Rambling News: Insights/Opinions/Tips/Tricks in Today's World

Thursday, December 14, 2006

How To (Cars): Washing Your Car Part I (Exterior)

I will be writing a series on how to wash your car. The only reason I am doing this is because people always come to me for advice on how to keep their car clean (I'm pretty notorious for driving a showroom clean car), so I figured that if I write out a how to list, they can just read up on it on my page.

My way of washing a car is to keep it simple, but includes all the necessary steps to keep it showroom clean. It takes a little more effort than just rinsing, soaping, and waxing, but in the end, you will be proud of your efforts.

Materials:
2 Buckets
Hose with running water
Car wash shampoo (NOT dishwashing detergent)
Clay bar kit
Car wax
Wax applicator
Sponge
Chamois or simliar item
Rain-X
Tire dressing with applicator
Microfiber cloth

1. Put car wash shampoo into one bucket (usually two capfuls) and fill with water until the water suds up. Do not use dishwashing detergent, since the chemicals are so strong, they will cut through previous wax, polishes, etc.

2. Fill up the other bucket with water only. This bucket is for rinsing. I'll explain later.

3. Rinse down your car with a hose in a shaded area, or at least when the sun isn't blaring onto your car. If you wash your car in the sun, the sun can bake the water onto your car causing water marks, which are not only unappealing, but difficult to take off. Rinsing down the car washes off all the loose dirt, which will prevent you from scratching your car when using the sponge.

4. Dip your sponge into your bucket with car wash shampoo, and start wiping your car down. The suds from the shampoo should pick up the dirt away from your car, and break up grease and other road grime. Work your car from the top down. Each time you wipe down the car with your sponge and need more suds, rinse the sponge off in the OTHER bucket with just water, then return your sponge to the bucket with shampoo. The reason for this is so you rinse off the dirt from the sponge before you get more suds. If you rinse off the dirt in the shampoo bucket, you could potentially be wiping dirt back on to your car, which could ultimately scratch your car. And on top of that, the soap won't be as effective because the soap water will get dirty.

5. Wash your rims last. Rims consist of brake dust, dirt, and small rocks from the roads, all of which will get your sponge extremely dirty. You will want to use the rest of your shampoo on your rims, constantly rinsing out your sponge as well. If the shampoo doesn't wash off all the grime, you can use an all wheel cleaner. I've had good experience with the Meguiar's Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner. And the best part, is when you use an all wheel cleaner, you usually just have to spray it on, wait for a few seconds, then rinse it off. Then you don't have to scrub your rims to get off all the dirt.

6. Rinse off your car with the hose. The best way to use the hose isn't a high pressured nozzle. You want to be gentle to your car, so allow the water to flow from the house (without the nozzle) and let the water sheet off the car. If you want, you can use the high pressured nozzle on the rims to wash off all the dirt.

7. Use a chamois or simliar item that soaks up water (I use the Absorber, and LOVE IT). Instead of wiping the car down in swirling motions, just lay the chamois over sections of the car and allow the water to soak up. Wring out the chamois and continue drying the rest of the car. Gently wipe down the areas that aren't completely dry.

8. The next step is to clay your car. This should be done maybe every 3-6 months. To see if you need to clay your car, run your hand over any portion of your car. If you feel some imperfections, such as little bumps, a "sandy" feel over your paint, there are contaminants on your car. Contaminants are what tree sap, bug droppings, bird droppings, etc., leave behind, even after you wash them off. When all the contaminants are stripped off, your car paint will feel as smooth as glass.

Basically, you take the piece of clay, spray the car with a lubricator, and using the clay bar, wipe down the car. I've had much success with the Meguiar's Quik Clay Detailing System, but Mothers is also a good choice. Clay all painted areas of your car, and wipe off the excess lubricant with a microfiber cloth.

