I missed the spam, as I am just now reading this. Kevin used to work for a rental car agency, and so he knows all the ins and outs. He had the job in Austin, and it made it easy for him to move here and transfer his job at the same time. I had him quit that job as soon as I was able to cover both of our expenses so that he could get something different. On Maui, we bought the total coverage insurance from the company, and it was not that expensive. One of the guide books we had said that there were hostile natives on certain parts of the island, and so we didn't want to be bothered with worrying about parking in a sketchy parking lot. Plus, we were used to Venice Beach and were aware of all the incidents that happen there. Nothing happened on Maui, however. I made a claim on my insurance a few years ago, and my rates did not go up at all, and they are extremely low because my car is not worth anything. I pay less than $200 a year to State Farm for car insurance, and that includes coverage for damage from uninsured drivers. In California, insurance companies cannot raise your rates if you make a claim for this type of coverage, but in my case, I had run into someone's bumper and did a small amount of damage. We take pictures of cars that we rent, but have not had issues. If we did, I would probably make a scene, something short of throwing keys into a cornfield, however. I also would not hesitate to allow my insurance to handle it. If you have not made a claim in a long time, you do not have much worry from rates going up. Lars

Read all the fine print on the credit card insurance coverage before you rely on it - I've seen some that won't cover rentals that last for more than 30 days. I don't know why (I would think a rental is a rental), but I've seen that limitation on more than one credit card. Also, a lot of them will only pay after you file a claim with your regular insurance company. The coverage through your credit card can be handy, but it's worth reading the fine print, especially since you'll be renting for a long time.

Check out orbitz.com as well as expedia. They often have great deals on rentals. They work with six or 8 rental companies. Results from a search involve all companies and all car sizes in one big chart that's easy to look at. Another place to check is the site of the airline you're flying. I booked a rental last night after buying a ticket on USAir. It's with Hertz, usually the most expensive rental company, but the rate was $4/day less than the Dollar and Thrifty quotes on Orbitz. The USAir site directed me to Hertz and automatically inserted a discount code.

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!