HELOISE Retirees use BOGOs to donate to charities

Dear Heloise: My husband and I feel like we have found an economical way to continue to donate to our favorite charity since we retired. Whenever our grocery store runs a "buy one, get one free" offer, we buy them and take the free ones to our homeless center. There's no way we can use 20 pounds of potatoes. So now we have made a challenge of it. Terry O., Pendleton, Ind.
Terry, this is a wonderful way to help. I hope others will follow your lead. Heloise
Dear Heloise: It seemed that no matter how I arranged my corn holders in the drawer, I was often being pricked by the sharp tines. Finally a solution occurred to me. I took some plastic-foam packing material and cut it into little squares, then placed the squares on the tines of the holders. No more finger sticks! Jill K., via e-mail
Dear Heloise: Instead of buying disposable plates to take to potlucks, I buy pretty plates at thrift shops. You can usually find them for the same cost of disposable dishes, and you don't have to worry about leaving a dish from your set or filling up the landfills. Cassandra in North Carolina
Dear Heloise: My grandmother was in a retirement community and insisted she needed nothing. I had tried stamps, food gifts, photos, etc. One year I gave her a large basket full of individual cellophane bags filled with hard candy. Each bag was festively tied with decorative ribbon. This way, when her friends came by for a visit, she could send a small gift home with them. She also gave these to her hairdresser, housekeeper and special people who had helped her throughout the year. L.A. from Arkansas
Dear Heloise: My 90-year-old father has a slight tremor in his right hand, making eating a rather messy affair. It dawned on me while at the dentist that the chain with the two clips used to hold the dental bib on a patient might work well for my father. My dentist gave me 10 chain clips. The first time we used one was in a restaurant, and it worked wonderfully to hold his napkin in place. It is discreet, fitting under his collar, and stays in place until removed. The chain clips are very inexpensive and might prove helpful to others with elderly family members. Nicki Voit, Houston
XSend a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com. I can't answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.
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