This page last updated 3-10-07

   I hope this information helps you keep some of your hard earned money in your pocket and/or makes life easier for you and those around you. If you have a money, life or health saving tip or any other tips you'd like to pass on, please e-mail me at misnoitall@hotmail.com and we'll put it on Miss Know It All's page.

If you are the original owner of any information on this page, let McIntech Publishing Co. know so that we can give credit where credit is due.

This came to me in an e-mail and due to the wrong information that gets passed on, I did try this except for not letting the gas tank go below half a tank of gas. I did see an decrease in the amount of gas I used! I will make sure that I don't go below half a tank anymore!

TIPS ON PUMPING GAS

I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in California  we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my line of work is  in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of  your money's worth for every gallon..  

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose , CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is  diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades.  We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.  

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still co ld. Remember that all service stations have their  storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground  the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.

A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.
 
When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3)stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are  pumping on the fast rate, some other liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less   worth for your money.  

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount.  

Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.  Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

WHERE TO BUY USA GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON

Gas rationing in the 80's worked even though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor.

An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS.

Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia .  Just buy from gas companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis.

Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends.

I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil.

These companies import Middle Eastern oil:

Shell........................... 205,742,000 barrels

Che vron/Texaco......... 144,332,000 barrels

Exxon/Mobil............... 130,082,000 barrels

Marathon/Speedway... 117,740,000 barrels

Amoco............................62,231,000 barrels

Citgo gas is from South America , from a Dictator who hates Americans. If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! (oil is now $90 - $100 a barrel

Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:

Sunoco..................0 barrels

Conoco................. .0 barrels

Sinclair..................0 barrels

BP/Phillips.............0 barrels

Hess......................0 barrels

ARC0.....................0 barrels

If you go to Sunoco.com <http://sunoco.com/> , you will get a list of the station locations near you.

All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas buyers. It's really simple to do.

I have taken out a couple of ideas that I discovered were just urban legends. One was about the plug in type air freshener catching on fire and the other was about the penny bee sting remedy. I apologize if you used the advice and it didn't work. If you get an idea or notice about something and are told to pass it on, go to www.snopes.com and look the information up to see of it's true or not. I normally do this but on these two occasions I didn't.

I LOVE baking soda!!! You mechanics need to buy this stuff and use it. If you need oil taken off your hands and/or clothes, grab some and use it. I tried it on the vaseline type of petrolium and found that it won't work on that, but for most of your other grease and oil cleaning needs, it's worth a try and it'll save you some $$$.

For those of you who color your hair at home using the coloring kits available from any grocery and/or discount store, this bit of information was passed on to me by my hair stylist Lydia at Ionix Salon. Since hair coloring kits don't have any expiration dates and the chemicals can go bad, make sure you get a kit that is part of a new shipment. It'd be a good idea to not get any that are at discontinued/salvage stores. The color might not come out right and/or cause damage to your hair!

I was talking with Meridith, a friend of mine, who is a physical theripist and we were discussing chiropractors. I mentioned that I FIRMLY believe in using them and she informed me that UNLESS a chiropractor gives a patient exercises to work the areas of the spine that have been adjusted then the adjustment won't benefit the patient as well as using strenghtening exercises, so for those of you that do use a chiropractor, ask them to give you some exercises to help with the adjustments that you are receiving to help you get more from the adjustments or surf the web and find some to take with you to see what your chiropractor recommends. If they say you don't need to exercise after the adjustment, then you may want to see about finding a different chiropractor.

I received this in an e-mail from a friend and I sure will use it the next time I use store bought frosting! It was on one of the cooking channels.
EXPANDING Frosting - When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount and eat less sugar/calories per serving.

If you have ever wondered whether the passenger's side OR the driver's side is the left or right when describing which tire, door, or where any other automotive part is located then just remember that driver's side is left and passenger's side is right. It is as if you are sitting inside the vehicle.

I had to purchase a grey polo recently and discovered that since I wear a men's small and there weren't any grey polos in the men's department and that the small shirts that were available looked bigger than what I needed, I headed over to the young men's department. Not only did they have the shirt I needed at a lesser price, it happened to be the correct size! You might want to try the young adults section whenever you shop and see if this will work for you as well!

