A coworker stopped me in the hall last week and said, “Girl, I was afraid I wasn’t going to make it to that conference yesterday.” Even though she’d just paid for tire rotation, tire balancing and wheel alignment at her local repair shop, her entire car began to shake violently while cruising on a major highway. She was 50 miles from home, so she used her cell phone to find the nearest dealer repair shop. There, she learned that the original tire and wheel maintenance had not been performed. $800 later the car was back on the road, but it was an unnecessary reminder that a good mechanic is hard to find.

Unfortunately, there’s no easy solution when searching for a mechanic. The FTC and the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) publish brochures with tips about finding a good repair shop. Both agree that word of mouth is still the best way to find a trustworthy mechanic, but sometimes that’s not enough.

There are other ways to research mechanics. Look for the ASE Certified Technician seal awarded to individual technicians who pass standardized tests. You can even search online for repair shops that have earned the ASE Blue Seal, which requires that at least 75% of the repair shop’s mechanics have an ASE certification. The Motorist Assurance Program is a nonprofit that also gives its seal of approval to qualified repair shops.

In addition, there are consumer review services where you can read the real life experience of other customers. The radio program Car Talk offers this service for free. Consumers' Checkbook and Angie’s List offer ratings and consumer reviews for a fee (but the money might be well worth the peace of mind!).

Needless to say, my friend won’t be taking her car back to that local repair shop. She could file a complaint with her local consumer protection office. I’ll write more about that in a future post. For now, do you have a repair shop experience you’d like to share?

But before you think I’m a horrible mom, allow me to explain myself. For the past 7 years I have been wrestling irritable young children into car seats and strapping them in for a safe ride. Safe, yes – but you try having a rational discussion about crash safety with an immobilized and indignant toddler. Gone are the carefree days of the free floating children in the back of the station wagon. That was me, playing cards, napping, and waving to everyone on the highway.

These days it’s different – we know more about child passenger safety than our folks did. So I will wrestle and wrangle and do what I need to do to make the kids safe in the car.

The thing that really bugs me the most is actually positioning a seat in the car. Am I alone in thinking that it’s frustrating and back breaking and I feel like I have to be an iron man contortionist to get the dang thing installed properly? How my mother laughed at me when I told her that my infant car seat came with a 36 page instruction manual!

That’s why I was so excited to see that the National Highway Traffic Safety Association has done something absolutely brilliant – they’re now publishing ease of use ratings for child car seats.

I’m past the point where these ratings will help me plan my car seat purchases – what’s done is done. I do hope that they’ll spare some of you some pain in the back and a pain in the neck as well!

So long Charlie, hello, Big Al. That’s right, I finally took the plunge and parted ways with my old car, Charlie. And even though parting is such sweet sorrow, I couldn’t be happier with my new ride.

Before I could buy Al, I had to first figure out what to do with Charlie. I weighed the pros and cons of trading in vs. selling, which included looking up Charlie’s value (priceless, of course) in the Kelley Blue Book. And after reading Nancy’s post, I also considered going the donation route. For me, selling Charlie was the best option, because it added some extra money to my down payment.

Since I had been shopping around for a couple of months, I had a pretty good idea of what make and model I wanted. And after a quick assessment of how energy efficient this new car would be, my next step was to figure out if I could really afford it. To do so, I used Consumer Reports’ online calculator, which enabled me to play with different figures, including my loan term and interest rate.

Speaking of, a key step to my car buying process was researching my financing options and finding the best loan. After comparing rates and terms from multiple finance sources like my bank, credit union, and potential car dealers, I decided to go with a loan from my credit union. I did a quick check of my credit report through annualcreditreport.com, just to make sure all my info was correct, and then applied for the loan online. It really was easy as pie!

With my financing in place, I was now ready for the fun part: wheelin’ and dealin’. Armed with advice from the pub “How to Get a Great Deal on a New Car” and my Dealer Visit worksheet I was ready for business. I checked a couple of car buying sites to see what the going sale price was in my area and then I stared negotiating for the price I wanted and could afford. And before I knew it, I was cruisin’ around town in Big Al.

All in all, the entire process wasn’t as bad as I imagined. Feel free to add any tips or stories you have for our readers who’re thinking about buying a car as well.

For the past month, I've been coming home to a mailbox filled with letters from charities, asking for end-of-the-year donations. I think I've gotten more of those than I have catalogs and holiday cards combined, this year. And no wonder--charitable giving is down all over the country right now and nonprofits know that the holiday season traditionally brings out the spirit of giving, while people think about making last minute, end-of-the-year contributions for tax deductions.   

