Everyday Cheapskate: Nervous homeowners, stay patient and solvent through rough economic waters

You bought the biggest home you could afford, or you refinanced, taking advantage of low rates and creative financing. Who knew you could afford such a great house or get your hands on so much cash?

But now, several years later, your low interest rate has disappeared, and the adjustable rate that seemed like a good idea keeps pushing your payments higher. If that’s not bad enough, instead of increasing in value, your home’s market value is slipping and appears ready to take a nosedive.

Stay calm: If you can afford your house payment, a falling market is not likely to hurt you provided you are not planning to sell right now. Your home’s market value is only a number on paper.

Stay put: While you might be tempted to bail out, selling now might cause you to suffer a loss needlessly. Enjoy your home. Time has a way of righting a slumping market. If you can hang on to a home for five to 10 years or more, you improve your chances of riding out a downturn unscathed.

Get it fixed: Interest rates are creeping upward. It may not be too late for you to refinance into a fixed-rate loan. Do it now. With a fixed-rate mortgage, you always know what to expect.

Don’t borrow: If your home has appreciated significantly over the past few years, you might be tempted to cash out the equity before you lose that gain in a potential market downturn. Don’t do it. Equity appreciation is not money in the bank. Cashing out will widen your debt and increase your monthly payment. If that equity is money you really need for some other purpose, sell your home now and downsize to a cheaper area. Otherwise, don’t run the risk of falling into a trap where you end up owing more than the home is worth.

Double up: If you are in a position to target your mortgage more aggressively, step up your payments to reduce your principle quickly so you owe less than the property is worth.

Widen the gap: You need to maintain a healthy gap between the amount it is worth and the amount you owe. Never less than 20 percent is my advice. Concentrate on widening that gap now and you’ll sail through any market downturn.

Keep up: Even in a down market, your home will be more likely to stay at the top in its class when it reflects your pride of ownership. Keep the place well maintained.

Stay focused: While keeping abreast of your home’s current market value is interesting, it is not nearly as important as your outstanding mortgage. That’s the number that deserves your focus and full attention. Every dollar you pay toward the principal brings you one step closer to living rent-free for the rest of your life.

Cutting refill osts

If you’ve ever been shocked by the price of a refill — from printer cartridges to vacuum-cleaner bags — you’re going to love today’s great reader tips. Perhaps you, like Candi B., can figure out how to skip buying that refill altogether without giving up the great newfangled gadget.

SKIP THE REFILLS: Instead of buying the Wet Swiffer refills, which can be quite pricey, I buy off-brand pine-cleaner bottles, make a diluted, ready-to-use mixture and store it in a spray bottle. Then I just spray the right amount on the floor as I go along. It dries really fast and I save money.

— Candi B./Texas

TIGHT FOR LIFE: When sewing a large button onto a child’s coat, use dental floss instead of regular thread or heavy thread, and use a small button to back it on the underside. Buttons will stay on for as long as the child wears the coat.

— Maria S./Florida

COPPER CLEAN: To clean copper pans, just rub plain ketchup with a little salt on the surface and rub the stains away. It works great.

— Name withheld

CREVICE CLEANER: I use a toothbrush to give my kitchen-sink fixtures a good cleaning. It also works great to clean meat-tenderizing mallets and the grinding plates of juicers. It gets out all of the trapped food particles. When I’m done, I just sterilize it with isopropyl alcohol or hydrogen peroxide.

— John T./Via e-mail

RUST STAINS GONE: I once had a rust stain on a pair of white pants. To get it out, I used a paste of lemon juice and salt and put it out in the sun. This was a big rust stain, and I watched it just disappear.

— Name withheld

MAGIC REMOVER: I have a tip for removing the sticky residue left behind by price stickers. It’s a used dryer sheet. I discovered it by accident a few years back when I got tired of looking at the residue on my washer and dryer left by a sticker. So I picked up the dryer sheet that fell out of the dryer and rubbed it on the residue, and it came right off.

— P.N./Via e-mail

CHEAP FLAVORS: To make your own flavored coffee without springing for the higher cost of flavored coffee beans, sprinkle ground cinnamon, nutmeg or your choice of spices in with the coffee grinds before brewing.

— Renee A./Florida

DEAR MARY: Is there any way to make a cheap mixture of that Windex Outdoor Window & Surface Cleaner? I have saved the container and am looking for a substitute mixture I can make myself. It is $7 a bottle in the store, and I use several bottles by the time I am done squirting down my outdoor furniture, the sides of my house, and all my windows. It needs to have some sort of sheeting action and, most importantly, something that won’t harm grass or plants. I would sure appreciate a formula for this.

— Nancy K./California

DEAR NANCY: Do you feel like conducting an experiment? Since you have the container (which I assume is refillable) and I don’t, do this: Add 1 teaspoon Cascade Complete automatic-dishwasher liquid to the empty container, fill it with warm water, hook it up to the hose and take it for a test-drive. How does that compare with the Windex product? Cascade Complete diluted in water makes a great window cleaner because of the sheeting action. This very weak solution is not going to harm pets or vegetation and is not likely to require rinsing. You may need to experiment with ratios of product to water; however, if this works, $7 worth of Cascade Complete is going to last a very long time. I can’t wait to hear back with your results, which I will be sure pass along to my readers.

Salad days

If there’s one food that heralds the arrival of summer, it’s salad. Even my tiny garden is bursting with beautiful tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and basil. And the same warm sun that coaxes produce to perfection can zap all the energy from the average cook. That’s why we love big, lovely summer salads. We can step away from the hot stove to eat wonderfully every night of the week.

While salad is often a side dish, all you need to make a whole-meal salad is protein. Now you have a nutritionally balanced meal and one that will keep you from being hungry again an hour after dinner. A salad is the perfect way to use up chicken or steak left from last night’s barbecue — even that piece of grilled salmon or seafood.

MARY'S FAMOUS BROCCOLI SALAD

12 crumbled, cooked bacon slices

5 cups chopped fresh broccoli

½ cup golden raisins

¼ cup chopped red onion

1 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon black pepper

¼ cup sunflower seeds or other nuts (see Cook’s note)

Fry the bacon until crisp. Drain and set aside. Toss the broccoli, raisins and onion in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar and pepper. Toss the dressing with the broccoli mixture. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, toss with the bacon and sunflower seeds.

Serves 8 as a side dish, 5 or 6 as the main course.

Cook’s note: Feel free to substitute almonds, toasted pine nuts or other nuts for the sunflower seeds.

- - -

Mary Hunt is the author of 14 books. Everyday Cheapskate readers will find her recently revised book, “Debt-Proof Living,” available at a discount at www.debtproofliving.com/um. All correspondence becomes the property of Debt-Proof Living.