Travelers advised to use prepaid debit cards

Dear Heloise: Get a prepaid debit card to use for travel, and leave your credit/debit card at home. Take along a regular credit card if you’d like. If your prepaid debit card is lost or stolen, it won’t provide access to your checking and other bank accounts, just to the amount prepaid. I used one for trips to Barbados and Hawaii, and I had no problems with acceptance. Ronald from Kenhorst, Pa.

Ronald, a good safety consumer hint. I’m sure my readers will say, “Now why didn’t I think of that?” Heloise

Dear Heloise: This is in regard to wrinkles or bumps in garments left on hangers or lines on trousers. I keep a spray bottle with water and give a light spray to the area, then use my hair dryer on hot or warm, depending on the fabric. I hold it in that area for 30 seconds or so until the bump disappears. Sometimes it’s necessary to pull or straighten at the same time. Arlen H., The Villages, Fla.

This is a favorite travel hint of many. Just be sure the fabric won’t be harmed by the water. Heloise

Dear Heloise: Tired of folding the end of a tube of toothpaste to force the toothpaste toward the opening, only to find it unravels on you?

Solution: Fold the end and put a clothespin on it. Or use a small chip-bag clip on it. You will only need a small squeeze to get enough toothpaste, and “toothpaste-tube frustration” will end for anyone who uses the tube. Leonard Stohler, Red Bluff, Calif.

Dear Heloise: I fell down and broke my arm and became very weak. My voice did not carry, so my husband couldn’t hear me when I needed help. He is a very smart man and is very creative. He went to a store that sold inexpensive bicycle horns and bought me one. He could hear me night or day when I needed help because the horn sounded loud and clear. It really helped me a lot, and I think this is a good hint for patients to have a horn by their bedside at home. Lupe, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: For 10 or 11 years, my daughter gave me beautiful felt calendars. She purchased kits and applied sequins to them. I could never throw them away and saved them for years rolled up in the closet. A while ago, I got them out and went through them and found one whose numbers coincided with the current year. I hung it up and enjoyed its beauty another year, and have done this every year since. Liz from Williamsfield, Ill.

Dear Heloise: To eliminate dry-powder pockets in a cake mix, sift the mix into the bowl. No dry lumps, and mixing is easier. A Reader, Jasper, Ala.

XSend a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate