Cut Your Claude Bill By 90%

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1. 

   tips

   Stop Burning Claude Credits

   Every git status, every grep, every paragraph of polite prose costs tokens. Two tools cut a normal session's bill by 90%. Setup takes ten minutes.

   swipe →
2. 02

   Where Tokens Go

   It's Not The Code

   Look at any long session and the cost lives in two places. Bash output piped back to the model, and the model's own verbose explanations.

   • git status returns 200 lines. You needed 5.
   • Replies open with 'Great question!' every time.
   • Build logs eat half a context window.

   
3. 03

   Tool 1

   RTK Filters Bash Before It Speaks

   Rust Token Killer is a CLI proxy. It runs your commands, strips noise, and hands the model only the parts that matter. Same workflow, smaller output.

   bash

   # Install once
   brew install rtk
   
   # Verify
   rtk --version
   rtk gain   # see lifetime savings

   
4. 04

   Tool 2

   Caveman Compresses Replies

   Caveman is a skill that tells Claude to drop filler. Same answers, 75% fewer words. Plain English on demand for the few times you want it.

   txt

   # Turn on
   /caveman
   
   # Or save forever in
   ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md
   
   # Levels: lite, full, ultra

   
5. 05

   Combined Effect

   Roughly 90% Off

   RTK cuts the input side. Caveman cuts the output side. Together they drop a typical session from 200k tokens to under 25k. Same work done.

   • RTK: 60 to 90% off bash output.
   • Caveman: ~75% off model prose.
   • Compound: 90%+ off the whole session.

   
6. 06

   Gotchas

   Two Things To Know

   RTK is opinionated about find syntax and a few other commands. Caveman keeps tech accuracy but can read terse to newcomers. Both fixable.

   • RTK rejects compound find predicates.
   • Caveman ultra reads blunt. Use lite for shared chats.
   • Both have a proxy escape hatch when needed.

   
7. 07

   Closing

   Ten Minutes, Months Of Credits

   Install both tonight. Tomorrow's first session uses 10% of what last week's did. The savings compound every session you run after that.

   • RTK = brew install. Hook handles the rest.
   • Caveman = one line in CLAUDE.md.

   Same outputs, smaller bill. The cheapest performance upgrade you can ship today.

   

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