6 Weird AF Habits To Take Up That Might Save You Time And Money

Even though we talk a lot about Girl Bosses and Certified Workaholics, it should be noted that I am not at all one of them. I work hard every day, and I’m definitely not lazy, but I love the idea of laziness more than I love the idea of working and being awesome 24/7, and I’m pretty often looking for ways to cut corners.

Is this a good quality? Maybe –- it certainly prevents me from overworking myself and burning out. But maybe not –- cutting corners isn’t always a great way to ensure a high-quality life.

However, I’ve rounded up a small list of some weird little habits I’ve found (via internet research, talking to friends, and just tips I use myself to squeeze a little extra time during my day-to-day life). Check them out -– they may help you find a few extra minutes in your busy day, and they may help you save a few pennies as well. (Number one might be a little divisive –- let this post be a judgment-free zone.)

1. Shower less.

No, really. I can’t really advocate for not showering –- I do prefer being clean. But I lived for so many years under the impression that you need to both shower and wash your hair every single day. I can’t begin to think of the amount of shampoo I wasted washing my hair every day, and essentially ruining it. I cut my hair-washing down to once a week, but still showered every day. Then, I began reading about how it isn’t a bad idea to skip a day in between each shower to avoid drying out and damaging your skin with hot water and harsh soap products. Since my skin is already hella dry and sensitive, I decided to give it a shot to see if skipping a few showers would repair any of the damage. I found that my whole body responds better to not being obsessed with being squeaky-clean 24/7. Now, I skip days here and there to let my skin recover from all the moisture it loses when I scrub it down in hot water. (Of course, if I do something super-active and get sweaty, I’ll shower two days in a row. I’m not an animal.)

2. Similar to above: don’t wash your face in the morning.

I had some really sad #ProblemSkin for a good portion of my life, and anyone with bad skin knows that it makes you become religious about washing your face and staying on a tight skincare regimen. I’ve always been under the impression I needed to wash my face in the morning and then again at night. However, I’ve heard more than once recently that you shouldn’t really be washing your face in the morning; apparently, you should only be removing your makeup at night and cleansing then. I don’t have any scientific beliefs about whether or not this is true, but I can say that I’m trying it right now, and will report back soon. If this works, it’ll save me money on face soap, and also save me the entire five minutes I spend each morning scrubbing my face, and applying toner and moisturizer.

3. Cut your tissues (or tissue-like products) in half.

Sounds weird, but if what you’re using your tissue for isn’t nose-goop-related (in which case, by all means, use the entire tissue), you probably don’t need the whole thing. Example: I use either tissues or cotton pads to remove eye makeup at night. But I feel like it is such a huge waste to use an entire tissue when I really just need one section to dip into my makeup remover. I’ve taken to cutting all of my tissues and cotton pads in half right when I get a new package, then stacking them up in a jar so I only need to use the amount I need to things like applying face toner or removing eye makeup. It makes my tissues last me twice as long, and I don’t feel like I’m wasting anything, so it is a double-win.

4. Actually reuse throwaway things.

Maybe don’t become a total hoarder, but hanging on to random things, like jars from candles you’ve burned through, can actually come in handy. I don’t think I have a single container to hold anything –- pens/pencils, flowers and plants, kitchen utensils, etc. -– that was purchased new. They’re all old candle or food jars that I cleaned out and DIY spray-painted to repurpose. Drew thought I was wacky a month ago when I said “don’t throw away that candle when it is done burning –- I’m keeping it”, but that jar now sits on my desk holding paperclips and I love it.

5. Save on coffee grounds.

If your coffeemaker is futuristic af like mine, it might have two settings for you to brew on: regular, or strong. My boyfriend is dead inside and likes weak-ass coffee, so we’ve always brewed it regular, but I recently discovered that if we brew it on the “strong” setting, we can use a few less scoops of coffee, and still achieve the same desired flavor. We go through a lot of coffee each week, so this is actually a huge money-saving hack in my household. I guess it isn’t necessarily “time-saving”, unless you find scooping three extra scoops of coffee into the filter to be a tedious, time-consuming task. I guess it saves me extra trips to the store to buy new coffee, though! We’ve cut down quite a bit on the amount we need to buy.

6. Repurpose your leftovers.

This is a weird food habit I have, and I know some other who people do this too. But I love cooking and being creative, even though my budget and schedule doesn’t always allow for making a bunch of exotic meals each week. Example: taking the chicken from last night’s dinner and shredding it with hot sauce to make tacos or sliders, or scooping leftover rice and beans into tortillas with scrambled eggs for breakfast burritos. I’ll always have a soft spot for scraping sauce-covered vegetables from Chinese takeout leftovers using them in omelettes, and slicing up last night’s steak to put on a salad. This is essentially a more creative version of making Thanksgiving turkey leftover sandwiches. Leftover meals don’t always need to be reheated and enjoyed in their natural state –- they can be picked apart and used to make new meals with half the effort.

Mary writes every day for TFD, and tweets every day for her own personal fulfillment. Talk to her about money and life at mary@thefinancialdiet.com!

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