I've been skeptical every since new foaming hand soap dispensers have been popping up next to sinks all across this great land. At first I thought it was a fad, "Ooooo, honey, it foams!" But now I realize that replacing traditional lotion hand soap with foaming hand soap is yet another way manufactures are able to get us to pay higher per unit prices for goods at the grocery store.

We have the Dial foaming dispensers around the house, but a family member accidentally purchased the traditional lotion refills. The original lotion does not work well in the foaming dispensers. I had noticed that the foaming soap was less viscous than the lotion, so I decided to cut the two parts lotion with one part water and, "Voila!" It works perfectly, except for the fact that there's one third less soap now in the dispenser.

So is the foaming stuff a new fad, or is this a new way to increase revenue for the manufacturers? A 50 oz. refill of the foaming soap retails for about $0.18/oz. compared with $0.16/oz. for a 15 oz. refill of the lotion. Not only does it contain one third less soap, it costs two cents more per ounce? It seems to me that I'm paying more for about one third less soap. I guess we could all buy the original refills and water it down, right?

We think you're on to something! In fact, we found an Instructable that agrees with you, offering instructions on how to make your hand soap less viscous so it can be used in a foaming hand soap container. This individual recommended using only 1/5 soap, but we suppose it's a matter of personal preference.

How to Refill a foaming hand-soap container [Instructables]

“What was once a frequent occurrence such as the morning trip to Starbucks or taking the family to a ballgame just isn’t as financially feasible when $4-per-gallon gas must also share a place in the budget,” said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com. “The fact that nearly three-quarters of new-vehicle shoppers see this as a permanent situation demonstrates the enormous effect that skyrocketing fuel costs can have on not just the auto industry, but the entire American economy.”

Not everyone is sad, however. The Toyota Prius is dancing on the grave of the latte (and the Hummer?). KBB says "sixty-two percent of shoppers say that gas prices have either changed their mind or made them think strongly about vehicles they normally wouldn’t have considered."

GAS PRICES CAUSE NEW-CAR SHOPPERS TO CUT SPENDING, BELIEVE SITUATION IS PERMANENT [KBB]

(Photo: Paxton Holley )

The big takeaway is that the more of your car you currently own, the more you stand to gain by switching:

If you are midway through a vehicle loan, as in the scenarios explored in this blog series, you may not have much equity (especially as you chase accelerating depreciation) in your vehicle, and it may make sense to stick it out for another year or two. The tipping point comes sooner depending on how much of the vehicle you truly own, versus the bank, and how great a sacrifice you are willing to make when downsizing.

There's no one-size-fits-all answer, but they have shared some helpful advice for those of you who are thinking of getting that Prius.

• Don’t rush into downsizing without considering all the owner costs of your current vehicle, including depreciation and finance charges.
• Understand your goals with downsizing (environmental concern, fuel savings, cost savings), and be sure your strategy will meet these goals...
• In northern regions, consider using your SUV as a winter-only vehicle, especially if it enables you to buy an efficient, front-wheel drive car, rather than an all-wheel drive model. Be sure to adjust your insurance accordingly.

More info over at Consumer Reports.

Downsizing to the extreme [CR]
(Photo: geognerd )

1. Use what you do have creatively
You have no shoes. Yet, you have a suit jacket, a box cutter, and the lining in the suit jacket. Combine them and you have serviceable foot coverings. Similarly, a metal pipe fitted with a length of chain makes an excellent truncheon.

2. Search through the discards
Even if that can in the corner looks empty, tap it with your foot. There might be some useable gas in it!

3. Don't quit
Just when you're on the edge of total failure is when you might come across the storehouse of apples and fresh water.

4. When you come across a windfall, use it wisely
Fill back up on what you need, but don't wallow in it and let it delay you from your journey.

5. Hold on to your morals
Just because you're hungry doesn't mean it's right to eat the flesh of other humans.

In what unlikely sources have you found inspiration for more frugal living?

I’ve been in supermarkets where a couple of skinless, boneless chicken breasts cost MORE than a whole chicken. Wouldn’t it make sense to buy the whole bird, trim out the breasts (30 seconds, once you’ve done it a couple of times) and throw the rest away if it will cost less than buying two cutlets?...Does your family like nice boneless centercut porkchops? Buy a whole boneless pork loin and cut into 1″ slices. You can even wrap them in plastic film and freeze them for use later. By being your own butcher, you’ll enjoy great quality meat at probably two-thirds the price of anything you would buy pre-cut.

Makes sense to us, especially after seeing this investigation on how chicken is packed with extra water so they can charge you more. Just get a good set of knives and get slicing and dicing. You can also save by cutting and marinating your own meats, and making your own bacon.

Sharpen Knife, Slash Your Food Costs [Cheap Stingy Bargains] (Thanks to Marilyn!)

