See which regions are experiencing the most growth now. Roschetzky Photography / Shutterstock.com
Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on Inspection Support Network. Within the U.S., where people are living continues to shift over time. Historically, the majority of the U.S. population was located in the Northeast and Midwest, but for the last 100 years, the share of Americans living in the South and especially the West has grown steadily. The West’s share of the nation’s population…
Learn everything you need to know about becoming a part of the Amazon review system and getting products for free. Elpisterra / Shutterstock.com
Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on The Penny Hoarder. When you consider making a purchase through Amazon, you expect to see an honest review from someone who has purchased the item. We look for quality reviews typified by honesty. In some cases, the reviewer has received free and discounted products for the purposes of writing a quality review that can be helpful to others.
New vehicle prices may still be higher than usual in 2023.
Image source: Getty Images
This past year hasn’t been the best time to purchase a vehicle. Both new and used cars are more expensive than in years past, making it difficult to get a good deal. Chip shortages were one of many factors that have led to higher vehicle prices since the pandemic began. As we head into the new year, you may wonder if you’ll have better luck buying a reliable car at an affordable price. Keep reading to find out if you should buy a new car in 2023.
According to Kelley Blue Book, the average new car sold in Nov. 2022 cost $48,681. That price was $422 higher than in October and $2,250 higher than one year ago. Spending nearly $50,000 on a vehicle would significantly impact anyone’s personal finance situation. With these numbers in mind, it isn’t easy to feel optimistic about the car-buying process in the year ahead.
Many factors have led to an increase in car prices. Here are a few reasons why it now costs more to buy a car:
Chip shortages continue to impact car prices: During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, auto manufacturers slowed down production and canceled orders for microchips. Many modern cars require these chips. Unfortunately, chip production is still not at pre-pandemic levels, impacting vehicle inventory levels and increasing prices. Demand for cars is up: While the demand for vehicles was low at the beginning of the pandemic, that’s no longer the case. Many drivers are looking to replace their current cars, so more people are fighting to buy from the limited inventory. Competing with a buyer willing to pay well over the manufacturer’s suggested retail price can be challenging if you’re on a tight budget, and you may have to wait for a car to be available. Interest rates are rising: It’s no secret that interest rates are rising. While this is a win for high-yield savings accounts, it’s not a win if you need to take out an auto loan. Mortgage interest rates and car loan interest rates are much higher than in years past. If you plan to finance a vehicle, don’t forget to consider how higher interest rates will impact your monthly payment and total loan cost.
If you’re wondering if 2023 will be a better year to buy a car, you’re not alone. As for whether prices will decrease next year, we’ll have to wait and see. However, when considering recent car pricing data, car prices may continue to be higher than usual for some time.
If you’re not in a hurry to buy a new car, you may want to hold off for a few more months until we know more about vehicle inventory levels and chip availability as 2023 progresses. Setting aside extra money in a savings account can help you better prepare for this future expense.
It’s not a bad idea to monitor auto loan rates, so you know what to expect and can calculate how rising interest rates would impact a new car payment. Car insurance rates have also increased, so reviewing these costs before buying a new vehicle is also good practice.
If you don’t have much flexibility and need to replace your car soon, do plenty of research first. It can be hard to score a winning deal on a brand-new vehicle, but you may be able to avoid overspending if you research carefully.
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Raise a toast to these foods and drinks that said goodbye last year. Krakenimages.com / Shutterstock.com
Food memories are extraordinarily powerful. Just look at most Thanksgiving dinner menus, many of which are stuffed full of family recipes handed down for generations. Foods taste good, sure, but they also spark warm memories that have nothing to do with the taste, and everything to do with the people and experiences these foods evoke. So when a familiar food product vanishes for good…
With these money habits, 2023 could be your best year yet financially.
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A new year is a great time to think about what’s working for you financially and where you’d like to improve going forward. There are lots of new habits you can adopt that will make a huge difference in how much you save and your overall financial satisfaction. If you’re looking for ideas, here are some smart money habits to start in 2023.
The stock market didn’t perform well in 2022. Prices plummeted, and we went into a bear market. It sounds like bad news, but it also means this is an excellent opportunity to buy stocks at a discount.
Now, to clarify, the best approach for the average investor is to invest on a regular basis. Trying to time the market rarely works out well. But it’s especially important you invest while stock prices are down, since you can get more for your money.
If possible, invest at least 10% of your income. You can do that in a 401(k) at your work, an individual retirement account (IRA), or an individual brokerage account. Or, all of the above.
An emergency fund is one of those must-haves for adults. Everyone’s going to run into expenses they didn’t see coming. By having emergency savings, you can pay these bills without feeling stressed about what you’ll do or ending up in debt.
To better protect yourself, set a goal of at least six months’ worth of living expenses in your savings account. Conventional wisdom is three to six months of expenses, but there has been talk of a possible recession, and several experts have increased their emergency fund recommendations. Six months is a smart goal to give yourself more of a buffer if you need it.
