You should first plan on spending as long as possible on your test drive. Fifteen minutes is not enough time. You want to thoroughly examine the car and definitely have a mechanic check it out.

Take a look at the vehicle overall. Do the body parts line up? Does the paint match? Will doors open and close easily? Do the tires look like they wear evenly?

Check under the hood. You may not know exactly what you are looking at, but thats okay. Look for leaky hoses, worn belts, and dirty oil. Ask the dealer to show you the automatic transmission fluid. Smell it. If there is a burned odor, steer clear. The fluid should be clear and reddish. Transmission repair costs are not pretty.

Have someone show you the radiator water. It should have a light yellow or green color. Make sure all of the warning lights and gauges work. Start the car and check all lights and functions. And here is a no brainer make sure no warning lights remain lit on the dashboard.

Look at the airbag indicator lights. If these lights do not illuminate as you start the car, or if they stay lit after the car is running, they are not working correctly.

Try on the seat belt. Test the vehicle in the early evening to determine the headlight visibility. If you already have a child safety seat, go ahead and install it. Not all seats are compatible with all cars.

Accelerate up to 35 40 MPH. Is shifting smooth and steering straight? When braking, a pull to the left or the right could indicate a problem.

If you buy via the classifieds, make sure to check the name on the title and match it to the name on the sellers drivers license. Just to be safe.

It would be nice to find the little ladys almost new car that was not driven more than 15,000 miles a year. Of course, low miles on the odometer would be a big plus, too. Even then, you can not assume that a low mileage car is necessarily in great shape.

One major concern is odometer tampering. So do your homework. Ask for a detailed service history report. If records were not kept, you can check things out for yourself with the vehicle identification number. Provide this VIN number to your state vehicle history company to get a record of the cars former life.

Remember, no matter how in love you are with a car, think twice before purchasing one thats been wrecked. You do not need anyone elses problems. There are dozens of other cars you could enjoy just as much.

If you’re considering an investment to support your future, you’re thinking in terms of finance. Maybe it’s on our minds 24/7. After all, we need money to survive, and most of our lives is spent on making it. Not just stockbrokers or bankers or investors, the so-called money-jugglers of society.

The thing is, finance is really for everyone. If you’ve got money, then you have to involve your brain in the act of finance or money-managing to get the most bang for your buck. Otherwise, you will splurge and you will wonder where in the world the money went.

The best time to start learning about finance is the time you start to receive money. Think about it. When you received a check in the mail from your grandma as your birthday present, weren’t you already thinking of what you were going to spend it all on?

That is the essence of finance, although that very act may have been insensible and financially disagreeable; hey, you were just a kid, after all.

Maybe you were a smart kid, one who knew how money goes. Maybe you’ve stashed it in your secret hiding place. Maybe you started to go into business by selling lemonade (although maybe you drank more than half of it too). Maybe you gave some away to your favorite charity. Yup, that was finance too. We all know better now, don’t we?

It hasn’t changed much; we go out to make money, we spend some, we save some, until we have enough to make a couple of major purchases such as homes or vacations. Only we know a bit more. And we’ve understood more of the finance jargon that sometimes rolls on the tongue.

Investments. Assets. Loans. Benefits. Mortgage. Insurance. Knowlege is power, as they say, and knowledge on how to finance will lead you to finance greater amounts of money in the future. So study up. Take finance management classes. Follow the stock market. Listen in on discussions.

Finance also includes self-discipline. Sometimes you have to keep yourself from small pleasures in order to attain the bigger more important things. Finance means that you need to set your priorities straight. Sacrifice may seem like a lot at the moment but the end will justify the means.

Finance is planning ahead. For your future. For your future’s future. For your financial safety and stability. Because it is a very difficult thing to get by in this world without the proper resources. It is preparation for the unknown. Managing your finances mean decreasing the number of worry lines on your face.

So if you’ve got money, if you’re planning to make money, or if you’re thinking about money, well then, you’re thinking about finance. Just keep in mind not just to think about finance, but to think about it wisely, too.