Hints that can ease a little stress

Dear Heloise: I have read your column in our local paper (Sacramento, Calif.) for many years and also read the great hints on your Web site, www.Heloise.com. I have a couple of hints on using inexpensive items, and I wanted to share them:

 Plastic pitchers with lids store all kinds of food for the refrigerator and for the ice chest when camping. I use them for soups, stew and all leftovers needing a larger storage space.

 I use inexpensive oven mitts to wipe down furniture and remove pet hair — just moisten them slightly, and they pick up all the hair, visible or not (and I don't have to get out my vacuum cleaner)!

 In the stationery section of most discount stores, they sell metal clips with the fold-down pinchers. I keep a bowl of these handy to close packages that are difficult to wrap up after opening. My kids find them in the freezer on vegetable bags or in the pantry securing chips and snack bags.

 An attractive way to store extra rolls of toilet paper is an inexpensive paper-towel holder that stands upright. It holds three rolls perfectly and also comes in attractive wood, chrome or wrought-iron designs. I have one in each bathroom, and the kids no longer have an excuse not to change the empty roll!

Hope these hints are useful. — Barbara Kerrin, Sacramento, Calif.

All good hints that can ease a little stress in the kitchen, while camping or at a picnic. Plus, you'll always have TP close at hand. — Heloise

Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to 210-HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com. © King Features Syndicate Inc.