From The Tips Box: Paying Yourself, Spare Chargers, Toilet Stains

Lifehacker readers offer their best tips for saving extra money, finding spare chargers when staying at hotels, and removing stubborn toilet stains.

Every day we receive stacks of great reader tips. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favourites. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments or send it using our [contact text=”contact form”].

Pay Yourself a Convenience Fee when Using Credit

Jenny shares a tip for putting aside a little extra money:

Credit cards are a convenience. It occurred to me that if stores can charge a convenience fee for using credit cards (even when maybe they’re not supposed to), why not charge myself a convenience fee. I round up the receipts for whatever I’ve charged that day, calculate 3% of the total, and transfer that amount into my savings account. It really adds up!

Clean Stubborn Toilet Stains with Denture Tablets

Mike shares a tip for getting rid of stubborn toilet stains:

Denture tablets are made for cleaning stains off porcelain. I don’t remember where I heard this tip, but I spotted some denture-cleaning tabs at the Dollar Store last time I was there and picked some up. I have a toilet with some stains that I’d already tried cleaning with just a brush. I dropped a couple of the tabs into the toilet and let it sit overnight. They worked great!

Photo by njvack.

Check the Hotel Lost and Found for Spare Chargers

Vinit shares a great travelling tip:

Lots of people leave behind chargers for phones, tablets, computers, and other gadgets when they stay in hotels. Many hotels keep those chargers in the lost and found, at least when the employees don’t “liberate” them themselves. The last time I stayed at a hotel, I forgot my phone charger (lucky for me it was just a micro USB), but the hotel had one that they not only let me use — they let me keep. Always worth checking.

Photo by ♔ Georgie R.

Keep Your Keys Near Your Bed to Scare Off Burglars

Russel shares tip that might make you feel a little safer at night:

If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house or car, just press the panic button on your car remote. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies. This tip came from a neighbourhood watch coordinator.

Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: It’s a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house. If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break into your house, odds are the burglar/home invader won’t stick around.

Photo by f4niko.