IMHO get new snow tires on the steel wheels and leave them on the wheels all the time as suggested by vvpete. Not breaking them down every year will help them last a lot longer.

As mentioned:
Tire size, get the narrowest (stock) size for best traction.

Do you have a wagon or sedan? The Volvo tag on my 90 sedan's passenger side door specifies 185/70 x 14. That is the size I use for both my summer and snow tires. As mentioned, the wagon uses an odd size, 185 R-14.


--
Jim 90 244DL 243K

Check out Wal-mart's prices. You may find something there. Balancing is additional.
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans

If I were you, I would get a set of new winter tires on your steel wheels in 195/75-14. Leave the summer tires on the turbo wheels, the wheels and tires will last longer if you don't remove them each year.
I've seen several on-line places like tirerack.com for $40 each. Dont' buy used.
--
'89 245 Sportwagon, '04 V70 2.5T Sportwagon

The orig. spec. tire size for these is no longer made by most manufacturers (I've seen Michelins).
I often see 185-70-14's on 240's used on 240s; these have a smaller diameter than the orig. spec size for either the wagon or sedan.

Sedan original spec: 175-R-14
OK size: 195-70-14 (and likely also 185-75-14)

Wagon original spec: 185-R-14
OK size: 195-75-14 or 205-70-14 [or 185-80-14 if available - I've seen 'em once)

The old size designation with no middle # for profile = 78, if I recall. A detailed study of tire diameter specs and load ratings from multiple sources gave me the results above.

Only two things matter on your car. Brakes and tires!!!! The only used tires I would even consider would be Police take-offs because the only have 15,000 miles on them. Unfortunately they are going to be 16 inch.

Get a good set of M/S tires from a reputable dealer.

used tires which I use often, should be more like 1/3 the cost for tires with lots of tread left 1/4 price for worn ones. Shop around for the right price. I have never had a problem with used tires, in my town there is a guy who gets his tires from wrecked cars so some of them are almost new. Re sizes whatever fits, the tire guys know what is close enough, the 14s are more common and cheaper, there are some nice narrow 15s though that track great in the snow. for snow the narrower the better, alloys shouldn't be a problem, they look better too. Also it's best to have 4 matching, but barring that 2 front 2 rear match is good, the 2 fronts MUST be matched, but in a pinch you can have miss matched rears, just remeber you are loosing predictabilty in handling. By matching I mean matching size/brand, absolutly do no run with 14s and 15s on the same car.