Financial and Lifestyle Resources for Vermont

How to Find a Great Deal You have made the decision to purchase a used car, but you’re not sure where to begin. You know you want something that will last a long time and you know you don’t want to pay too much (which is why you’re buying second-hand). But how do you find that winning combination of long life expectancy and low cost in a vehicle you can enjoy driving? When it comes to used cars, there are three keys to finding a great deal: knowing your needs and limitations, eliminating damaged and unsafe vehicles, and finding affordable financing options.

What’s the secret to saving money? Use less money than you make! Saving money is really quite simple, and yet many people struggle to do it. Instead, we tend to use credit to make purchases and end up paying high interest rates on our debt. Why is it so hard to save? Because in order to achieve any goal, you need a plan. With savings, the plan is called a budget.

Winter is definitely here and you may be thinking about enjoying this early winter snow with a new snowmobile. You may wonder whether you should finance the sled or pay cash for it. If so, you can begin by asking yourself a couple of questions: Do have enough cash to purchase the snowmobile out of pocket? If I take out a loan, can I afford another monthly payment? Do I have to put insurance on the snowmobile? How much do I really want to spend?

Most people have heard of mutual funds, but many don’t know what they are. In this article, I’m going to break down mutual funds into their basic building blocks so you can understand what they are and begin to determine whether you should invest in one.

There is no shame in shopping online or out of state for the holidays. I’ve found some of my best holiday gifts in distant cities. BUT! There is so much more to be gained, for you and your community, by weaving a good deal of local shopping into your holiday plan. The only trick is saving time and money while you’re at it.  

A Guide for the Gift Procrastinator The holiday season is in full swing and it truly is the most wonderful time of the year. That is, until you realize it’s almost December and you have not yet tackled your rapidly growing list of gift recipients. If you’re a last-minute shopper, like many of us are, you know that holiday gift-giving can be stressful and costly when you’re rushing to buy presents days, or even weeks, before the first gift exchange. So, before you start mass-purchasing Amazon gift cards (which, by the way, is not a bad gift seeing as how you can get pretty much anything on Amazon), follow these seven tips to help reduce stress, save you time and money, and simplify last-minute shopping without sacrificing thoughtful gift-giving.

Holiday shopping is more fun when you’re not worried about how you’re going to pay off your credit cards afterward. The best way to approach the season is to save money throughout the year, so you don’t need to rely on credit. But since we’re already counting down the days, let’s focus on what you can do if you weren’t able to save enough. Try these five ways to make the holiday season more affordable.

Living in the Northeast when the seasons are changing can prove costly if your home is not energy efficient. You can easily spend hundreds of dollars on a heat pump, furnace repair or replacement, a pellet stove, air sealing, insulation, ventilation, or roof repair or replacement just to name a few. The list of potential fall weatherization and energy efficiency projects is often big, and finding funds necessary to pay for such efforts may be just enough to make some people think it’s simply not affordable for them.