6 Rules Every Smart Shopper Needs to Know

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The Better Business Bureau reported that nearly 1 million consumers filed complaints in 2009, so it's clear that a lot of people are getting the run-around. But the unfortunate truth is that many of these problems arise because consumers aren't following these six rules:

1. Know who you're dealing with.
You wouldn't buy a watch from the sketchy guy on the corner — why entrust your credit card to a questionable website? The same goes for a flyer you get in the mail for a discount service, or an unsolicited e-mail offer.

Before you're wooed by a low price:

• Google the name of the company or site plus the word "complaint" or "scam" and see what you get.
• Look up the company's standing on the Better Business Bureau Website.
• If an online store is unfamiliar, check that the site offers a way to reach customer service by phone (not just by e-mail) — and check that you can actually speak to a person. Read the Website privacy policy, so you know how they may use any information you give them.
• Carefully scrutinize any "free introductory offer" you receive. (Tip: If it requires a credit card number, you should be wary of how "free" it really is.)

2. Save receipts.
No receipt means no proof of purchase. Without one, at best you'll be able to return unused, still-sealed, and still-tagged items for store credit.

Keep receipts for minor purchases in a file for at least one month, particularly if you used a credit card (so you can compare them to your monthly statement).

If an item comes with a warranty, staple the receipt to the owner's manual or keep it in a separate "warranty" file. If you're sending the receipt off to claim a rebate, make a copy of it first for your records.

3. Use a product as soon as you buy it.
Return policies and warranties start from the date of purchase. Even if it's July and you bought a snow blower on clearance, plug it in to be sure it starts and seems to run well. It's also wise to check out gifts you plan to give at a later date — do they work properly, and are all the parts in the box?

4. Read contracts carefully.
When you sign up for a cell phone plan, cable or satellite TV service, gym membership, or diet program, you are most likely agreeing to pay a monthly fee for a specified length of time — and to owe a cancellation fee if you decide not to fulfill the terms of your contract.

• Read all the fine print before signing anything (yes, really), and make sure anything the salesperson tells you is also listed in writing.
• Ask plenty of questions. Are any additional charges such as taxes or "service fees" above the quoted price? Can you freeze your plan if you go on vacation? Is there a pay-per-month plan at a slightly higher rate? It may be worth considering, if you're not sure you're in for the long haul.

5. Keep track of contract dates.
Some services, such as cable TV and phone companies, offer "introductory" deals of a flat rate for the first year or two — and then jack up the price when the term is over.

Make a note of when these contracts are up in your calendar, and be proactive. Call the company and ask to speak to the Retention Department. Tell them you've been offered an enticing price from a competitor, and you'll likely be reoffered your old deal — or one that's even better.

6. Examine warranty policies.
Right after you make a purchase, check the length of time of the warranty and what it covers: Parts only? Repairs? Replacement?

If you save your receipt, you usually don't need to send in the warranty card (companies typically just use these to collect customer data); the main consumer benefit is that you'll be alerted if the item is recalled.

When making a warranty claim:

• Gather all paperwork before you call or e-mail, including your sales receipt, the model number of the malfunctioning item, and a detailed description of what went wrong.
• Take careful notes on your phone call, including date, time, and full name or customer-service ID number of anyone you speak with (or print out any e-mail correspondence).
• Get concrete instructions, including expected dates or time frames, and follow up if they don't follow through.

8 Steps to Take Now to Save on Your Summer Air-Conditioning Bill

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You don’t have to replace your entire air-conditioning system to lower your summer electric bills. Maybe a higher-efficiency system is in your future. But until then, take these eight steps right now to reduce your electric bill right away:

1. Install a programmable thermostat. Raising the heat a few degrees in your home is a no-brainer when it comes to saving on electricity. The warmer you let your home get, the less work your air conditioner needs to put in. But who has time to mess with the thermostat every hour?

