HELOISE Search for coupons before ordering online

Dear Heloise: I am a big advocate of ordering things online. When I find something I would like to buy, I always check if that online store has a coupon code.
I do this by going to a search engine and typing in the name of the store and the words "coupon code." I almost always get a link back with a current coupon code I can use and therefore save money. Try it out! Raquel Thiebes, via e-mail
Raquel, you taught this old Web hound a new trick! There are several great coupons for different department-store Web sites. Thanks for this money-saving information. Also, do a search for "online coupons" for more Web sites with coupons! Heloise
Dear Heloise: Safely help yourself or others when a car runs out of gas. Always keep an inexpensive, small gas can, a gas siphon pump and $5 in your car. If you need help, offer to pay a passing motorist to pump some gas from his or her car -- don't get in a car with the person.
The best idea, however, is to watch your gas gauge, and don't let it get below a quarter-tank. A Motorist from Texas
My late grandfather, Charles L. Bowels of Fort Worth, Texas, taught me that it costs just the same to keep the top half full as the bottom! Heloise
P.S. Except when the price of gasoline changes hourly!
Dear Heloise: My husband had a stroke and has trouble getting into the car. A nurse told me to lay a plastic trash bag on his car seat. It is a lot easier for him to slide into the car, which has cloth seats. Also, he uses a transfer bench in the bathtub, and I lay a towel on the bench before he sits down. The towel makes it easier to slide on the bench, and the bench is not cold for him to sit on. A Missouri reader
Dear Heloise: Before retirement, I managed hotels. We received unwanted faxes and successfully stopped them.
When we received an unwanted fax, we faxed the sender back with a form letter informing the sender that we charged $5 per incoming fax and that our fax constituted a bill due to us within 10 days. We never heard from the sender again. Camille Dean, via e-mail
This is clever! Of course, the unethical people might not pay attention, but it's worth a try. Heloise
Dear Heloise: When trying a new wine, I scan the bottle on my printer-scanner (you can do it with the scanner lid partially open) and leave the price label on if it's visible. This gives me a copy of the label and all the info on the wine (variety, year, importer, etc.), and plenty of room to write comments, where I bought it, etc. The paper can be hole-punched and put into a wine journal notebook for future reference. Much easier than trying to remove the labels in one piece. Reamy Ancarrow, Washington, D.C.
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.
King Features Syndicate