Remove stains to save your wallet

I am frugal or as my wife calls me, cheap. Because I can't bear to spend more money on something I can fix or save it really irks me when we have to pitch something because of a stain. While some of us view stain removal as a chore which accompanied by a trusty spray bottle form the supermarket, others tackle stain removal with the same passion as a chemist.

It seems pretty simple to remove a stain, we all have secrets passed down from our mothers but did you know that you get baby formula stains out with meat tenderizer? Common baking soda can even be used to get marker off of wood furniture in the event that your kid decides to draw a caricature of you on your coffee table. If you have a specific offender you are trying to remove you can easily check out the "New Zealand Stain Guide".

If I could have saved all of the clothes that got stained with chocolate when I left a piece of chocolate in my pants pocket I would have been a very happy blogger. I ended up having to pitch a bunch of dress shirts and khakis as well as many of my wife's good clothes. We ended up spending a significant amount of time and money at the local shopping center replacing the clothes after none of our attempts salvaged the clothing.

Do you have any stain removal tips? How long do you fight with a stain before breaking down and replacing the item?