THE DOLLAR STRETCHER

"Living Better...For Less"

JUNE 2, 1997

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"The Dollar Stretcher" Copyright 1997. All Rights reserved. Copies may be distributed without alteration electronically free of charge. "The Dollar Stretcher" is distributed via email between 6pm each Monday and 8am Tuesday morning United States Eastern time zone. The newsletter runs approximately 40k in length.
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"The Dollar Stretcher" does not assume responsibility for advice given. All advice should be weighed against your own abilities and circumstances and applied accordingly. It is up to the reader to determine if advice is safe and suitable for their own situation.

In this issue:

Introduction

Housekeeping Tips
Part 6 - Laundry
by Judith C. Bettinger

Plant a Backyard Teepee for Your Kids!
by Louise Wulf

Stretching Your Auto Lease Dollar
by Gary Foreman

Ask Bob: The Automotive Answer Guy?
by Bob DeP

Tips, Quips, Quotes & Questions

No time for idle chatter. Remember to visit our sponsors and send a copy of the newsletter to a frugal friend.

All the Best!
Gary

1. Scheduling
Here it is again! If you haven't noticed by now, I'm big on scheduling chores. I do laundry twice a week; once on Wednesday, which ends up being mostly clothing and once on Saturday, which is when I wash bath towels and change sheets. I fold and put things away the following day. As with my other chores, sticking to the schedule keeps the laundry from piling up. At worst, I usually only have to do two or three loads each time. For sheets and towels, I make sure that I have double sets of everything so that I don't have to wait until the laundry's done to re-make the beds.

2. Stain Removal
By far the biggest problem with my "hobby" is stain removal. Between food, garden soil, grass, and various art supplies, my daughter often ends the day looking like a living advertisement for a major national brand of laundry detergent. Add to this my husband's penchant for putting uncapped roller-ball pens into his shirt pockets, and stains can cause costly damage. Here are some things that help:

- For general stain removal, I use a large spray bottle into which I put 1/2 cup each of Wisk, ammonia, and vinegar. I then fill the bottle to the top with water. Bottles of this concoction live in the laundry room and under the upstairs bathroom sink, which is next to the clothes chute. After I undress my daughter every night, I go over her clothes with the stain remover before I toss them down the chute.

- If I catch the stain right away, "Goop" hand cleaner does a good job of removing roller-ball ink, which does NOT come out with rubbing alcohol or hair spray the way ballpoint ink will. I rub it into the stain with an old toothbrush, and then let it sit for several hours/days, and wash as usual. If it doesn't come out, I re-treat it until the stain is unnoticeable.

- for ground-in garden dirt, 1/2 cup of sudsy ammonia added to the wash water is effective. It also removes greasy stains well. Of course, never do this with a load if you add bleach!

- I try not to use alot of bleach, because it's so hard on the clothes. But when the whites get to looking dingy, I'll wash them by themselves in hot water, and add 1/2 - 1/3 cup bleach to the wash. Bleach works better if you allow the machine to agitate for a few minutes with the plain detergent before adding the bleach. I dilute it with water before pouring it into the tub.

3. General Washing
To save money, I've tried every cut-rate detergent I could find. What I've found is that alot of the really cheap ones just don't clean light-colored clothing very well. So, I compromise. For dark clothing, towels, and sheets, none of which really get that dirty-looking, I use the cheapest stuff I can find, which is generally Costco's house brand. For light-colored clothing, including my daughter's shirts and the like, I find that the Costco house brand with all-fabric bleach does a noticeably better job.

We live in a very dry climate, and static electricity is a real problem. During the winter, I add liquid fabric softener to the rinse. In the summer, a cup of vinegar in the rinse provides plenty of softening.

We have a large drying rack in our basement, and one outside. I use the indoor one during bad weather, and for small items that are bothersome to clip with clothespins. I always line-dry small items, and I try to hang sheets and towels outside whenever I can, rather than using the dryer; even if the weather is cold, they'll still dry on a sunny day.