Don’t let their reputation fool you — credit cards can be an amazing financial tool. Many of them earn rewards in the form of cash back or points and may include big sign-up bonuses. There are also cards that offer complimentary protections on your purchases, like extended warranty coverage.
Your experience with credit cards all depends on your spending and payment habits. If you spend more than you can afford and carry a balance, you’re going to get charged credit card interest. That’s usually expensive, and it makes your balance harder to pay off. But if you only spend what you can pay back, and you pay your card’s full balance every month, then you won’t be charged any interest. That’s how savvy consumers make credit cards work for them.
If you’ve been carrying balances on any cards, learn about how to eliminate credit card debt and start paying off yours. Once you’ve gotten rid of those balances, set a goal of always paying in full going forward.
Most of us have probably been in this situation: You have something expensive to buy. Maybe it’s holiday gifts, or a vacation, or a new pair of shoes. But you have no idea how you’re going to pay for it. You could dip into your emergency fund, take some money from your investments, or put it on your credit card, but none of those are great solutions.
The better approach is to think about what expenses you’ll have coming up and save in advance. For example, if you know you want to take a vacation this summer, start saving now. Many of the top savings accounts even let you set up sub-accounts, which are a great way to categorize your savings for specific goals. You could have separate sub-accounts for a vacation fund, a holiday gift fund, and so on.
This method helps you get proactive about your finances. Instead of waiting for these expenses to come up and scrambling for a solution when they do, you plan for them and make it much easier on yourself.
Even though it doesn’t get touched on much in personal finance advice, knowing how to spend money is important. There’s a lot of focus on using money for financial security, both by paying your bills and saving for the future. That makes sense, but you should also use your money to improve your quality of life in the present.
To get better at spending money, think about what kind of purchases will make you happy. The goal here is twofold.
First, it’s to figure out the things that are really worth spending your money on. You could decide that what you want is to spend your money on a new hobby, or go on a trip without sticking to a strict travel budget.
By doing some brainstorming, you can also find areas where you’re spending money that aren’t worth it. Maybe you realize you’ve been paying for an expensive gym membership, but you’d be fine at a more affordable club with fewer amenities.
With so many financial products available, it’s easy to overcomplicate things. Some people end up juggling too many rewards credit cards or bouncing from bank account to bank account for a 0.1% difference in interest.
Aim to simplify your finances where you can. Find quality bank accounts, credit cards, and a stock broker you like. Consider picking a passive investment product, such as an index fund. Automate your investments and your savings so you don’t need to do it yourself. The more you simplify, the more time you can free up for yourself.
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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
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If you’ve been wanting to refinance, the time to act may be now.
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Refinance demand has generally been down over the past year as mortgage rates have soared. But last week, mortgage rates dipped downward to a modest degree. And that prompted more homeowners to refinance their mortgages — so much so that there was a 5% increase in refinance applications compared to the previous week.
Now to be clear, mortgage rates are still very high compared to where they sat a year ago. And refinance volume is still 86% lower than it was a year ago, due to higher borrowing rates.
But if you’ve been thinking of refinancing your mortgage, the time to act may be now. Wait too long, and it may not be as cost-effective.
Because mortgage rates are so high these days, it doesn’t make financial sense for a lot of homeowners to refinance. In fact, data firm Black Knight found that a year ago, a good 7 million homeowners could have benefited financially from a mortgage refinance. At this point, that number is whittled down to just 270,000.
But if you happen to fall into the category of homeowners who can still benefit from a refinance, then you may want to move quickly, before borrowing rates rise again. And to be clear, that’s a distinct possibility.
The Federal Reserve isn’t done raising interest rates to battle inflation. And while the Fed doesn’t set mortgage rates directly, its rate hikes tend to drive up the cost of mortgage borrowing, as well as other types of consumer borrowing.
Meanwhile, many economists are eagerly awaiting details from December’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. The CPI is a key measure of inflation, and it speaks to rises and drops in the cost of consumer goods.
If the CPI shows a nice cooling of inflation in December compared to November, the Fed might go easy on its next rate hike. But if the Fed doesn’t like what it sees, we could be in store for another aggressive rate hike — which is all the more reason to lock in a rate on a mortgage refinance sooner rather than later.
In some cases, refinancing can make sense for people with a lot of equity who want to take cash out of their homes and use it for things like renovations and repairs. But if you’re talking about a regular refinance, not a cash-out refinance, then you’ll need to get some quotes from lenders and see how much savings you stand to reap.
If you currently have a high interest rate on your mortgage loan, a refinance could lower your monthly payments. But you’ll generally want to be able to shave at least 1% off of your mortgage for a refinance to make sense.
When you refinance, you bear the expense of closing costs that often amount to 2% to 5% of your loan amount. So if you’re going to pay those closing costs, you should aim to get a decent amount of mortgage savings out of the deal.
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