HELPFUL HINTS
DEAR HELOISE: Several years ago, my husband and I decided to start saving the coins we had in our pockets at the end of each day. We found several containers and separated the coins, putting pennies in one container, nickels in another and so on. After a year, we got some coin wrappers for each of the denominations and filled them with the coins that we had saved.
After a couple of hours, we realized that we had a couple hundred dollars worth of coins to cash in. You might not become rich, but it’s fun finding money that you probably didn’t even miss.
— Sherry Brewer,
Los Angeles
DEAR HELOISE: I keep a 4-gallon plastic bucket in my bathroom. Whenever I’m going to take a shower, I start running the cold bathwater into the bucket; then I undress and so forth. By the time I’m ready to get into the shower, the water is running hot, and the bucket holds all of the cold water that had to run first. I then use that water on our plants in the house and yard so that it does not go to waste.
— Jim R., in Houston
DEAR HELOISE: G.W., from New York, wrote about mice under the kitchen sink eating ant bait. The permanent way to rid your house of mice is to look at the outside of your house. That’s where they are getting in. It can be several small holes or openings. If you don’t close up these openings, they will continue to get into your house.
We had that problem many years ago when we first bought our house. My husband found the opening, and we no longer have problems with mice.
— D.W., Jefferson, La.
DEAR HELOISE: I love your column! The other day, I lost my smartphone, and a jogger found it. I had taken a phone call but didn’t secure the phone properly. Luckily, I had an address label on the back of it, plus a piece of tape over it to keep it secure. He dropped it off at my house. So wonderful!
— Andrew Burton, Fort Wayne, Ind.
DEAR HELOISE: Packages frequently come with small inflated bags instead of packing peanuts or paper. Save these inflated bags and use them to fill out purses when you store them away. The purses maintain their shape and are easier to store.
— Mary Hanna, Springfield, Mo.