HELOISE: Check specials to save money

Dear Heloise: I recently went online to check phone and Internet specials being offered by my phone company. And sure enough, it had a new-customer special that was much lower than I was paying. After a bunch of phone calls and threatening to leave, I cut my bill from $90 a month to $60. I had to mark my calendar, because in two years when the agreement expires, the company can reset my rates automatically.

Paul, Aberdeen, N.J.

Paul, this is a money-saving hint for any service you pay for. The hint is to check prices and call. You usually have to be persistent, but it’s worth a try.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: I save the plastic mesh bags that tomatoes, lemons and limes are sometimes packaged in.

Use them to store onions in.

Use to scrub bugs and bird droppings off a car’s windshield.

Putting paper towels inside a bag makes it a disposable scrubbing tool. The towel can hold some cleaning solution.

Even use them to clean the outside of house windows.

Linda in San Angelo, Texas

Dear Heloise: On beach days, keep new book jackets crisp and lotion-free by covering them in plastic wrap or wax paper.

Phil, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: This is the best way to get messages, reminders, “have-a-nice-days,” etc., to each other.

I use a dry-erase marker in the bathroom! I write on the mirror. It doesn’t interfere with using the mirror, either, if you limit notes to current information. Use different colors for different people or to distinguish chores from lists.

Works on lots of other surfaces, too. Every time I think of something I don’t want to forget, I write it wherever I am, come back later, gather the info and erase the marker.

Linda, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: When making my first log-cabin quilt, I took a picture with my digital camera of one completed square. Using my photo program, I copied that square and “pasted” it many times. Then I could manipulate the picture to see how I wanted to lay out my quilt.

Linda in Ohio

Dear Heloise: To easily find the start of masking, shipping, duct or any tape that is on a roll, save and use a tab from a soda-pop can at the edge. No fold-overs or searching for the start of the tape.

Barb, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: Where is it written that toilet-paper dispensers in stores and other public places have to be placed so close to the floor? Sometimes you have to bend over double and lean forward to get to the paper. I always make it a point to thank a store manager when the toilet-paper dispenser is placed where it is easier to use.

Carole M., San Leon, Texas

King Features Syndicate