Practical life hacks are big winners on the internet, especially the ones that can save you time and money. Sometimes, you see a few that have you saying, “Wow, I need to use that!”

Who wants to spend a load of cash on multiple doodads and gadgets when you can rig it like a boss? The best life hacks don’t involve a lot of tools or materials, and are fairly easy for one person to handle. No frills, no engineering degree, and no hours lost to Googling.

Here to help you save patience and dollars is PSYmedia. In this video, they’re bringing us four life hacks for minor but annoying issues around the house. We’ll outline two here, but stay tuned for the others in the video below.

Marking Tape Measure

There’s already mad love in the world for things that binder clips can do for mankind. But when they partner up with pencils, even tape measures pay attention. Sometimes it’s hard to mark a target with precision when using a tape measure. Other times the lock doesn’t work. Grrr.

To get around that, you could buy a fancy one that comes with a long name on the label and a built-in marker— or you can make your own! Grab a binder clip and slip a pencil into its jaws, and flex the clip’s wire wings closed. Slide the wire part into the clip of your tape measure to hold it in place. It’s ready to mark your spots! You could free up one hand for something else now too.

Tear-Apart Packaging

How many times have you received a package but had trouble opening it? You end up with broken fingernails, scissor punctures in the wrong place, or hurt hands. It takes all the joy out of opening your new stuff. You can save someone else from that fate by installing a tear-cord function on your wrapped goodies.

End the cycle of not being able to find where the tape ends. Save a loved one from sore hands. All you do is roll a piece of string across the seam of your box, where it will be sealed. Leave about an inch or two to dangle loosely over each edge and snip the string. Seal the box with packing tape, making sure it’s resting on the string. You can also try subbing in plastic cord that crafters use.

There’s nothing wrong with improvising or inventing, so take a gander at more hacking ideas in the video below. If there are a few home repair projects that have been sitting around collecting dust, they might now find their way onto your to-do list. On the other hand, feel free to send this video to someone you’ve given a honey-do list to. Score!

You can skip multiple trips to the store or better, multiples trips to multiple stores by adding some of these tricks to your list of how-to’s. Which one of these hacks will you try first? How many times have you rigged up your own contraption? Did it work? Tell us in the comments!