4. Washing Diapers To save money, I use cloth diapers for my daughter. Right at first, we had a diaper service, but I dropped it fairly early on because washing diapers really isn't alot of trouble. My daughter is mostly toilet-trained now, so I only have to deal with one wet diaper per day now and the process is even simpler. The method I describe here is the one I used when she was in diapers full-time.

Bleach is a problem with diapers because it will cause them to fall apart if you use it consistently. But, in order to prevent diaper rash, you do need to kill the bacteria that can live in the diaper. My method follows.

- I dumped the diapers into a pail with a lid. If there was alot of poop on the diaper, I'd rinse it out in the toilet. Otherwise, I didn't bother. We used enough diapers that they didn't tend to stay around for long, and as long as the lid was on the pail, odor wasn't a problem.

- I pre-rinsed the diapers and waterproof pants in the washer in warm water with 1/2 cup of borax.

- I washed them in HOT water with regular detergent. The "baby" detergents are very expensive, and my daughter rarely had a problem with diaper rash, so I saw no reason to spend the extra money.

- I added 1 c. vinegar to the rinse water. I just put it in the fabric softener dispenser. It helps to remove residue, and I was told that it would balance the pH properly.

- When she was really really teeny, I'd do a second rinse, just to make sure all the detergent was gone. This became unnecessary as she got a bit older.

- I dried the diapers in a hot dryer, or in the sun. I hung the waterproof pants on the line. (Incidentally, the nylon taffeta ones last 10 times longer than the plastic kind.)

Occasionally, if the diapers got to looking dingy or stained, I'd add about 1/3 cup bleach to the wash water. When I bleached, I'd always double rinse.

5. Time-savers
Finally, here's a little tip that has saved me some time: I found several packages of "sock locks" at a garage sale. I keep these in little bins in our bedroom and in the bathroom by the clothes chute. When we take our socks off at the end of the day, we put them in the locks before we toss them down the chute. Now I don't have to go through the tedious process of sorting socks. It's also easier on the top elastic than rolling them into balls. I've since seen sock clips or locks in several mail order catalogs and at variety stores like K-Mart.

Form a teepee from BAMBOO POLES, lashed together about a foot from the top with rope or wire. The number of poles you'll want depends on the size of your teepee. (Experiment with various sizes at the garden center before you buy.) Wrap the teepee with TRELLIS NETTING (the stuff you use to keep the birds from eating your fruit crop), leaving a vee-shaped opening for the kids to slip into. Plant RUNNER BEANS, PEAS and/or FLOWERING VINES like morning glories and sweet peas around the bottom and voila!

This teepee takes growing time, but is quickly made and is a great introduction to gardening if the kids help make it. Master gardeners at your local extension service can advise you on vine options for your area. Peas and beans can be eaten raw, which adds to the fun, though it does decrease your harvest!

Louise is a regular contributor to The Dollar Stretcher. Her love for children is evident in her choice of subjects. If you have a question about raising, feeding, or entertaining your kids on a limited budget send it to Louise at wulfx@ibm.net.

Dealers and leasing companies are quick to tell you the benefits of leasing a car. You'll have lower monthly payments. You don't need a big down payment. No worries about trade-ins or selling a used car. You'll hear these and other arguments in favor of leasing. What they won't tell you is that it's common for people to spend $2,000 to $4,000 more than they need to over the length of their lease agreement.

Let's begin our adventure by walking through what actually happens when you lease a car. The Leasing Company purchases the car from the dealer. In some cases both the seller and the Leasing Company can be doing business at the same location. They may even be owned by the same people.

The Leasing Company is then going to rent the car to you for a certain period of time. At the end of the lease they will then sell the auto on the used car market. The Lease Company must make money on the deal to stay in business. They make money from your lease payments and by selling the car after the lease is over. They spend money when they buy the car.

Now that we have a basic understanding of what's going on, let's find out where most people get fleeced on their lease. As you might expect, the biggest variable in the deal is the original purchase price of the new car. You would never buy a car without negotiating the best price first. Yet, many people go into leases and never even ask what the purchase price of the car is.