Instead, install a programmable thermostat. Pick up a basic model at your local hardware store for 30 bucks. Or splurge on a self-regulating model, like the Nest Learning Thermostat, which learns your home-and-away patterns over time.

2. Only use ceiling fans when you’re under them. Ceiling fans are more efficient than air conditioners, but leaving them on all the time won’t do you much good. A ceiling fan merely circulates air. It won’t actually lower the temperature.

Ceiling fans work by making you feel cooler by circulating air against your skin. So only use a ceiling fan when there’s someone in the room to feel it. Otherwise, you’re just wasting electricity.

3. Install air conditioners in the warmest rooms. Many houses – especially older ones – have that one room  that just doesn’t cool off as well as the other rooms. That one room can cost you a lot of money, especially if it’s a bedroom or an often-occupied room. To keep it cool, you may be tempted to turn your thermostat down into the arctic range. The rest of the house will be freezing, but that room will finally be comfortable.

But this just wastes money by making your central air-conditioning system work overtime. Instead, spend $75 to $100 on a window or floor unit for that one room. Turn the unit on when you’re in the room and need it to be a bit cooler, and then turn it off when you leave again.

4. Keep it clean. Cleaning the air-conditioner filters – whether you have window units or a central unit – is just as important as replacing your furnace filter regularly in the winter. When the filter gets dirty, the unit has to work extra hard to pull air into the system, which just costs more energy.

So figure out how to clean your unit’s filter, and check it every few weeks in the summer. Many outdoor units can be hosed off regularly, and window units often come with removable filters that you can wash in the sink.

5. Close the drapes or blinds. It’s nice to let a little sunshine in – except that sunny corner the cat enjoys so much is costing you big bucks this summer. When you let the sun in, it radiates heat.

So especially on the south and west sides of your home, keep the blinds or drapes shut unless there’s someone in the room actually enjoying the sun.

6. Hang out the laundry. Your dryer is probably one of your home’s biggest energy suckers. It takes a lot of electricity (or gas) to generate heat that dries your clothes. Plus, some of that heat escapes the dryer and winds up heating your home unnecessarily.

Let the hot sun work for you instead of against you this summer by hanging your clothes to dry outside on a clothesline. The sun is great for bleaching stains out of white clothes and towels, too!

7. Caulk up cracks. We often talk about using caulk to seal cracks – especially around doors and windows – in the winter. And it’s true that in the winter, it’s especially easy to feel the cold air leaking in through even the tiniest of cracks and gaps.

But caulk is just as important a tool in the summertime, too. If you notice one area or doorway in your home is particularly warm, check for leaks and cracks. Then, use caulk or an expanding foam to fill up the gaps. That keeps the cold air in so that you use less energy to heat your home.

8. Keep the kitchen cool. One way to quickly heat up your home is to use your kitchen appliances to fix meals. Sure, you still need to eat in the summer, but you don’t always have to heat up the whole kitchen to do it.

Instead, plan no-cook meals like salads. Or use smaller appliances, like a toaster oven, for moderate amounts of warm food. Another option is to use a slow cooker. For even better results with your slow cooker, move it outside to a shady back porch. Then it won’t heat your house at all!

Even if your air conditioner is 10 years old and on its last leg, you can make it last a little longer and cost less money to run this summer with these eight simple steps.

How to Increase Your Windows Laptop’s Battery Life

5 Reasons to Buy a Car GPS in the Age of Smartphones

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We often fixate on smartphone battery life, but most laptops still don’t have all-day battery life. Rather than always using your laptop tethered to an outlet, here are some ways to squeeze more life from your laptop’s battery.

None of these tricks will turn a laptop without much stamina into an all-day workhorse, but they’ll help you go without an outlet for a while longer. Pay particular attention to your laptop’s display — that’s the big battery sucker.

Reduce Screen Brightness

The biggest battery drain on any modern portable electronic device — whether it’s a laptop, smartphone, or tablet — is the display. Reducing your screen’s brightness is a simple way to squeeze significantly more time from your laptop’s battery.

