10 Mistakes That Guys Do When They Buy An Engagement Ring

When you are in love with the woman of your dreams, and you are ready to ask her to marry you, it is important that you do it right. This means not only do you need to plan out the perfect proposal, but you also need to find the perfect engagement ring.

Many men tend to make the same mistakes when buying engagement rings. Here are 10 of the top mistakes for you to avoid making in order to impress your future bride.

1. Making a Rushed Purchase

Reading through 100 reviews on your next $2,000 laptop, but only spending 2 minutes for your $5,000 engagement ring? Don’t just go out and get any nice ring, you need to take your time to make sure that you have picked out the perfect engagement ring. Make sure that you shop around, and see what the various jewelers, both online and brick and mortar stores have to offer.

2. Create Your Own Engagement Ring

Custom-made doesn’t necessarily mean ultra-expensive. In fact, you may be able to spend less money, and get a much nicer ring than you would find in a jewelry store. However, a custom-made ring is most likely to be non-refundable. A brief online search will allow you to uncover a large variety of styles, carats and settings so it will be special for sure.

3. Not Setting a Budget

You need to have a budget in place before you start shopping for an engagement ring. Otherwise, you could end up spending a lot more than you can afford. When you set a budget, you will only be looking at rings that are within an affordable price range.

4. Only Shopping in Chain Stores

Chain stores all seem to have the same pieces. If your future fiancée is unique, her engagement ring should be as well. Look for rings that aren’t mass produced.

5. Not Talking to a Specialist

This is a person who can help you choose the perfect diamond for the engagement ring. This is a person who specializes in diamonds, and they know what they are talking about.

6. Falling for Biased Review Sites

You may think that you have found the perfect engagement ring from an online seller. So, you check out reviews of the ring, and the seller, and see a lot of rave reviews. How do you know if they are real? “Authentic reviews are usually long reviews with a lot of emotions,” says Goya Berg, the founder of DiamondsPeaceArmy.com, an unbiased diamond review site. Berg recommends picking a loyal forum or website and paying attention for multiple comments.

7. Only Researching Online

You don’t always get accurate information online, especially when someone is trying to sell you something. Look at engagement rings in stores and get some prices before doing any online research, so you can compare rings and prices.

8. Not Telling Your Girlfriend’s Best Friend

Your fiancée is going to be wearing this ring for the rest of her life, so it only stands to reason that you should involve her best friend in the purchase. Simply find out what she likes, her ring size, etc. so you can find a ring that she will love. You can even get her to pick out a few different styles so you have some examples to choose from.

9. Not Researching Diamonds

You don’t need to take a course in gemology, but you should learn a bit about diamonds, such as how they are rated. That way, you will know if you are being charged too much for a ring. Learn about the four C’s: cut, color, clarity, and carat.

10. Only Shopping in Department Stores

While the bright lights in department stores can make the jewelry they sell look shiny and pretty, it is usually of inferior quality. Sure, you may get a great deal, but how great is it when the ring is just something that was mass produced, and poorly at that?

Final Conclusion

Research, check the return policy, make a budget, don’t fall for fake reviews and beware of discounts!

Thanks : http://www.lifehack.org/338847/10-mistakes-that-guys-when-they-buy-engagement-ring  

7 Top Home-Buying Mistakes People Often Make

Insanely low mortgage interest rates—and the knowledge that they’ll eventually go up again—make a lot of people feel like it’s time to buy a house right now. And maybe it is … if you go about it the right way.

Buying a home is a major purchase (to put it mildly), and there are plenty of ways to trip up. But don’t worry—we’ve got your primer right here.

1. Don’t … buy a house if you’re planning to move again soon.

If you’re a renter, it can be frustrating to write that rent check every month and have no home equity to show for it at the end of the year. But if you aren’t certain that you’re going to stay put for a few years, it’s probably not the right time to buy—equity or no equity. “Some people tend to buy a house knowing that they’re going to be relocating after a few years,” says LearnVest Planning Services certified financial planner Ellen Derrick. “Don’t buy property and automatically assume that you’ll be able to rent it out or sell it when you move.”

What to do: If you aren’t in an area with a strong rental market that would allow you to cover the mortgage on your home if you move elsewhere, then stick with a rental for now.