9. Now it's time to wax your car. The most quick and easy type of wax is Meguiar's Cleaner Wax. I also like to use the liquid form rather than the paste, since it's easier to apply and remove. The reason why I use a cleaner wax instead of just wax, is because the cleaner wax also removes swirl marks, stains, grease, and everything else the car wash shampoo couldn't. On top of cleaning the car, it also polishes, waxes, and protects your car paint. The wax also comes off very easily, and provides a deep shine. ALWAYS wax your car after you clay bar your car. This allows the wax to provide a coat over your clayed car, giving you the deepest shine and smoothest surface.

Place some wax on your wax applicator or microfiber cloth, and using a swirling motion, apply the wax onto your vehicle. Work one section at a time, and allow the wax to haze. I usually double coat the hood, roof, and trunk of my car, since those are the areas that get the most sun, rain, and environmental factors. Buff off the wax with a clean microfiber cloth.

10. How about them tires? Having a really shiny car with dirty tires is like dressing in Gucci but wearing tattered dirty shoes. Using a tire dressing applicator, apply some tire dressing onto the curved applicator. Using one swooping motion, apply the dressing onto your tire. It will not only make your tire cleaner, but it will also be somewhat shiny to very shiny (depending on which tire dressing you purchase). Other alternatives are tire sprays, where you spray the tires and walk away. The foam will break through the dirt, and as the foam starts to melt away, the tire is left clean and shiny. I find that tire dressing lasts longer than tire sprays. Use whatever suits you best.

11. Lastly, take care of your windows. Remember those water spots? The longer you keep that on there, the harder it will be to take off. Remember driving in the rain and finding that the wipers don't really help all the much? The solution is to coat your windows to make them slick, so the water just beads and flies off. I personally use Rain-X, and don't want to use any other product since Rain-X just works great. You can drive 30 mph and watch the rain fly off.

Put some Rain-X on a paper towel or cotton cloth, and with a firm swirling motion, wipe down your windows. Make sure to cover all sections of the window. Allow the Rain-X to haze. Re-apply if necessary. I usually double coat my front and rear windshield because they get the most rain of all. Next, sprinkle some water onto the window and buff off the Rain-X using a clean paper towel or cotton cloth. This is the hardest part, since you have to rub pretty hard to buff off the Rain-X. If you don't, you'll see a slight haze on your window. Also, make sure you don't get Rain-X on your car paint...if you do, just quickly wipe it off with some water.

If you have more time, you can also clean off your black trim that are on some cars, such as the side mirrors, trim on your bumper, door handles, etc. I use Meguiar's Trim Detailer. Just apply some trim detailer onto a cotton cloth and gently rub it onto the trim. This is particularly good for trim that has wax on them, since it takes off all the wax and brings it back to a nice deep black. It also works for faded trim, and brings back the deep black in most cases.

Hope these pointers help with washing your car. Next time, I'll be talking about cleaning your interior. In the mean time, show off your newly cleaned car!

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Random Tips: Keeping Your Living Costs Down

Here are a few tips I use to keep my living costs down. This could potentially save you a few hundred dollars a year, maybe more, depending on how you want to live. If you can give up a few luxuries, you'll be on your way to saving lots of money.

