Extended Car Warranties

Are Extended Car Warranties Worth it?

Extended Car Warranty?

One of the most attractive benefits of leasing or buying a new car is the peace of mind you get from knowing you’ll have no car repairs for 3-5 years. Most of the brand new car makers provide a warranty for the first 36-60 months of the car or 12,000 miles per year; whichever comes first. Obviously, one huge benefit of leasing a new car every 36 months is that you will spend very little of your time and money in the shop for repairs or maintenance. Most cars will last three years without needing brakes or tires. The most you will need to do is change the oil 2 or 3 times a year. So, what if you want to keep your car longer than its 3 or 5-year warranty period? Should you consider Extended Car Warranties?

What Do Extended Car Warranties Cover?

• What brakes on a car after 3 years? Not much.
• What brakes on a car after 5 years? Not much.
• Will you need new brakes and tires? Very likely.

Will extended car warranties cover new brakes and tires? Not at all. A few years ago, when I was finalizing the paperwork on the 4-year lease of my Pontiac G6, I was presented with an assortment of Extended Car Warranties. The car dealer explained to me that since my warranty would expire after 3 years, I would be left with a 3-year old car that was not covered by a warranty in my 4^th year of leasing it. Oh, the horror! The cost of extending my car warranty ranged from around $30 to $60 a month, depending on the size of deductible, coverage options and benefits. Benefits include things like hazard and road-size assistance. I was not impressed, nor even slightly inclined to pay for warranty coverage on a car that would be only 3 years old and have less than 40,000 miles of use. My previous experience with cars that I kept longer than 4 years was a 1996 Infiniti G20 and a 2000 Chevrolet Venture Mini Van. Extended Car Warranties would do me no good. Read the rest of this entry

Individual Dental Insurance

Is Dental Insurance Worth It?

Individual Dental Insurance

Individual Dental Insurance is a dental plan that you get on your own, aside from your employer benefits. Most likely, you get individual  dental insurance when your employer doesn't offer you a dental plan. If there is one thing worse than a visit to the dentist it is having to pay for the grueling torture inflicted upon your mouth. I honestly don't know what is more painful; getting your teeth drilled or paying for cleanings, fillings, crows and root canals. I was one of the lucky ones, who stopped getting cavities after age 12, so I never considered Individual Dental Insurance a necessity for kids kids. Even then, I began asking myself, "Is Individual Dental Insurance Worth it?" Is Any Dental Insurance worth it?

Individual Dental Insurance Providers

Kids do get lots of cavities so at the average price of $100 - $250 per filling, I decided I wasn't going to be without dental insurance. A good  individual dental insurance plan covers up to 80% of the cost of fillings and provides free check-ups and cleanings after every 6 months. (That's about $200 per child). If you don't have kids and don't get many cavities, there's yet another reason to consider whether or not individual dental insurance is worth it: All of those fillings you had as a child have likely started to weaken and cause cracks in the structure of your teeth. I've had three crowns since I was about 22 years old and my dentist says I will likely need about 3 or 4 more. At the uninsured price of around $1,000 each, this could get very expensive. And, that it's only for me, not including the wife and kids. Face it, a mouth full of teeth is one of the most expensive liabilities we all share. Are Dental Insurance for Individuals and Family Dental plans, PPO Dental Plans, etc., worth the cost of having no Dental Insurance at all? To answer this question, I did some basic research. This is what an uninsured dental patient can expect to pay for the most common procedures at the dentists office: Read the rest of this entry

Ssscat Cat Repellent Spray Review

Does Ssscat Cat Repellent Spray Really Work?

SSscat Cat Deterrent

Ssscat Cat Repellent Spray is designed to keep your cats off or away from places you don't want them - like your plants, kitchen cabinets and other off-limit areas, for instance.  If you wish there was a way to keep your cat out of the kitchen; away from the garden, off the counter-tops or off of your furniture, you owe it to yourself to look into a Cat Repellent spray for your cat training purposes. There is another good reason for cat repellent spray: Has your cat decided to use a portion of your house as his/her litter box? There is nothing that smells worse or is more difficult to get rid of than cat urine on your carpet. Well, okay, I'd say skunk odor has a significant edge over cat urine, but that's a different topic for another day. In fact, if you have pets it is worth discussing Skunk Repellent and I'll explain why in an upcoming article. Meanwhile, let's get to the issue at house: How to keep Cats away from and off of certain areas and places in and around your house. What products out there succeed as a useful, affordable and practical Cat Repellent Spray?