Now would be a good time to check your windshield wipers. If you can't get to a parts store OR you can't afford to replace the wipers until a future time, then you can take some fine grade sand paper and gently run the sandpaper along one side of the blade to help "sharpen" the blade and keep it usable just a little while longer.

Baking soda is GREAT at cleaning baked on food on pots and pans! For really tough baked on food, use with aluminum foil. No need to buy pot scrubbers that you'll be throwing out after a few uses when you can use the foil that you baked with. Now THAT'S recycling and saving our resources!

I received this as part as my jokes for the day from arcamax and even though it was meant to be funny, there was some truth in it as what not to do, as my friend Nick would agree. Enjoy!

How To Please Your I.T. Department

(A quick check list for those who need to make contact)
1. When you call us to have your computer moved, be sure to leave it buried under half a ton of postcards, baby pictures, stuffed animals, dried flowers, bowling trophies and children's art. We don't have a life, and we find it deeply moving to catch a fleeting glimpse of yours.

2. Don't write anything down. Ever. We can play back the error messages from here.

3. When an I.T. person says he's coming right over, go for coffee. That way you won't be there when we need your password. It's nothing for us to remember 700 screen saver passwords.

4. When you call the help desk, state what you want, not what's keeping you from getting it. We don't need to know that you can't get into your mail because your computer won't power on at all.

5. When I.T. support sends you an E-Mail with high importance, delete it at once. We're just testing.

6. When an I.T. person is eating lunch at his desk, walk right in and spill your guts right out. We exist only to serve.

7. Send urgent email all in uppercase. The mail server picks it up and flags it as a rush delivery.
8. When the photocopier doesn't work, call computer support. There's electronics in it.

9. When you're getting a NO DIAL TONE message at home, call computer support. We can fix your telephone line from here.

10. When you have a dozen old computer screens to get rid of, call computer support. We're collectors.

11. When something's wrong with your home PC, dump it on an I.T. person's chair with no name, no phone number and no description of the problem. We love a puzzle.

12. When an I.T. person tells you that computer screens don't have cartridges in them, argue. We love a good argument.

13. When an I.T. person tells you that he'll be there shortly, reply in a scathing tone of voice: "And just how many weeks do you mean by shortly?" That motivates us.

14. When the printer won't print, re-send the job at least 20 times. Print jobs frequently get sucked into black holes.

15. When the printer still won't print after 20 tries, send the job to all 68 printers in the company. One of them is bound to work.

There's a recall on some toothpaste that is not the real deal. The toothpaste products in question can be found on the FDA'S website http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/toothpaste.html.

Don't want to talk to an automated machine when you need to call a company? http://tinyurl. com/yoco4r will give you the info you need to get in touch with a PERSON. This information is from Debby who is in one of my yahoo chat groups!

This came from one of my yahoo chat groups and it is VERY important that you read what is said http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp
WWW.SNOPES.COM is the site to use to see if an e-mail alert is true or not OR to report a false e-mail scam.

DEAR ABBY: I am an accountant. Now that tax season is again in full swing, several staff members from our office have compiled a list of "considerations" for Dear Abby readers in compiling their tax returns:

(1) Do not just "drop in" to leave your tax records. Even if we don't have an office full of clients waiting to be seen (and sometimes we do), we are probably knee-deep in preparing someone else's return. Being distracted from our work for a visit can be very disruptive.

(2) Because we see you only once a year, many clients feel the need to share how their children are doing. We try to be polite and listen. But if you spend up to an hour sharing how wonderful/smart -- or even worthless -- your children are, we'll be trading daylight for darkness trying to catch up. Multiply that by how many clients come through our doors, and it's overwhelming.

(3) Please pay your accountant in a timely fashion. I wish I had a nickel for every client who told me he/she thought his/her spouse had already written the check. However, it has never once occurred that both actually paid the bill. It may seem like we're rolling in money during tax season, but when the deadline rolls around, we have taxes to pay, too.

