DEAR SUN SPOTS: Are stores or food establishments allowed to put a fee on credit card use, or make you have a minimum purchase to be able to use your card? Thank you for your help. — No Name via email

ANSWER: Sun Spots found part of the answer on the website of the Maine Attorney General’s Office’s Consumer Protection Service website (http://tinyurl.com/25kgmbx), which offers this information:

“A merchant cannot charge you more if you choose to use a credit or charge card. However, a merchant may offer a discount from a listed price to a customer who pays cash, as long as the offer is made known to everyone.”

For the answer to the minimum credit card purchase part of your question, Sun Spots had to call the Consumer Protection Service of the Attorney General’s Office, where Tracy kindly tracked down the answer. This was not easy, and Sun Spots is most grateful.

Tracy got the answer from Will Lund at the Consumer Credit Protection Bureau, a federal organization designed to help protect consumers after the financial crisis. Will told Tracy that as part of the Dodd-Frank legislation a maximum minimum purchase of $10 for credit cards was established.

In other words, a merchant may require that you spend at least $10 to use your credit card (this does not apply to debit cards). Since merchants have to pay a fee each time a customer uses a credit card, it does not seem unreasonable to Sun Spots that they can set a minimum.

Even so, many merchants do not charge this fee, as anyone who charges just about everything knows. Mr. Sun Spots charges whenever possible, even at places like McDonald’s for just a few dollars, and has never been thwarted.

The only charge of any sort Sun Spots has noticed is for foreign purchases. If you buy something on eBay from another country using a credit card, you may be charged a foreign transaction fee. These do vary by credit card, so if you make a lot of foreign purchases it can be worth your while to shop for the credit card with the best deal on these purchases.

HEY SUN SPOTS! Love your column; keep up the good work.

Thought you should know about cabbage worms, those dastardly green worms that blend right in to the broccoli. They are the larvae of the lovely little white butterflies you probably see flying around in the garden.

You can get rid of them ever so easily by spraying your crop with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis, I think). It’s a bacteria that kills the worms and is harmless to most everything else — what a godsend! I’ve learned the hard way that the saltwater soak doesn’t bother most of the little fellows. — No Name via email

ANSWER: Sun Spots looked up bacillus thuringiensis, and it does indeed look to be a benign way to get rid of those worms.

A posting on the Colorado State University Extension website noted that if you are using Bt that it degrades in sunlight, must be eaten by the bugs to be effective and application coverage must be thorough. Keeping those recommendations in mind, it should work.

Sun Spots has had good luck with the saltwater bath. The trick is that the entire vegetable must be underwater. Fill a container with a tight-fitting lid with the vegetables and the saltwater right to the brim, then put on the lid and shake. Put the container in the fridge for a day or so and shake it up once or twice during that time. Then thoroughly rinse the veggies in running water afterward.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I am a mom writing to you about coupon inserts to see if I can help the backpack program to help feed children at my son’s school. There is an individual at the school who fills backpacks with simple-to-make food for the kids every other week.

I want to jump in and help and am hoping to get in touch with someone who can help me gather coupon inserts each Sunday or even the day after or so to help cover the cost. Please contact me with any questions. We just bought our first home here, and I truly want to help the community. — Amanda Plourde, Mechanic Falls, domjlp07@yahoo.com, 207-754-2578

This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name (we won’t use it if you ask us not to). Please include your phone number. Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can also be emailed to sunspots@sunjournal.com.

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