Dear Mary: With gas the price that it is, I'm thinking of getting a scooter. I commute 12 miles every day in city traffic. Scooters typically get about 120 miles per gallon, and my Saturn VUE gets about 24 mpg. I live in Minnesota, so I would not be able to ride the scooter year round. Should I add to my debt by buying the scooter and reducing my gas expenses? -- Shawna S., Minnesota

Dear Shawna: Let's assume this scooter will cost about $2,500 and you will finance $2,000 of that at 9 percent for three years. At those terms, your payment would be $64 a month. Add another $10 for gas, making your scooter bill about $75 a month to commute to work. Currently you are driving about 265 miles a month. At 24 mpg, if gas is $4.50 a gallon, your gas bill to commute to work is about $50 a month.

Does it make sense to you to spend $75 to save $50 on gas? The answer to that question is clearly, "No." You could only ride the scooter part of the year, and you would have to purchase insurance for the scooter plus pay for its annual registration and licensing. What seems like a wise way to handle the high cost of gas would plunge you into debt and increase your monthly expenses.

If you have $500 for a down payment on a scooter, $75 for the monthly payment and gas, plus funds to cover insurance and licensing, I suggest you use that money to build your contingency fund. Or if your CF is already in place, use that money to pay down your debt more rapidly. Yes, gas is expensive, but in most cases, going into debt to acquire a more gas-friendly vehicle is just plain nuts.

Dear Mary: Do you have a solution for a smelly fridge? It is only a couple of years old, and I have faithfully used baking soda boxes to keep smells out. Any other ideas? -- Sharon, e-mail

Dear Sharon: It's possible you have overlooked the dripping pan and the coils, both of which could be harboring some stinky stuff.

Remove the grill along the bottom of the refrigerator. Locate the dripping pan, using a flashlight if necessary. The pan should be sitting on a set of black condenser coils. Remove the pan, and wash it using a mixture of warm soapy water and bleach to kill the mold. Do the same with the grill. Reinstall the pan and the grill.

Then locate the coils. They look like thin black radiators and may be under the fridge or attached to the back. If the coils are on the back, pull the refrigerator away from the wall, and vacuum the dusty coils using the brush and crevice attachments.

If the coils are under the refrigerator, vacuum the dusty coils while you have the grill and dripping pan removed, using the crevice attachment to get between them. Take care not to damage the delicate coils. Reinstall the refrigerator pan and grill.

If that does not solve your problem, I suggest you go online to RepairClinic.com and communicate with the repair guru about this smelly situation.

Do you have a question for Mary? E-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. Mary Hunt is the founder of DebtProofLiving.com and author of 17 books, including "Debt-Proof Living." To find out more about Mary and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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