Cut paper towels to fit the purpose

DEAR HELOISE: I have found that I often don’t need a full sheet of paper towel. I fold a paper towel sheet in half and cut it with scissors and make a stack of half-sheets (about 5 inches square). I also fold some of these half-sheets and cut them further into squares of approximately 3 inches by 3 inches. Sometimes I need a full-size paper towel sheet, but quite often these smaller sheets are perfect for the job at hand, saving paper and therefore money. Waste not, want not!

— M., via email DEAR HELOISE: Here is a tip I learned from my father when he was well into his 90s. Dad had some skin issues, so he used lots of medicated creams that came in tubes. Dad was very thrifty, and he wanted to get every drop of cream out of every tube. So once he had squeezed all the cream he could get out of the tube, he cut the tube open so he could scoop out the last little bit. I think of Dad when I cut open tubes of creams, lotions or toothpaste. I guess I am thrifty too!

— Jan Leighton, Winthrop, Maine

DEAR HELOISE: The letter from a reader about dog rescue groups wanting her Social Security number prompted me to send this reminder: Nobody needs your Social Security number except your employer and the U.S. and state government. It is not an ID number. Please refer to the Social Security Administration for information.

— Virginia Shrock, via email

DEAR HELOISE: Love your column. When I need to call a company for a technical or billing issue, the first thing I do is locate my last bill for that company or service. I have this in hand when I call, because it has my billing information and, more importantly, it has my customer number. After giving my name, I next offer my customer number. This cuts down on the time the customer representative or tech person needs to find my account in their database.

— R., via email

DEAR HELOISE: Yesterday, I had to mail an item in a medium-size box. I thought I had packaging material to pack in it, but couldn’t find any. I had a bag of empty water bottles that I was going to recycle, so I used those. I put several bottles, without the lids, on the bottom and used the same amount on the top. On the sides of the box, I smashed the bottles and put them in place. The bottles are lightweight and can still be recycled upon their arrival!