About Me...

Hi,
my name is James Van Daele,

And I get nearly everything for less$$$. Let me paint you a picture.

I own a 3 bedroom and 2 full bath house in Fort Worth, Texas which I purchased for $26,600, I am sitting in front of a 34" HDTV that I got for $50, it is sitting on a solid wood stand that I got for $25, and I am sitting on a large leather couch from Ikea that I spent $100 on. Everywhere in my house I are deals like this, and I mean everywhere. My house is full of solid wood furniture, and I spent less than $500 for all of it. And how about my king size, good quality memory-foam bed that I got for less than $800, including the bedding and down pillows. I spend around half as much on electricity as all my neighbors, and I have money for all the nice things in life, but my wife and I combined only make about 40k a year. She gets clothes from Ann Taylor, and I get the big and tall items I need, but we never spend anywhere close to retail.

I want to share the methods I use to get almost everything imaginable for less than those around me. Come and learn along with me, as I show you the ways to use companies like Wal-Mart and eBay to get everything you want but thought you couldn't afford for less. And other tips and tricks to keep the spending down forever.

In this Blog we are going to explore the two types of expenses:

#1 Fixed expenses

Mortgage/rent, insurance, gas, vehicle repairs, vehicle payments (car loans) electricity, food and clothing.

#2 Variable expenses

Entertainment, luxury items, vacations, and the like.

The things I want to focus on most are items that everyone HAS to use; I am talking about food, electricity, clothes, gas, vehicle repairs, and so forth. Everyone can benefit from the tips I have gained by talking to and being the industry insiders that have given me all this invaluable advice, and even some that I have come up with on my own.

If you want to know how to get a vehicle for the absolute lowest price, or want to take 10% off your food bill, then this blog is for you. I encourage you to add comments with tips that I don't have mentioned, chances are, in your job, you know of ways people can save money off of posted retail prices.

One of the things I will be talking about is being picky. It's the #1 way to lose all sorts of money. rich people do it every day, and it helps our economy keep going. But, if you want to save serious green, then set aside your brand envy, and thoughts about what stores you "simply aren't going to go to" and I will show you easy, practical ways to save at least $500 per year.

Here is my first tip, and it's a no-brainer, but you would be surprised to what extent you can take it to.

SHOP AROUND!!

Yeah, we know it, when we go to buy a vehicle, we don't show up at the first place we find and get whatever they have (those of you that do, tsk tsk) We shop around, and that's great! But you can do that with more things than you probably imagined.

Did you know that if you don't have health coverage with your job, you can generally shop around for non-emergency health care? It's true. When I was living back in Los Angeles, I broke my thumb, bad news. I didn't have any type of health care and I needed a cast. The cheapest place may not always be what you want, but for about $60 I was able to get x-rays and a cast, put on by a real doctor, without an appointment. Yes, there was a catch, 14 hours waiting (!!!). I went to the county hospital and paid up-front. Yeah, so when it was time to go get my cast replaced, I said "nuts with this" and I called around. Just got out the phone book and called places; I told them I would need an x-ray and a cast replaced on my hand, I was very specific. I got prices and asked then if it would be a little less for cash. Sure enough, after calling 5 or 6 places, I got one that would do everything for $50 A real doctor, in a high-rise office.

Now, I realize that this does not work with most types of illnesses or diseases, but I have taken an informal poll of actual doctors that I have spoken with in the last 5 years, and all of them agree that most of the time, if the patient knows what they have, the patient knows more about the disease or issue than the doctor does! Just because they are experts, doesn't mean they know everything, and with a little research you might be able to find out what you have and find home-remedies for it yourself. Of course if you cannot nail down what you have by checking the symptoms and time frames, don't try and guess at it, Doctors are your best bet. just make sure you don't get reamed if you don't have insurance.

If you do have insurance...

Insurance is GREAT for things like cancer and prolonged illness, if you have enough to cover everything, but if you break a leg, it's possible that you are actually paying more for your various co-pays and fees than it would actually cost to have a procedure done with cash, with a real doctor that might not be your normal doctor. you have to tally up the costs and do some figuring, but it's possible to save a decent amount by just doing a little shopping around. Remember, try not to be too picky! You might be pleasantly surprised HOW NICE the other doctor is. In every case of my shopping for a good price on medical care I have gotten a great, pleasant doctor, a short wait time and an overall great experience.

When it comes to saving money on medical expenses, it's going to be difficult, or even impossible in many cases, but if you keep your mind open to the cases where it is possible to save some green, then it's just like found money.

Here is something I would do; follow me at your own risk and don't sue me if it all goes awry:

I live within 4 minutes of a pretty dang decent hospital. If my wife for any reason needed emergency care (other than something that would need her to be professionally stabilized before moving) I would simply carry her to my car, strap her in and gun it to the hospital myself. Dropping her off at the ambulance entrance. This may seem risky to some, insane to others and common sense to people like myself, but I will tell you this, it's generally over $1000 for a 5 minute ambulance ride and if you aren't making very much money then $1000 can be a mountain that will slowly eat away at your credit until your purchasing power is very limited.

If you have medical bills:

Say you have had an expensive procedure done and simply can't pay for it all. You have a couple of choices, one, you can ignore it and kiss goodbye the chances of EVER having a 700 credit score...

Or you can get a charge-off.

People in medical billing would rather get a little than nothing at all, and this holds true especially if you haven't paid on the bill in over a year or two. Call them up when you have a $1000 or $1500 squirrelled away and be upfront and honest with them when you CALL and talk to someone who can negotiate. Tell them that your simply not going to pay it all and they can either take $1000 or keep sending you letters because that is all your ever going to be able to save up at one time, and let them know that you aren't able to save ANY more money because your income matches your expenses. At this point, you will be in a great bargaining position. You may not get away with a complete charge-off (dismissal of all debt for a lower amount) but you might be able to lower the amount owed.

Or you can make payments.

When you call "the powers that be" up on the phone, they are going to want to put you on payments. If you can afford this, then I would do it, but don't take the first number they throw at you. remember to get to someone who can actually do something about it, which is generally going to mean you have to talk to some sort of supervisor in order to get the best total price. Negotiate to have the largest amount paid every month, in return for a lowered balance. If they won't do a charge-off or a lowered balance (they don't have to by law, so you may run into a brick wall here), then tell them that you are going to pay $2.00 per month. and insist upon it. most states will require them to be flexible with their repayment, and you might get away with this if all else fails.