Cheaper, Better, Faster

Mary Hunt

Description

What if there were one book that could help you do nearly everything in life cheaper, better, and faster? Show you how to remove hairspray baked onto a curling iron. How to make white shoes look like new. How to make gourmet coffee without the gourmet price. How to keep your cat out of your houseplants. And hundreds of other things.Cheaper, Better, Faster is all the best advice you've ever heard, collected into one handy volume. Every tip is short, to the point, and helps you make the most of your money and your time, making everyday life less hectic and more enjoyable.

Sujets

• Personal finance

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441240880
• Langue: English

Extrait

© 2013 by Mary Hunt
Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www . revellbooks .com
Ebook edition created 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-4088-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Published in association with the literary agency of The Steve Laube Agency, 5025 N. Central Ave., #635, Phoenix, Arizona 85012-1502.
The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Introduction 7

1. Automobiles 11
2. Cleaning 33
3. Clothing and Accessories 67
4. Food and Cooking 83
5. Gifts 133
6. Health and Beauty 159
7. Holidays and Special Occasions 177
8. Home 213
9. Kids and Babies 255
10. Laundry 271
11. Money and Finances 285
12. Outdoors and Garden 315
13. Pets 335
14. Repairs and Maintenance 341
15. Shopping 359
16. Travel and Entertainment 375
About the Author 387
Other Books by Mary Hunt
Back Ads
Back Cover
Introduction
I didn’t actually set out to become a tip aficionado. But that’s exactly what’s happened since the day I began publishing Debt-Proof Living newsletter (formerly Cheapskate Monthly ) and invited readers to share with me their best money- and time-saving tips.
Three or four fascinating tips came pouring in those first few months (two or three more than I expected), and because they were great, I shared them with my readers. The more tips I published in subsequent months, the more readers responded with new and better tips. In time, I began to go out of my way looking for tips and was amazed at how many turned up. I’m not sure if I was more attracted to the tips or the tips to me (sometimes I feel like a tip magnet), but the result was clear: I loved tips. I can read a tip, digest it quickly, mentally file it for future use, move on to the next one, and never get bored.
Before long, tips began arriving at my office faster than I could figure out what to do with them. I couldn’t throw them away. And because of the way they arrived (and still do) printed on napkins; buried in the recesses of long, detailed letters; salvaged on snippets torn from newspapers; phone, fax, and email messages I had a logistical challenge from the very start.
I was able to stick with a simple filing system for about three days until I discovered a much easier method: piling which took hardly any time at all. And then piles began to grow and spill into each other at an unprecedented rate into what I would eventually name Mt. Tip.
I knew I was headed for trouble the day I spent hours searching for one wonderful tip I knew was in there somewhere. And that was the day I conceded that I had to either find a way to move mountains or call a rubbish-removal contractor. I couldn’t go on living like this.
First published in 1997 under the title Tiptionary , this book was a big hit. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who loved handy tips! Readers told me that reading the book was a lot like being faced with a bag of potato chips: It was almost impossible to stop with just one tip.
In the years since Tiptionary was released, the world has changed a lot! And that meant this book needed a radical update to make it current. Sections on banking, computers, and travel, for example, needed overhauls.
Enter Revell Books. All I had to do was mention the availability of a really awesome collection of handy tips to my editor, Vicki Crumpton, and the best publishing team in the world was mobilized into action.
What you have here is a revised and updated, fabulously fun collection of tips short, to-the-point suggestions for ways to do things cheaper, better, and faster. Many of these tips are timeless; others we know were current and relevant five minutes ago, but who knows about next month!
Some of the best tips you will read have completely unknown origins because they’ve been passed from generation to generation, and someone along the line sent them my way. Some tips were left out because they turned out to be nothing more than myths legends people believe with all their hearts, but when put to the test, fail.
One rejected tip had to do with bread and wallpaper. No foolin’. The tip was to discard the crust from a piece of bread, wad it up into a tight dough ball, and use it like an eraser to clean dirt and marks from wallpaper. I tried it and “erased” with all my might, but that little dirty spot on my wallpaper would not budge. I threw the bread ball in the trash, grabbed a bottle of laundry stain remover, and took care of the smudge in a flash.
