HELOISE Beware of expiration terms on gift cards

Dear Heloise: I agree that gift cards are wonderful for just about anyone, but I want to caution givers about expiration dates. Having received several thoughtful gift cards while recuperating from a broken leg last year, I have just begun to try to redeem them.
Sadly, some of the plastic cards have expiration clauses printed on the back in print tiny enough to make your vision blur. Please inquire about terms of redemption when purchasing, and inform the recipient.
I was unable to redeem a gasoline card and a video-rental card because the expiration dates were not clearly printed on the fronts of my gift cards. One must also know the date of purchase in order to calculate the time of expiration. My question is, Why are these terms necessary once the card has been paid for? Gift-Card Distress, via e-mail
You have a very good question, which I hope a gift-card authority will respond to. Also, the next time you give a gift card, include the sales receipt -- this might help the recipient in the long run. Heloise
Dear Heloise: We just bought our first scanner and have already scanned our passports, wills, insurance papers, birth certificates, real estate deeds and many other papers that need to be kept safe. I burned it all on a CD, and it, plus the originals we had in our home, are tucked away in a safety-deposit box.
My wife also scanned the fronts and backs of our credit cards and the first page of each credit-card statement, where the billing information, company contact and important phone numbers can be found. We burned two CDs with this information, left one in our home office (handy in case we lose a wallet) and tucked the other away in the safety-deposit box. K.T., Sacramento, Calif.
Dear Heloise: Every year around the holidays, I need to defrost a large turkey in the refrigerator -- just when I also need the most room. Usually, I would remove a shelf to fit the 20-pound turkey, creating even less space in the refrigerator.
Last year, I had a brainstorm -- I removed one of the vegetable bins from the bottom and put the turkey in that space. It was out of the way, and I needed only to find space for the vegetable-bin items while keeping all the shelves intact. Kitty Meier, Macedon, N.Y.
Dear Heloise: I have found the following to be very helpful in case I have to evacuate quickly:
In case of a fire, flood, hurricane, etc., it can be easier if you have a list in every room of your house with the items you intend to take with you from each room. Keep in mind the size of your transportation. Mrs. Helen Bradbury, Jacksonville, Fla.
XSend a money-saving or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax it to (210) HELOISE, or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.
King Features Syndicate