help diagnosing problem w/ 99 contour

[fostersdf]

My wife's 1999 contour (approx. 106,000 miles on it) had a problem last fall where the lights would flicker, then the engine would want to quit- thought it might be a battery, and it was time to be replaced anyway, so we did.. problem quit for a while, now it's back..

as well, her engine completely died yesterday, but started up again after a few min.. while it was dead, wouldn't turn over, anythign when she started- lights came on, from what she told me) (abs, oil, etc.)..

she described my daughter as saying somethign abotu 'smelling a candle' but I don't know about that... possible problem?

the oil leaks a bit but she checked the dipstick, and although it's a 3rd party dipstick (the ford one broke), it has enough oil (and it's not way away from a changing...)

any ideas as to the possible problem? alternator?something cheaper and simpler to fix? we don't have a lot of $$ to drop into it at the moment... (hehe- anyone wanna buy one? )

thanks for any help!

Scott