small businesses that do not possess an in house legal team. Lawyers can help smooth the transaction and avoid loopholes that might cause legal problems for both parties during an equipment lease. However, when utilizing a lawyer, it’s important to find one experienced in lease transactions.

The Results versus The Resources

Be sure to clearly define the need for the equipment lease. Most leasing companies see themselves as providing resources. Companies large and small are not looking for a resource as much as they are looking for a result. It’s the end of the line result they are seeking most of all.

Communication

Clear communication is important from the get go. When negotiating for an equipment lease, be sure to have all questions answered prior to agreeing. Companies make a mistake in leasing equipment from a vendor if they have trouble getting them on the phone or returning calls. Those issues can lead to service problems in the future.

Be Realistic In Expectations

Client companies must be realistic about what they are expecting. Vendors will usually negotiate and do their best to fill customer requirements, however the client company must also keep in mind industry standards and limitations. While technology continues to grow, it’s important to realize that not every goal has been achieved as yet.

Short Term Versus Long Term

The final and most important mistake made in equipment leasing is considering a contract as something that needs to be closed immediately in order to make a deadline that occurs in the next few weeks. Realistically speaking, avoiding looking at the long-term effects of an equipment lease may leave the client with a piece of equipment they do not need or a bad contract altogether. If their short-term goal is to launch a new product or get the foundation of a new project started, but the equipment will not help in the long-term goal, that should be addressed.

Equipment leasing provides numerous benefits to businesses large and small. It’s important to recognize the benefits, but to also avoid the pitfalls of mistakes that can be made when negotiating an equipment lease.

The War on Marijuana and the War Against Online Gambling

Summary:
There have been many mistakes made in the war on Marijuana and the government is making the same mistakes with the war against online gambling.


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The government is currently spending around 1 billion dollars a year to keep 45,000 prisoners in state and federal prisons for Marijuana related charges. That is one billion dollars a year that can be better spent on welfare, education and medical insurance for the poor. All this money just to keep Marijuana illegal and this does not even cover the cost of keeping those jailed for other drug charges.

This is no different from the hundreds of millions of dollars the banking industry is going to have to spend to develop a system that can stop the transfer of money from one account into the account of online casinos for the purposes of casino gambling, which everyone involved in coming up with the rules and means to block these transfers admits there is no way to make it work.

In both cases the government would be smarter to legalize the usage of Marijuana and online casinos, regulate the industry to make safe and use the tax revenue to increase the living standards of our poorest citizens.

By keeping Marijuana illegal the government is not stopping anyone from getting it. All they do is make people have to travel to shady areas to purchase Marijuana. Making it unsafe for people to purchase, but if they legalized it, they would be reducing traffic to drug related areas and it would allow the police to better target dealers and users of harder drugs like crack, coke and heroin.

By keeping online casinos illegal they are missing out on all the tax revenue and causing those who prefer to gamble online to risk being ripped off with no possible recourse. One of the main reasons given for banning online gambling was the war on terrorism. There is a chance that terrorists could open an online casino and use the money to fund attacks of Americans, but banning it just makes it harder to see where the money is going. By legalizing and licensing the online casinos you would have a transparency into the industry that would allow the government to see that the money does not go to terrorists or to fund terrorism.

It would also allow some of the money that leaves the country every day to online casinos overseas to stay here to help create jobs and opportunities here that is currently going to someone else, by allowing American casinos to open casinos and Sportsbooks online. Bringing new industry to the USA would be an excellent way to give a desperately needed boost to a struggling economy.

Both the war on Marijuana and the war on online gambling cost the country a lot of money but have done little to stop drugs from entering the country and being sold or to stop people from gambling on a daily basis in online casinos and poker rooms.

These laws need to be thrown away and the countries attitudes towards them need to be looked and have a more accurate assessment on their impact on the country. In the end I believe we will find that online gambling and the legalization of marijuana will provide us with the tools we need to fix other more serious problems with the country.




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The government is currently spending around 1 billion dollars a year to keep 45,000 prisoners in state and federal prisons for Marijuana related charges. That is one billion dollars a year that can be better spent on welfare, education and medical insurance for the poor. All this money just to keep Marijuana illegal and this does not even cover the cost of keeping those jailed for other drug charges.

