People Realized That It Was Just Their Weird Family Who Knew These 40 Household “Hacks” ~ CR MAG

People Realized That It Was Just Their Weird Family Who Knew These 40 Household

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People Realized That It Was Just Their Weird Family Who Knew These 40 Household "Hacks"

Viktorija OšikaitėAugust 14, 2025 at 6:08 AM

Every family has its own traditions, routines, and little quirks that emerge out of their unique personalities and circumstances. A particular way of doing things can become second nature and feel totally normal when you're just growing up and haven't had the chance to see an alternative. But sooner or later, you go to your friend's house and learn that tapas aren't a plate of leftovers from the meals you've had that week.

So, Reddit user Kaiablu decided to ask everyone on the platform to share their special household habits — the ones they thought were universal until they compared notes with the rest of the world. The responses ranged from charmingly practical to hilariously strange, proving that no two homes are exactly alike.

#1

I had a lot of siblings and my mom would bring us to the library after school for a few hours to do homework, read, play under their big oak tree outside. I even learned how to crochet at the library from a sweet older librarian. I would check out books on knitting and crocheting too. Anyway, I thought it was pretty normal. I asked my mom about it recently and she said that we only had 1 car and my dad worked within walking distance from the library, but didn't always get off work at the same time - so the library would give us a safe, air conditioned, clean, enriching place to wait until he was done. I think back and I remember we'd always pick Dad up on the way home from the library (or sometimes he'd show up there and surprise us). What a great set of parents we had.

Image credits: spikerwebz

#2

This may be common for some families but when I mentioned it to friends in highschool they were all surprised. My grandmother sent each grand kid a card for every holiday and in the minor holidays she'd always have a $10 to $20 bill in it. I remember mentioning I'd gotten my Valentine's Day money from my gram and my friends were all confused, I guess their grandparents only gifts on Christmas and birthdays. Once we got older and she had great grandkids she started sending them cards for all the holidays. My cousin lived in my grams basement apartment and my grandmother still sent the card in the mail so her great grandson could be excited he got some mail. My grandmother was the absolute best and I miss her every day ❤️.

Image credits: ZaymeJ

While these anecdotes are certainly interesting, if you want to take a more quantitative look at people's habits at home, there's a survey of 500 Americans that reveals quite a lot:

Dishes in the sink: 44% of respondents said it's acceptable to leave dishes in the sink for "a few hours," although 30% thought they should be taken care of instantly, and 21% were willing to let it go for a day or two;

Forks in the dishwasher: Simple, points up or points down? 60% of people said points up. Maybe to ensure that they get cleaned properly?

Pants at home: The majority of people (59%) wear either sweatpants or yoga pants while hanging out at home. 16% of the more formal respondents wear jeans, and 5% prefer no pants at all.

#3

My older brother rigged up a pulley/counterweight system and lower handle to the sliding screen back door (so that the dog could open it and let herself out/in and it would automatically close behind her). It was so well-done that I honestly thought he had bought an add-on/kit (like made for that door). But I later realized no one else had one at their house. Turns out bro just made it out of s**t we already had in ~~Dad's shop~~ the junk drawer.

Image credits: BlottomanTurk

#4

TL;DR: My parents took 40% of my paycheck as "home tax" while I lived with them, secretly invested it, and later gave it all back with profits to teach me how to save.I don't know if this counts as a "household hack," but my parents charged me and my siblings a 40% "home tax" on every paycheck we earned while living at home. I started gardening at 13 years old (through a summer municipal program), and they explained to me the cost of living, etc. They said this was just something they did to get by.I moved out for three years and then moved back in to save up for my own place. The same rules still applied, but now the 40% was quite a significant amount. When I made a bid for my apartment, my parents came to me with a piece of paper from the bank showing a pretty substantial amount of money, probably around two to three years' worth of salary, and told me it was mine.They had never spent any of the money I paid them; instead, they invested my "home tax" into funds that had done quite well. They basically taught me how to save by "taxing" me. They did the same for each of my siblings, but made the older ones swear not to tell the younger ones because they believed it would ruin the learning opportunity.

Image credits: BrickfortBannerman

#5

We'd have "tapas" night every Friday.The tapas were all the leftovers that had accumalated during the week. .

Image credits: EmulsionPast

Finally, when it comes to the most personal:

Washing hair: 42% of people said they wash daily, 33% aim to shampoo every other day, and the other 25% wash even less frequently.

Q-tips: If you wondered how many use them, 79% said that they swab their ears regularly. (However! Healthcare professionals recommend against it! Better to use soap and water instead.)

Lying to the doctor (or dentist): 39% of people admitted to misrepresenting their flossing habits on their trips to the dentist. Eating habits (25%) and exercise (27%) are the next biggest lies, and 17% also bend the truth about their sleeping. Lies about alcohol consumption (12%), sexual activity (10%), and drug abuse (9%) were lower but still noteworthy.

#6

My dad would mute the ads and that was our chance to ask him things.

Image credits: badbackandgettingfat

#7

Whenever I have something I NEED to take with me to work or wherever I'm planning to go, I put it in a plastic grocery bag and hang it from the doorknob so I will have to physically touch it to leave the house. It's still possible to forget, but I forget less often this way than simply setting it on the counter.

