"A penny saved is a penny earned", is a quote famously uttered by someone. I like to think that the geyser who wrote this was a coupon fanatic or a general deal hunter of some sort. I know that I have spent a great many hours at my laptop or cell phone pondering over the best way to make a purchase.
My goal is to always maximize fiscal value without sacrificing quality. This is a tactic that is lost on far too many people. For example, car salesmen love to ask, "How much do you have budgeted for a payment?". I imagine the reason this is a common question is because it is effective. Many people just want to know the price they pay per month and that's it. The most important thing to me is the total price I will pay as a function of the car's value. If I offer to sell you a car for $1,000 and it's worth $200, this is obviously not a great deal. When I bought my current car 18 months ago we had not been actively looking. We ended up getting our car for $4,200 even though Edmund's and all the other car buying websites put its worth at about $6,500. Even though I have driven it for over a year I am confident that I could still sell the car for 125% of the price we paid! To me it's not the price paid, but the value. The last car guy that I talked to seemed utterly confused that I just wouldn't give him the number I was trying to hit. If you bring out a late 90s Toyota my budget will be different than a late model BMW, although I want a deal on both.
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