Saving Money

Saving money is a top priority for most seniors. Computers can help.

Here all a resident needs to do is to go to the community's wireless kiosks and start work.

Or, if you want your own computer, a $200 Acer C 720 Chromebook will do what you need to do. Alternatively, a $150 Republic Wireless Moto G phone at $10 a month will do the same work.

The work starts on Internet: shopping, selling, evaluating, comparing, and so forth.

To shop, you can simply search for the item in the browser. Sources will then appear.

Alternatively you can go directly to the store. Many stores will have reviews of the item you are looking for, and Amazon even has very extensive and invaluable comments from buyers.

EBay offers an easy way to get a low price. In eBay you can do an ongoing search until the item becomes available. This is the place to look for hard-to-find items.

Both Amazon and eBay offer the ability to sell items you no longer need. Ebay now offers a cell phone app which makes it easy, such as to photograph the item for your listing.

You might not think of using Craigslist. I have bought and sold from some very nice people, recently a lovely Baldwin Acrosonic piano at $250 delivered . You will find a lot of free stuff from Craigslist. I recently noted a completely refurbished grand piano in this category.

Many stores offer extensive online catalogs, such as JCPenney and Walmart. It is easy to shop their sales items in most cases.

Many offer free delivery, usually for a minimum order of X dollars.

Some stores, such as drug stores, offer coupons online which apply automatically when you check out at the actual store.

Often you can check inventory, for example, in buying a new car, but also in many other items.

Some stores, such as Amazon, make it very easy to return an item.

Often it is preferable to buy from a brick and mortar store such as Best Buy, even if you are buying online. This gives you nearby support if you need it. Best Buy and Staples provide extremely fast delivery.

Some online stores are dedicated to very specific items so that if you want a very wide selection, you may want to go to them. Just browse for the item and you will come up with these dedicated sources for very specific items.

It has been very satisfying to pass on things no longer needed to those who wanted them and will use them. Selling has reduced clutter and, by passing on things to others, has done some good to the environment from not throwing them away.

Sometimes I have been able to dispose of something for something else I liked better, such as in the case of few chairs, and more than a few times, a more modern computer or printer. I sold my scarce Windows 7 laptop and replaced it with a Chromebook I like much better. In both cases I came out ahead in dollars.