- Today on Household Hacker,
we've got seven money-saving life hacks.
(industrial music)
So let's get started with food.
Sometimes it's hard to resist
a great deal at the supermarket.
But what do you do about those five steaks you bought
that are about to get nasty?
You can actually vacuum seal your food
without the vacuum sealer.
Fill your sink halfway up with water,
and place your food into a freezer bag.
Zip it up about three quarters of the way
and submerge the bag directly into the water.
Now, using the water pressure,
you can force out all of the air
and make a nice tight seal
that's gonna help keep your food stay edible
a lot longer when you freeze it,
so stock up and get freezing.
Ever sit down to watch TV but your remote's dead?
Yeah, it's a pain.
Your first instinct is probably to go
and replace the batteries, right?
Well, what if you don't have any batteries?
Or you just have one?
Well, here's a simple trick.
The juice from one fresh battery
is typically enough to power
a small device, like a remote control.
So go raid your junk drawer and fish out a screw or bolt
that's about the size of the battery that you need.
You can place it into the battery compartment.
You know, this is going to complete the circuit.
And then you can turn your device right back on,
and everything is going to work as normal.
Alright, let's move into saving money
on your bills.
Here in Portland, Oregon,
we get charged every three months
for water and sewage.
The rates on that can get quite high,
but using this simple trick
I was able to reduce my bill dramatically.
Just head into your bathroom,
remove the lid from the top of your toilet,
fill up a one liter bottle,
and place it into the corner of the tank.
Now, the average home flushes a toilet
about five times a day.
With each flush you'll save about a liter.
That's more than a gallon a day or 30 gallons a month.
So by putting a simple bottle in your toilet tank,
you can conserve water and cut down on your bill.
Now, what about internet service?
Fast broadband service can cost more
than $1000 a year.
So, have a conversation with your neighbor,
and see if they want to split that cost with you.
Just share your WiFi password
and tell them get rid of their service,
or vice versa.
You just cut your bill in half.
Now, sometimes your clothes need a little
sprucing up in the smell department.
But do you really want to go to the store
and pay four or five bucks
for a bottle of fabric refresher
that you can easily make with stuff
laying around your house?
Probably not.
Just get yourself a small spray bottle,
pour in about a cup of warm water.
Next grab baking soda and add
roughly one teaspoon to the bottle.
You can make a simple funnel
by rolling up some paper
and putting it in the top.
Once that's in there,
add one tablespoon of fabric softener,
seal it up,
and shake it all around
until it feels nice and mixed up.
Let it settle for a minute then give it a test.
It should smell great.
And while I'm on the subject of DIY liquids,
what about house cleaners?
Well, there's definitely jobs for
harsh chemicals like bleach,
but really something you don't need
for common cleanups.
Let's make something more eco-friendly
that can be used near surfaces
you prepare food on.
Get another spray bottle
and add two teaspoons of baking soda,
now grab some dish soap
and add one teaspoon of that,
finally we need to activate it all
with some vinegar.
Pour about three tablespoons into the bottle
and then top it all off with some warm water.
Now give it a hefty shaking
and your cleaner is all set.
This type of natural cleaner is great for cutting boards,
light spills, all kinds of things,
you can even use it on your dishes if you want.
Now, finally, here's a huge one that literally reduced
my power bill 40% over the last year.
I'm talking about light bulbs.
LED bulbs cost more initially,
but their power requirements are drastically lower
than their incandescent counterparts.
Not only that,
but they can last up to 50 times longer!
Cost about ten times more to run
an incandescent bulb than an LED bulb.
So by paying a bit more on the up-front cost,
you can swap out your old bulbs,
and make money back in just a couple months.
Another interesting fact is that many power companies
will offer rebates when you make the switch over
to energy efficient products such as LED bulbs.
Just check your power companies website or give them a call.
So, hopefully these tips can get you well on your way
to saving some cash this year.
We actually have another cool way to earn money from home.
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The coolest thing is, they'll pay you in cash or gift cards.
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Click the link in the description box,
and you can check it out for yourself.
And as always, thanks for watching and subscribing.
Here's another video we did about money-saving tips.
Hey, the more you know.
See you next time.
- [Voiceover] House smelling off
and you're all out of air freshener?
Just grab a few dryer sheets
and pin them to the front of a fan.
Ah, spring fresh
for pennies on the dollar.