2. Don’t … bust your budget.

Shopping for houses can make you a little giddy. Look at this one! And this one! For a little bit more, you could get granite countertops, plus an office nook! You’re dealing with such large numbers when you’re browsing real estate that it might not seem like such a huge deal to stretch another $10,000 or $15,000 to get the home youreally love. But that’s not a game you want to play. “People look at the top end of their affordable monthly payment, and they don’t really think about what happens if their income goes down or they have to change jobs,” says Derrick. (If you’re wondering what percent of your budget should go toward housing, check out the 50/20/30 Rule.)

What to do: Get preapproved for a mortgage. Not only will this prove that you’re serious to your realtor and to home sellers, but it will also give you an idea of your upper limit. “Remember that the lender is there to make you a loan, and the more money you borrow, the better it is for them,” Derrick says. “They want you to max out. I would take the pre-approval number and cut about 20% off.”

3. Don’t … forget about added costs.

Buying a home isn’t just a matter of replacing a rental payment with a mortgage payment. There are also maintenance costs, utilities (which will likely cost more) and property taxes. “People tend to forget about both property taxes and insurance when they’re thinking about how much house they can afford,” Derrick says. “The actual monthly payment could end up being well out of your price range when you figure those things in.”

What to do: Ask the homeowners about their average utility costs and property taxes, get a homeowner’s insurance quote and budget about one percent of the home’s purchase price for annual maintenance. Then run the numbers to see if you can afford the home. (And don’t forget about closing costs. The average cost to close on a $200,000 mortgage is about $3,754, according to Bankrate.com, but your broker should be able to give you an estimate.)

4. Don’t … put down a nominal down payment.

Even with lenders tightening requirements to qualify for a mortgage, it’s still possible to buy a house with as little as 3% down. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that you’ll have very little equity in your home when you first move into it. So if something comes up, and you have to sell, you’ll end up owing more than you can get out of the sale once you factor in closing costs. It puts you in a precarious position. Even if that doesn’t happen, you’ll have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) every month until your equity in the home exceeds the 20% mark—and that could take years. (If you can’t put 20% down, your loan is technically considered risky—PMI is insurance that protects the bank if you default on your mortgage.)

What to do: Consider whether it’s prudent to buy a home now if you’re nowhere near having a 20% down payment. Yes, interest rates are low, but if you have to borrow thousands more because you don’t really have a great nest egg, it may be a wash in the end. You could avoid years of PMI, and owe a lower monthly nut, if you spend a year or two saving aggressively toward a down payment.

RELATED: I Want to Get a Mortgage Checklist

5. Don’t … neglect to get everything in writing.

You wouldn’t be the first home buyer to assume that the kitchen appliances come with the deal—only to discover an appliance-free kitchen on the final walk-through. “I’ve heard of buyers going ten rounds because the seller took the drapes down, and the buyer expected them to be left,” Derrick says. “I’ve seen all kinds of deals blow up over stuff like that.” Common points of contention: window treatments, hot tubs, light fixtures, shower and bath fixtures, ceiling fans and big appliances, such as washers and dryers. Replacing something you thought was staying could cost hundreds, so it’s not a small thing.

What to do: Go through your contract with a fine-toothed comb. If the item that you expected to be there isn’t, ask about it—and get it added in writing.

6. Don’t … skip the inspection.

Even if the home looks like it’s in winning shape, it would be foolish to skip a thorough once-over by a professional. “People tend to think that the inspection and the appraisal are the same thing,” Derrick says. “They’re not.” An inspector is there to spot the things you don’t know to look for, like if the chimney is in great shape or whether those little cracks in the foundation are a big deal. He’ll look for signs of water damage and check the insulation in the attic. If there are conditions that will need repair, you may be able to negotiate with the seller to drop the price. In other words, the inspection is worth every penny.

What to do: Get recommendations from your realtor or friends who’ve bought in the area, and have a professional inspection done before you close on the house.

7. Don’t … think a brand-new home entitles you to brand-new everything.

“A lot of people buy this nice house, and then look at the ratty car sitting in the driveway and think, ‘We better buy a new car,’” Derrick says. Or you suddenly have a formal living room but no formal living room furniture—so you buy some! It’s a mistake to feel like you suddenly have to upgrade all of your stuff to match the shiny new home. “You don’t want to get yourself into a pile of credit card debt just so you can keep up with the house,” Derrick says.

