Category: Top Tip

Here is a top tip about something you sleep on: Your sheets! The little-known U.S. International Trade Commission recently found that foreign sheet manufacturers were shorting consumers on thread counts and issued what’s called a general exclusion order banning companies from importing sheets with inflated thread counts.
Thread count is a measure of the number of threads per square inch in a fabric and higher thread counts have long been associated with softer sheets. How inflated were they? ITC investigators found that some sheets labeled 800 thread count, were actually just 250 thread count. These problem sheets mostly came from India, Pakistan and China. New imports are banned, but existing sheets will be on store shelves for a few more years to come.
So don’t rely on a sky-high thread count when you choose sheets. The Good Housekeeping Institute says most consumers actually prefer sheets of 300 to 500 thread count.

To most people, the term “lemon” refers to a crummy used car. However, to the government, a lemon is a crummy new car. YES! Each state’s lemon law is a little different but, generally, you must have purchased or leased the car brand new. Each state sets a time and mileage limit. For example, you may be required to make a lemon law claim within 15 months or 15,000 miles of buying the vehicle.
Each state also defines what counts as a lemon. For example, in one state if the dealer can’t correct critical brake or steering problems in one try, the car is considered a lemon. In another state, a car is defined as a lemon if the dealer has tried and failed three times to repair the same flaw. In a third state, the lemon law covers new cars that have been in the shop for a cumulative total of more than 30 days.
Here’s what great about lemon laws and why I wanted you to know: Once all the dealer’s repair attempts have been exhausted, the manufacturer is required to repair —or replace— your car. Fingers crossed for a replacement!

Millions of American homes were built with defective circuit breakers that pose a fire hazard. The problem with Federal Pacific Electric “Stab-Lok” type circuit breakers has been known for decades, but the CPSC never issued a recall.
Now it turns out that Stab-Lok breakers made by other brands could also be defective. Circuit breakers are supposed to trip —or shut off— when electrical wires are overloaded, so those wires don’t heat up and cause a fire. But in tests of the FPE Stab-Lok breakers, more than half of them failed to trip and tests of other brands have shown similar fail-to-trip problems
The original FPE breakers were installed in homes from 1960 to about 1985 and the successor brands are still being installed today. What to do? Take a look at your breaker box TODAY and if it says “Federal pacific” or “FPE” or Stab-Lok” on it, home inspectors recommend getting the entire breaker box replaced.
I have linked you to more information —and photos of Stab-Lok breaker boxes below.

My Washington Post story about Stab-Lok breaker defects: www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/despite-previous-safety-concerns-this-circuit-breaker-is-still-in-homes/2018/05/08/8927af86-4ef9-11e8-b725-92c89fe3ca4c_story.html?utm_term=.ee06dd6fedfe

Instructions and Photos for identifying FPE and Stab-Lok breakers:
inspectapedia.com/fpe/FPE_Stab_Lok_Identification.php

History of FPE Stab-Lok Breaker Problems by an independent researcher: www.fpe-info.org/Hazardous%20FPE%20171110.pdf

Hello everybody, I’m Elisabeth Leamy. And instead of rambling, here is my Top Tip. Experts estimate 80-percent of the used cars sold by what look like individual owners are actually being sold by illegal, unlicensed dealers called “Curbstoners” because they sell cars from the curb. Some telltale signs;

Cars for sale by the side of the road or at shopping centers often belong to curbstoners.

If the seller insists on meeting you at a public place, proceed with caution.
If you see the same contact phone number listed for multiple cars, watch out.
Also be cautious if there are no license plates, they’re from out of state or they’re temporary tags.

And finally, be on the lookout for recently issued titles. Most individual owners would not be selling a car so soon.
The problem with curbstones vehicles is that often they are salvage, flood or even stolen vehicles. Now you know.

here is a top tip about the Candy Kids. Summer’s coming, so soon you’ll see them downtown, on the subway, at your own front door. They claim to be selling chocolate bars or other candy for a cause. Sound familiar? The US Labor Department says 50-thousand children nationwide are involved and that they’re being exploited. Crooked adults with criminal records called candy crew leaders run these candy rings. They recruit near schools, in public housing complexes and homeless shelters and drop the kids off unsupervised for 12 hour shifts. The kids make a few cents for each candy bar they sell and often the adults dock that meager pay with various excuses. When I investigated one ring, I met kids on the street who were as young as seven. It’s painful to watch. So what to do? Call the police and your local labor deparment. And if you just can’t stand not to help these kids, you could consider giving them a “donation” instead. Tell them to keep it for themselves and not give it to their crooked boss.

If you carry credit card debt, I want you to pull out your wallet -right now- while you’re listening and get out all of your credit cards. Now, grab a pair of scissors, and cut them up. (Make scissor noise here!) All but one. Are you feeling the withdrawal symptoms yet? Have you broken out in a cold sweat? You’re about to get even colder. Now, take the remaining card, stick it in a one-gallon plastic zipper bag, fill the bag with water, and freeze it. Yes, freeze your credit card in a block of ice. This is a creative way to put your excessive spending on ice. You can chip the card out of there if you have a true emergency, but the effort it takes should prevent impulse buys.

If you, like me, are bothered by the overpowering artificial scents in old products like dryer sheets all the way up to new products like scented garbage bags, there are solutions.  First of all, you should know manmade scents have been linked to several health problems, so this is real.  To steer clear, you need to know the lingo.   Unscented means that a product doesn’t have a detectable odor —but it could still contain artificial scents because manufacturers are allowed to use them in so-called “unscented” products if they are there to cover up the smell of other ingredients.  By contrast, “fragrance-free” is the label to look for if you are bothered by chemical fragrances, because it indicates no artificial smells have been added to the product whatsoever.  I will link you to several different resources for finding these fragrance-free products for your home and personal care.  at EasyMoneyShow.com/46

Candles are popular AND expensive, so here’s a trick to make them last longer.  Just stick your candles in the freezer for about 24 hours before burning them.  This slows down the burn rate so that your candles will burn longer… and maybe even more evenly.  Cool, huh?

You may be able to travel to 2 different destinations for the price of one.  When I was planning a trip to Asia,  I figured I would use miles to fly to Hong Kong and then I’d buy a ticket to go on to Bangkok.  But then a savvy travel agent —remember them?— told me that many international airlines allow you to “lay over” for a week in one location and then fly on to another at no additional charge!  Iceland Air even advertises this as a perk, even though many airlines do it!  Here is a list of airlines that allow you to lay over in one city and then travel on to another for one price:  www.travelandleisure.com/airlines-airports/airlines-with-free-stopovers

Never buy a lock from a locksmith! This tip comes courtesy of my producer, Woody. Woody’s niece recently bought her first condo and wanted to change the locks. The locksmith quoted her $75 for a non-name brand lock. Woody jumped online and found a better, name-brand Schlage lock available at Walmart for $17 bucks. Now, why would I harp on this locksmith example? Because the same principle applies to buying ANY product when you’re a captive audience. Don’t panic. Shop around real quick and you may well get a much better deal.