Hints From Heloise

Dear Heloise: I’d like to add a hint to your recent discussion of how to organize shopping to save time and money.

I save the removable vinyl covers that come with inexpensive pocket calendars. Many have clear plastic inside flaps attached to the colored cover part. I find that using one side to carry my easily visible shopping list behind which are my coupons makes grocery shopping easy. As an item on the list that is identified as a coupon item is found, I simply remove the coupon from one side of the cover to the other.

At the end of shopping all the coupons that are to be used are together and ready to be handed to the checkout person. No fiddling with envelopes and coupons.

Everything’s kept together and in order, and it doesn’t cost anything to simply reuse the old covers. - Nancy S. Newton, Rochester, N.Y.