We're all familiar with 'sticker' price or M.S.R.P. (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price). You'd be embarrassed to tell your friends that you paid 'sticker' for a new car. Often leasing deals won't even tell you what price the Leasing Company is paying for the car. That makes it very easy to jack up the car's price to 110% or even 120% of sticker price. Sneaky, huh?

Next, there's the question of what interest rate you're paying. When you borrow money to buy a car you're told the rate of interest on the loan. It's a legal requirement in most places. Yet, when you lease a car don't expect to see an interest rate. In fact, if you ask you'll probably be told that there's no interest rate because you're 'renting' the car.

Baloney! If you look at the contract you'll probably find the interest rate hidden under another name. Some have "monthly lease charges". Other's have a "service charge or fee". They can call it whatever they want or not even mention it at all, but the effect is the same. They're taking money out of your pocket and putting it into theirs.

Once again, let's stop and think through what's happening. The Lease Company will spend say $15,000 today to pay for the car you're about to drive away in. If they put that money to work somewhere else it would earn interest. They know what rate they expect to earn on that money. Suppose they expect to earn 5% simple annual interest. That means they'd have $17,365 in three years. But if they expect to earn 15% each year, they'll have $22,813 in three years. In financial circles this is called the 'future value' of money.

So they'll need the payments from you plus the sale price of the used car be greater than the future value to make the lease worthwhile. The higher the assumed interest rate, the greater the future value the Leasing Company will need to recover. They may not tell you what the interest rate is, but you can bet that they know exactly what it is.

Finally, let's look at the third major piece of the leasing puzzle. How much is the car going to be worth when the lease is over. Let's imagine you were buying or selling a used car today. How would you determine what it's worth? You might go down to a used car lot and see what the asking price is on other similar cars. That would be 'retail' price. Or you could take your car in to a lot and ask them what they'd be willing to pay you for it. That would be 'wholesale' price. You'd expect that there would be some difference between wholesale and retail.

What does that have to do with your leasing deal? Well, the Leasing Company is going to sell your car when the lease is over. Remember that they make money from your monthly lease payments plus what they can get by selling the car. So if they figure that the car will be worth more at the end, you'll have to pay less each month.

But how can the Leasing Company figure what the car will be worth in two, three or four years? They have some fairly sophisticated methods for estimating what your car will sell for at the end of the lease. But there is some risk for them. They want to assume as low a sale price as possible. That way they won't have any bad surprises. If they do better than planned, well that's just extra profit for them. But since they assume a lower sale price, you'll be paying more each month to 'rent' that car.

How do the Leasing Companies get by with all of this? They present the whole deal as if there's no room for negotiation. They'll tell you not to worry about the price of the car or the interest rate. In fact, they'll tell you that's an advantage to leasing a car. All the worry is removed for you. Yeh, right!

When you don't understand what's happening in a deal is the exact time to be worried. Someone's hand is on your wallet! But don't expect to win any friendship awards when you start to ask questions. You may even find that the Leasing Company would rather not do business with you than explain what you're paying for the car and other pertinent details. If that's the case, just say goodbye to that deal. It wasn't good anyway.

OK, so now we know how to spot a bad leasing deal. But how can you find a good one? Well, that's the topic for an upcoming Dollar Stretcher. Don't miss it!

Dear Charlie,
You can find the correct firing order in any repair manual. Just go to your local library, and find a repair manual for your car. Also check to make sure the rotor (did you change this as well) is not 180 degrees out of phase (backwards).
--Bob

Hey Bob,
I have a 1987 Volvo 240 DL and lately the oil light stays on for a few seconds when I first start the car. The "quick Lube" mechanic says it is okay and my oil pump is just getting old ...I don't know, should I be concerned about this light ? Also the car sometimes stalls when I first put it in gear, could this be related ? This has been a good car for 10 years and I would like to keep it alot longer. Thanks for your help.
--P.B

