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If your car has light surface scratches, use good quality polish, filler compound and a fine grit sanding pad. Then to finish up the repair, use a small paintbrush and paint that matches your vehicle. Once you are done fixing the damage, take a step back and see if the scratch is still noticeable. If you have major scratch issues, you might want to consult a professional.

Be wary when buying the new car extended warranty as there are many people making lots of money selling inferior products. If you try to save money here, you will later find that the extended warranty proves to be more trouble to you than it’s worth.

Many more luxury cars are leased each year compared with non luxury cars. This means that there is a lot of high quality inventory from which buyers of used luxury vehicles can choose. Because those who lease vehicles are required to pay dearly for any damage or extra miles they put on the car during the lease period, used luxury vehicles that were previously leased are a more likely to be in better condition than just any non-leased vehicle on a car lot.

LizS, i've been using baking soda and vinegar on my hair only when dyeing it for over a decade now. i don't use it as a shampoo but the alkalinity of the baking soda opens the scales of the hair shaft [this is why it helps get rid of buildup]
then i dye it.
and rinse the dye out with water and then with vinegar - the acidity of the vinegar closes the scales of the hair shaft, trapping dye for a few more days of that just dyed brightness.
i have also used baking soda to get a hair dye out faster when i wanted to change it. a word of warning - it works to fade hair dye pretty well and depending on the base color of the dye this can go horribly wrong. think black hair fading to dark green.

@Dimitri - Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us! Just goes to show that a little bit of planning and a dream can come together beautifully. Cheers!

I work for a company that often sells what amounts to an extended warranty on their products. For the company, profits on the plans are just not that much overall. For us, the value is really in having fewer upset and unruly customers to deal with and to get them to come back in.

You may not think that having fewer upset and unruly customers isn't that big of a deal, but it is actually pretty big. One, then they will have a better view and opinion of us. Two, they'll be more loyal if we've taken care of them. Three, if the employees don't have to deal with as many upset customers and can actually help them, then it is a much better work environment and they are better able to actually do their job.

Obviously, the extended warranties aren't always a great deal and some places within a national corporation may be worse than others, but there are often things in the warranty that customers can take advantage of even if nothing goes wrong with their product.

So, do yourself a favor and find out what benefits the warranty has for you and figure out if you can take advantage of them or not.

For several months now, I have used a bit of baking soda with a little water rubbed onto the scalp as shampoo. This has worked well for me - it allows the body to produce less oil over time, which is great for feeling less icky overall.

HOWEVER the vinegar rinse did NOT look good under florescent lighting. I gave it many weeks (too many for the sake of my appearance!), but it that was just the way it was. I now use a conditioner I like after the baking soda.

I use both every other day.

I like the regular life tips on how to spend less and save more- the daily newsletters are great as well.

I liked the gardening in groups article--very timely for the spring!

I use white vinegar as an occasional rinse. Usually whenever my scalp feels itchy and dry. It works wonders! Never thought of using BS/WV as shampoo, but might give it a try. My hair is only like an inch-and-half long at most (I'm a guy), so I don't have much to lose. I do wash my hair every day, though, since being so short it does get oily, plus I tend to get sore places if I don't.

Would have liked to include your tip, Ben-David, but this is one area where I have the least experience.  Glad you brought it up so that our readers could research more if they're interested in experimenting with homemade wines and such.  Thanks!

Linsey Knerl

I actually tried to deed my house back in lieu of forclosure and the bank denied it. They basically said did not have time to do it because they were so busy with other forclosures. They actually suggested that we move and rent our house out so someone else because it is better for a house to be lived in rather than left empty to be vandalized.

I also have several different friends that tried going throught the short sale process or through steps to catch up on their payments. They jumped through the hoops to the 'T', paid extra (around $10,000)and the bank forclosed on them anyways.

The feeling that most people have seems to be that the banks got their bailout money and are now not worried about failing. So now they are finding new ways to screw the average Joe.