(4) Please do not call your accountant and ask a question for your neighbor's second cousin or anyone else other than yourself. This work is our livelihood, and giving advice for someone else often entails research, but it is not billable time for our firm.

(5) And last, if you call your accountant requesting information about the tax consequences of a decision you are trying to make, please do not have a fit when you receive a bill for the time spent doing this research. Many times we have spent a lot of time researching real estate transactions, etc. along with current tax laws to determine how a sale might cause increased tax liability for clients, and they are shocked to receive a statement for this time. -- SLEEPLESS IN TEXAS

DEAR SLEEPLESS: I'll bet most people don't recognize how any of the points you mentioned could possibly be an inconvenience, but I'm sure it happens every tax season. In case anyone has forgotten, accountants and tax preparers are human beings who need care, feeding and consideration. They're not robots with endless energy. So, when you go, be aware that this is one of their most pressured times of the year, and be as organized, prepared and businesslike as possible. Your accountant may love you, but it ain't a social call.

If you are purchasing a cubic zirconia ring and you are not planning on telling the recipient that it's not a real diamond, you might want to rethink that idea. Tina from Banks Jewelers states that she (and other jeweler for that matter) have had customers bring their "diamond" ring in for repairs or cleaning and when she tells the owner that it's NOT a diamond but a CZ, the customer believes that the stone has been switched. It's better to let the recipient know that it's not a real diamond and plan on buying one at a future time then to start a long-term relationship with a lie! 

For information on e-mail scams go to Tips for Detecting Phishing Scam E-Mails

The following from the SC State Baptist Convention:
 
I had a wonderful morning, until the heating unit went out on my
dryer! The repair man went in to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It
was clean. We always clean the lint from the filter after every load
of clothes. He told us that he wanted to show us something. He took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material - I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like, WELL.....the hot water just sat on top of the mesh!!! It didn't go through it at all!!!  He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over the mesh and that's
what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire and potentially burn your house down! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (& to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that
filter out & wash it with hot soapy water & an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How
about that???!!!! Learn something new everyday! PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO OTHER PEOPLE. NOT ONLY COULD IT SAVE SOMEONE'S HOME, BUT IT COULD SAVE SOMEONE'S LIFE. Added by me-If it's doing that to the filter, HOW are the clothes getting clean?!

To soften your clothes without having to worry about the above, add vinegar to the rinse cycle of the wash and not only will they be soft, they'll be fresh as well!! This was passed on to me by my friend Michelle.

If you get public assistance with either food, medicaide, etc... then you may be able get assistance with getting a reduced rate on your landline phone.You can go to www.lifeline.gov for more information.

You might want to save proof of addresses from where you lived previously like an electric, phone, or water bill. If you ever have a problem with identity theft or to claim property from the state, and the address is one where you use to live, then the information will come in handy. Plan on putting it in a fire safe file box or a safe deposit box where you bank.

My friend Truly gave me this piece of time-saving advice. A way to clean glass pans and pots. is to spray them with oven cleaner and leave them to soak.Usually within 30 minutes you can rinse them off and watch the stuff come off. If there is still some left on it after you do it the first time, do it again. I do this with mine that have designs on them and it is the only thing I have found that will clean out those little spots.

If you are taking a vitamin suppliment and it's not plant-based,  then your body can't process it and it'll just pass through your system and won't do anything for you except take your money. You need to take the plant-based vitamin with the largest meal so that the nutients can get into the body.

If you are going to purchase an ink cartridge, some have a moderate yield which means that even though it's cheaper, there isn't as much ink in the cartridge and won't last long.

To get a FREE prescription card go to www.freedrugcard.us. You fill in your information and then print out your card. You can save a lot of money with it on prescriptions, up to 75%! They provide a list of pharmacies that accept it.

I'm back on my baking soda kick, but with all the things it can do, it's one of my favorite things in life! To whiten your teeth, brush with it. No need for expensive pastes or treatments!

If you need to caulk something and don't have any caulk OR the weather is too cold, use petrolium jelly. I used it in the cracks in my shower window and it will hold until we replace the frame and can caulk it properly in the spring! *Don't use on surfaces that it will ruin unless you plan on  replacing it. 

