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Kind things that cost nothing

No money at all. Attention, a few minutes, and occasionally the willingness to say one slightly awkward sentence. Most of the best things on this site are in here, which is not an accident — money is rarely the scarce ingredient.

Showing 1–30 of 251 ideas

• Leave the accessible toilet alone

  It is not the spare one when there is a queue. For some people it is the only one in the building.

  5 minutesFreeA stranger2 people did this

• Read the form out loud for someone

  Around one in six adults reads below the level most official forms are written at.

  Half an hourFreeA neighbor

• Wait for someone who stammers

  Finishing the sentence of someone who stammers is meant to help and does the opposite every time.

  5 minutesFreeA stranger

• Keep including the person whose language it is not

  Groups drift back into the majority language within minutes, and the one person left out never says anything.

  5 minutesFreeA stranger1 person did this

• Find the subscriptions someone forgot about

  Most households pay for several things nobody uses. Finding them is an hour's work and a permanent saving.

  An afternoonFreeA friend

• Offer somewhere quiet without making it a thing

  Loud rooms are genuinely painful for some people, and asking for quiet in a group is socially expensive.

  5 minutesFreeA friend

• Give the good version away, not the worn-out one

  Charity shops and refuges throw away an enormous amount of what is donated because it was not really a gift.

  Half an hourFreeA stranger

• Offer to take another child as well

  You are already doing the trip. One more in the car is the cheapest help a parent can give another parent.

  Half an hourFreeA neighbor1 person did this

• Let a child finish the sentence

  Adults complete children's sentences constantly, and the child learns that their version was not worth waiting for.

  5 minutesFreeA friend1 person did this

• Notice who eats lunch at their desk every day

  It is sometimes a preference and often the visible end of being outside every group in the building.

  Half an hourFreeA stranger

• Make leaving early unremarkable

  Chronic illness, anxiety and pain all mean sometimes going home. The hard part is having to explain in front of everyone.

  5 minutesFreeA friend

• Ask something other than where they are from

  For anyone who looks or sounds different, it is the first question of every conversation, forever.

  5 minutesFreeA stranger

• Go to the thing even though it is dull

  The assembly, the match, the recital. Children scan the audience, and they are counting.

  An afternoonFreeA friend

• Say something when the room lets it pass

  A remark lands, everyone pretends not to have heard, and the target learns exactly who is in the room.

  5 minutesFreeA stranger

• Ask what they did before they came here

  A great many people doing low-paid work were engineers, doctors or teachers somewhere their qualifications do not count.

  5 minutesFreeA stranger

• Learn the names of your child's friends

  Knowing who is who turns 'how was school' into a conversation that can actually go somewhere.

  5 minutesFreeA friend

• Let a child overhear you praising them

  Praise reported to a third party is believed in a way that praise delivered directly is not.

  5 minutesFreeA friend

• Tell a freelancer what the going rate is

  People new to freelancing price from fear. One honest number from someone established resets it permanently.

  5 minutesFreeA friend

• Go to the celebration that is not yours

  Turning up to somebody else's festival, service or national day is a bigger gesture than it costs you.

  An afternoonFreeA neighbor

• Caption the video you posted

  Captions serve deaf viewers, people in loud places, and anyone watching with the sound off — which is most people.

  Half an hourFreeA stranger

• Pay the small invoice the day it arrives

  Late payment is the main reason small suppliers fail. Paying on receipt costs you nothing and can matter enormously.

  5 minutesFreeA stranger

• Never park across a dropped curb

  A car over a dropped curb can strand a wheelchair user on the wrong side of a road with no other crossing.

  5 minutesFreeA stranger

• Look, the tenth time they ask

  A child asking you to watch the same trick again is asking whether they are still interesting to you.

  5 minutesFreeA friend

• Plan someone's first week, not their first day

  Onboarding is concentrated in day one, which is the day nobody retains anything.

  Half an hourFreeA stranger

• Invite the new family twice

  The first invitation is often declined out of uncertainty. The second is the one that establishes it was real.

  5 minutesFreeA neighbor

• Stay in touch with the person who left

  People who leave a workplace, a church or a town are dropped quickly, and it is rarely a decision anyone made.

  OngoingFreeA friend

• Know when their important days are

  Everyone knows when Christmas is. Far fewer know when Eid, Diwali or Rosh Hashanah fall, or acknowledge them.

  5 minutesFreeA stranger

• Check whether someone is on a social tariff

  Discounted broadband, water and energy tariffs exist for low-income households and take-up is tiny.

  Half an hourFreeA neighbor

• Explain the rule nobody writes down

  Every workplace, school and country runs on conventions that insiders cannot see and newcomers cannot guess.

  5 minutesFreeA stranger

• Apologize to a child properly

  Adults rarely apologize downwards, and a child who is never apologized to learns that power decides who was wrong.

  5 minutesFreeA friend