Several weeks ago, we brought our 8-year old male cat back from the vet. Our young, female cat immediately sensed that he smelled different and became terrified of him. Weeks later, we began noticing the odor of cat urine. One day my wife called me while I was at work to report a cat owner's worst nightmare: Our nervous female cat was using our dining room floor as a cat box. The tedious task of solving this maddening Cat Urine problem had just begun. From our past experience, breaking a cat of this habit is not an easy thing to do. The first thing to do is to completely remove the odor. As long as an infected area of your house continues to smell like cat urine, your pet will continue to use it. We had to take action. First, we got the carpets as clean as we possibly could, then we began saturating the area with enzymes to remove the odor. We used a product called, Anti Icky Poo. There are plenty of other similar products out there such as Nature's Miracle and Urine Destroyer, but the Anti Icky Poo seemed to have the best reviews. I was confident we could get the area cleaned and odor free, but I knew the hard part would be to deter the cat from coming back to it. This is where the Cat Deterrent and Cat Repeller part of the job come in to play. I began searching the web for the phrases, "cat repellent", "cat deterrent" or "cat repeller". My research led me to a couple of ideas that I could utilize immediately without spending a dime. Most of these cat repellent sprays can be purchased at pet supplies stores locally or online with small shipping costs.
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Worlds Best Cat Litter

Is the Worlds Best Cat Litter the  Worlds Best Cat Litter both literally and figuratively? I decided to put their presumptuous brand name, Worlds Best Cat Litter to the task. I've owned cats all my life. Cat litter formulas have improved over the years and thus my expectations have increased.  There used to be a time when cat litters consisted only of sand and/or dirt. Nowadays, I think all cat owners pretty much agree on the defining criteria of a what makes a good or great cat litter:

• How well does the cat litter stop order
• How well does the cat litter clump up
• How easy is the cat litter scooped
• How long does the cat litter last
• How safe is it safe for people to breathe
• How safe is it for the environment? Can it be flushed?

Worlds Best Cat Litter claims it does all 6 of these things better than any other cat litter product. So, is it really this good?

Worlds Best Cat Litter Website

If their website is any indication of how the product compares to the competition, Worlds Best Cat Litter wins hands-down. WorldsBestCatFood.com is chalk full of informative videos, learn-mores and persuasive arguments as to why this particular cat litter excels at the 6 criteria above better than any of the competitor's cat litter products. Worlds Best Cat Litter not only tells you they are the best but explains, why: Read the rest of this entry

Insinkerator 444 Dies

Insinkerator Evolution Compact

This morning, my InSinkerator 444 Disposal Unit conked out. It made some electrical humming noises, but the motor wouldn't turn. I followed the trouble shooting guide on the InSinkerator website; turning the key and pressing the button at the bottom of the unit, but to no avail. Also, I smelled electrical fumes coming from the InSinkerator 444. It was most certainly bad. I looked up the serial number on the InSinkerator website and learned it was built in 2002 and long past its 4-year warranty period. I would have to buy another sink disposal in a hurry. I did about a 1-hour research cram on Sink Disposal companies and came up with the following conclusions. Read the rest of this entry

Rotadent

Rotadent Toothbrush Review

A while back I decided it was time to starting shopping for a good, electric toothbrush. In the past, I have tried Braun Electric Toothbrushes, which last a long time, but never seemed to overwhelm me with their teeth cleaning power. Why can’t I have a toothbrush that is as good and powerful as the one the dentist uses to polish my teeth?  Of course, the one popular brand name that kept popping up in my head was the OralB Toothbrush. It just so happens Braun makes the Oral-B Toothbrush.  My research took me to a couple of popular names on the internet such as the Oral-B 7000 and The Oral-B Triumph 9900 Toothbrush with Smart Guide. Read the rest of this entry