PB,
The reason that the oil light is on when the car is first started is that the oil pressure has not yet built up. The worst thing to do to your car is start it in the morning! The reason is that overnight, all of the oil that was is the upper part of the engine has drained to the bottom and leaves the top all dry. This cold/dry start is what causes the most wear. Now, it might be true that your oil pump is getting a little "tired", but you should have seen this light come on since the car was new. When you turn the key on, not start it, but just on, the light should come on. This is because it sees a low pressure. Every car that I have ever seen does this. Now the thing is, how long does it take for the pressure to come up? More than just a few seconds is bad. To compensate for this, you might want to consider changing your oil more frequently (keeping fresh oil will allow it to pump up faster) or switch to a lower viscosity oil (if using 10w30, switch to 5w30). There are also some new synthetics out on the market. Castrol makes one that I am very IMPRESSED with. It will mix readily with conventional oils, unlike other true full synths. Also this oil has an additive in it that helps the oil (or maybe just the additive, I don't know) stick to the in linings on the engine to combat this dry start situation. This additive is not a Teflon or any other semi-solid like that, but a specially designed molecule. Castrol calls this creation, Syntec. I have also seen other commercials advertising oils that are weighted at 0w40. very interesting. No cold thickening and plenty of hot lubrication. I do not know if this oil will readily mix with conventional oils. I was always a firm believer that cars should have an electric oil pump in them. Then you start the car like you would a diesel. Turn the key, wait a few seconds for the oil to pump up, then start. This would save a lot of money over the long run, but would probably put a lot of people out of work. Sorry, but I like my car to last. As far as your stalling problem, when was the last time you had a tune up? It sounds like you might be due. Also, try letting it warm up a little more before you leave in the morning.

Bob answers your auto questions. If you have a question for Bob just sent it to him though The Dollar Stretcher (AskBob@stretcher.com)

Do you all have any good resource materials for first time house buyers? I have access to a VA loan - unused in my name. What source might be best for rates or loans?
Thanks,
Robert S.

How and where should I keep my potatoes so they won't rot so fast. I have the hardest time keeping potatoes fresh and without the eyes growing wild!
Angela R
Dallas, Tx

How do you begin to balance a check book that has been off for so long? It seems so hopeless that I might have to start a new account. I brought it to my credit union and they tried to help, but it is embarrassing having a stranger looking into you personal records. Am I the only one who is experiencing this? I read dollar stretcher and am trying so hard to get a handle on my finances, but looking into my checkbook gives me a feeling of being defeated before I even begin! Any words of wisdom out there?
--India

A disposable camera does not cost much more than the $5 you have budgeted and adds a boost to the party. I keep a couple on hand for just that reason; my local grocery store brand is $6.95 for the indoor/outdoor kind.
--Bonnie C

Why not get a basket or other fun container, maybe a pail for kids and fill it with fun, cheap stuff. For instance, silly putty, a water gun, that slime stuff you spray at people, a deck of cards, etc... If you have a dollar store near by, just wander around, they have tons of cheap, tacky stuff that kids would find fun. You can put Easter grass or something else on the bottom of the pail or basket so it looks more full than it is. With boys you can add some of those little cars and girls throw in some nail polish. Just finish off with some candy or a pez dispenser and you have a fun gift. If you find some fun small things that most kids think are neat, pick up a bunch so that at any time you have a supply of items to mix and match for a birthday.

Why not next time your kid has a birthday party, tell the other parents to please limit how much they spend to $5? It is important for you to set an example so that it doesn't look like you are giving cheap gifts and expecting expensive ones for your own kids.

Also, sometimes it is in the attitude too. If your kids act embarrassed about the gift, the other kids will pick that up.

On a personal note, my husband and I limit all of our gifts to each other (Christmas, birthdays, valentines day, etc) to $10. This forces us to be creative and thoughtful and not create a "who can spend more money" contest. My husband even suggested after last Christmas that we wait and exchange our Christmas presents in January so that we can take advantage of the after Christmas sales. He has come a long way!
--CB

My favorite cheap-that-doesn't-look-cheap gift is a really nice children's hardback book (or two) from the remainder bin at the nearby Borders bookshop. I've seen remainder bins with children's books at Walden and B. Dalton also, but Borders' is definitely the best. I have picked up boxed sets of 4 books for $3.98 (mini-hardbacks), book & cassette tape combinations for $1.98, and any number of gorgeous color-illustrated hardbacks for under $3. I will often buy two (for a really special friend), which looks like a really extravagant gift (a large hardback plus a paperback/cassette set) and spend less than $6.

