An old trick to clean copper-bottomed pots and pans is to sprinkle table salt on them and then scrub with a rag soaked in some vinegar. The job is made even easier if you run hot water over the bottom of the pan first. The heat seems to help the salt and vinegar do their job.

Sue, SD

Recycle that fuzzed out toothbrush. Keep it in the kitchen drawer to clean the gunk out of the cheese grater, garlic press, food choppers, and other handy kitchen helpers that are hard to clean. If you are like me, if it's hard to maintain, it goes back on the shelf and doesn't get used.

Save the metal ribs from the old umbrellas and use them as plant supports in your garden this spring and summer. If you paint them green, they can hardly be seen against the plants.

Mary, TX

Save and clean the ultra detergent boxes with handles. Cover with some kind of fabric with or without padding. These make a handy sewing caddy, just right for some needlework on the road.

Jody, TN

Bubble gum, or any other kind for that matter, can be removed from hair with peanut butter. Moosh it around with your fingers. The peanut butter will cause the gum to break up into little balls and it comes right off of the hair. A quick shampoo and all is well...sure beats a haircut.

Jackie, WA

Use BLACK felt-tipped markers with a fine line and white paper when writing to older folks or the sight impaired. When you write plainly in large letters, the contrast makes it easy for them to read. This is how I write to my sons who have an eye disease.

Ila, SD

Keep your bottles of mouthwash up high and away from the little ones. This stuff belongs with the cold medicine as the alcohol content runs from 18% to 26% and 4 ounces of the stuff could be FATAL to a 20 pound child.

Jack, PA

Before you throw away that squeezed out tube of toothpaste, styling gel, hair slick-um etc., cut the end off with a pair of old scissors. Split the tube up the side. You will be surprised at how much product is left in that so-called "empty" tube.

Adele, WA

Need a bed for the pooch? Make a bag using an old fuzzy coat liner for one side and a piece of fabric made from stitched together hunks of old blue jeans for the other side. Stuff with some of those styrofoam peanuts. If you have access to cedar shavings, put some of those in too. They are supposed to help keep the bugs away, and besides that, they smell good too. (Cedar shavings can sometimes be obtained at a school where they offer wood shop classes.)

Jon, AK

To mend the broken slats in a mesh laundry basket, I use silver tape. Put a piece of the tape on the inside and on the outside, over the broken slat. The pieces of tape will stick to each other and mend the basket for several more months.

Phyllis, MT

It doesn't take too long for a trash can to develop bad breath. If you put a couple of handfuls of new kitty litter in the bottom of the garbage can BEFORE you put in the new bag, it will absorb the off odors. Much nicer smelling and keeps the critters from trying to take the lid off the can before the garbage man comes.

Bob, IL

I never sort laundry. In the bottom of my bathroom linen closet are 4 baskets...1 for whites, 1 for towels, 1 for colored clothes and 1 for jeans. Every member of the family puts their soiled clothing in the proper basket and when it's full, it goes to the washer. This sure does save me a lot of time. My kids learned right from the start that clothes that weren't in the baskets didn't get washed.

Bob, IL

After the barbecue/cookout is over, you will want to clean up the grill. There is a very simply way to do this without using a lot of elbow grease. Let the grill top cool off completely. Lift it out of the grill and put it into a black plastic garbage bag. Add 1 cup of household ammonia. Tie the bag shut and set the whole shebang in direct, hot sunlight. Leave overnight. The fumes of the ammonia will loosen all of that black gunk on the grill. Fish it out of the bag and turn on a stream of water from the garden hose (do this where it won't hurt the lawn). About 99% of the cruddy stuff will rinse right off...

A wheelbarrow makes a neat, portable soft drink cooler when you are hosting an outdoor picnic. Simply line the barrow with plastic or used foil (cleaned and recycled of course), fill with ice and add the sodas. They stay cold for a long time and clean-up is a breeze. Dump the water and ice in the flower beds, dry out the barrow and you're done.

Double up when you cook. As a working mom, this really helps me out a lot. I drive 40 miles one-way to my job so I do a lot of cooking on weekends. This way, it's not so much work to put good healthy meals on the table during the week. It's no harder to make two casseroles, and the time to bake them is the same. Sure beat buying the pre-cooked and high priced items in the supermarket.

When you buy fresh broccoli, don't throw away the stalks after eating the flowerettes. There are lots of nutrients in them and after all, you did pay good money for them. Chop the stalks in your food processor and then freeze for later use when making broccoli/cheese soup...OR use your food processor or a good sharp knife to slice the peeled stalks into thin circles to use in casseroles or in stir-fry recipes.

If your cookie sheets are darkened with age, you can make them shine again by covering them with heavy duty foil. They can be wiped off with a damp rag between batches of cookies and the heavy foil is easily cleaned. Roll it up on a cardboard tube for easy reuse.

Make a throw-away duster from old newspapers. Roll together a couple of sections of plain black and white newspaper. Tie the bundle in the middle with a piece of grocery string or a good heavy rubber band. Cut a long fringe on one end with a pair of sharp shears. (This is the duster part)...the other end is the handle. Now you can dust the cobwebs out of the high places and chase the dustbunnies out from under the couch. Just pitch the whole thing in the trash when it gets dirty. (I like this idea because it means one less "thing" to have to keep track of, besides, those old fashioned leather dusters always make me sneeze!)

If you have tips and hints to share, please send them to PennyWise, PO Box 518, Kadoka, SD 57543.

"PennyWise" does not assume responsibility for the advice given. It is up to the reader to determine if such advise is safe for his or her own given situation.