DEAR READERS: Today's Sound Off is about internet sites wanting your email address. Rene wrote: "The internet is my 'go-to' source for information. Many sites want me to enter my email before continuing when I'm only looking for some quick information. I did it once, and was I sorry. The number of emails I received in one day was huge. I started receiving bimonthly brochures, too."
-- Rene J., via email
DEAR READER: Rene, I hear you, I hear you, I hear you, and the majority of my readers do, too. Here's a hint from Heloise: Get a free email account, and don't use your full real name. Use first name and last initial, all initials or a John/Jane Doe. Use this address for those websites you don't want to get junk email from. I've done it for over a decade or so, and no one knows it's me.
DEAR READERS: Other uses for mailing labels from charities:
• As tape when wrapping gifts for friends or family.
• Inside books/CDs/DVDs as an ID.
• To hold chip bags closed.
• As a marker for starting and stopping points on projects.
DEAR HELOISE: Here's my hint for making the best pizza for my family. I know what they like, so I make a list of the ingredients.
The grocery store near me has a salad bar. I can pick up just the right amount of ingredients for our pizza. A bonus is that the ingredients are in small pieces, so I can skip the cutting and preparing part. For my family, it's the perfect solution for homemade pizza.
-- Bridget, via email
DEAR READER: Bridget, love it! Plus, you aren't wasting half a red pepper or an open can of black olives, or time cutting everything up.
DEAR HELOISE: When my children were younger, we acquired a red wagon from my parents, who had used it to haul us around when we were young. As parents, we did the same thing with our children.
Now I've found other uses for it. I cleaned it up, gave it a fresh coat of paint and brought it into the house. It has been used as a plant holder, extra coffee table, books and magazines holder, and my favorite, to haul laundry from one place to another. It's so versatile, I may not be apt to pass it on to my children.
-- Daria T., Indiana
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email
Heloise@Heloise.com
ActiveStyle on 01/23/2017