On a typical laptop, you generally hold the Function (Fn) key and press the brightness buttons on your laptop keyboard. The lower the brightness level, the longer you can use your laptop on battery power.

You can also use the Windows Mobility Center to quickly adjust screen brightness. Open it by pressing Windows Key + X on Windows 7. On Windows 8, you can launch it from the Control Panel — Windows Key + X opens the power user menu instead.

Have Your Display Automatically Turn Off

If you step away from your laptop for a few minutes, its screen will still be on, draining power. You can set more aggressive display power settings to have the laptop dim and turn off the display when you’re not using it.

Open the Power Options dialog in the Control Panel and set your display to dim and turn off after a short period of time. You can move your mouse or press any key to turn the display right back on with no delay, so this is an easy way to save power — as long as the display doesn’t turn off while you’re using the laptop, this shouldn’t bother you too much. Media players set the display to automatically stay on while they’re running, ensuring you can still watch a video without constantly having to move your mouse or change your power settings.

Disable Bluetooth and Other Hardware Devices

Your laptop likely has a Bluetooth radio and may even have an infrared (IR) port. All of these devices use battery power simply by being enabled and powered on. You can save battery power by disabling them when you aren’t using them. To disable Bluetooth, you can often press the Function (Fn) key and press the key with the Bluetooth symbol on your laptop.

Disabling Wi-Fi can also help if you aren’t using it. For example, if you’re using your laptop on an airplane and not taking advantage of in-flight Wi-Fi, turn off your laptop’s Wi-Fi to save some power. Wi-Fi can be turned off in a similar way using the function keys on your laptop or even by disabling the Wi-Fi adapter in the Control Panel’s network connections window.

Tweak Your Power Plan

Windows offers power plans that can quickly change your laptop’s power settings to different profiles. For example, you can have your computer in Balanced mode most of the time and switch to Power saver mode when you need every bit of power you can get. Each power plan’s settings can be modified individually. You’ll find power plans in the Control Panel’s Power Options window.

To modify advanced power options, click the Change plan settings link and select Change advanced power settings.

You can change a variety of settings here, including setting your laptop to power off its hard drive more quickly and telling your computer to slow down the processor rather than turning on the fan if it becomes hot. Both of these behaviors will save power. The default settings should be fairly optimal if you select Power saver mode, but you can make the settings even more aggressive in some areas.

Use the Windows Power Troubleshooter

Windows 7 and 8 include a power troubleshooting tool that will scan your system for common battery drains and automatically fix them. To load this tool, open the Troubleshooting pane in the Control Panel — perform a search for Troubleshooting to find it.

Select the View All option in the Troubleshooting pane and launch the Power troubleshooter.

Windows will look for common issues and automatically fix them. This is a quick way to check if a laptop’s settings are optimal without digging through many different options dialogs.

If you’ve had your laptop for a while and the battery is holding less power than it used to — but you’re not ready to upgrade to a new laptop just yet — you can try replacing your laptop’s battery with a new one for even longer battery life.

5 Money-Saving Tips You Must Know Before Buying a New Laptop

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Having your laptop die can be a painful experience — and it’s made doubly so by the fact that buying a new one to replace it can be a bank-breaker. But you don’t have to go into debt to get one that will suit your needs!

Keep these five tips in mind next time you’re shopping for a laptop and you could save hundreds of dollars.

1. Don’t Pay for Features You Don’t Need

Laptops come absolutely packed with features today. Backlit keyboards, extra SD card slots, high-end graphics cards, and tons of solid-state storage space are all really nice to have, but before you drop a couple thousand dollars on a top-of-the-line notebook, take a moment to think about whether or not you’ll actually need those things.

Photo and video editing will benefit from a more powerful graphics card. Complicated programs and calculations will need more RAM and CPU power. If you’re going to be traveling a lot, a larger battery will come in handy. If you have a lot of music, you’re going to need a big hard drive or solid-state drive. However, if you can skip out on any of these things, you’ll save money. You almost certainly don’t need all of them.

