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Smart Shopping/Second Chances
By Jean Chatzky
Oprah Radio  |  July 23, 2007
Jean Chatzky
For tips on how to become a savvier online shopper, Jean talks to Betsy Wiesendanger, deputy editor for ShopSmart magazine. Betsy shares the latest tips on how to find great deals, get the best value and protect your personal information at the same time.

  • Use dedicated shopping search engines. Also known as shopping bots, Betsy says these tools help you find all the vendors that carry the product you're looking for, and they also allow you to easily compare prices and calculate shipping costs.
  • Periodically delete cookies, empty your cache and clear private data in your browser. Betsy says this will help prevent variable pricing, a practice some sellers use in which a customer's information is stored as you shop and then prices are raised according to what you're after. She says this is especially true for travel sites.
  • Consider ordering items online, then picking them up at the brick-and-mortar store. Betsy says this can help you save big on shipping costs, especially for larger items.
  • Stay safe when shopping online by examining unfamiliar websites carefully. Obvious spelling or grammatical errors as well as a disabled browser "back" button may mean the site is fraudulent, Betsy says.
  • Always pay by credit card—never by debit card, check or money order. Most credit card companies offer fraud protection as well as services that will scramble your credit card number for a one-time use. "That way you can use it to buy an item online, but if somebody else gets a hold of it, it'll be useless," she says.
Jean also talks to Brendon Burchard, author of Life's Golden Ticket, about his book's message and how to get the most out of life. The book is about a young man who goes on a journey of self-discovery that Brendon says is similar to his own. Brendon says he was given a "golden ticket," or a second chance at life, after surviving a near-fatal car crash at the age of 19. Brendon says his brush with death gave him a sense of gratitude and purpose that changed his life for the better.

Today, Brendon heads up the College Success Bootcamp where he helps prepare students to succeed in college—emotionally, academically and financially—but he says it doesn't take a near-death experience to succeed in life. He believes that anyone can begin to find deeper meaning and fulfillment in their own lives by asking themselves the following three questions:

  1. Did I live my life fully?
  2. Did I love openly?
  3. Did I matter?
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