Dear Answer Angel Ellen: As you have pointed out, it’s wedding season. I am going to a “destination” wedding and the airfare and lodging is $1,300. The bride and groom’s wedding website says, “If you would like to honor us with a gift, we would be grateful for a contribution toward our future together in place of traditional presents.”

My question is how much? The cost of the wedding has just about tapped me out, but I don’t want to appear cheap.

--Amelia

Dear Amelia: Give what you can afford. That advice might sound like a cop-out but I mean it.

Good friends — close enough to want you to share this important day with them — don’t want you to miss a car payment or eat jelly sandwiches for a month because you didn’t want to appear stingy. In general, cash gifts start at $25 and go up from there.

BTW, I just returned from an out-of-town wedding where the couple specified “no gifts.” And yet, I saw four or five guests show up with actual wrapped wedding presents.

Don’t be that person.

Somebody is going to have to haul those gifts back to wherever the couple lives. If you must give a gift, send it in advance. Instead of that coffee maker or a pair of candlesticks, etc., you’re actually giving the newlyweds a headache.

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: I am searching for a solution to what I think is a common problem. I can never find or hold onto a pair of sunglasses. I am rooting around in my purse, leaving them at home or forgetting them at a restaurant or a meeting. I try to remember to store them in a side pocket in my purse, but apparently that is not working for me. I’ve had to buy two pairs of “cheap” sunglasses but, like everything else, they’re not so cheap any more.

--Audrey B.

Dear Audrey: There’s a frugal and effective solution: a glasses case that hangs from your purse — think of it as a “purse charm” with a purpose. Amazon is loaded with them at around $5.99 and up. You can find hard cases to protect larger sunnies or soft zip ones that aren’t as bulky.

Be sure that your case has a carabiner or other device to clamp on securely to your purse strap so you’re not kicking yourself for losing your sunglasses and your sunglasses case. It happens!

Angelic Readers

Sue B. writes: “My hair has some wave to it and I keep seeing ads online for wavy/curly hair. I am curious: Can any of your readers tell me if there are any products that can make my wave look more pronounced? The problem is the products that claim to do this are expensive and they seem to always require multiple products to achieve the goal. I don't want to spend an hour washing, plopping, scrunching, etc. and I don't want to pay $20 for each of the products I need to do so. Have any of your readers found a (cruelty free) wavy/curly hair shampoo that is reasonably priced and simply ‘wash & go’? Preferably one that can be purchased in a store without a commitment to buy additional products to make it work." (From Ellen: From long experience with my curly hair, the products are highly personal—what works for one curly/wavy head is a total flop for another. I trade my barely used hair products with my sisters and sister-in-law all the time since the one that Claire or Joan or Deb loves is a total flop for me and vice versa. But don’t give up. Often, the cheapest drugstore or Sally Beauty hair products work better that the $$ ones!)

Reader Rant

From Lori S.: “Thank you for printing the letter from the reader about how hard (and expensive and wasteful) it is to get hair products out of the container they come in. I knew I couldn’t be the only one! I’ve bought high-end shampoos where the product won’t squeeze out of the bottle even when it is stored upside down. Some packaging is square-shaped, some won’t allow you to screw off the top and most are difficult in the shower when your hands are wet. I resorted to wall-mounted dispensers, which only worked for a couple months."

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