#  Introduction   Claude Code is really useful, but it can also get expensive much faster than people expect. The reason is simple. You are not only paying for the prompt you just typed. In many cases, Claude is also carrying the rest of the session with it like earlier messages, files it already read, tool outputs, memory files like CLAUDE.md , and other background instructions. So when token use starts climbing, the real issue is usually not bad prompting. It is messy context. A lot of generic advice on this topic is not that helpful. "Keep conversations short" is true, but it does not tell you what actually moves the needle. What actually helps is understanding how Claude Code builds context, what keeps getting resent, and which parts of your workflow quietly add waste over time. In this article, we will look at 7 practical ways that will help you to use Claude Code efficiently without constantly worrying about cost. So, let's get started. #  1.…