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Comparison Shopping for Financial Products Made Easy


As most of you know, I love to share how to live frugally without depriving yourself of anything.  I`ve said this so many times before, but the best way to save yourself thousands each year is to take a good look at your monthly bills.  One of the major obstacles people face when trying to cut back on these bills is just not knowing where to start.  It can be so frustrating seeing how much goes to all these different companies.  One of my most embarrassing bills, and I hate to even share this here as it makes me feel like I`ve stepped right out of the pages of Shopaholic, is my credit card.  At one point I had a horrible shopping addiction and I`m really paying for it now.  My current credit card is also extremely high interest although my credit score is actually quite good.

I was looking around and I came across Lowestrates.ca and was really excited to see how quickly I was able to find a whole slew of credit cards that matched what I was looking for.  Low Interest rate, no fees and a low balance transfer interest rate too.  Awesome!  

I also noticed that they offer a similar service for all types of insurance;  Auto Insurance, LifeInsurance and so on.  I looked through the auto insurance as well and ran a quick comparison and was given a quote that matched what I currently pay at the lowest.  This was actually a first for me because my Insurance is probably the lowest I have ever heard of (and no I do not even have to pay a deductible, I just have an amazing policy through a great insurer.)  Usually when I do Auto Insurance comparison online I get back numbers twice as high as what I currently pay so I am pretty impressed with Lowestrates.ca as far as Insurance Comparison goes.

Out of curiosity I also checked out the Mortgage section.  We currently rent but are saving for a down payment so we will soon be shopping for a Mortgage.  Now, admittedly, I don`t really know very much about Mortgages and all the lingo associated is a little bit like Chinese to me.  I do know that I want to minimise the interest I`ll have to pay as I can only imagine the thousands and thousands of dollars wasted if I were to pick the wrong lender.  I was really surprised how easy it was to fill out the form and have Mortgage rates returned to me from various lenders.  I was shocked by just how much higher a rate my own bank charges compared to some of the other lenders!  Truth be told, I probably would have just settled on them since they are familiar to me and just easy since we currently have a relationship.  What a mistake that would be!

Funny enough, I did find under their help center a whole bunch of articles clarifying Mortgage language and terms as well as other valuable information.  Now I know the difference between Open and Closed as well as fixed rate vs. variable.  Not that I will remember, but hey, I can always check back at Lowestrates.ca to brush up on it!

I was looking around further as I was impressed with what I had already found when I came across links to some calculators.  Of course the one calculator I was most interested in was the Credit Card Calculator.   It was so easy to use and plug the numbers in to figure out how much of my credit card balance I needed to pay off each month in order to become debt free by the end of the year. 
I just had to share with all of you how awesome a resource Lowestrates.ca is for Canadians.   Using the information I`ve found through them I am sure I can save a ton of money off some of my monthly bills and more importantly, it was quick and easy to do so and I was able to do a “one stop shop“.  

Most people already comparison shop online, especially prior to making a large purchase, and it only makes sense to do the same when looking for new options in the finance industry.  It just doesn`t make sense to spend time looking to save $50 off a Kitchen Aid Mixer online but then just going with the same old thing and spending way more of your money than you should because you didn`t think to compare offers online when shopping for a mortgage or Insurance or even for a credit card.
When making your last decision in regards to the finance industry did you bother to comparison shop first or did you just go with what you know?

Karen S.

Wednesday 14th of August 2013

Nice tips, especially about online shopping. For me, credit cards are just a way to use money I already have, and get bonuses (air miles, cash back) for doing so. Finally, I'd add that one way to make sure you aren't wasting money is to have a close look at your banking plan. Are you eligible for available discounts? (students, older folks), is there a minimum balance you can maintain to avoid paying fees? Does you plan suit your bank usage?

Carla

Monday 20th of May 2013

i will definitely try one of these

Debbie Bashford

Saturday 18th of May 2013

will have to check it out

Jo Ann Moffatt

Friday 17th of May 2013

Being a singe Mom (not by choice!) and on long-term disability I have no choice but to be extremely frugal. Most time I must go without. However, on necessities, this is a great resource to use to save just as much money as you possibly can.

Cindy

Tuesday 9th of April 2013

Wow thank you. This is a great resource. I will be using it.