If
ever there was a great way to save money and reduce clutter in your
house, it's finding other uses for the stuff you already have. Here are
our ten favorite multitaskers that you probably already have at home.
10. Lip Balm
As if soothing your chapped lips isn't good enough, lip balm can do a lot of other stuff: fix stuck drawers, lube up sticky light bulb sockets, and even get stuck zippers to work again.
Of course, you probably don't want to use it on your lips after you've
rubbed it on drawers, light sockets, and zippers—but that's
what your old, actually-bad-for-your-lips lip balm is for.
Photo by ganesha.isis.
9. Kitty Litter
Just because you don't have a cat doesn't mean you can't make use of a little extra kitty litter. It's useful for deodorizing just about anything, from stinky shoes to drawers and closets, your fridge, or even the bottom of your trash can. Not only that, but it can even save a cellphone that you've dropped in water if you don't have some rice handy.
Photo by sneakerdog.
8. Paper Clips
It's
no secret that paper clips do more than just clip paper—in
fact, you've probably come up with a few of your own in a pinch. We like
to use them to keep our ties straight, put on bracelets without the fuss, handle tiny USB drives, and—when we're feeling a bit more evil—crack a padlock. Of course, for those times a paper clip doesn't cut it, you can always turn a paper clip into a safety pin for an even more versatile tool.
Photo by Dominique Godbout.
7. Grocery Bags
If
you still haven't gotten on the reusable grocery bag train, you
probably have a cupboard overflowing with those plastic grocery bags
that you
think you'll use for something, but never do. Well,
here are some ideas: You can use them to keep just about anything from
getting wet, make a miniature greenhouse to keep plants alive, use them as packing material when shipping stuff, and protective bags for your muddy travel shoes—just to name a few. Of course, if you just recycle a few old t-shirts into reusable grocery bags, you'll never run into this problem again.
6. Nail Polish (and Nail Polish Remover)
Whether you wear it or not, nail polish has more than a few uses around the home. You've probably already heard of using it to color code your keys, but what about using it to relieve an itchy mosquito bite? Or keep metal cans from rusting? You can even use it to fix your glasses when they start coming loose. As for nail polish remover, that's handy for removing ink from plastic containers, getting sap off your windshield, and even de-yellowing your white MacBook. Just make sure you use the right kind (acetone or non-acetone) for your project.
Photo by Arienne McCracken.
5. Toothpaste
Besides polishing your chompers, toothpaste can also polish silver, not to mention get rid of scratches on just about anything—includingstubborm scratched DVDs and car headlights. You can also use toothpaste to restore an old, dirty pair of sneakers, and even fix their frayed laces (combined with a little glue).
Photo by Jonas B. Just don't forget to keep brushing your teeth with it, too, or your dentist will yell at us.
4. Hair Dryers
Even if you don't use one to coiffe your mane, a hair dryer can be useful for all sorts of things around the house. It can clean your keyboard, help remove stubborn stickers, and make Band-Aids less painful. It can also stretch too-tight shoes, or
fix an overly-stretched sweater cuff. And, if you're still printing out the occasional paper document, it can even eke a bit of extra ink out of that cartridge.
3. Magnets
Magnets...how do
they work? No matter where you find them, it's no secret they're MacGyver's dream tool. From keeping tools and screws organized to removing batteries to holding onto cables and sealing bags that won't topple over in your fridge, magnets can do just about anything. Check out our top 10 magnet hacks for even more science-y goodness.
Photo by Windell Oskay.
2. Vinegar
Vinegar is a magical thing. In fact, you can use it in place of a bunch of different household cleaners. Use it in the laundry to recharge your towels, use it to deodorize just about anything, or use it to clean the screens on all your gadgets. You can also use it to keep away drain clogs and—with the help of a plastic bag—even clean out your shower head. Our favorite use, though? Rinse your berries in a vinegar solution to drive away mold and keep them fresh longer.
