DEAR HELOISE: After reading a horrible slip-and-fall story, my husband and I (both retirees) agreed to take a phone and place it just outside the shower when showering at home alone. I actually think everyone should do this. "When alone, take your phone!"
-- Nancy,
The Villages, Fla.
DEAR HELOISE: I have two gift ideas for senior citizens:
1. Our senior citizen received her gift for Christmas in the form of payment to her hairdresser. Five children and many grandchildren contribute many useless gifts that Mom/Gram doesn't need. Or in our case, with her being in assisted living, she has no room for plant arrangements or knickknacks.
2. As our senior citizen's eyesight diminished, she can't read her handwritten address book anymore, nor can she write the addresses legibly. So I printed all the addresses she had on labels, and then I printed her name on several labels: Mom, Mother, Gram, Grammy, and her first name on others, with her return address. I also made dividers with dates and placed them in a box for her to use. Thanks for all the great tips over the years.
-- Marianne Perry,
Manchester, N.H.
DEAR READERS: Before you store a chest-type cooler, wash it well, and when it's dry, sprinkle the inside with baking soda. The next time you need it, it will not have a musty odor. When it's ready to use, just rinse out the baking soda.
Baking soda works wonderfully for cleaning and deodorizing. FYI: If the dishwasher is stinky, sprinkle baking soda on the bottom of the dishwasher between uses to help control odor.
DEAR HELOISE: We always tip well when we can. I have been known to go back to my car, where I stash a couple of dollars to give to homeless folks, and grab them to give to the clerk who has just served me.
I also overpay people who come to do work at my home. Although it isn't our fault that the workers are paid too little, that is the way the system is set up.
If we don't support them, who will serve us? Tip if you can afford it!
-- M.L., via email
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email