I'm thinking about things that might improve my life

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

I'm wondering about small purchases that might improve my life. So far I'm thinking:
A couple more phone chargers - one to keep downstairs and one for work

A small, non-pod coffee machine for the bedroom. Any recs?

A plain black cashmere scarf, so I don't need to have to match to cost and/or outfit!

What small things improve your life and might improve mine too?!

One of those organisers you can move all your stuff from handbag to handbag. And, if you don’t tend to swap handbags every week then its still nice to have all your bits and bobs contained and not loose in the bottom of your bag.
I love mine - totally recommend them, even gave them as christmas pressies this year!

Alexa wakes me up every morning, tells me the weather and what’s in my diary for the day. She tells me things like my son needs his guitar for school or my daughter is having a friend round after school.

My Hue lights work on motion sensors and I have them set up so they hallway lights turn on as my phone approaches the house and turn off all lights when my phone leaves the house. I’m the only adult in the house and the kids are too young to be leaving/returning to the house without me. They are also set to come on low when activated after bedtime in the kids rooms, so they get rid of night terrors but don’t wake the kids up.

Remus do you mean like a lovely pair of earrings that you could leave in day and night and not have to bother swapping?

Blimey, Jilted! The most I've ever spent on a pair of earrings is £25!

Well you said you wanted something nice and not boring

@fedup21 it’s just one from Tesco. It’s a smooth fabric like a rain coat so doesn’t stick. Something like this

www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/296665416

You just hold it in place with the wipers, well that’s what I do anyway

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie on another note I have earrings like that, I leave them in all the time, best investment ever

@TitanicWasAGreatMovie can you recommend one please?

My lovely friend got me a little bag filled with bits for my handbag. She knows I like to be prepared but also not to have too much stuff.
It's the size of a wallet (men's) and contains
Sachet of coffee, couple of sugar
Spare earring backs
Baby wipe in wrap.
Small mirror
Tape could be used for fit tape
Tiny sewing kit
Small roll of nappy sacks (dog bags in my case)
Tooth pick
Tiny nail file
Couple of plasters
Hair grips
Hair band
Safety pins
And probably a couple of other bits I've added.

It's come in handy quite a few times since she gave it to me and my main problem is remembering to replace bits I've used.
Not very exciting but I know I'm getting old when I get joy from the feeling of being organised.

Titanic, where did you buy the organisers from? I am being stalked on Instagram by an expensive version and keep nearly giving in.

Buying more teaspoons made such a difference to me.

^
This, THIS has made my day

😍

I bought more teaspoons too and it’s a game changer! I even shelled out for Allesse ones and they’re a pleasure to use every time.

DH bought me nice diamond earrings instead of an eternity ring. They go with everything and I rarely remove them. Cost or use must be pretty good at this point!

I got my handbag organiser from John Lewis - it's a brand like Red Dog, or Black Dog or something.

Re: handbag organisers, i got a cheapo one from ebay I think, or Amazon I can’t remember it took weeks to arrive (from China) but is pretty good. The ones I bought as gifts are from QVC which are really good quality but bulkier than my cheapo one. So I personally prefer the cheap version!

A good size bag that fits in all you need eg work stuff/ kids snacks etc but smart enough for going out too.

Dolly - I have plain black Kipling totes (one for work and one for weekends). Not very exciting but light and non-offensive, and can be chucked in the washing machine. They seem to be indestructible.

A second pair of tweezers - I kept leaving them at home when I went away.

A second set of combs and hairbrushes. When going on holiday, I used to use them in the morning and had to remember to pack them at the last minute - stressful at 5am or so! A second set made such a difference.

Buying a bigger ironing table reduced ironing time more than I could imagine (I know, I know, but I no longer have DCs at home and I LIKE freshly ironed sheets!).

YY to the extra scissors. I bought ones with brightly-coloured handles from Dunelm, as half the problem was spotting the right black-handled implement in a drawer full of black-handled implements. DH I'm looking at you

YY to more phone charging cables. We keep ones in our cars too. Fitbit cables too.

Some great ideas on here!

When you go on holiday, take one socket adapter and a normal extension lead. Was really handy being able to charge everything at once.

For handbags, I bought some different makeup bags from Primark - one for charging cables/plug/battery pack, another for keys and a larger flat (bigger than A5) one for papers, etc and important receipts.

It makes everything so much more organised and I don't have to spend ages rummaging in my big handbag now!

I've just switched to a whole set of velvet hangers too - they're wonderful and they look so much neater.

Packing cubes for holidays as well. I bought the cheap ones from amazon, a different colour per family member, just took the cubes out of the bag and unzipped the top and slid the whole thing into a drawer. You can then pack up dirty things as you go and it makes it much easier to pack or unpack.

Yesterday I lined up all my spice jars, in two rows, and took a photo which I then saved on my phone. Now if I need to check to see if we have a spice when I'm out shopping, or on the sofa making a shopping list, I can just look at the picture.

A pop-up laundry basket for travelling. That way your dirty clothes don't get mixed up with your clean clothes. And it takes up no space in your suitcase.

A bag of mixed elastic bands kept in a Tupperware in kitchen drawer - so useful for putting round bags of flour, pasta so they don't spill and instead of those ridiculous metal tie twists for freezer

abit I bought a set of bag clips from Ikea which have been worth their weight in gold reseating bags of pasta and stuff like that.