Image credits: donnacus

#8

In the winter, my dad would tie plastic sandwich bags over our feet before we put our boots on. This kept our feet dry when we inevitably got snow jammed down our boots while playing. I recounted this to my husband once, and he was very confused. Apparently, it was just a thing my dad did. It was smart, though! We never had freezing wet feet. I plan to do the same with my kid.

Image credits: whereswalda

#9

I have a 4inch semi-rigid dryer hose tube that I tied to the banister going to my basement. At the bottom of the stairs is a garbage can with a plastic bag for recyclable cans/bottles.Instead of having to go downstairs everytime I have an empty can/bottle, I just send them down the chute.here's a video of it

Image credits: 1nd3x

#10

Growing up lower income we would place a 5 gallon bucket in the shower to catch the water until it began to warm up then you take your shower over the bucket. You shut the water off while you soap up and then turn it back on to rinse. We then use the water from the bucket to pour in the toilet instead of flushing the toilet. When friends come over they'd ask, what's up with the bucket and I'm like doesn't everyone use a bucket ? Also Ziploc bags are not single use, you clean and reuse them just like plastic dishes. Plastic grocery bags are reused as trash can liners, why do they even sell trash can liners ? (per dad).

Image credits: chainsaw-freak

#11

This is kind of a dated one. We had a record player with a lid that was fully detached (not on hinges). To solve the problem of then having to set this big lid down somewhere while playing records, my parents rigged up a brass pulley hanging from the ceiling, with a counterweight on the cord and a little bent tube that provided just enough friction so that you could lift the lid and would remain hanging wherever you left it. It's rather ingenious in a Wallace and Gromit kind of way, but I thought this was just standard record player installation. I only found out differently when we studied simple machines in third grade and I had a homework assignment to draw simple machines I found around the house. I drew this thing for "pulley" and completely baffled my teacher!Edit: Here's a picture I drew of it. Edit to the edit: this is a new drawing, not my decades-old homework, which is long gone. .

Image credits: CantBuyMyLove

#12

Folding empty disposable plastic grocery bags in a particular way. Did so automatically when at a friend's house for the first time before handing one to her and she was floored. Demanded I teach her, and we then spent 10 minutes folding all her saved plastic bags. I was glad to be able to pass on a (semi?)useful skill for reducing the space they took up.

Image credits: lundeo

#13

My mom wrote the date on the lids of things she opened (tomato sauce, etc) so she would know when it had to get tossed. I do it, too.

Image credits: Several_Project_5293

#14

Using a fishing rod and reel to fly a kite.

Image credits: kmcmurf1970

#15

We use a cutter knife and cut a lotion or sunscreen plastic bottle in half to get every bit out. It's expensive & there's a lot left in there🙋🏻‍♀️😉.

Image credits: Wild_Alternative_138

#16

Poop Journal. Growing up, there was a spiral notebook on top of the toilet lid called The Poop Journal. If you went in the bathroom for any reason you could write in the journal, then put the notebook back for the next person to read. No telling what you'd find written in there or from whom. Everyone in the family, friends coming over to play, even our parents, wrote in it. It might be a joke, a silly comment, even asking what's for dinner? As kids, it was funny. But now, 30 years and 8 notebooks later, they're hysterical. .

Image credits: Frydscrk

#17

Corn on the cob butter. Growing up, we had a separate butter dish (usually just a small plate) that we used to butter corn by playing the cob directly on the stick of butter and spin it slowly. This is the best way to get complete and even butter coverage. I thought this was a normal thing until my husband was gobsmacked the first he saw us do it. He has since accepted the genius of our approach and we have taught our kids too (though we have had to tell not to do it at their friends' houses).

Image credits: BigBoom2067

#18

My grandfather had a workshop in his garage that was like a Rube-Goldberg machine that was actually useful. Need a shop-vac? There was a rope you could pull and the shop vac would drop out of the A-frame roof on a pulley. There were cabinet doors that opened from the top rather than to the left or right with pop-out rods that had all the different tapes he had stacked on them or a pop out wire frame trash bag holder that you folded the top of the bag over and had just the right tension to keep it in place and open until you wanted to change it out and it just lifted off when you pushed on the spring load for the wire to release the tension. There was also a huge overhead bell shaped industrial gas burning heater that he took from his company when it shut down that just tucked into the space between the rafters that could heat the whole garage to T-shirt temperature even in sub-zero weather. The guy had everything rigged up to be able to have what he wanted in front of him with the slightest effort. When I was little I thought every mechanic/engineer built their workshops this way, but he was just a mechanical genius that had an idea to make everything easier. Everyone joked that when we eventually had to sell the house that the dad moving in would cry tears of joy when he discovered the workshop.

Image credits: BLU3SKU1L

#19

Not sure if it counts as a hack but washing out soap/shampoo bottles. Turns out most people just toss them when they start spurting rather than dispensing soap, we would add a little water and shake it up to get a bit more out.

