HELPFUL HINTS

DEAR READERS: A preowned car can be a great gift or smart purchase for yourself, but be careful. Cars damaged in floods can wind up for sale. Let’s discuss what to look for:

■ Rust is a dead giveaway that there has been water damage.

■ The presence of residual mud/water staining on the carpet or upholstery points to water damage.

■ Hiring a mechanic to do a once-over on the car is money well-spent.

■ There are websites that will check the VIN for the car you are buying.

DEAR HELOISE: I enjoy reading all of the recommendations about recycling and reusing items. Please also mention the first “R” in the three R’s: “reduce.”

If I don’t need it or already have a suitable substitute, I don’t get it. Plastic or paper shopping bags are one example that comes to mind. If I can carry my items in my hand throughout the store, I can carry them to the car or home. — Karen K., via email

DEAR HELOISE: During last winter, I turned on the seat warmer in my car, and this hint came to me: If it can keep my backside warm, why not pizza?

I turned on the passenger seat heater, put the pizza on the seat, and when I got home, the pizza was perfectly hot,

This would work with just about any food you’d like to keep warm.

— Joann H., Ohio

DEAR HELOISE: I recently had total knee replacement, and my physical trainer passed along this tip to me. For icing down after exercising, he said to mix 1 part rubbing alcohol with 2 parts water in a zipclose plastic bag and freeze it for about 12 hours. It becomes a cold gel pack. — Peter H., Staten Island, N.Y. DEAR READERS: Add a drop of food coloring if you’d like, and label the bag.

DEAR HELOISE: In the big-box stores, they have many checkout registers, but nobody to run them.

It’s not a good idea to make buyers stand in line too long — they’ll take their business somewhere else. If the register doesn’t ring, then no sales, no money, store closes.

— Burch E., Dayton, Ohio DEAR READER: It does look silly to have 20 or more registers and maybe only five open. Management needs to open more lanes as the flow demands.

Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email