•October sale items include: Appliances, automobiles (current year’s model goes on sale when new model is unveiled), school supplies, fishing gear, ladies’ outerwear and early fall and winter clothing sales.

•”If you have a budding artist in the family, consider using a flatbed scanner to scan artwork. My son loves to draw, and we hate to throw anything out, but it’s becoming a monster. We keep about one drawing of the month, scan the rest to disk, and use a selection of his best works as a slideshow for the screen saver on our home computer. It’s displayed, but not out of control. We often send letters to relatives on pieces of the art. We write on the back, or on a sheet of paper attached to the back. It’s a fun change from regular stationery.” — J.K. in Pennsylvania

•To keep the ends of shoelaces from fraying, just dip the end in a bottle of clear nail polish. Hold it up until it gets tacky, then shape it into a cylinder. It looks like the real thing and wears well.

•Experts say the best way to get your daily dose of exercise is to roll right out of bed to it. Leave a pair of sneakers at your bedside instead of slippers, and wake up to a 30-minute session of walking.