We also have a couple of surplus/discount stores (MacFrugal's and Bud's Warehouse) which have some great toy bargains mixed in with the junk. The selection varies widely from week to week so I stock up on really good buys ... I've bought buckets of Duplo for $4 that started out at over $20, Disney soundtrack CD's for $1 - I could go on all day. The trick is to buy several of these when you see them so that you have them in a closet all ready to wrap for that no-notice party.

And don't forget to stock up on cheap birthday cards and wrapping paper, too (or make your own)!
-TJ

For the reader who was looking for inexpensive ideas for birthday gifts
-Give the birthday child a book of gift certificates for McDonald's, video rentals, ice cream, etc.
-Present them with a ticket for the zoo, museum, etc. and schedule a time to take them.
-Shop the end of season clearance sales and stockpile items.
-Make gift baskets of individually wrapped items from cereal, Happy Meals, or items bought on clearance.
-Give them a t-shirt and items for them to decorate it (ribbon scraps, old beads, paints, shapes cut from old sponges, etc)
-For younger children, make homemade playdough and package it with a few cookie cutters.
-Books
-Make up mixes for cookies, brownies, etc, and package them with an apron or chef's hat.
--Kim

How about an invitation for a play date? If you are already planning to take your child to the park for a picnic or to the zoo, etc., invite the birthday child to come along. His/her parents will love you for giving them some free time! To make it more special for the birthday child, you could bake cupcakes to celebrate their birthday AGAIN! Maybe other parents will take your cue, and you'll get some free time too!
--Debra B.
Montgomery, AL

editor's note: we had so many fantastic ideas for kid's birthday gifts that we created a special tips page. You bound to find an idea that you can use! It's at:
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/970530a.htm

My first apartment was furnished with castoff furniture and LOTS of milk crates, tied together with twist ties. On my walls, I framed posters and clippings from a stack of castoff photography magazines I had found. Another wall hanging I did was an old red/white/blue bunting that someone had crocheted (picked it up at a yard sale for 10 cents)which was a perfect storage solution for all of my pins and earrings. It looked incredible. I also covered my stereo speakers with "rock pins"--those round buttons with band names and photos on them.

As far as castoff furniture, I had a love seat, until I got tired of it. Then I traded it for a brass daybed. When I got bored with THAT, I traded it for a fold-a-bed couch. That, I finally threw away. (Hey, it was a one-room apartment, I didn't have much room!).

Remember, anything you see has potential for resuscitation--just two days ago, I saw (in the trash room of my apartment building) a nice, though small kitchen table, a computer desk that was fine except for a couple of scratches (decoupage over them), and several bookshelves. (Which I would have brought home, except that they were too heavy for me to carry. Oh well.

Be creative...and a good source of ideas is the book LIVING CHEAPLY WITH STYLE. Oh, one other thing. As far as wall treatments go, depending on your sense of style, it could be cute to cover walls with OLD (as in Thirties or Forties) newspapers, then cover with clear contact paper. Of course, the border in my living room right now is a pretty patterned contact paper--only $1.95 a roll, as opposed to $8.00 or more for actual cut border. And it has the advantage of being easily peeled off when I move.
--MB

When we started to gather items for our home we started just outside our building. We lived in a "student ghetto" and were moving to another building. It was May and many of the University's students were leaving for the summer. As student's put out there used furniture, we went "shopping". We found two chairs, a sofa, and book case. Later, when a relative was closing out her apartment, we inherited some original art, mirrors, and kitchen gadgets. We now have a funky and eclectic look that I call "early yard sale".

May I suggest that you make a "wish list" and then start looking around in student neighborhoods for moving sale postings or furniture that's put to the roadside for pick-up. Cover any "offending" pieces with sheets or pieces of fabric (wrap the seat cushion, for example), or add accent pillows to draw things together.