  • Cancel your phone service if you have a cell phone. Your cell phone should suffice. If you don't have enough minutes, increase your cell phone plan...an extra $10 a month is still cheaper than $30 a month to keep your phone line.
  • Unless you need high speed internet, downgrade to either DSL or dial-up. Downgrading to DSL might save you $10 a month, but if you choose dial-up, you can save up to $40 a month.
  • Scrap the digital cable television and order basic cable. Do you NEED 400 channels?
  • Turn on your lights when you need to and make sure to turn it off when you don't need it. Sounds simple, but you'd be surprised with how often you leave the light on when you don't need it.
  • If you have an air conditioner, set the temperature to 75-79 degrees. Anything lower will keep the a/c running which will run your electricity bill out the roof.
  • If you have an air conditioner, consider using fans or a ceiling fan. They take much less electricity than an a/c unit.
  • Use hot water only when you need to. Getting your water hot, depending on what you use, can increase your gas or electricity bill.
  • Get solar panels. With tax breaks as an added bonus, solar panels will save you money immediately (not recommended for those who live in Seattle).
  • Buy fluorescent light bulbs. They might cost more compared to regular light bulbs, but they last longer and use less electricity.
  • If you need to use your computer everyday, put it on standby. If you don't plan to use your computer for a day or two, turn it off.
  • Buy food in bulk, but only foods that you will completely consume or foods that will last a long time. Buying foods in bulk and having to throw them away is not only wasteful, but it will also waste your money.
  • Bring lunch to work. Eating out everyday costs a lot. Calculate it out for yourself...you'll be surprised how much you spend on just lunch if you eat out.
  • Make your own coffee at home. This may cost you $50 for a coffee maker, but that's the price of 10-15 cups of coffee from Starbucks (depending on what size you get). You'll pay that off in about a week.
  • Buy generic products. Name brand things cost more because of only one thing...their name. Next time, compare a brand name product to their generic counterpart...you'd be surprised to find that they are exactly the same thing for the most part.
  • Reduce the number of credit cards you own. This way, you won't keep spending when you don't have enough.
  • Don't carry too much cash. The more you have in your wallet, the more you will use. I tend to have $40 in my wallet.
  • Restrict your spending limit to a reasonable amount every month. I tend not to spend more than $100 in cash, and only spend it on the things I need.
  • Keep your car tuned up so you don't end up spending enormous amounts when things really get bad.
  • If you don't get newspaper, buy the Sunday newspaper to see all the sales and cut out the coupons.
  • Shop at Ross, Nordstrom Rack, etc., for cheaper products that are brand names (if you only want brand name items).
  • Drive smart to save gas. You can read about how to save gas from my Tips to Save Gas and More Ways to Save Gas articles.

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Thursday, December 07, 2006

Random Tips: Purchasing a Cell Phone at Costco


As most you of know, cell phones tend to break or malfunction after a few years...sometimes not even that long. If we're unlucky, we probably end up like most poeple, purchasing a new phone. Being an existing customer also doesn't allow us to get much of a rebate on the phones...which strikes me as odd, since we are the ones loyal to them, and the new customers get the great deals on the phones. Some people go for the equipment protection plan. This is pretty decent as long as you pay your service provider monthly, which usually allows you to get your phone repaired or replaced either with the same phone or the most simliar phone (if your phone is discontinued). But there's a better way...Costco!

First, let me show you what the equipment protection plan is for the 4 major cell phone providers:

So you're basically looking at $60-72 additionally every year in insurance for your phone. Keeping this in mind, let's talk about purchasing a phone from Costco.

Basically, there is a vendor who sells cells phones and plans at Costco. In the past, Costco only carried Sprint phones. Now, they carry Sprint, T-mobile, and Verizon. They offer the same prices and promotions, but tend to be a few dollars cheaper...on the average of $5-10. At worst, the price of the cell phone is the same as if you bought it at the respective store. Not a biggie. So why would buying a cell phone at Costco be better?

1. Not only is the phone cheaper by a few bucks, but they throw in the accessories for FREE. That usually includes a case, car charger, and a headset. That's probably around $40-60.

2. And the most important reason. The unconditional return policy. Yes, you can return your phone as long as there is something wrong with it (it doesn't have to be a major problem...my problem for my old phone was that the menu button only worked if you pressed it hard enough, but it wasn't a major problem). For how much you ask? The exact price that your purchased your phone for. It can be 6 months old or 2 years old...it doesn't matter. Costco does not buy back at the depreciated price...they give you back exactly what you pay them. So what does this mean? You can basically upgrade your phone every year by returning your phone for its full price and purchasing another phone. If the newer phone costs more, you just pay the difference. If it costs less, you get money back. But the kicker here is that you basically only have to purchase a phone ONCE at Costco, and you can change your phones as many times as you like.

