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29 Simple Life Hacks to Keep in Your Back Pocket

20. Plan ahead

If you don’t have a great relationship with your landlord, before submitting an application for a new apartment have someone you know call and ask for a reference. You can find out before hand what they will say about you and address anything negative with the prospective landlord proactively.

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21. No Ass out of You and Me

When training someone new, do not assume they know things. Go over everything unless they tell you specifically that they already know it.

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22. Pet emergency

If you own a pet or are taking care of one, look up the nearest emergency veterinarian right now so you know exactly where to take the pet in case of an emergency.

If the animal is suffering, it’s best to know exactly where to go rather than wasting precious moments looking up the nearest pet hospital.

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Make sure it’s open on Sundays just in case.

23. Teach to study

You might have heard that teaching others is an effective study method. So treat your word document as your clueless friend when studying.

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24. DIY Electric Bill

Many people aren’t aware of this, but most electric companies have a feature where you can call and enter your meter reading yourself. My wife and I had noticed that during the months of December, January, and February, our bill was much higher than what we had anticipated.

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So, during the month of March, we decided to keep track of our meter for a full 30 days. During that time, we only used about half the amount of electricity that our electric company claimed we had used during the preceding three months.

That was when we learned we could enter our own meter reading, and that sometimes electric companies don’t actually read your meters, they just estimate your bill based on previous months usage. We have seen a drop of nearly 33% to our electric bill compared to the months we had not entered our own numbers.

Photo Credit: Adobe Stock

So, if you feel like your bill is higher than it should be, perhaps consider checking your own meter reading and comparing it to what your electric bill says. If you notice any discrepancies or feel like something is off, check with your electric company and see if they offer the ability to enter your own reading manually.

25. Bike box

If you need boxes to pack pictures or TVs when moving, go to a bike shop and ask for boxes. They often have boxes from the bikes they’ve put together that fit these objects very well.

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26. Pay it forward

If you use a gift card and are left with a small amount on the card, have the cashier apply it to the next person’s purchase.

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I have had too many gift cards with a few dollars on them sit in my wallet for months because I forget about them, so instead of throwing them away or in a drawer somewhere and forgetting about them I figure it’s better to let someone use it than nobody at all.

27. Discounts ahead

If you’re shopping at a new website, sign in and leave stuff in your cart. They’ll usually send you a discount code within the next day or two.

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28. Deep research

When shopping for apartments and houses visit the location at night time before signing.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

My girlfriend and I were planning on signing a lease tomorrow at a beautiful apartment unit right next to a retention pond. It’s perfect in the daytime but we went to show her parents tonight and the pond was full of bullfrogs. It is unbearably loud.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

And these are really expensive apartments too, with good insulation. We are going to talk to them tomorrow and sign for a different unit farther up the road that we saw.

29. On the record

If you are having an argument pretend that you are being recorded, it will save you from saying hurtful and silly stuff which you may later regret.

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