Image credits: Ok_Spell_4165

#20

Use a turkey baster to remove grease from a pan when cooking ground beef. My mom did it growing up so I thought it was normal. My wife thought it was witchcraft the first time she saw me do it. She immediately called her mom and sister to tell them to do it.

Image credits: whitestrokes433

#21

Chopsticks for everything as when you become good at them they are finger extensions. Awesome for turning bacon!

Image credits: fbflat

#22

Asian millennial here, Growing up made to believe dishwasher is just a drying rack & storage for hand washed dishes/ kitchenwares.

Image credits: ThatFedNiga

#23

I saw on Reddit a guy all pissed off because his wife would sprinkle baking soda on the carpet before she vacuumed. I thought the idea was pretty smart to remove odors.

Image credits: loritree

#24

When ice cream used to come in the cardboard rectangle, my granny would slice it like cake, and peel the cardboard off of it after putting it on the serving plate. She would put saran wrap with a rubber band on the unused block. I was always confused watching my friends painfully scooping it out.

Image credits: graeflamingo

#25

We used empty butter tubs as Tupperware. I learned the hard way when I tried to make toast with leftover spaghetti sauce.

Image credits: girl_fresh

#26

My family all shared towels until I loudly mentioned I didn't like the idea of drying my face on the same towel someone else dried their a*s. Suddenly, we were assigned towels.

#27

Using half of the pistachio shell to open other pistachio nuts.

Image credits: docdeathray

#28

Okay. So my wife and I are Burmese born in Burma but our son is born here in Australia. In SE Asia they usually have those bidet sprayers next to toilets and my wife really wanted one. At the time, it hasn't caught on yet in Australia and plumbers are very reluctant to install them even if you bought one from Asia. So I went to Bunnings one day, bought a new 5L weed sprayer with a hand pump, cut the nozzle short and just started using that instead. My son just … grew up with that. When he started kinder, my poor boy was just so confused.

Image credits: GaeloneForYouSir

#29

For pancakes, I get the stack and butter them. Then cut a + in the middle. Then let syrup seep into the + and saturate through the cake stack in the middle. I got tired of pouring over the top and having dry pancakes except the top one.

Image credits: mrkruk

#30

My mom is a Type-1 diabetic, so we always had alcohol pads around the house. Besides using them for their intended use, she'd also use them for cleaning something sticky or for getting permanent marker off of things. I naturally did the same thing. My freshman year roommate was also a diabetic, so she did the same thing. It wasn't until I lived with a non diabetic for the first time that I realized not everyone had a box of alcohol pads at their home that they used for random spot cleaning. I still keep a box at home!

Image credits: glittergalaxy24

#31

Twice a month we would get to go to a fast food restaurant for dinner or my mom would get take away. Any time it was McDonald's she would get the 69¢ hamburgers and make us put cheese on them at home bc she was NOT going to spend an extra 10¢ for a slice of cheese lol.

Image credits: Zyhara

#32

Food we throw out gets put in a bag and frozen until garbage day.

Image credits: occupy_this7

#33

My dad used the oven light as a night light 💡.

Image credits: vivi_dreamss

#34

My mom always cut bacon packages in half and then put them in sandwich bags in the freezer. the night before she'd toss one in the fridge to thaw and then we would eat the half package and it was always enough bacon for the family.When I was in grad school, I did the same thing and my roommate looked at me like I was insane. I didn't realize the half pieces of bacon were unusual.

Image credits: DientesDelPerro

#35

After my sister graduated and my Dad moved out, my Mom created a very thoughtful system that worked well for us. We both really liked certain foods, and we never withheld food from one another, but let's say my favorite pizza only had one piece left. I'd put it in a plastic bag or Tupperware and then put a rubber band around it. That was our silent signal to one another that we were saving it for lunch the next day, etc. My Mom and I are incredibly close and that might sound kind of odd, but it was a good way to respect one another and to make sure we had some of our favorites left when we got home. My friends would come over sometimes and wonder why there was a rubber band on a certain can of pop, and only then would I realize that not every family did this. 😂.

Image credits: kteerin

#36

My family would eat corn straight out of the can. Just dump out the water and straight on to a plate. It wasn't until I got to college and my roommates asked if I was a hobo that I realized it wasn't normal.

Image credits: giandough

#37

Sock basket. all socks from any load of laundry went into a basket on the bottom shelf of the hall linen closet. when you got dressed, you tried your best to find the matchingest pair.

Image credits: emergencybarnacle

#38

I thought it was normal to make grilled cheese in the oven (broil, makes 6 sandwiches at once). I've since learned that everyone else I know cooks single sandwiches on the stove.Our family method makes the nicest, most evenly toasted light brown buttery deliciousness. Stove-sandwiches are dry and blah.

Image credits: Pame_la_la_la

#39

Damp paper towels on leftover salads to keep them them crisp for days. My husband thought my family was nuts but now considers it genius.

#40

Tie the hairbrush to the bathroom faucet so one of the 5 daughters didn't wander off with it and leave the other 4 with a rat's nest 3 minutes before time to leave for school. .

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People Realized That It Was Just Their Weird Family Who Knew These 40 Household “Hacks”

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