Don't Return Your Rental Car Early to Avoid Fees

When you rent a car, returning it early can actually cost you rather than save you money. If you finish in advance, make sure you won't incur a penalty for an early return before driving back.

Why wouldn't the rental car company want their car back early? They might, but US News reports that promotions can sometimes throw a wrench into the works:

If you’re getting a special weekly rate, returning the vehicle early may be extra costly, as some rental companies will cancel your discounted rate. Other companies will prorate fees for the days you didn’t use, so you’ll pay a little less – but then some tack on a $10 to $15 early return fee to your bill. Therefore, make sure you understand what the company’s early return policy is before dropping off the car.

Car rental companies can do some dumb and annoying things. Even though it seems like common sense, less time does not necessarily equal less money. Before you return early, call first and make sure you won't have to pay for that "luxury."

5 Lesser-Known Facts About Renting a Car | US News

Photo by bluewaikiki.

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Keep Kids from Getting Out of Bed Early with a Timer and Nightlight

Everyone who's ever parented an early riser has been through war—the battle against young kids waking you up at unreasonable hours in the morning. A simple solution to encourage kids to stay in their beds? Add a timer to their nightlight.

Parent Hacks offers this smart tip:

My three year-old daughter was a very early riser and would wake me up repeatedly to ask if it was time to get up yet. [Don't you love that? My kid would creep up to me while I was sleeping, and then wake me so he could demonstrate how quiet he could be. — Ed.] She was too small to read a clock, and although telling her to look for a "6" was an option, she didn't quite get it that 5 was not OK, but 7 was. I was looking for a simple "yes/no" cue that did not require her to do too much thinking if she were to wake up in the middle of the night. I did not want to set an alarm, because I didn't want to disturb her sleep if she were to sleep in.

My hack inspiration came from anelectrical appliance timer. I used it to rig her night light to turn off at 6 am and told her she was to stay quiet and in her room until the light turned off. After a minor setback when she turned off the light manually to make it "time to get up," it has worked like a charm!

Well, it's worth a try until your child starts hacking her nightlight!

Nightlight on a timer tells early risers when it's morning wakeup time | Parent Hacks

Photo by Jason Hull.

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AlarMe Is Weather-Aware, Wakes You Early If It's Raining or Snowing

Android: AlarMe is a weather sensitive alarm clock that keeps an eye on the weather and will wake you accordingly so you're never late because of weather conditions. If it's raining or snowing, you can get up a little early to beat the traffic or shovel out the car.

AlarMe lets you set up to six different weather profiles for each of your alarms. For example, if I say I want to wake up at 6:30am every morning, but I want an extra 15 minutes in case it's rainy and I know traffic will be a mess, or I want an extra half-hour to brush off the car if there's snow, I can tell AlarMe to wake me if the local weather notes that it's been raining or snowing this morning. I can even tell AlarMe to let me sleep in an extra 15 minutes if it's sunny and clear outside. If you live somewhere with violent thunderstorms, you can tell it to wake you up even earlier in case you need to batten down the hatches before going out, or because you know you don't plan to travel in the wind and hail and want to call your boss early to let them know.

The app is free, but you only get two of those six weather profiles per alarm in the free version. To unlock all six, (and to set as many individual alarms as you want) you'll need to bump up to the Pro version, which will set you back $2 via in-app purchase. Thankfully, the free version is more than enough to get you started, and you can upgrade after you give the app a try and see if you need more alarms or weather profiles. Hit the link below to download it.

AlarMe (Free) | Google Play

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