If you’re just going to be doing the basics, all you really need is a Chromebook. They don’t come packed with features, but they’re very affordable, and can handle almost any task you need to do on a daily basis (unless you need to run specialized software for things like audiovisual work, stats, or high-powered computations). The Acer CB3-111-C670 Chromebook packs a 2.1 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage, an 11.6-inch screen, and a 8-hour battery life. That will be plenty for most people, and it costs a minuscule $150.

2. Buy Refurbished

Refurbished laptops often cost hundreds of dollars less than their brand-new counterparts, leading some people to wonder if they’re making a big sacrifice in quality or longevity. But with any certified refurbished computer, you can be confident that you’re receiving a machine that’s very close to as good as new. Manufacturers have rigorous testing processes that ensure that each certified laptop will perform as it should, and refurbished models usually come with a warranty to further set your mind at ease.

Many people find that buying a Mac is a lot more financially feasible once they discover that you can get refurbished models from the Apple website. Macs almost never go on sale (and when they do, it’s only $100 off or so), so getting a refurbished model can save you some cash if you’re an Apple fan.

How much? You can usually save between 10% and 20% on a new Mac. This won’t be enough to take a vacation on, but saving money is saving money.

If you’re looking for a Windows PC and you’re willing to start with an older version of Windows, you can find a lot of laptops for $200 or $300. The best way to find what you’re looking for is to just search for “refurbished [the computer you want]” on Google and do some exploring.

3. Discounts, Sales, and Buy at the Right Time

If you’re looking at spending more than a couple hundred dollars on a new laptop, even a price cut of 10% could amount to a fair chunk of money. If you think you might be in the market for a new laptop soon, start keeping an eye out for sales at places like Best Buy and Office Depot, where you’ll occasionally see sales that could save you $100 or more.

Buying at the right time of year could save you quite a bit of money as well — April, August, September, and November often see low prices that coincide with the release of new models, back-to-school season, and the holidays. If a manufacturer has announced a new model, prices on the last generation of that particular laptop could drop significantly in price around these times. Students can sometimes get even better deals between July and September.

Using a deal-tracking website like DealNews or TechBargains will help you find laptops that are on sale, too. A quick look at DealNews today shows a refurbishedHP 14″ laptop with a 2.8GHz processor and 4 GB of RAM for $240. There’s also a Samsung Chromebook for $138. It’s going to be tough to beat those prices.

4. Don’t Buy Direct from a Manufacturer — Shop Around

It might seem like a good idea to buy directly from Microsoft, or Lenovo, or Apple, when you’re getting a new laptop, but in almost every case, you’ll pay more than you would at an authorized reseller. Even big-box stores like Best Buy often beat manufacturer prices. Costco and Wal-Mart also regularly undercut manufacturers by quite a bit. You could even get a great deal from Amazon.

And there are plenty of websites out there that sell laptops at nearly unbeatable prices, including auction websites where you can get lucky and save hundreds of dollars.

How to Save Money on Your Next Laptop

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In the market for a new laptop? Maybe even multiple new laptops? (Nothing makes employees happier than a speedy new PC.) Before you whip out the corporate Amex, follow these five tips to make sure you get the best possible deal.

1. Choose a Refurbished Model

Many buyers associate the word "refurbished" with "used" and/or "junk," but it's just not so. A refurbished laptop is one that was returned to the manufacturer for some reason (maybe it had a problem, or maybe the original buyer just didn't like it), and therefore can no longer be sold as new. But the manufacturer will fix any problem(s) and repackage the system so it's almost indistinguishable from new. (Better than new, some would argue.) In fact, both Apple and Dell sell refurbished laptops with the same one-year warranty as new models. Alas, that's the exception to the rule: most refurbs come with a 90-day warranty, which is their only real downside.