(Photo: seventime)

1. Remove tape residue
2. Douse flame
3. Zap roaches.( Make a dish of half sugar and half baking soda. They'll love the sugar, and the baking soda will kill them.)
4. Spot-clean a rug
5. Absorb moisture
6. Keep drains clear
7. Clean a shower door
8. Uncrust your grill
9. Clean your hands
10. Banish book odors
11. Bonus usage: Making a baking soda and vinegar rocket!

Hit the link below to find out how to use baking soda in each of the instances.

Really? You can do that with baking soda [CNN] (Thanks to Aaron!)
(Photo: jamieotterbein)

Clear Unsightly Blemishes: the Case of the Ballpoint Baby Doll [Baby Toolkit via BoingBoing]

Here's a taste of how he did it:

Using the ideas I learned from personal finance books, I set out to eliminate my debt. I stumbled at first — I made plenty of mistakes. But eventually I developed a system that worked:

1. I set goals. I can't stick to a budget to save my life, so I developed what I call a spending plan. Like a budget "lite", this tool simply gives me a rough idea of my income and expenses so that I can determine where best to put my money. It's like a roadmap to my money, and it has helped me reach my goals.
2. I read everything I could find. I continued to read personal finance books of all sorts. I learned that even the worst books generally contained a piece of advice I could use. I developed the ability to extract the stuff I could use from a book and to discard the rest. I subscribed to personal finance magazines. I read personal finance web sites.
3. I tracked every penny I spent. I never realized how easy it was for me to overspend simply because I didn't keep track of my money. I'd kept rough records in Quicken before, but now I became precise. By paying close attention, I was able to spot weaknesses and correct them.

Have any Consumerists gotten themselves out of consumer debt? How did you do it? Share your strategy in the comments.

Free at Last! Saying Good-Bye to 20 Years of Debt [Get Rich Slowly]
(Photo:Maulleigh)

Buy Nothing Day [Adbusters]

So what do we do if we want to curb impulse spending? Try to stop a moment and think about what's really motivating the desire. I want to buy x because it will give me y. What is the y? Can y be substituted with z, which gives me the same feeling but is cheaper or better for me? Failure to understand this algebra is how rich people end up with a garage full of import cars, and a medicine cabinet full of Valium.

(Photo: Getty)

If that the video was from a site called "Gagfilms.com," and being featured on their home page next to clips titled, "Video Proof That Ghosts Really Exist" and "The Girl With 2 Pussies," wasn't enough of a tipoff, the images sent in by reader Roberta who tested it out should do it for you. Full deconstruction sequence, inside...

Note dubious context:

Original video:

Just like your middle-school librarian told you, critical thinking and source evaluation are valuable life-long skills.

That way, they can still save a good amount of money and yet still enjoy the specialty coffees they love. To this end, CNN has made it easy for people to select their own espresso maker by rating five of the top-selling models. The best marks went to the $400 Breville Die-Cast Espresso Machine (800ESXL). The worst was the $600 KitchenAid Pro Line Series KPES100.

That seems a little pricey. If you can do without the espresso, you can get very flavorful cups of coffee from a french press, which you can pick up for under $50. We like our Bodum ($29.99 at Amazon).

So if you're a three-Starbucks-a-day sort of person, it's probably worth it to buy a machine and make your own coffee. Save the difference you would have spent at retail and you'll be able to fund your retirement to boot.

A whole lotta lattes [CNN Money]

— FREE MONEY FINANCE

(Photo: mikelens)

Over at Zen Habits, Leo has made a list of 30 cheap but nice ways to say thank you to someone.

Here are a few:

Jams and jellies.
Good bread (home-made works great).
Books (my favorite).
A blank recipe book ... write some of your favorite recipes on the first few pages.
A keepsake DVD with a video of special moments, edited (and captioned) by you. A slideshow presentation with music burned on a DVD works too.
Create your own art (and put it on nice stationary or in a frame). By "art", I mean a sketch, painting, poem, short story, whatever.
Scented candles.

30 Frugal Gift Ideas to Show You Appreciate Someone [ZenHabits]
(Photo:poopfaceproductions)

Human Urine As A Safe, Inexpensive Fertilizer For Food Crops [Science Daily]
Urine [Wikipedia]
(Photo: rhys400D)

foXnoMad recommends Morocco, Thailand, Mexico, China, Jordan, Micronesia, Venezula, and Armenia. Hit the link to find out his reasons for each.

The Best Places To Travel On A Weak Dollar [foXnoMad]
(Photo: Carl Puentes Photography)

Whenever you leave a device plugged into a wall socket, it continues to constantly draw a small amount of energy, without cease. Usually, this is on the order of 1 to 5 watts, which means that it would take 200 to 1,000 hours for a single device to even use a single kilowatt hour, which costs $0.10.

