HELOISE: Let cashier know how to deliver change

Dear Heloise: I bought a pint of ice cream at the gas station. I owed $2.39 and paid with a $20 bill.

The clerk handed me my change all wadded up: a 10, a five, two ones and 61 cents. That was the correct amount of change; my beef is that he could have taken the five seconds it takes to count back the change.

S.L. in Texas

Everyone is different. Some people want the change counted out, put on the counter, placed in hand coins first, then bills, or bills first, then change. The hint: Tell the cashier how you want the change to be delivered.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: Our recycling company wants cans from canned vegetables but not the lids. Putting the lids in the regular trash always seemed dangerous since they are razor-sharp.

I tried using an empty potato-chip can, and the lids fit in there like it was made for them. I can get many lids in one empty can.

Penny Richardson, Edgerton, Ohio

Dear Heloise: Recycling facilities are great places to discard catalogs, but please don’t take magazines and books there. Our library accepts magazines and books that it then resells. (Be sure to remove the name and address label from any magazines. — Heloise) I buy all my magazines there and then return them for others to enjoy.

Francis in Fairfax, Va.

Dear Heloise: Here is my hint for a teacher’s gift: On the first day of school, I prepare my neighbors (both teachers) and their families a meal. Every year it is a different menu.

The week before, I skim through all my different cookbooks and put a menu together. Their response was that it was the best gift they got all year, and they always looked forward to not preparing a meal that night (and maybe the next).

Molly in Texas

Dear Heloise: Here are some of my handy uses for washed plastic pill bottles:

Hold pins, nails, screws and tacks.

Use for spare change.

Use for camping matches.

Hold a day’s supply of sunscreen or hand lotion.

Hold earrings and rings when at the gym.

J.S., San Diego

Dear Heloise: I was so frustrated trying to find where to store comforter sets. I went to the spare room and placed the set between the mattress and box spring, and now my problem is solved.

Judy, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: I read where a reader complained about the cotton packed in the top of pill bottles. I usually use the point of scissors or a knife to get it out of the bottle. No problem.

I love the cotton because I use it when I remove nail polish. I store it in a small container with the nail-polish remover so it’s always handy.

Carolyn in Connecticut

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

King Features Syndicate