So what's the upside? Huge savings. A refurbished laptop might cost $50, $100, or even hundreds less than its new counterpart. I've purchased a ton of refurbished computer gear over the years, and I can honestly say I've never had a bad experience.

2. Don't Go Overboard on the Processor

The processor is one of the costliest components in a new laptop. It's also one of the most overrated. Given that most mobile workers do little more than e-mail, Web browsing, and Word/Excel/PowerPoint stuff, you don't need a fancy (and expensive) Intel Core i7 CPU. As long as you've got a dual-core processor and sufficient RAM (2GB minimum, 4GB optimum), you'll have all the horsepower you need. And you'll save hundreds on the price of your laptop.

3. Skip the Extended Warranty

I can understand the desire to protect your investment, but most consumer advocates agree that extended warranties are a waste of money. If your laptop has a problem, it will most likely present itself within the first couple months. If something happens out of warranty, well, you already have an IT person on the payroll, right? He/she can probably swap a bad hard drive faster and more efficiently than the manufacturer's support department.

4. Hunt for Discount Codes

You know that "promo code" field you see on the checkout page for almost every online store? Ever wish you had a code that would, say, chop 5% off the price or score you free shipping? All you have to do is look around. If you're at the Dell checkout page, open a new browser tab and Google "Dell coupon code." Or head to a site like Bestbuy.com or RetailMeNot, which aggregate codes for thousands of stores. You won't always score coupon gold, but the few minutes you spend searching could prove very worthwhile.

5. Consider a Notebook/Netbook Hybrid

Netbooks are underpowered, but appreciably slim, lightweight, and affordable. Notebooks have more muscle, but they're bulkier, heavier, and more expensive. Consider something in between, like HP's new Pavilion dm1z. It comes with a dual-core processor, an 11.6-inch HD screen, and Windows 7. It weighs 3.5 pounds and measures 0.8 inches thick. And it starts at a very reasonable $449.99.

Bonus tip: Don't blindly assume that Costco, Sam's Club, or another warehouse store has the lowest laptop prices. Very often, they don't.

Any laptop-shopping tips of your own to share? You know where: the comments!

9 reasons why you need a car GPS system

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In this article you will learn about X reasons why you need a car GPS System.

In-car GPS systems have come a long way since becoming available in 1980. Nowadays GPS Systems are extremely accurate, work in any weather conditions and often have a number of features that go above and beyond simply telling you a location or giving you directions.

If you have thought that you don’t really need a GPS in your car because you don’t need directions, usually know where you are going and maybe even have paper maps in your glove compartment just in case, this article will tell you about what modern GPS systems can do for you other than telling you how to get from point A to point B.

X reasons why you need a GPS system in your car:

You won’t get stuck in traffic ever again

A lot of modern GPS systems have features that notify you about traffic updates and help you avoid a route. You may know the area where you drive extremely well. You simply can’t know when a traffic jam is going to occur. This is why a GPS that will notify you about a traffic jam and plan a route that will help you avoid getting stuck is a must have.

You can go on an adventure

Next feature a lot of GPS units have today is the ability to add your own points of interest (POI). There are a number of paid and free services on the internet that provide custom POI, from generic tour guides to highly-specialized guides like Archaeology UK

Never get a traffic ticket

In addition to custom point of interest services dedicated to adventures, there are also services available for your GPS that notify you about red-light cameras, clearance hazards and road accident zones.

A lot of GPS systems have a feature called speed limit indicator that will tell you when you are going above the legal speed limit. Oftentimes speed limits on the roads depend on a municipality or a county and may change on the same road without any logical reason. Utilizing all the features described in this paragraph can significantly help you avoid costly mistakes on the road and points on your driver’s license.

Increased safety while on the road

A feature called Lane Assist will guide you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making unfamiliar towns and exits on the highway easy to navigate. You won’t have to guess when to change a lane and will be able to avoid dangerous situations that usually occur at strangely located intersections and turns. A lot of GPS systems have built-in dashcams. A dashcam will provide you with a guaranteed proof about everything that happens on the road in case or an accident or a dangerous situation.

Have your GPS serve as a monitor for a backup camera

A lot of GPS systems have a feature that lets you use the unit as monitor for a backup camera. Basically, if you have an older car and want a set of modern features, all you need is a current GPS unit that will cost you a tiny fraction of the price of a new car.

You can use your GPS as a hands-free speaker replacement

Most GPS systems on the market are Bluetooth enabled and compatible with most smartphones and regular cell-phones for hands-free calling. Having such a GPS system in your car means that you don’t need a speaker for your phone and can use your phone safely while driving.

Keep track of your trips

You might know where you are going and not need any directions. You might still be interested to know the stats about your driving, your average speed, trip logs and so on. A GPS will not only gather this information, but also pair up with apps on your smartphone to give you any stats about your driving that you might be interested in.

Share information about your rides with your family for increased safety

When paired with your smartphone, a GPS can use your phone’s existing data plan to share information about your parking location and your destination with your loved ones, so that they always know where you are.

Play audio and video on your GPS

A lot of GPS system support playback for multiple audio and video formats. You can use your GPS as an audio or a video player on the go in your car.

As you can see, there’s a lot more to modern GPS systems than just telling you how to get from point A to point B. If you thought that directions where the only thing a GPS was capable of, it’s probably time to reconsider your opinion and take a look at what GPS systems currently available can do to make your life easier, safer and more convenient!

5 Reasons to Buy a Car GPS in the Age of Smartphones

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Your smartphone can run a variety of navigation apps, which may make a car GPS seem like a redundant gadget. But smartphones are not yet ready to replace the navigation GPS. Here are five reasons to buy a dedicated navigation GPS.

1. Battery. GPS apps use a tremendous amount of battery power, which means your phone might not even make it all the way through the day if you're doing a lot of navigating. A dedicated car GPS uses your car's cigarette lighter outlet for power, so battery will never be an issue. Plus, the best navigation GPS units have a built-in battery that lasts for a couple of hours, in case all the charging ports in your car are in use. Preserving battery power is a big deal for heavy smartphone users, and a dedicated car GPS can help keep your phone's battery fresh.

2. Data. Smartphone GPS apps use a lot of data, which is a drawback for smartphone users. If you're using a navigation app every day, you could easily use up a large chunk of a 2GB or 3GB cellular data plan. You could even accidentally cause expensive overage charges. Dedicated navigation devices don't have a subscription fee, so you can navigate as much as you want for free. If you do a lot of driving, you might be purchasing more monthly cell data than you need in order to cover your GPS uses. In this case, a dedicated GPS might actually be cheaper than switching to a cell phone plan with more data.

3. Service. Navigation GPS units work in areas where there is no cell coverage. The GPS system is based on satellites, not cell phone towers, so GPS has more thorough coverage than cellular providers do, especially in rural areas where cell service is spotty. Smartphones have GPS chips in them that allow them to connect to the satellite system, but they don't have the maps of North America stored in them, so without cellular service, you can't get turn-by-turn directions.

4. Safety. It's unsafe to be looking at a smartphone while driving. Unless you buy a special mount that secures your smartphone to your windshield, mounted GPS units will always be safer to use. Additionally, there is no chance of a distracting text message popping up on your GPS. Also, navigation GPS units tend to have slightly larger screens than smartphones, so they're easier to read while you're driving.

5. Backup. Relying on a smartphone for navigation means that you are relying on cellular service for your maps. In an emergency, cellular service might be down. A navigation GPS has maps stored in its memory, so it's unaffected by any outages. Even if the GPS satellite system went down, you'd still be able to look at the maps on the device. This makes a navigation GPS much better suited for an emergency than a smartphone.

Because car GPS units are specialized, they are better at navigating than a smartphone. Yes, you can do basic navigation with a phone, but for all the aforementioned reasons, they simply can't compare to a dedicated unit. If you are a frequent driver, then a car GPS is an excellent investment.