HELOISE: Empty bottles go through security

Dear Heloise: I always travel as cheaply as possible when it comes to flying. You’re not allowed to take a bottle of water through airport security, but you are allowed to take an empty bottle.

I am an avid water drinker, and I often carry a bottle of water with me. By the time I reach the security checkpoint, the bottle is empty. Then I place it in the bin, and it goes through security.

Just wanted to pass this on to your other thrifty readers!

Stephanie A. Bemrose, Springfield, Mo.

P.S. I read your column for work (The Springfield News-Leader) and love reading your tips — so thanks for continuing your service!

Stephanie, I do the same, and if you get to security with some water in the bottle, you can pour it out into a trash can, then take it through. Your paper was one of the first to run the Hints From Heloise column. Thanks to everyone in Springfield.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: When doing painting around the house, make cleanup a breeze by putting two plastic shopping bags (with print side turned inside) on the paint tray. Put one over the other on each end, and tie with a knot.

You may have to work the roller down in the tray if the bags are a little snug. Just pour the paint in the wrapped tray and paint away. When it’s time for cleanup, you can then cut the knot and invert the bags back off the tray.

You can even put the used roller cover inside the bags, close them up and throw them away. No cleaning the paint tray, and no need to buy a tray liner.

Also, you are reusing your plastic bags!

Carmen in California

Dear Heloise: Duplicated keys, even the new computer-cut keys, are sometimes not as good as the originals, and copies of copies may not work.

So, when you get new keys for locks, immediately have duplicates made, and put them in a safe place for future copying.

We often stay at a bed-and-breakfast that had to put locks on all the bedroom doors. I told the hostess my key suggestion, and the very next visit she thanked me. All of the guest keys had been lost within a year, and she still had her originals from which to make new keys.

Diane Severson in North Dakota

Dear Heloise: We live in a rural area and have a two-door mailbox (opening in front and in back). We have a chain-link fence, and my husband, being the clever one he is, cut a hole in the fence where the mailbox is, and now I can reach in to put mail or take mail out without unlocking gates and walking outside our property. He did such a great job you can’t even see where he cut the fence, it fits in so snug.

Shirley in California

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