Car Insurance

“Just pay what the sticker says” has become a cultural phenomenon in America, according to one financial advisor, and he claims it is costing Americans a lot of money.

Buying big bargains is one of a series of steps advocated by Dave Ramsey, a financial counselor, author and host of a national radio program on money and finances.

“If you got a good buy, some folks think someone else was harmed,” Ramsey said. “Yet, in virtually every other culture other than America, people negotiate the price of nearly everything.”

His philosophy is part of a process he calls a Total Money Makeover. According to Ramsey, part of getting and keeping money is spending money wisely, which he claims most people don’t know how to do.

“We get in our ‘fleeced’ car, put credit card-gas in it, drive it to the mall on a bond-financed highway, go into the mall and buy something on an 18-percent credit card, and think we got a bargain because it said ’sale’ on it,” he declared.

“Most people are too embarrassed to negotiate a better price, but I would rather be embarrassed than broke,” claims Ramsey. “Yet, they will go to a flea market or garage sale and think negotiating a better price is perfectly normal.”

Ramsey promotes several techniques, in addition to negotiating the price of virtually everything, in order to get the best bargains.

“Several studies of multi-millionaires shows they have one major personality characteristic in common: integrity,” explained Ramsey. “It is surprising to have to say that, but don’t lie! Television has told you J.R. Ewing is how business is done, and we believed that.”

“We have a saying around our business, ‘Life is too short to deal with people who lie. You can’t keep up with them’,” he said. “I don’t know where they are going, and it doesn’t matter how good the deal is because it is all a lie.”

“What that means is, if you are selling your car and you know the transmission is bad, you had better say something, and not just hope it doesn’t slip during the test drive,” he explained.

Practicing personal integrity is a key part of developing a win-win situation with each other, according to the author.

The power of cash

“It has immediacy; it says it’s a lock; it says the deal is closed, if I take your bargain,” he said. That’s the power of cash, according to Ramsey. “It says I don’t have to check with my bank on Monday, or get somebody’s permission.”

“When you get $100 bills out, you get everyone’s attention,” he continued. “It’s emotional, and people remember it.”

“After you’ve shown you are serious and the merchant won’t change the price, you use the words every merchant is terrified to hear: ‘I bet your competitor can sell it for that price’,” he continued. “When you don’t have walk-away power, you become salesman-bait. When you understand and use that emotional distance, you win.”

Patience

“Learn the power of not talking,” he explained. “Just look interested, or ask a question and shut up.”

“In our busy, ‘go-go’ society, people are not ready to handle silence,” he continued. “I’ve had salesmen lower their price and tell me things I didn’t know just by not saying anything, and listening to them.”

There are also several communication techniques Ramsey says will help buyers get a better deal.

“Learn to say ‘That’s not good enough’,” he said. “Ask for something else, even if it isn’t money.

“You may have to say, ‘That’s alright, we’ll get someone else to do that for us’ if they won’t give you the price or the product you want,” said Ramsey.

Control

“Don’t let it happen to you; it is being done to you all the time and you don’t know it,” he said. “I want you to learn to spend wisely by spending your money wisely,” he concluded.