Dear Heloise: I collect single dollar bills from our change and stash these bills in a jar until June, the beginning of hurricane season. I try to have about $200 in singles. When we receive a hurricane warning, everyone fills up with gas and raids the grocery stores and, of course, the ATM.
If hurricane season ends without a disaster at the end of November, we have extra money for Christmas. Also, before the holidays, we check our pantry and give extra canned goods and staples to the food banks. Then in January, we start all over.-Lois D. in Houston
CART ETIQUETTE
Dear Heloise: My rules of shopping carts and aisles are:
1. Push the cart on your right side of the aisle ONLY-like you drive on the right side of the road.
2. Push past needed items on that right side and then select items.
3. Park the cart on the right side and shop across the aisle. Never park the cart crosswise in the aisle.
4. Never try to go down aisles two or three carts abreast, or two or three people abreast. It disrupts shoppers.
5. Never meet acquaintances and stop to visit while blocking aisles.
6. Turn off your phone and mind your children.-Bob in Waco, Texas
AND THEN THERE WAS LIGHT
Dear Heloise: During a recent power outage, I discovered something that should have been obvious: Maybe it was the newer LED flashlights that have a flat bottom that inspired me to position the flashlight on its base with the light pointed to the ceiling.
Voila! The light was reflected all around the room.-M. Busse, Mount Vernon, Va.