HELPFUL HINTS

DEAR HELOISE: Being on a fixed income, an electric bill increase of the magnitude that Peter H. described would be really bad news. I budget $50 a month (heat and hot water are included in my rent). I’m ecstatic if it is under $40. And most of the year it is. Here are the main things I do to help make this happen:

1. Change to all LED lighting, using the lowest watt light that the area of use can stand.

2. If you are not in the room, turn the lights off.

3. When you make your morning coffee, turn the unit off as soon as the brewing stops. Reheat the later cups in the microwave. It’s cheaper than leaving the unit on until the safety feature shuts it off after two hours. ( This saves over 700 hours a year.) 4. Only turn your air conditioner on when the temperature and/or humidity becomes intolerable. (This is the biggest energy consumer in your house.) My threshold is 82. I haven’t had my A/C on in two years.

5. When traveling away from home on vacation, unplug everything except the refrigerator. I confess, I leave the cable box on to record things for future playback, but the computer, Wi-Fi, microwave, clocks — all those things that plug in — are eating the energy that you are paying for. When you receive your electric bill each month, rejoice at how much your electric consumption has decreased, especially versus last year.

P.S.: And one thing that I would suggest for when you travel is to shut your water off at the main. You don’t want to come home to find out what the consequences are if a pipe or your water heater broke when you were gone.

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DEAR HELOISE: A few years ago, I was helping my mom cut strawberries, and I got an idea. You know those egg slicers, where you put an egg in the tray? You pull down the thing with wires, and it slices the egg. I tried that on a strawberry, after cutting the greens off, and it worked just as well. The strawberry might get stuck to the wire, but it cuts it pretty evenly.

— Terry Knox, via email

DEAR HELOISE: To deter snails (and bunnies) from eating my small marigolds and other young plants, I bought about 50 small coated, wire baskets from the dollar store. I flip them over to cover my plants so the snails (and bunnies) can’t get to them.

— Diane G., La Verne, Calif. 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