What to do: Live in your house for a while, so you can figure out what you really need. Then save up for it!

Thanks : http://www.learnvest.com/knowledge-center/7-top-home-buying-mistakes-people-often-make

Mistakes to Avoid When Purchasing A Bus

My previous article, in the January 2008 issue of Religious Product News, focused on recommended steps for purchasing a new bus. The focus of this article is on suggestions for what not to do when purchasing a bus. These suggestions are based on two decades of working with purchasers, many of whom devote the time and energy to make sure they do it right.

A good first step is disassociating the process of purchasing a bus with purchasing a car. It may be hard to do since we all have experience with buying cars, but, the fact is, a bus is not a car, and the buying process is not the same either.

Automobile manufacturers mass produce thousands of similarly designed cars and trucks every year, while bus manufacturers produce customized, purpose-built units in small quantities as ordered by their dealers for either specific customers or for their inventory. A Ford Taurus is the same whether it you buy it in Florida or Washington; a bus on a dealer's lot in Florida is likely to be equipped very differently than the same brand on a lot in Washington. Automobiles have had over a century of product and design evolution; small buses, as we know them today, have been around for about 25 years.

Small buses built on Ford or Chevrolet chassis have an automotive look on the surface that gives the impression that they are all the same. The fact is that all buses are not the same. It is very likely that a bus dealer in Minnesota is going to stock buses with more heating capacity than cooling. Pity the purchaser from Phoenix who buys such a bus rather than from the local dealer who knows how to equip a bus for a desert climate.

If you want to purchase a bus the right way, there is actually a lot to learn about buses. What is the best source of information? A reputable dealer, preferably one that is relatively close to you.  Unlike car dealers, you are not going to find a bus dealer in every town, but you can find more than one typically within driving distance. Make an appointment and go see at least one. Take your committee. Test the dealer's product knowledge. Check out their facilities. Are they committed to the business, and are they here to stay?  Do they have product support staff and offer repair service?
                                  
You may be inclined to try to save that time and just shop and buy on the Internet. In my view, that is a mistake. The Internet is a great way to gather information or to buy a pair of pants or a book, but not a bus. Don't treat this purchase like a commodity that you can buy just anywhere. A bus is not a mail-order item. Learn about the different brands, the history of the manufacturers, the features that they offer, their warranty policies, their product testing, safety record, etc. 

Your church will very likely own a bus for at least a decade. Is saving a small fraction of the price worth it when you consider what's at stake? Just because someone claims something about their product or themselves doesn't make it true. It's certainly easier to verify the facts looking someone in the eye than it is on the phone or via e-mail. 

There are a number of very solid and reputable bus dealers located throughout the country. If you call a reputable manufacturer, they will refer you to their dealer for your area. 

What about buying factory direct? Again, I suppose the attraction is saving money by cutting out the middle man. However, factories are designed to produce products. To the extent that they are structured to provide service, it is usually to their dealers. It is the job of the dealer to provide service to the end user. 

"Well, they said I could just take it to any Ford or Chevrolet dealer for service." That's a line that is often used when the seller cannot provide you with service. Ford and Chevrolet dealers are trained and set up to service products they sell, including a bus chassis. But, when it comes to electrical systems, entry doors, air conditioning, wheelchair lifts, and other components not common to that brand of automobile, a Ford or Chevrolet dealer is at a real disadvantage to provide service efficiently. It may be your only choice in a pinch, but it is not the best long-term solution for bus maintenance and repair, in most cases. And, when it is a solution, it is usually because that Ford or Chevrolet dealer has the support of the selling bus dealer's product support staff to guide them through the areas that they are unfamiliar with.

Having the right size and appropriately equipped bus for your church can add so much to the activities that you provide your members. The number of options that are available to you is staggering. The best way to find out about them is by working with a dealer who is interested in doing more than just selling you a bus quickly. Take your time, do your due diligence, and focus on more than just the cheapest price. In the long run, you'll be glad you did.

Read more : http://www.religiousproductnews.com/articles/2008-September/Supplement/Mistakes-to-Avoid-When-Purchasing-A-Bus.htm