DEAR READERS: Do you make your credit card payments online? Take a minute to browse the company's site. You'll find hints to help you save money and get your finances in shape.
Subjects can include preventing fraud on your account and learning how to improve your credit score.
This is one resource you can use to help you be a smarter consumer. Education is the key to saving money!
DEAR HELOISE: My chip credit card states that it should not be shredded. How should I destroy the card?
-- Ronda R. in San Antonio
DEAR READER: These cards can have a large metal component; shredding might ruin your shredder.
If you're closing the account, call the customer service number and let them know. They'll try to retain you as a customer, but they can send you a postage-paid envelope to return the card, for your convenience.
Be sure to check with your credit card company for more recommendations.
DEAR HELOISE: We returned from a trip where tourist-area gift shops had signs that said "Smile, cameras are watching" or "If I break, I cry; if you break, you buy."
I realize shoplifting is an issue, but these signs are rude and off-putting. When I see one of them, I leave the store.
-- Laurie, via email
DEAR HELOISE: On a trip, I lost the memory card in my camera. I called places we visited, to no avail; the card was never found. Pictures of a dear friend were lost.
I have now put a picture with my name, address, telephone number and email on all my memory cards. If I lose another card, hopefully someone will be able to contact me so it can be returned.
-- Marilyn J., Concord, N.H.
DEAR HELOISE: A reader wrote in about her 10-year-old son who keeps losing his house keys. We have the same problem with our sons, so we installed "electronic keypad door locks," which can be found at hardware and home-improvement stores.
These are battery-operated locks that use a four-digit code to unlock the door. They are fantastic, and the batteries last for years. They also come with conventional keys. When our sons come to visit, they know the code and don't need a key.
-- Rudy and Pauline B.
in New Hampshire
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
Heloise@Heloise.com
Style on 09/18/2018