Simplify overseas use of telephone cards

Dear Heloise: My son was deployed to Iraq and is now safely home again, but I wanted to pass along a tip for anyone else with a family member stationed overseas. My son told me that he could use only a certain phone card, and since I already had that card, I just gave him the numbers from it and kept the actual card myself.
Whenever the minutes began to run low, I added minutes from home instead of sending him another card. Because it took so long for soldiers to receive mail, he didn't have to wait for a new card to call home. Hope this helps someone. Jan Knecht, Mansfield
Jan, this is a helpful hint that will benefit many people. I'm glad your son is home, and thank you for taking the time to pass on this information. Heloise
P.S. If you want to send a phone card as a gift, please be sure the recipient will be able to use it -- some are only for domestic calls.
Dear Heloise: After receiving greeting cards from friends, I found that two had inserted into the cards two or three self-sticking return-address labels. That was a flag that drew our attention to their address changes and enabled us to amend our computer address file and address books. Instead of having to cross out the old and manually insert the new in the address books, we simply had to overlay the old with their new return label. How easy can it get? Jack Coyle, Houston
Dear Heloise: I have gone back to college after taking a very long break. I have met several students who have very different backgrounds and habits. One thing that I found to be interesting: A girl who lives down the hall put a removable shelf on her sink in her dorm room to create more counter space. After about a week, you can see that more than half of the girls on our floor have done this same thing. This was an idea that I felt you could share with your readers to let them see that just because something is made for one thing does not mean that you can't use it for something else. Michelle, via e-mail
Extra counter space -- what more could a girl want? What a great way to utilize that space when it's not being used -- especially when it becomes useful counter space. Heloise
Dear Heloise: I read in the newspaper about the idea of moving heavy recyclable containers.
My hint: I live in snowy Ohio, and it sometimes is hard to move all three of my containers to the curb. Plus, they are all very heavy. I bought a plastic toboggan last year, and I load all of my recyclables on the toboggan and pull them to the curb.
It works very nicely, as it glides right over the snow. In warm weather, I use a plastic wagon that I purchased at a yard sale. Patricia Garrison, Kent
XSend a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000; fax to (210) HELOISE, or e-mail heloise@heloise.com.
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