Whatever motivates you, if you're considering some year-end charitable contributions, I've got some quick tips to help you understand the basic tax rules about charitable giving and to help you find charities you can trust to be good managers of the work they do and the money you send them.

Over the last couple years, the IRS has tightened its rules about keeping record of your donations and about what you donate and how it's valued.

If you're giving a cash, check or credit card donation, you'll need a written record of the transaction from the charity or from your bank, with the name of the charity, the date and the dollar amount of your contribution. Used to be, you only needed a written record of a contribution if it was over $250. Now, if you want the tax credit, you need the paperwork, regardless of the dollar amount.

Have clothing or household items you're boxing up for Goodwill, the Salvation Army or another nonprofit that accepts used goods? The new rule is, what you donate has to be in good, used condition or better for you to receive a tax deduction for the donation.  If the stereo's broken or the shirt is full of holes, you won't get a tax break for it. So save the charity the trouble of disposing of it for you and send those things directly to the trash or recycling bin!   

I see ads all over the place from charities asking people to donate their used vehicles.  It can be a good deal if old Betsy is up on blocks in your yard and you'd need to have it hauled or towed away and you wouldn't expect to get much for it from the junk man. But if you're donating a car, truck, boat or recreational vehicle that's in running condition, primarily for the reason of getting the tax break, you may want to think a little about it. If the charity you donate your vehicle to will in turn sell it at auction, you'll be entitled to claim only the gross proceeds from the sale--which is usually well below Blue Book value. The charity is required by the IRS to contact you after the auction to let you know what that dollar amount was.  If, however, the charity you donate your vehicle to improves or uses the vehicle, or if it gives the vehicle or sells it to a person in need at significantly below fair market value, you may then be able to claim the fair market value of the vehicle on your tax return.

Before you entrust your vehicle or cash to a nonprofit, it makes sense to check out the organization--making sure it's reputable and that it manages its programs and funds well. While the overwhelming majority of nonprofits are good organizations that work hard to create change and help the world and its inhabitants, fraudulent "charities" still abound. And they love targeting seniors and anybody else they can get to trust them.

Be wary of any "charity" that phones you, unsolicited, for a contribution and refuses to mail you written information about the organization or its tax ID number when you ask for more facts in writing about it before you give. And never entrust your bank account, credit card or Social Security number to anyone over the phone. I know this sounds like common sense, but when you're on the line with someone skilled at playing on your emotions by telling you that you can help save starving kids in Africa, puppies at the local pound or provide for the children of fallen firefighters, it's easy to let your defenses down and give a potential scammer all the information he or she needs to clean out your checking account. 

Your local Better Business Bureau and state regulatory and licensing agencies are good places to find out if an organization you're considering donating to is registered with them or has had complaints filed against it. Online databases like Charity Navigator and Give.org track the work and financial management of hundreds of major nonprofit organizations.  And there are also a few specialized financial accountability groups you can find online that track specific types of nonprofits like religious charities.

When you find charities you can trust that are doing work that inspires you, giving to them feels good...not just during the holidays, but anytime.

Ok, I have to fess up. Being able to "haul stuff” wasn’t the only reason we decided to get a new car in August (or paint our bedrooms, for that matter). That was when we also found out I was going to have a baby - yay! This will be our first child, so the main reason we bought a new car is because my husband is an uber-planner. To stay on track with our financial plan he determined we had to buy one 4-door, kid-friendly car now so we could buy another one next year. That way we'd both have safer cars to “haul” the new addition and any necessary accessories without completely breaking the bank.

So far I’m very intrigued by this whole pregnancy experience. I've always romanticized what pregnancy might be like – maybe overwhelming feelings of maternal love beaming from my body at anyone who passes by. 

Needless to say, it’s is nothing like I imagined. I’ve had it good, I must say – not too much morning sickness and now I’m beginning to feel the little kicks, and ultrasounds are always something to look forward to.  We feel blessed to be expecting a new baby but overall, it’s been a relatively uneventful experience.   A lot of waiting… (I’m very impatient.)

So, in my quest to pass the long 40 weeks and foster the maternal beam of love, I found some great information on USA.gov’s Expecting Parents page. The information on alcohol and pregnancy (no champagne for New Years 2008!), tips on staying healthy and even help with finding a name has been great. Also, USA.gov’s Frequently Asked Questions page about Pregnancy and Nutrition directed me to essential information on foods pregnant women should stay away from (no sushi or unpasteurized cheese – it’s harder than I thought!). 

I’ll keep you up to date as April nears. Everyone says the baby will arrive before I know it, but I’m not so sure. Please share any of your tips or stories on pregnancy and parenthood in the comments.  I need all the advice I can get!!

Now, if I could only find some really great maternity pants…