Some entries were discovered quite by accident. I think of the woman who wrote to me so excited because she no longer needed to scrub the toilet on Saturday since her husband had started dumping his denture-soaking liquid into the commode each morning. Bingo! A great household tip (page 63).
Surely there’s a long story that goes along with the tip that arrived on a postcard without a return address or signature, simply a postmark from somewhere in Alaska: “Have your head examined before you attempt to build your own home. Unless you are a developer or professional contractor, you are in for a few surprises, not the least of which is that it will take twice as long as promised and cost twice as much as estimated.” There you go, for what it’s worth.
The criteria for whether a tip made it into this collection were fairly simple: If it didn’t insult my intelligence, included a reasonable expectation that it saved time or money, and prompted a response anything close to Wow! What a great idea! it was in. This means you won’t be reading any tips that tell you to brush and floss your teeth, because we’re smart and we already know we should do that every day. But floss a turkey? Now that’s a great tip (page 125). Or floss that winter coat? You’ll be glad you did (page 69)!
You’re about to learn that there are many different ways to accomplish goals. And that’s good, because if you need to polish the copper in your kitchen and you don’t have any lemons on hand but you do have a jug of vinegar, you’ll be able to get the job done without running to the store to spend money needlessly (page 40). When there’s more than one way to achieve the same result, Cheaper, Better, Faster will give you the choices.
And now to answer the question you will ask if you haven’t already: No, I do not do everything recommended in Cheaper, Better, Faster . There’s not a person on the face of the earth, myself included, who could do all of these things in a single lifetime, nor would I want to. Some of the tips are just not applicable to my life. And some won’t apply to your life, either.
Think of Cheaper, Better, Faster as a grand smorgasbord loaded with every kind of delicacy you can possibly imagine even some things you can’t. As you pass by, look at everything, consider most things, and fill your plate with what suits your taste.
The best thing about Cheaper, Better, Faster , just like your favorite smorgasbord, is that you can come back again and again and again!
Mary Hunt California 2013
1 Automobiles
Accident preparedness
Carry a camera, pad of paper, and pen in the glove box of your car. In case of an accident you’ll have what you need to collect information and take on-the-spot photos even if you have left your cell phone with a camera in it at home. Be sure to draw a map and record all the details while they are still fresh in your mind.
Air-conditioning vs. open windows 4/40 rule
Not sure whether it’s more cost-effective to use the air-conditioning or open the windows? Rule of thumb: If you’re driving under 40 mph, open all four windows and turn off the air-conditioning. Over 40 mph, close the windows and run the air-conditioning.
Battery terminal cleanup
Pour club soda or Windex on the battery terminals. It’s a great way to quickly clean and neutralize the acid residue at the battery terminals. Remember to disconnect the battery before cleaning.
Battery terminal protection
A car’s starting problems are frequently related to corroded battery terminals. Clean the battery terminals occasionally with a paste of baking soda and water, and then reduce the corrosion problem by smearing them with a thin coating of petroleum jelly. Remember to disconnect the battery before cleaning.
Brakes replacement
Have your brakes replaced before the rotors have to be turned. You’ll save hundreds of dollars. Your mechanic should check for free and tell you how much of the pad is remaining. Don’t push it past 5 percent.
Brakes when stopped on a hill
When stopped on a hill, always use your parking or foot brake to hold the car still. Don’t hold it by applying gas to the accelerator or, in the case of a standard transmission, by riding the clutch and applying gas. These bad habits accelerate wear of the engine, clutch, and transmission. Use your brakes. That’s what they’re for.
Bumper sticker removal
Remove a decal or bumper sticker by first softening the adhesive with a hair dryer. Use a medium-heat setting for a few seconds until the adhesive softens and the sticker starts to peel. Continue with the heat until the entire sticker peels off easily.
Buyer consideration cost guide for any car
Find out what it will cost to own a particular vehicle at www.IntelliChoice.com . Part of Motor Trend Automotive Group, IntelliChoice evaluates depreciation, gas consumption, insurance costs, and frequency of repairs to derive the average five-year co