Grandma told me about this ingenious toilet trick, and thanks to her I saved a lot of money

My grandmother was a professional frugalist, and she told us all sorts of tricks that my family still uses today.

When she was a little girl her family did not have much money, so they had to know how to be smart and save wherever possible. They used food stamps, and my grandmother always knew how to spot a bad deal when she saw one.

But her simple tricks were the best, and this is perhaps the best trick of them all.

Toilet problems

If you're like me, you'll probably check your water bill and notice that it's just going up and up.

If you know your family don't use an excessive amount of water, then what can explain the inflated bill?

Sometimes there is a leak in the toilet and the water leaks into the toilet.

This may not sound like a big deal, but each drip is an extra penny added to your water bill, and it accumulates.

The NYC Environmental Protection Association investigated the issue and found that such a leak can cost 40 cents a day, with larger leaks reaching even several dollars a day if not more.

So how can you check if there is a leak from the toilet?

The color of money

Take food coloring from the kitchen and drip a few drops into the toilet, enough for the water color to change.

Do not drain the water for the next 15 minutes. You can drip food coloring into additional toilets in the house to check them as well.

When 15 minutes have passed, if the color of the water in your toilet has changed, then surely you have a leak.

Now you'll have to fix it.

The cause of the leak is probably one of the gaskets.

If you have knowledge and good hands, you can replace the parts yourself.

Otherwise, you should call a plumber.

While you are doing maintenance work in the bathroom, here are some more creative and money-saving uses with things you already have in the kitchen.

Let's get creative

• After cleaning the faucets, a quick scrub with parchment paper will seal the new shine for a few days.
• One of the best toilet cleaners is Coca-Cola. Pour some Coca-Cola into the toilet, let it sit for a few minutes, then flush the water. For deeper cleaning, you can dip your brush in Coke.
• A mixture of vinegar and water in a ratio of 50/50 will clean any surface in the toilet without the pungent odor of detergents with chemicals.
• Vinegar is also very useful for cleaning accumuluated fur in the toilet

Did you already know this clever trick?