When I look around our apt I feel pretty happy about what I've got and what I've done and I don't have to worry (as much as with new furniture) about things getting damaged.
--Mimi
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Thinking! Really think through your need, not the product that you believe you need to buy to meet it. How else could you meet the need? Then think about how to do it.
--Vicki M.
Brooklyn, NY

I know you have heard this before, but I wanted to give more 'living proof' that this works - take your lunch to work at least 9 days out of 10, then you can treat yourself to lunch out one day. I have really been keeping track of this, just to prove to myself how much more money I'll have. Around here I can average $5 per lunch, including tip if necessary. Even if I drink water it can still come to that much.

I don't know about most people, but $5 x 5 days per week is enough to pay my phone bill, and 6 days of $5 can pay my cable bill, etc.

Plus, if you're a soda drinker, I wait for the 12 packs to go on sale and then buy them, because our average price from the machine is 50 cents.
--Jan

To remove ink stains from fingers and clothes, I have found that window cleaner is marvelous. For really tough ink stains on clothes, I wet the stain with window cleaner and let it work for 15 minutes, then I washed it out with water.
--C.F.

Like you said, garage sale season has started. The things I always look for at garage sales are plants, small pictures/frames, pots, vases, and fabric. Last weekend, I got 10 yards of linen material for $1, perfect for drapes, covering a couch, or (our use), summer clothes.

It is always a good idea to hit garage sales in the nicer areas of town, they generally have "newer stuff" in better condition.

My favorite simple weapon in the battle for frugality is my grocery store price book. I have saved over 50% on grocery bills by using it.
--Heather C.

I've noticed in this issue and another recent one articles about working at home. One thing to keep in mind is what kind of business your city's zoning ordinances will allow you to have in your home. In Charlotte NC, for instance, one cannot do any type of manufacturing or assembly in the home, nor store stock/supplies for a small business in the home. Yes, that means all the Tupperware, Avon, Shaklee, etc, peddlers are violating the law if they have *any* stock at all in their homes. The retired ladies who crochet potholders and dishcloths to sell at the local Farmer's Market are outlaws, since they're taking raw materials and converting them to another form with the intent to sell. I called the business license office about this and have the pamphlet at home which basically explains that Charlotte is an anti-home- business city. When I asked the business office about what kind of business you can legally have in your home, I was told there were "all kinds" but given no examples. Your home office can legally have "a desk and file cabinets" (direct quote from the biz office). A writer can "write on paper." (another direct quote, making one wonder what kind of chaos might be unleashed by writing, say, on cardboard!) A painter can paint pictures in her/his home so long as it's not a mass-production type thing. However, if those pictures are framed in the home, that is illegal as it is assembly. Apparently, consulting-type businesses, in which most of the contact is done via phone or email, are allowed, as are daycares in the home. But you can't perform services (such as hairstyling, massage, etc) in your home, either. I heartily recommend anyone who is considering starting a home business look into their city's ordinances and business license requirements, and consider the options. I wanted to start a small soapmaking business the "right" way, doing everything by the book, legal and business stuff all in a neat row. But because of the ridiculous (and unconstitutional, I feel) laws in my city, I had little choice but to become an Outlaw Renegade Soapmaker. In fact, my Outlaw Amazon Soap is one of my most popular bars, particularly when I explain how it got it's name.
--anon.

When trying to lose weight, many people need the support and accountability that comes with joining a weight loss group, like Weight Watchers. But a lot of weight loss organizations and businesses can be *very* expensive. You sometimes have to purchase special food, and the dues are sometimes outrageous. But TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) is a nonprofit group started by a couple of housewives, and it's very affordable. It costs $20 to belong for an entire year, and that includes a monthly magazine and lots of group encouragement. Each chapter sets its own monthly dues based on the "rent" for the meeting (groups usually meet in a church, etc.). My monthly dues are $4. So, if you're interested in losing weight and like having the accountability and camaraderie of a group, look for a TOPS club in your area.
--Margaret A

All the Best!

Gary Foreman
"The Dollar Stretcher"
gary@stretcher.com
http://www.stretcher.com/dollar

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