 What are you to do if you have a heart attack while you are alone.
The Johnson City Medical Center staff actually discovered this
and did an in-depth study on it in our ICU The two individuals that
discovered this then did an article on it had it published and have
even had it incorporated into ACLS and CPR classes.
It is very true and has and does work. It is called cough CPR. A cardiologist says it's the truth ... It could save your life! Let's say it's 6:15 p.m. and you're driving home (alone of course), after an usually hard day on the job. You're really tired, upset and frustrated.   Suddenly you start experiencing severe  pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest your home, unfortunately, you don't know if you'll be able to make it that far. What can you do? You've been trained in CPR but the guy that taught the course, didn't tell you what to do if it happened to yourself.

Without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness, however, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough  must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about very two seconds without let up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.
Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital. Tell as many other people as possible about this, it could save their lives!


From Health Cares, Rochester General Hospital via Chapter 240s newsletter "AND THE BEAT GOES ON "

(reprint from The Mended Hearts, Inc. publication, Heart Response)

There has been a recall for some store brands of acetemenophen. to see if the batch you have is included in this recall go to http://www.recalls.gov/recent.html

If you: have more time than money (like most of us), like saving money, don't like to grocery shop OR all three, go to www.angelfoodministries.com and see if this will help stretch your food budget and save you money and/or time. If there's not one in your area, maybe your church could start one.

If you need to call information but don't like having to pay the prices they charge then you need to remember 1-800-FREE411 (373-3411). This is a FREE information call. All you have to do is listen to a 15-30 second ad! The total time of the call is about the same as if you were calling 411. Your cell phone minutes would be used but that's all. You can go to www.free411.com to get all the information.

If you are dealing with poor circulation and blood sugar problems, then you might want to try some niacin. It could help get your blood sugar regulated and the blood moving better. Start out with 1 - 50 mg tablet and increase the dosage every couple of days. If you get a "FEVER FLUSH" with any of the amounts you take then cut down until you can take it and not get the FF. Of course you need to consult with your family physician ( to let him know that his income might be decreasing)!

 If it's good enough for his employees, it's good enough for you!

PLEASE pass this information on to others who don't have access to it!

ATTORNEY'S ADVICE-----NO CHARGE

A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company.

1. The next time you order checks, have only your initials (instead of first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your checkbook, they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your checks.

2. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED."

3. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the "For" line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check-processing channels will not have access to it.

4. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a P.O. Box, use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a P.O. Box, use your work address. NEVER have your SS# printed on your checks, (DUH!). You can add it if it is necessary. However, if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

5. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine.  Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. Also carry a photocopy of your passport when traveling either here or abroad. We have all heard horror stories about fraud that is committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards.

6. When you check-out of a hotel that uses cards for keys (and they all seem to do that now), do not turn the "keys" in. Take them with you and destroy them. Those little cards have on them all of the information you gave the hotel, including address and credit card numbers and expiration dates. Someone with a card reader, or employee of the hotel, can access all that information with no problem whatsoever.

Unfortunately, as an attorney, I have first-hand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month. Within a week, the thieves ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer and received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online. Here is some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know:

1. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. The key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them.

2. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one). However, here is what is perhaps most important of all (I never even thought to do this.)

3. Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit. By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks.

Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet and contents being stolen:

1. Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
2. Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
3. TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289
4. Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271 

 You can go to http://video.sheriff.org/psa_cartheft.shtml  to  see a way to protect yourself from identity theft.

  If you pay for your water consumption then these ideas might be able to save you some money. If you have an older toilet that isn't a water saver ( which REALLY DOESN'T save any water because you  have to flush multiple times at times!) you can take a half gallon container that'll fit in the tank, fill it with water and place it in the tank. This will help you use less water and if you want to take the water saving a little further you can put a 3 gallon bucket in the shower to catch the water you let out of the faucet and use it to flush the toilet. Another little trick is (now don't get disgusted) don't flush the toilet at night UNLESS it's more than just urine hanging around! 

