Keep grease far away from drains to save money
Dear Heloise:
I’d like to dispel the myth that you can pour grease down your drain as long as you are running hot water at the same time. If you want to avoid a backed-up drain and an expensive nightmare of a costly bill, never pour grease or oil down your kitchen drain or garbage disposal. Place all of your liquid grease in a container and seal it up. Before washing greasy dishes and pots, wipe them with a paper towel. Be sure that you dispose of the sealed container with the grease in it inside the garbage bin, not the recycling bin.
People are always amazed when I remind them that many of our favorite foods have grease or oil such as butter, most cream sauces, milk and salad dressings. If it’s greasy or has oil, it does not go down the drain.
While I’m at it, let me remind you: The only thing that should go into your toilet are bodily wastes and toilet paper. Do not flush these so-called flushable wipes down your toilet. Wipes can (and eventually do) cause sewage backup in your home.
Jake the Plummer, Detroit
Jake the Plummer, thank you for this reminder. As everything else goes up in price, so does paying for a professional plummer to come out and clear out pipes when you could’ve avoided clogging the drain with just a few simple steps.
Dear Heloise: With climate change, there has been some nasty winter storms with heavy snow and ice. The best thing to do is to try to expect the unexpected and be prepared. Here are a few things to think about for the safety of your family:
Stock up on a few extra canned goods, bottled water and some frozen dinners. Don’t forget to have extra bags, boxes and cans of pet food as well.
If you have a camp stove or an outdoor grill, it might be a good idea to have some supplies to operate them in case your power goes out.
Got a fireplace? Having some additional fire logs or wood to burn will help keep you warm.
Wrap water pipes in unheated areas with insulation (such as the attic). Most hardware stores carry this product.
Disconnect your outdoor hoses and wrap up the hose bibbs.
Check the edges of all the doors for air leaks. By blocking those leaks, you can save money on heating your home instead of the great outdoors.
Have on hand extra batteries, flashlights, lithium light bulbs, a handcranked radio or a battery-operated one for weather updates, and a first aid kit.
If you are snowed in, it’s a good time to read the books you’ve been meaning to read, take naps or work on any projects that you have been putting off.
Mavis, having been snowed in three times in my lifetime, it’s better to be a little overprepared than to wish you had stocked up on a few things!