We are unexpectedly shopping for a car. I really dislike car shopping, but I’m doing my research so we can find the best deal. While looking for car buying tips I found this great chart on Savings.com.

The best to time buy a car – September and October (yay for me!)

• Paint – June through August
• Laptop – August and September
• Real Estate- December through February
• Aluminum Foil – July through August
• Wedding Dress- November

There are even best days to buy certain items, like Tuesday for airline tickets, and best times to buy, like early morning for an oil change.

You can see the full-sized chart on the Savings.com website so check it out before you make any big purchases.

Last week we talked about saving money on insurance by installing a tracking device in your car. I didn’t like the idea because it felt too invasive and many of you said you wouldn’t give up your privacy to save a few dollars on insurance.

Our discussion got me thinking about all the ways we do give up our privacy to save money, probably without even thinking about it.

One way that most if not all people allow companies to learn more about them is grocery store loyalty cards. Often grocery stores will offer shoppers with loyalty cards significant discounts on groceries.

When signing up for the loyalty card there is usually a page of “terms” that I never read, do you? I just sign and save!

Every time you shop and use the card the store learns more about you and your grocery habits. As long as the card is swiped during the transaction it is tracking all your purchases, not just the discounted items.

The grocery store learns a lot about you over the course of a few years. They know the days you shop, spending habits, and the type of food you are buying. Of course the store has your address and phone number because you had to list that on the form when you received your card.

Most of us sign up for these cards without a second thought, I know I do. Who wants to pay regular prices?

At what point are we unwilling to give up our privacy to save money? Many of you said there was no way you would let your auto insurance company track your driving. What if your health insurance company was given access to your grocery information? Would it be worth the savings?

I’ve been thinking all week about the point at which I would rather pay more to protect my privacy.

I can’t quite decide, my desire to save is pretty great, but I wonder about the long term consequences of selling my information. Is it worth it?

What do you think?

Photo credit: joelogon