This also means you don't have to pay for the additional equipment protection plan, because Costco offers this to you for free with their unconditional return policy. That saves you $60-72 annually. The only benefit the equpiment protection plan has over purchasing a phone at Costco is that the plan offers, usually with a non-refundable deductible (usually $50), coverage for lost phones. Although you have to pay $50, it is still cheaper than buying a brand new phone. Besides that, purchasing a cell phone at Costco is a much better deal. Here's a summary:

Pros:
- You can always return your phone
- You get back what you paid for it, no matter how long you had your phone (no depreciation)
- Free accessories
- You save $60-72 per year because you don't need to purchase the equipment protection plan
- You can get phones from the 3 largest cell providers...Sprint, Verizon, and T-mobile

Cons:
- Unconditional warranty does not cover lost phones

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Wednesday, December 06, 2006

How To (Cars): More Ways to Save Gas (Part II)

Since my last post on Tips to Save Gas, I came across Shell's website on how to save gas as well. Of my seven tips, 4 of them were the same tips as Shell. Below are the other 6 tips that Shell has provided with my opinions on them.

1. Use higher gears. This only works if you have a manual transmission or one of those "manual-matic" gear shifters (automatic transmission that can be changed to allow the driver to change gears to a certain extent). It is true that the higher gear your car is in, the lower your engine speed will be (you can observe this when you upshift...your rpms will drop down), which means your engine spins less ultimately using less gas. My experience is that my gas mileage doesn't change that much when I upshift using my maunal-matic in my vehicle. I tried doing this for about a month, upshifting when I can and almost never revving over 2000rpms, but my fuel economy may have increased about 1 mpg, and sometimes no increase at all. To me, 1 mpg is not worth shifting so often. Also, when you force the car to upshift, you can feel the gears change with a little bump compared to the automatic shifter that smooths out the bump a little better. For this tip, use it if you have a manual transmission vehicle. If you have an automatic transmission vehicle, just drive smoothly, without over-revving your vehicle, and if you can, maintain the rpms under 2000.

2. Tune and service your engine. I know this is true, but I forgot to put this in my last post. A tuned engine can definitely keep your car running well, but the most important part is to continue to upkeep your car, not just sparingly. Shell has noted that repairing a problem can increase your fuel economy by 4%. I know we don't want to pay the costs of getting your engine tuned and checked out, but I'm sure those costs won't add up to what it would cost when the engine actually gives out.

3. Take the roof rack off. This just deals with aerodynamics. The less aerodynamic your car, the more drag your car has to face, the harder the engine has to work, the more gas you have to use. Shell reports a roof rack can reduce your fuel economy up to 5%.

4. Use the correct oil. This is important not only to save gas, but also to keep your engine running at it's highest efficiency. If you don't take care of your car at all, the one thing you should always do is change your oil, but make sure you do it at the recommended miles and/or time. The oil change schedule should be in your vehicle's manual.

5. Use cruise control. This is just so you can cruise at a constant speed without constantly revving your engine to pick up the speed whenver you slow down. In Hawaii, you can almost never use cruise control because of the short rides, but my tip is just to keep your foot on the pedal to maintain a constant speed, and ease off to slow down. Never step on the gas pedal hard to increase the speed, then let go and let it coast until you need to speed up again. This causes the engine to work harder.

6. Avoid idling. Idling definitely wastes gas, because you are using gas and not moving anywhere...for a grand total of 0 mpg. It's hard to avoid idling especially if you are in traffic, and if you are in that position, there is nothing you can do. But like I posted on my previous tips to save gas, on step 6, turning on your engine uses as much gas as idling for 1 minute. Just idle wisely when you are waiting for someone.

I also want to add one more tip of my own:

Change your air filter. Usually, you should change your air filters every 15,000 miles, but if you live in a very dusty environment, consider changing it after 10,000 miles. A dirty air filter and affect your fuel economy, and it only takes literally 1 minute to change. They usually cost about $7-10, so make sure you do it yourself.

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