I just got a new Keurig 2.0 coffee maker for Christmas. As a guy who loves coffee almost as much as I love caffeine, I was super stoked to start brewing individual cups of hot and tasty goodness. But I soon realized that there are some easy ways to hack my Keurig 2.0 to get the most use out of it, many of which beat Kuerig at their own game of separating me from my money. Here are some awesome Keurig hacks that will save you money, time, and frustration.

How to Use K-Cups That Aren’t Keurig Branded

The Keurig 2.0 coffee maker simply won’t brew K-Cups that are NOT licensed for use on the 2.0 system. On the lid of the K-Cup it will say “Keurig Brewed” around the edge of the lid, which tells you it’ll work on the Keurig 2.0. If you try any generic, or off-branded K-Cup, you’re out-of-luck and stuck with coffee you can’t use because the new Keurig does a digital read of the lid and can determine what type of K-Cup you’re attempting to use. But alas, there’s a way to hack your Keurig K-Cups so you can use any K-Kup on the 2.0:

1. Use a K-Kup that has the “Keurig Brewed” symbol on it and brew a cup of coffee. Once you’ve brewed your coffee, DON’T throw the K-Kup away.

2. Take a straight edge razor and slowly remove the lid of the K-Kup. See pic below. If you’re having trouble with the straight edge, cut off the bottom 3/4 of the K-Kup, remove the coffee grounds and use scissors to easily separate the lid from the plastic cup.

See Also: 10 Sweet Ways to Save BIG at Dunkin’ Doughnuts and Krispy Kreme

3. Once removed, simply take the lid and place it on a K-Kup that is not marked “Keurig Brewed” and use 2 small pieces of scotch tape to affix it to the K-Kup.

4. Viola. You can now use the K-Kup on your Keurig 2.0 brewer without any issues. These “generic” or non-branded K-Kups can be found quite cheap when compared to their name-brand counterparts making this a great way to save money on your coffee fix.

How to Use a Refillable K-Cup on the Keurig 2.0

In an attempt to take more of your money, and force you to buy expensive K-Kups, the Keurig 2.0 in not compatible with any refillable K-Kup.

But if you’re like me, you don’t want to have to buy expensive K-Cups all the time, but would rather use a refillable K-Cup and brew whatever type of coffee you want (for pennies on the dollar).

An easy solution is to use the “Keurig Branded” lid that you removed (see above steps) and affix it to the top of a refillable K-Kup with a couple small pieces of scotch tape and you’re good to go.

I recommend changing the tape after every 10-12 cups of coffee brewed as it tends to get a little grimy.

But I can promise you it won’t affect the taste of your morning cup of Joe and it’ll save you a bunch of money in process by allowing you to brew your own coffee and never have to buy an expensive K-Kup again.

Use a Toothpick to Unlock Cool Features

I heard about this tip from a friend of mine who REALLY likes coffee and uses a coffee mug the size of a gas can.

He showed me how to use a toothpick to unlock some cool features that includes a larger cup size. Here’s how it works:

1. With the top of your Keurig open, lightly pull the K-Kup holder towards you as far as it will go. This is much easier to do if you don’t have a K-Kup inserted in the Keurig.

2. While holding it in place, slide a toothpick in the small hole in the middle (see image below). Leave the toothpick sticking out a little bit so you can easily remove it without having to use needle-nose pliers.

3. By doing this, you trick the machine into thinking you’ve inserted a larger carafe K-Kup and it unlocks a whole new menu on the touchscreen.

See Also: Want Free Starbucks? How to Get Free Refills, Free Coffee, and Free Gift Cards

4. A few of the more popular options that get unlocked include a larger size cup (up to 14 ounces), froth setting, and the entire carafe setting. TIP: The 14 oz cup size works especially well with dark coffee as it’s still plenty strong.

5. In my experience, you’ll want to replace the toothpick after every 8-10 brews as it tends to get kinda soggy.

What Else Can You Do with Your Keurig?

• Bottle Warmer: Just fill up a cup with instant hot water and let the baby bottle warm up for a couple minutes. Much faster than waiting for hot water from the tap.
• Hot Foods: Simply slide a bowl of oatmeal, instant soup, cup of noodles, or even a coffee mug filled with quinoa or couscous right under the dispenser, and then allow the water to heat up your meal quickly.

Happy savings and happy brewing.

By Kyle James

Finding a “real deal” on eBay is becoming harder and harder these days. With so many “Buy It Now” items being sold at full-retail, and a huge number of products that are simply drop-shipped from the manufacturer, the idea of getting a deal on an actual auction is difficult. But alas, if you know some insider eBay savings tricks and hacks, it’s still possible to score a screaming deal. Here is what you need to know to become an eBay “savings ninja”.

1. Save Money By Looking For Typos in Listings

Perhaps the best way to find an eBay auction deal is to find listings with misspellings, especially in the listing title.

A very cool resource to help you find a misspelling, which can potentially lead you to a killer deal is FatFingers.com (If you live in the UK, try GoofBid.com).

The site lets you type in the item you’re looking for and then does all the work for you.

Let’s say you’re shopping for a PlayStation 4, FatFingers will go out and find listings with titles using words like “Paaystation” and “Playsstation”.

You’d be amazed how many sellers do not proofread their listings, especially when using the eBay app.

By finding these listings, you stand a great chance of winning an auction far below the retail price.

See Also: eBay Users….Have You Ever Heard of Bid Sniping?

2. Look For Oft-Ignored Local Deals

Many items on eBay are sold only to folks in the local area of the seller.