Let's say you can find fifteen such devices in your house, and they use an average of 3 watts. That's 45 watts around the clock - more than a kilowatt hour each day. Three bucks, every single month, without fail, and that's assuming your devices are minimally draining. For example, my laptop charger uses 30-40 watts all the time when it's plugged in.

You won't double your retirement savings or anything with this, but—like fixing leaky faucets, using CFL bulbs, and making sure your home is properly insulated—it will help reduce the unnecessary expenses that nick away at your finances.

"The One Hour Project: Kill The Electricity Phantom" [thesimpledollar.com]

RELATED
"The One Hour Project: Making Your Home More Energy Efficient" [thesimpledollar.com]
(Photo: Getty)

"It's hilarious because I had a class with 200+ people, and there were 3 to 4 copies of the current edition of the textbook in the library, but no one borrowed the books except for me... I just kept on renewing the books until the end of the semester and kept them in my locker."

Not all your books might be in the school library but it's certainly the first place to check, and after that, the used books on Amazon.

How I Saved Over $30,000 While In College and What I Did with the Money [The Baglady via Frugal For Life]
(Photo: Lisa Pisa)

Consumer Reports thinks they know the answer:

• It needs repairs costing more than its value.
• The vehicle's structural integrity is threatened by a badly rusted floor pan or sills.
• Despite repairs, the car remains unreliable, and it seems likely you could be left stranded.
• It has been in a flood or serious accident.
  

When to say goodbye
(Photo:morsteen)

A Few Changes Made a Big Difference in Our Electric Bill [Blogging Away Debt]

At its most elemental, all you need is at least two people to start clipping coupons. One person puts all the coupons they don't want in an envelope and mails it to the next person. They take out the coupons they want and put coupons they don't want back in. They then mail it to the next person on the list.

From there, coupon trains can be organized under a jillion different principles, and purposes. It's like a chain letter of savings!

Coupon Trains - Introduction [Grocery Coupon Guide via Frugal For Life]
Coupon Train Forums [Families.com]
(Photo: Getty)

10. Turn off the A/C
9. Install a scangauge
8. When pulling into a parking lot, try to coast up to the highest point in the lot, so then you can coast out upon exit
7. If you're idling over 10 seconds, turn off the engine
6. Driving over the speed limit increases wind resistance, consuming more fuel
5. Rather than trying to maintain a constant speed, focus on maintaing a constant engine load
4. Drive like you have no brakes; coast whenever possible and avoid needless braking
3. Change your air filter yearly
2. Use the lowest weight oil recommended for your car
1. Inflate tires to maximum pressure

We also covered some of Wayne's more unorthodox methods in a previous post, "Potentially Insane Ways To Increase Your Fuel Efficiency."

The Pursuit of Hypermileage [ForbesAutos]
(Photo: Chris Strong)

We like it.

Forbes' Frugal Cars:

10) Pontiac Vibe $16,760
Five-year cost of ownership: $35,348

9) Hyundai Accent $12,865
Five-year cost of ownership: $34,808

8) Kia Rio $13,571
Five-year cost of ownership: $34,802

7) Toyota Matrix $16,558
Five-year cost of ownership: $34,778

6) Ford Focus $15,752
Five-year cost of ownership: $34,092

5) Chevy Aveo $11,844
Five-year cost of ownership: $34,048

4) Nissan Versa $13,950
Five-year cost of ownership: $33,275

3) Toyota Corolla $15,449
Five-year cost of ownership: $33,053

2) Honda Fit $15,440
Five-year cost of ownership: $32,547

1) Toyota Yaris $12,625
Five-year cost of ownership: $31,785

Frugal Rides: Top 10 Least Expensive Vehicles to Own [Forbes]
(Photo:blue_j)

Organize fruits and veggies: We often toss produce into crispers together, but apples and some other fruits give off gas called ethylene that speeds ripening in vegetables. So store them separate, so vegetables don't ripen too fast

How to Store Your Food So It Lasts Longer [Gomestic]
(Photo:Spidra Webster)

You're smart, but even smart people sometimes do stupid things with their money. Smart people are often forgetful, or lazy, or busy, or have enough money that they don't worry about wasting it. Bad idea! Wasting money is always uncool. Here are a 10 stupid ways that even smart people waste money... and a few ideas for how to stop the leak.

We know that you already know all of this stuff, smarty-pants, so consider this list a reminder...

1) Forgetting To Pay Bills: Smart people are often forgetful. "Did I pay the credit card bill? I don't know, I was busy curing cancer."

Late fees suck! Here are some ways to avoid them:

• Pay all your bills at once on a specific day each month.
• Set up auto bill pay with your bank (not with your credit card company).
• Ask someone for help getting organized.
• Set up a Google alert.
• Use fewer credit cards so there are fewer bills to pay.
• Don't use credit cards at all.