1. Binder Clips
Ah,
the binder clip: our favorite little DIY miracle. Everyone should have a
$1 bag of these in their house for all the wonderful things they can
accomplish: hang your headphones, store your cables, stack beverages in your fridge, and even make a car mount that fits any phone. That not enough for you? Check out our top 10 clever uses for binder clips for even more ideas, and go get yourself a bag. Seriously, you won't regret it.
If
you're at work and want to keep an eye on your home
machine—whether it's keeping track of a download or making
sure someone else isn't trying to use it—you can do that with
Dropbox. All you need is a screenshot tool (like one of our favorites) and some way to automate it (like this AutoHotkey script).
Then, just periodically check your Dropbox folder, and you'll have a
chronological timeline of everything happening on your screen at home.
You can also use Dropbox to check your home computer's IP from afar, and even locate your laptop if its been stolen.
We
all know Dropbox is great for sharing files, but it's particularly good
for sensitive information, like tax returns, passwords, or saucy photos
(note: saucy photos not recommended). Dropbox encrypts everything you
upload, and downloads it over a secure HTTPS connection, meaning that
file is secure from start to finish. Of course, you can also encrypt it in a ZIP file first for extra protection, too. Just don't be reckless!
Most BitTorrent clients have handy web interfaces that let you add, monitor, and remove torrents from afar, but a simple alternative is to just use Dropbox.
Just tell your BitTorrent client to watch a specific folder in your
Dropbox for new torrents. Then, when you're away and find a cool torrent
you want, just copy that torrent to your designated Dropbox folder.
It'll sync back to your house, get recognized by your client, and start
downloading for you.
The
Google Play store is great, but sometimes you find an app that you need
to install yourself using an APK file. Or, maybe you're flashing a new
ROM to your phone and trying something completely different. Either way,
you don't need to plug your phone in via USB—you can just drag that APK or ZIP file to your Dropbox,
then download it using the Dropbox app on your phone (or install it
right then and there). In the case of smaller files, it's much faster
than finding your USB cable.
So you've built your first web site, and now you're looking for somewhere to host it. You can actually host it for free right in your Dropbox—either manually or with a service like DropPages.
This trick is also handy for syncing your custom start page across your
systems, so you have it everywhere you go—whether it's one you created yourself or one of the many we've featured here before.
Not satisfied with the other cloud music services out there? You can use Dropbox to sync your entire music library
between computers and up to the cloud, so it's the same everywhere.
Then you can play that music when you're away from home using a web player like DropTunes or a smartphone app like BoxyTunes. Note that this one requires a significant amount of space, so if you only have a few gigs, make sure you check out our cheapskate's guide to free Dropbox storage.
Similar
to the remote printing method, you can also run applications and
commands on your home computer with a clever setup in Dropbox. We've shown you how to do it with Windows and AutoHotkey, but Dropbox also has a tutorial for Linux users, which is pretty handy. It's perfect for starting up your favorite remote desktop program so you can get full control of your computer from afar.
One of the coolest ways to take advantage of Dropbox is to use a tool like Dropbox Automator or Wappwolf
to automate the files inside. With those apps, you can convert an image
just by dropping it in a Dropbox folder, or send a PDF to your Kindle.
Heck, you can even tell it to upload all your synced photos to Facebook
or Flickr. Check out our full tutorial on Wappwolf for more information.
If
you have multiple computers, Dropbox is a great way to keep important
files available at all times. But, it's also great for keeping all your
favorite apps readily available, and with the same settings across each
PC. Portable Apps are the best way to do this, since they keep all their
settings in one neat little folder, and you can sync them between all
your computers. But, you can also sync your settings separately, whether
it's a custom Microsoft Word dictionary, Your Firefox and Pidgin profiles, multiple Rainlendar calendars, or anything else. You can even use Dropbox as the ultimate password syncer, keeping your passwords safe, secure, and available wherever you are.