At the seller’s discretion, they choose this option which requires the buyer to pick up the item in person.

You tend to see this mainly with larger items that are expensive to ship, but not always.

Because of this, you can often score a deal by looking for these local bargains.

Use the cool site, BargainTime, to quickly find local bargains, you can sort by distance, price, and category.

Think of it like eBay with a Craigslist twist.

3. Find Really Cheap Last-Minute Auctions

Savvy eBay users already realize that a great way to get a deal is to look for auctions ending soon, many of which have slipped through the cracks (for whatever reason) and are selling really cheap.

But…what is the best way to find and sort through all of these last-minute deals After all, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of auctions ending every minute.

Enter the website Last Minute Auction.com, whose tagline is “An hour or less, a buck or less…find great bargains now!”

The site allows you to easily search through thousands of ending auctions by category.

I was blown away with the huge number of auctions ending that were going for 5 cents or less.

This is especially true with video games, books, sporting goods, clothing/shoes, and sports memorabilia.

4. Learn to Snipe Your Bid

The idea of sniping your eBay bid is something I’ve talked about before.

For those of you who don’t know what “sniping your bid” means, it’s when you wait until the last few seconds of an auction, then place your bid.

This almost guarantees you won’t be outbid and often results in the best deal possible.

While there are many free, or cheap, tools to help you automatically snipe your bid, eBay is not a big fan of them and could ban your account if you abuse it.

Also, be sure to research these tools carefully as many will require you to share your credit card information with them.

So…it’s probably safest to do your own sniping. Simply place your highest bid within the last 10 seconds of the auction ending.

Ask the Reader: When was the last time you got a real deal on eBay.com? Did you use one the above strategies to score your bargain?

By Kyle James

Photo credit to Kārlis Dambrāns.

While the idea of stacking coupons is not a new idea, and one that I’ve discussed in detail in the past, Target takes the practice to a whole new level. A level that deserves it’s own blog post so you too can become a money saving ninja on your next trip to the red bull’s eye. If you shop at Target regularly, especially for grocery, health & beauty, and baby items, you can easily knock 20% off your annual bill by stacking Target coupons. Here are the steps to make it happen.

Step 1: Find a Manufacturer’s Coupon

The first thing you’re going to want to do when becoming a coupon stacking pro at Target, is to hunt down free manufacturer coupons for the things you need to buy.

A few great places to start include Coupons.com, CouponMom.com, and Savings.com.

All three resources keep very accurate and up-to-date databases of the newest manufacturer coupons available and allow you to print them out for free.

PRO TIP: PRICE MATCH…THEN USE A COUPON

Target has a pretty killer price-match policy in place, one of the best actually. But most shoppers aren’t aware that you can get a price match, then add a manufacturer’s coupon on top of the new price to save even more. Simply show proof of the lower price at the customer service desk and hand them the coupon at the same time and you’ll be out the door with extra money in your pocket in a matter of minutes.

Step 2: Find a Target Coupon

Next, you’ll want to find a coupon specific to Target stores to stack on top of the manufacturer coupons that you’ve already found.

Hit up the section of their site designed specifically for Target coupons, and quickly search and print the coupons for the products that you need to shop for.

Popular coupon categories include cleaning supplies, beauty products, food, and baby items.

Step 3: Find a Target Circle Discount

Next, be sure to sign up for the free Target Circle program. By doing so you’ll get instant access to hundreds of coupons and rebates when checking out.

Be sure to check out the websites Totally Target and The Krazy Coupon Lady as they both do a great job breaking down the current Circle Deals so you can plan your next “coupon stacking” trip effectively.

And before you ask, YES, you can stack Circle offers on top of any manufacturer or Target coupons that you’ve found.

Pretty cool, huh?

See Also: Here’s Where Target Sends Their Liquidated Items (Go Save Some Money)

PRO TIP: USE IBOTTA AND EASILY STACK TARGET OFFERS

The ibotta app unlocks a bunch of secret rebates on products you’ll probably be buying anyways from Target. Examples include $1 back on a pack of Oreos, 25 cents back on a gallon of milk, or $1 back on a box of Wheat Thins. Next, after shopping, tap the “Redeem” button, snap a picture of your receipt, and verify your purchases. Once verified, you’ll get your rebate money added directly to your Ibotta account. Reach the $10 minimum and request a deposit to your PayPal or Venmo account, or get paid via a gift card.

Step 4: Use Your REDcard Too

But wait, we aren’t done saving money at Target yet.

Have you ever heard of Target’s proprietary REDcard that gives you an extra 5% off EVERY time you use it?

It comes in 3 flavors, a debit card, credit card, or a reloadable Visa Cash Card.

The debit card works like a check by drawing money straight from your existing checking account.

The credit card version allows you to charge your purchases, both online and in-store, and comes with no annual fee.

Lastly, the reloadable card allows you to add cash for free at Target and spend it anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted.

Buyer beware on the credit card, it comes with an APR close to 23%, so it’s only a good option if you pay your bill in full every month.

Otherwise your 5% savings will quickly get wiped out by the high interest charges.

Also, by using the REDcard you get free shipping at Target.com and an extra 30 days to return items which is kinda cool. It basically comes down to how often you shop at Target.

If you’re a weekly shopper, it’s a bit of a no-brainer as the 5% savings is fairly significant over the course of an entire year.

Especially after you stack all of the above mentioned coupons on top of your 5%.

Happy savings.

By Kyle James

Photo by Mike Mozart.