Look for bargains after the holidays

DEAR READERS: After Christmas, many stores will be offering sales, even during the pandemic. You will find lots of discounts during these tough times. There are different kinds of sales at different stores. Here are the different types you can look for:

Inventory: Reductions on a variety of the retail stock in the store.

Clearance: Stores get rid of all unsold merchandise.

Red Tag: Color tags are placed on special sale items.

White Sale: This focuses only on mattress pads, bathmats, towels and bed linens.

Look for Other Sales: Check out sales online, factory outlets and surplus stores.

DEAR READERS: The beginning of the year is a good time to set up guidelines for the family. This will help keep your house running smoothly, and hopefully without drama! Here are five key suggestions:

1. Nothing is to be left or dumped on the floors - except in teenagers’ rooms!

2. Right stuff in the right place. Assign boxes, racks, bins and hanging hooks for the items you and your children use often.

3. If you use it, clean it. Wipe off the bathroom sink. Put the cap back on the toothpaste.

4. If you take it into a room, you also have to take it out. No dirty dishes left in front of the TV.

5. Each family member agrees to do at least one or more routine household job!

DEAR READERS: If you have stacked bowls on a shelf and have not used them in a while, they may get stuck, and it can be difficult to unstick them. Use these hints on how to unstick them without any damage.

Put the stack in the sink. Fill the top bowl with ice and tap water. Let it sit for a couple of minutes to cool and contract the bowl. Then place the lower bowl in warm to hot water. The heat will expand the bowl. Gently try to pull them apart.

If they won’t separate, pour a little bit of vegetable oil between or around the edges of the top and bottom bowls. It will seep down between the bowls and then they should separate more easily.

DEAR READERS: Setting up your first pantry? Use these hints to make the canned goods last longer and stay fresher:

Do not store canned goods in the basement close to a furnace. Never put canned goods in the garage or on a porch where the temperature will be too cold or too hot. Fluctuating temperatures negatively affect the quality of canned goods, so store them in your home in a pantry and away from the stove.