Friday Finance Findings For July 20th

Are there any Guitar Hero fans out there? I’m addicted to Guitar Hero 2 for Xbox 360, I won’t lie. Unfortunately, just before I left for my trip a few weeks ago our controller that you use for the game broke. Ok, well it didn’t break, but one of the most important buttons started to stick to the point it wasn’t functional at all and made the game unplayable. So, thinking I had the skills to fix it I took the controller apart and I poked around trying to free up the activator that was sticking. It wasn’t helping and I kept struggling, but I wound up snapping one of the circuit boards in half.

Long story short, the controller is definitely broken now. Not that I would have been able to repair it anyway, but for the past two weeks I’ve been going through severe withdrawals. For whatever reason, the company that makes the game produced 99% of the controllers in the form of a bundle pack with the video game itself. Well that doesn’t do people like me any good when all you want is a controller and not the game! No stores have them in stock locally and the only place to find one is on eBay where people are using the limited supply and high demand to sell them for outrageous prices that are just as much or more than buying the standard bundle! I was finally able to find one to order online and it was retail price and I just have to pay about $10 for shipping. Not ideal, but I really want to play again!

I’m not sure where I was going with that story, but while I anxiously await the arrival of my controller I present you with these fine finance reads from the past week. Enjoy!

How to Inspect a Used Car – A used car is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. Golbguru continues his series on used car buying tips to help you understand what to look for when examining a potential new car.

Why the Lazy Man May Never Buy a Toyota – He saw a marketing effort by Toyota that doesn’t sit well. In my case, I just don’t find most of the Toyota models very appealing to the eye.

Save Money When Buying Cool Electronics and Gadgets – Buying a cutting edge gadget is like buying a brand new vehicle and you’ll find you probably wasted a lot of money just to boost your ego. Emotions can certainly lead us to unnecessary or rushed purchases and when it comes to expensive electronics it can be a costly decision.

Results to Nickel’s Favorite Mutual Fund Company Survey – Nickel was running a survey to find out what the readers said their favorite mutual fund companies were.

10 Mortgage Lessons From 12 Phone Calls – Henry spent a few hours on the phone and presents 10 lessons from his findings.

How Money Can Change a Life – It probably comes as no surprise that money can change a life, but this story is definitely worth the read.

Exchange Traded Notes – Well this is new to me. Similar to ETFs yet different as well. This new debt instrument could provide additional diversification for many portfolios once they become more widely established.

Debt Isn’t a Bad Thing – I agree. Using debt is simply a financial tool and it can be used for good or bad. Using debt for the wrong reasons is bad, but the financial leverage can be monumental in achieving wealth.

Removing Smoke Odor From Things You’re Trying to Sell – The smell of smoke can get trapped in almost anything and if you are trying to sell something that has an odor you will have a difficult time. Here are some great tips to try to remove the odor.

The Co-Op Network – If you frequently use ATMs and find it hard to locate one that doesn’t charge you a fee you may want to consider a credit union. The co-op network can provide a ton of locations that you can use for free.

Earn $1 Million by Not Watching TV – I’d love to earn a million bucks just by not watching TV but I can’t imagine a life without football. Even so, here are a lot of ways you can at least cut back on your television expenses to accelerate your path to a million dollars.

Related posts:

1. Friday Finance Findings for July 6th
2. Friday Finance Findings for June 15th
3. Friday Finance Findings for June 1st
4. Friday Finance Findings for June 29th
5. April 20th Friday Five – First Golf of the Season Edition