I prefer Hertz over Interprise, although the last few years at work, we were encouraged to use Enterprise. However, that was an economic decision and not quality. None of the company officials used Enterprise. Enterprise autos were ok, but I had difficulty dealing with their office hours. Enterprise, in my area, closes at 5 pm and are closed on weekends. Often. I 'd fly out on the job and would get back to town after 5 pm. My project would be stuck with an extra day of car rental if I returned the car the next morning. I'd have the problem of refilling the gas tank, making arrangements for Enterprise to pick up their car and getting to my own vehicle which by that time would be locked up in the company lot. It was just too much hassle to save a couple of dollars.

On #s 15 & 16, I think it's important to point out that often the alternative to refi and the like is simply pay down the principle! Especially if you're early in the mortgage, every nickel you pay toward the principle means the balance of the loan's interest on that nickel goes into your pocket. Ol' Joyful, I'll need some of your expertise here, but could you figure a rough calculation of an average type house loan, average refi costs applied to the current loan and how that would compare in the end? I think it'd be interesting. Also, said before, but often people think they "need" a new car and don't consider if they put some money into the old one, it'd save in the long run. Remember, new cars have higher insurance and license costs so there's more than the initial price to consider. I would take a bit of issue too with the convenience store avoidance. You could actually save money if wise. Often, convenience stores sell eggs, milk, bread etc at very low prices, often far less than the markets. Plus it's not a special trip, saves time plus there can be (tho not guaranteed - it's up to you) fewer impulse buys. The longer you're in the grocery store, stats say you'll spend more. Again, it's how savvy you are, but be careful. #18 (Shudder) Buyer's Brokers are seldom a good thing. Let's face facts, no real estate agent/realtor or the like works FOR the buyer! Who pays them? The seller. How do they get paid more? By "benefitting" the seller. There's no way the buyer benefits from realtors. The fewer the better in most cases. Why? Because you can often negotiate the realtor fees. If you have one realtor taking the entire commission, it's far easier to negotiate them down than to negotiate with multiple agents and try to negotiate down when they're getting 1/4 or less of the commission. Beware of this statement and check into these claims. You're far better off to have a good real estate attorney on your side. S/He'll be working for YOUR benefit. Mine found problems in the paperwork and embarrassed the daylights out of the stack of realtors, closers and the like at my closing! It was hilarious! Now as for the inspector, yes, that can be worthwhile, but don't use one recommended by the realtor (kickbacks) and make sure you know what they're inspecting, their qualifications and the like. A good alternative can be a trusted friend with qualifications. Hire like any professional. Realize, though, that the inspectors DO NOT GUARANTEE the house! So if they overlook something, it's not their fault or responsibility and they won't be doing anything for you so know what you're getting. A title examination, especially of abstract properties, can be very important especially if you don't know how to read an abstract. Torrens is less problematic. Buying a home brings up a pandora's box of potential problems and far too many to go into here, but there's some things to be careful of. #21 Consumer Reports is a pet peeve of mine. They're often very biased in their reporting. Plus, keep in mind that they do not "test" ALL models and versions, even of similar products! Do you realize that the washer you buy at Home Depot is different than the one you buy at Best Buy and they're both different than the one you buy from a mom-n-pop dealer? That can have significant differences in the specs and needs. One can have cycles and features the other doesn't. Don't get caught up in the CR myth. Read their magazine with a shaker full of salt and do far more research than CR. You'll be doing yourself a favor. That's enough for now. There's more opinions coming, I'm sure! :) Happy saving all! Enjoy the frugal season!

When I rent a car I always charge it to my credit card which automatically includes coverage for the first $500.00. There's no extra fee. My personal insurance will kick in after that. DH had a rental and didn't realize that someone had banged into the passenger side of the car while he was in the hospital visiting his mother. When he returned it they said he'd be responsible - our credit card the $500 deductible and our insurance paid the rest. It was very easy to do. But I agree that the rental agents try to scare you into purchasing insurance. I think in most cases it's just a rip-off. Many rental companies insist that you return the car with the same amount of gas that was in it when your picked it up. If they have to add gas they usually charge a significantly higher price per gallon so I always try to give them the same amount.

I use Enterprise exclusively. With a recent rental, I bumped into a pole and left a huge dent in the bumper. When I went to return it, because my flight was leaving before they were open, I had to drop it off and I was very nervous about that. I took pictures and waited to hear from them-it was an obvious ding-and not a single word. I had purchased their optional insurance because I only used it for 2 days and I didn't have my auto insurance info with me , it was a last minute rental as the co I had reserved with ended up not having any vehicles available when I arrived. Anyway-PDX is a great airport-far, far better than LAX! You should have no trouble picking up your reserved vehicle there. You'll just take the shuttle to the rental area and zip in and out.