This is no different from the hundreds of millions of dollars the banking industry is going to have to spend to develop a system that can stop the transfer of money from one account into the account of online casinos for the purposes of casino gambling, which everyone involved in coming up with the rules and means to block these transfers admits there is no way to make it work.

In both cases the government would be smarter to legalize the usage of Marijuana and online casinos, regulate the industry to make safe and use the tax revenue to increase the living standards of our poorest citizens.

By keeping Marijuana illegal the government is not stopping anyone from getting it. All they do is make people have to travel to shady areas to purchase Marijuana. Making it unsafe for people to purchase, but if they legalized it, they would be reducing traffic to drug related areas and it would allow the police to better target dealers and users of harder drugs like crack, coke and heroin.

By keeping online casinos illegal they are missing out on all the tax revenue and causing those who prefer to gamble online to risk being ripped off with no possible recourse. One of the main reasons given for banning online gambling was the war on terrorism. There is a chance that terrorists could open an online casino and use the money to fund attacks of Americans, but banning it just makes it harder to see where the money is going. By legalizing and licensing the online casinos you would have a transparency into the industry that would allow the government to see that the money does not go to terrorists or to fund terrorism.

It would also allow some of the money that leaves the country every day to online casinos overseas to stay here to help create jobs and opportunities here that is currently going to someone else, by allowing American casinos to open casinos and Sportsbooks online. Bringing new industry to the USA would be an excellent way to give a desperately needed boost to a struggling economy.

Both the war on Marijuana and the war on online gambling cost the country a lot of money but have done little to stop drugs from entering the country and being sold or to stop people from gambling on a daily basis in online casinos and poker rooms.

These laws need to be thrown away and the countries attitudes towards them need to be looked and have a more accurate assessment on their impact on the country. In the end I believe we will find that online gambling and the legalization of marijuana will provide us with the tools we need to fix other more serious problems with the country.

The Many Uses Of Prepaid Phone Cards

Summary:
Prepaid phone cards are very popular among college students, frequent travelers or simply by anyone who wants to save on their long distance and international calls. Rechargeable prepaid phone cards are especially economic because the minutes that are added after purchasing the card are often less expensive. For instance, an AT & T prepaid phone cards can be purchased at most Wal-Mart stores at a cost of approximately $.08 per minute. When recharged, the minutes average $.05 ...

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Prepaid phone cards are very popular among college students, frequent travelers or simply by anyone who wants to save on their long distance and international calls. Rechargeable prepaid phone cards are especially economic because the minutes that are added after purchasing the card are often less expensive. For instance, an AT & T prepaid phone cards can be purchased at most Wal-Mart stores at a cost of approximately $.08 per minute. When recharged, the minutes average $.05 each.

There are a number of reasons why prepaid phone cards are so popular, including the need to sometimes dial into a long distance telephone number for internet connections. Rather than paying the higher charges with the phone company, the user can have their modem dial using the calling card and then connecting to the internet.

While on vacation, hotels charge significant rates for long distance calls, but prepaid phone cards allow the user to dial into a toll-free number before dialing out to a long distance line. This will save big bucks as it will eliminate any long distance charges on the hotel bill.

Some cellular phones, such as Tracfone, operate on a prepaid basis. For each local call, one minute of talk time is equal to one unit (or minute) of prepaid service. International calls, on the other hand, may be significantly more expensive. In an effort to minimize the cost, some cell phone owners opt for programming prepaid calling cards into their phone and dialing out using the toll-free number. International rates will be higher with prepaid phone cards, but will likely be less than that of a cellular or regular phone service. This process will work on either cellular phones or a regular landline connection.

Along that same line, prepaid phone cards are also helpful in sending faxes. The same rules apply with long distance fax numbers, which can be costly through local telephone companies. The use of prepaid phone cards can often reduce these costs.

Toll-free numbers are free at payphones, so if you find yourself having car trouble or needing to get in touch with someone and the only phone nearby is a payphone, don’t worry about having the right amount of coins or having to call collect. If you have a prepaid phone card with you, the call will be routed through the toll-free number at no additional cost to either you or the person whom you are calling.

In addition to the aforementioned advantages, prepaid phone cards are simple to use, easy to recharge from the store of original purchase, online through the prepaid phone cards customer service or via the toll-free number listed on the back of the card.