 Are you going to have some blood drawn for tests soon? If so make sure that you drink plenty of water the few days before so that your veins won't roll as much and the lab tech can do their job better AND YOU won't have to be poked as much!

 Here's a FREE weight loss tip- WATER can help flush the FAT out of your system! You can loose weight by not drinking sodas as well.

 If you have diabetes or any form of it, cinnamon might be able to help. Add a tablespoon throughout your day in your food and/or drink.

 You might have money that you don't know about!! You can search either www.missingmoney.com, the treasury department or the comptroller's office for your state and follow the directions to see if YOU have any UNCLAIMED MONEY! You shouldn't pay anyone for this service unless you don't have time

 Before you throw away any household items you don't need or want anymore OR before you buy that item you need, check out www.freecycle.org. You might save money and/or help someone out.

 Insurance companies might require proof of ownership if you file a loss claim. There should be physical proof such as a picture, video, etc.. as well as written such as receipt or bill of sale. Keep the proof in a fire safe lock box so that all you need to do is open and show.

 If you have a small fire extinguisher in your home or place of business then you need to make sure that you turn it over and hit the bottom of it with a rubber mallet or GENTLY with a hammer every 3 months or so. If the ingredients aren't mixed together every so often then it won't work when it's needed the most.

 Keep your hard earned money OR make your money last by not throwing it away on unnecessary cleaning and beauty products.

If you need to clean your oven use BAKING SODA! Whether it's the store OR national brand they BOTH work EXTREMELY well and the cleanup is a BREEZE. It also works well if you've been working on that car engine and your hands are a mess. Cleans the grease and oil right off!  If you need to use baking soda that is fresh for some of your other needs, add a tsp. of vinegar to a tsp. of baking soda. If it fizzes, you know it's fresh. To clean clogged drains pour some down the drain and follow it with a soda.

 If you are blessed to live in an area that has soft water then this won't apply to you, BUT if you live where the water is hard, then throw some (maybe 1/2c) of baking soda into your washing machine with your detergent. INSTANT water softener. 

 For a natural exfolient, use some baking soda made into a paste and apply it to your face and/or body for an inexpensive spa treatment. Rub GENTLY (and remember to stay away from the eye area and if you have skin sensitivities test in a small area). If you like to have the pretty bottles that the cosmetics come in (which is a good bit of the cost for the product), then get some pretty bottles from any thrift or dollar store to put the baking soda in. Be careful if you use a glass bottle in the shower. 

 I discovered, just recently, that you can use baking soda as a fruit and vegetable wash to get rid of the wax that is put on fruit to protect it! Try, see and save some money! 

 Baking soda will remove ink from your skin as well if you wash with it!

  I also save a good bit by using baby oil to not only remove eye and other makeup, but dirt as well! You'd think you were using a cleansing pad the way it pulls the dirt off the skin without drying your skin out and so far it hasn't clogged my pores!

 If you're eyes are getting itchey and feel like you may be getting pink eye, reach for a bottle of plain saline solution for contacts (available at any grocery, discount and drug store) and apply to both eyes. For about a $2.00 investment you might be able to avoid a trip to the doctor and pharmacy.

 Plain saline solution is also effective as a sinus cleaner and works just as well as the mists that are sold for $6.00. Make sure that you mark on the bottle what each one is for!

  Another money saving tip I learned the hard way is not to use so much laundry detergent.  Suds get in the way of the product so that it can't get the dirt out of the clothes properly. I've learned that, since I happen to live in a soft water area, I can use on a large capacity heavy soiled clothes the amount recommended for normal load of clothes! I use the upscale cheaper brand and the clothes smell great AND come out AS CLEAN as when I used  the more expensive brands! Addendum: I dilute the liquid 3 parts water to 1 part detergent and have saved LOTS OF $$!!!

  Don't use a full amount of auto dishwashing cleaner as well if you are in a soft water area. All you're doing is, literally, throwing money down the drain. Pardon the pun. Add some baking soda, about t teaspoon, to the detergent compartment and you will save without sacrificing cleanliness.