2) Bank Fees: Overdrafting fees and excessive ATM and other bank fees are easy to accrue and can be hard to avoid, even for smart people.

Here's how to get organized:

• Go to the ATM once a week.
  
• If you find yourself always using another bank's ATM, switch to that bank.
  
• Build up a small cushion in your checking account so you don't have to worry so much.
  
• Pay attention to how long it takes your bank to process deposits.
  
• Keep an eye on your balance.
  
• Switch to a bank that offers ATM fee refunds or that has a large free ATM network.
  
• Switch to free checking.
  
• Don't buy things that aren't in your budget.
  
• Add things like coffee, lunches and snacks into your budget. They're easy to forget.

3) Tickets: Some of the smartest people we know can't seem to avoid traffic and parking tickets. Speeding and parking illegally is a huge waste of money. Here are some tips that will help you avoid giving your hard-earned cash to the man:

• Dispute parking tickets in court. Bring photos and other evidence.
• Don't park illegally! Easier said than done, we know.
• Speeding doesn't save much time, but it will cost you money in tickets, insurance and gas. Stay with the flow of traffic; don't be the fastest guy on the road.
• Never, ever, ever argue with a police officer or make up stupid excuses. Look remorseful, but don't admit that you did anything wrong.
• If you do get a ticket, and you have the opportunity to attend "traffic school" so that it won't be reported to your insurance company, do it.
• Don't talk on your cellphone while driving. Don't send txt messages while driving. Just drive.
• Drive less! Take public transportation if you can. You don't have to worry about where to park a bus.
• Avoid the city of Chicago, especially during the "street sweeping scam" season.
• Pay for parking instead of getting a ticket. If a parking ticket is $75 and parking was $20, who is the sucker now?
• Don't forget to feed the meter! Set an alarm on your phone if you're forgetful.

4) Memberships: How many memberships do you have that you don't use? Gym memberships, museum memberships, cultural center memberships, Netflix memberships... Enough with the memberships!

Here are some questions to ask yourself about your memberships:

• "Does it save me money?"
• "Does it support a charity or non-profit? Is it tax deductible? Do I actually deduct it?"
• "Do I use it?"

If you don't use that gym membership—cancel it. Better to be fat and rich than fat and poor.

5) Subscriptions: Do you have a large pile of magazines that you're "going" to read? Cancel them. You'll never notice they're gone.

6) Letting food spoil in the fridge: Yes, we know you meant to make it for dinner, but then Betty called and you went to see that new movie and... and...

• Plan your meals.
• Buy things you can freeze.
• Buy dry goods in bulk and produce less often.
• If a bunch of food is about to go bad, invite all your friends over and cook for them rather than waste it.

7) Wasting Energy: It's just so hard to turn the lights off...

• Use powerstrips to turn off lots of things at once.
• Don't leave your computer on constantly for no reason.
• Turn out the lights.
• If you're going to sleep with the TV on, don't sleep with the TV, the XBox 360, the stereo, the Wii, the CD player, the lights...
• Insulate your home.
• Plant trees on the sunny side of the house.
• Don't leave the air on when no one is home.
• Turn the heat down during the day.
• You don't need to leave the lights on for the cat. Cats can see in the dark.

8) Letting your money sit in a checking account: You could be earning interest in an online savings account. Why just let all your money sit in your checking account? Stop that!

9) Buying DVDs you will never, ever watch, or books you'll never read, or clothes you will never wear...: When buying something ask yourself: "Will I watch this more than once?" or "Will I actually read this?" or "Do I really still like Rush?" If you answer yes, buy it. If not, don't.

10) Paying too much for cable: Ask yourself if you watch all the premium channels you pay for. If not get rid of them. Also, ask yourself when was the last time you called up your cable company and threatened to cancel? You should do this every year. It keeps them on their toes.

We have a lot of smart readers, but no one is perfect. Tell us how you stopped your money leaks!

Why such a price difference? Obviously, cheese spirals are a technological marvel and Kraft needs to recoup the cost of building an entire spiral factory, not to mention the research and development. Plus, there's the benefit of eating mac n cheese feature 3 chicks you've never heard of. So, if you're looking for the best mac n cheese value, stick with the classic elbow box.

spiral macaroni is a racket [thoughts on technology]

• Buying two-ply toilet paper and pulling the sheets apart - Ignoring the fact that you can just buy single-ply toilet paper, the time it takes and the "risk" involved in using single ply is too high to make this really worth it... right?
  
• Tip less than the customary 15% - If you get good service, why punish the server by saving a few dollars and short changing them on their duly earned money? If you want to save this money, don't go out to eat!
  

Reusing Tea Bags - It's a much better (tasting) idea to use a bigger mug than try to re-use a tea bag. Try it.

What are the dumbest money-saving ideas you've heard?

Ridiculous Money Saving Ideas [Blueprint for Financial Prosperity]