NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- We get so many great ideas from readers, we figured we'd pass along some of the best ones from our inbox.

Grill safety With all those BBQs that will be firing up soon, these tips couldn't be more timely. Here's one from a firefighter in Nebraska.

Charcoal from grills must be cool before being cleaned up. Homeowners scrape the ashes into the trash ... causing a fire. Ashes should be left for a day AND put in a metal can with no other burnable debris. -- Mike, Nebraska

And as we mentioned earlier, you also want to keep your grill covered when you're not using it, so you can protect it from extreme weather conditions.

Road trips Another great tip from a viewer on preparing your car for a road trip. This one is from Ray in Baltimore. He writes in:

Check the spare tire pressure that's in the trunk or under the vehicle.

Sometimes even if the spare feels full, it may not be. Make sure you have enough coolant in your car before you take off to avoid overheating

While you're away Well, we told you a while ago that you needed to turn off your main water valve when you went on vacation so that your furniture wouldn't float away if a pipe bursts. A viewer added...

Make sure you tell people to turn off the water heater. -- Gary

That's right. If you have an electric water heater turn it off. Otherwise it will continue to heat your water at 120 degrees 24 hours a day. If you have a gas water heater, turn it down to the pilot position. This will save you a ton of dough.

Cutting student costs Here's a tip designed to help students cut their costs on textbooks, but you can use these sites to save money on all kinds of summer reading.

Check out www.bigwords.com. The search engine will see what book-selling Web site has the best deal, even factoring in shipping costs. I save on my textbooks regularly. -- Matt

Great tip Matt. You may also want to check out Half.com or froogle.com.

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Gerri's Mailbox: We want to hear from you! Send your questions to 5tips@cnn.com. Each week, we'll give answers on CNN, Headline News and CNNMoney.com.