If you wait until the last minute to get your car ready for winter, it could end up costing you. Snow, icy rain, freezing roads, and major temperature drops can lead to accidents and extremely costly repairs. Get ready now, before the weather in your area surprises you.

Add cold weather essentials to the trunk: First make sure you’ve got your Winter Car Emergency Kit organized. Secondly you’ll need the following – kitty litter for better traction on ice and snow, heavy gloves, an ice scraper, jumper cables, and if your area requires them, chains.
Fill up: Your routine maintenance should be …read more

Gas stations and car manufacturers push the benefits of higher octane, premium brands, and also more expensive gas all the time. Supporters say using higher octane gas or a special brand will make your car run better and keep everything in tip top shape, but will it? Should you shell out the extra cash for the best type of gas?

In a word no. Your car manual may tell you to buy premium or a specific higher octane brand but you can safely ignore that recommendation. CBS Money Watch and AAA are just two of the many outlets who have called …read more

Of course anyone can get cash for an old clunker by selling off parts, but now you may be able to score even more cash back with a new Cash for Clunkers Bill.

The bill is poised to be signed into law as part of a $106 billion wartime spending bill. New car buyers will be able to trade in their old clunkers for vouchers worth up to $4,500 that can be used towards the purchase of a new, fuel efficient car. The bill is basically passed. On Thursday, June 18th the Senate voted to for the Cash for Clunkers provision …read more

Gas prices have gone way down where I am in Oregon; hopefully they’ve gone down where you are too. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t still save money on gas, or know what to do when prices jump again.

Click before you fill up – check out online gas prices before you head to the pump. Gas Buddy and MapQuest Gas Prices are two good places to start.
Get gas at the store – In my neighborhood, we have some grocery stores that also have corresponding gas stations. If you swipe your store card at the pump you save 10% on your …read more

Someone smarter than me is going to have to explain to me this whole auto bail out plan because I am not getting it.  This week I heard a statistic but I can’t remember the source.  The statistic went like this … In 2007, Toyota and GM sold the same amount of gross product.  Toyota, however, mad etwice the profit as GM.  So if htey are both making cars in the US and they both brought in similar amounts of money, then why is Toyota fine and GM needing y tax dollars to pay a rediculous overhead.
Let me say quickly …read more

So have you heard about the Arab Sheikh who flew his $400,000 Murciélago LP640 Lamborghini to London for an oil change.  This is the same car used in Dark Knight.  I must be missing something.  Here is how The Business Sheet breaks it down in US dollars:

$400,00 – The cost of the car
$40,000 – The flight to London to get the oil change
$7,000 – The mechanic’s price to do the oil change
$? – It doesn’t mention how much the oil cost
$447,000 – Oil change

I just got my oil changed today for a total of $26.  I pay that much because …read more

I couldn’t believe how high gas prices went right after Hurricane Ike. So I took this picture on Saturday. On Sunday, prices stayed put. On Monday, prices went back down to $3.99/gal. Today I paid $3.89/gal. I never thought I would be happy to pay $3.89/gal. It is so sad!

I’ve been told for quite some time now that gas companies are only allowed to charge a certain amount above what they pay for the gas. The Department of Energy even has a site where consumers can report price gouging on gasoline.
A recent trip to Wal-Mart left me questioning what is going on around here. Murphy Express is selling gas for thirty cents less per gallon than the other gas stations. Thirty cents!!!! Unbelievable! Yes, it is definitely worth driving the few extra miles for the savings.

Needless to say, the competition has been …read more

Last week, my husband listed his motorcycle on ebay.  The high bidder emailed to say that he bought another motorcycle and wouldn’t be able to buy my husband’s.  My husband reminded the buyer that as a bidder he was under contract to purchase the bike. 
After several emails, the buyer finally agreed to come and look at the bike.  In a “nice way” he said that he would drive 2 1/2 hours to look at the bike, but if anything was different than described, my husband should be prepared to pay him for his time and that he would receive negative feedback …read more

I ran across a great article from Dumb Little Man on how to use the everyday things we use and found a neat way to get dents out of your vehicle.  This is ironic since someone dinged my brand new van (to me anyway) in the parking garage at work last week.  I was so MAD!  Anyway, Shilpan suggested taking a wet plunger and pull out the dent in your car.  It worked for most of the dent in my van so good luck.  Just another frugal tip to keep your things working and looking nice without spending money.