Life hacks, day to day time saving tips, common sense to you but not to others?

[Namechange8123]

I've had a search and can only find (years) old threads along these lines, so I've started a fresh one.

What are your day to day life hacks that make things easier? Could be common sense to you, but others could benefit?

My contributions are freezing lemons and limes to double up with your ice in your gin, layer the cot sheets in DC cot with another sheet and bed mat so if they have an accident, you whip the top layer off and don't have to remake the bed, tin foil behind the radiators...

What do you have?

Would it completely ruin a cast iron pan to do that you think?

You can actually use a Brillo on le Creuset if you go gently.

My top tip

When packing for children, school trip, holiday, Cubs/brownies.
I use the large food bags and I put in an outfit a day, underwear, socks, trousers, t shirt and I do more than needed incase of water activities.
Separate bags for jumpers/hoodies.
All labeled with what's in them.

Any tips for orange based stains from lollies/fruit/pasta sauces? Sunlight has been a hood one but is obviously weather dependent

@sleepingpup
Keep old loo rolls and put around rolls of wrapping paper. Keeps it stored neatly and wrinkle free

This is my takeaway from the thread - thank you!

Any tips for orange based stains from lollies/fruit/pasta sauces?

bio powder.
soak in cold water/bio powder for a few hours and then wash.
ideally use the long cotton cycle, they get stuff a lot cleaner than a quick wash

Great thread, I'm going through making notes.

A simple one from me, bought a meat thermometer and is has been really reassuring to know the Christmas turkey, stuff that was frozen or bbq meat is properly cooked

If any of you wear shirts that get that horrible grotty collar, but a super cheap shampoo and rub it into the collar before bunging in the machine. Gets it out much better than just washing detergent alone. Particularly good for ladies with long hair!

Another never ironer here. If it creases, hang when wet.

The iron comes out for weddings and funerals. Last time it was out I did a shirt (funeral), three lots of Hama beads and made and pressed some curtains. It's gone away now for hopefully another couple of years!

Frozen chopped onions.
Frozen mash.
As much school uniform as you can afford. Double the socks!

I'm going to buy individual washing baskets for my DC.

I'd like to allocate a sock colour to everyone in the house too!

I use Moonpig in the lull between Christmas and New Year to do birthday/Mother's Day etc cards for the family for the whole year.

You can select when you'd like the card to arrive, and Moonpig sends it on the right date.

No more scrambling to send cards abroad for relatives!

I bought stick on name labels for the kids clothes for nursery. Game changer. I also only put our surname on them. So can be used for ds and Dd.

Big wall calendar in the hallway. Easy to check every day.
Separate basket or box for school uniform, buy loads and keep it separate, never to be lost again.
Shoe box for each person in the hallway.
Ruthlessly and regularly De clutter and tidy so you never loose anything and cleaning is easier
Have really long chargers so you are not huddled up to the wall when your phone is out of charge
Have loads of spoons and teaspoons as they get used most
Have an upstairs cleaning kit and cordless hoover, so much easier.
Did I mention ruthlessly decluttering and tidying

Grout pens. If your bathroom grouting is looking a bit shabby these are amazing. It took me about 45 minutes to go over our bathroom, left to dry for 6 hours and it looks brand new. They're only 3.99 each and come in about 6 different colours.

Thanks for the answers re - suncream stai s and le Crueset.

Re name tags-my DV did lots of activism I was a obsessive name tagged. Iron on/stock on, surname only but different colour for each do easy to sort. When younger inherited get inherited elders' clothe just added the initial or stuck the other colour on.

Keep a pair of scissors in every room

Don't waste money on buying binoculars - simply stand closer to the object that you wish to view.

I keep a box in downstairs cupboard where I put things for charity shop, then when it’s full I take it down there (it’s slightly overflowing at mo!) So I don’t ever really need to have big clear outs, it’s just an ongoing process, and help keeps the clutter down!

I used to buy name types with dc1 initial then surname followed by dc2 initial.
When labelling school clothes simply fold under the wrong initial and sew in place.

Buy frozen chopped onions, garlic and chilli from the freezer aisles. It's no more expensive and life changing.

I grate courgette or carrot into most meals as extra veg for us all.

I've written on our pasta and rice jars in permanent marker how much to cook for us all as I always do too much or too little- 75g pp of rice, 100g pp of pasta.

Cut up old school T-shirts and use them to wrap sandwiches instead of cling film.

My take-away tip from here is Hello Fresh/Gousto etc.

I have a few little hacks or tips if you will.

When cleaning the microwave I put a bowl of cut up lemons and water in the microwave on full power for 10 mins, this degreases the inside and allows for easier cleaning.

Call me lazy, but whilst cleaning the inside of the fridge I put the shelving inside the dishwasher and run it on a quick cycle.

I prep my veg on Sunday's for meals in the week and put them in plastic containers in the fridge, this saves time cooking for a hungry 3 year old midweek.

I am an early riser but I'm no good with out a cup of tea first thing in the morning, so sounds a bit silly but I put a cup out with my tea bag and sweetener in ready for me after my 3.30am alarm clock.

I use microfiber cloths, 6 for £2 from B and M to take off my make up. I used to use cotton wool but its not very eco friendly, the cloth goes straight into the wash once I've used it. They are fancy floral ones

We have a shared email account with copies of all insurance policies, passports, tickets for events etc.

We use a shared calendar on our phones for all appointments. Recurring invites for family birthdays with a week before hand reminder.

I repack suitcases after we return from holiday with any leftover currency, all holiday clothes (stuff we wouldn't wear much here), beach towels etc. I vacuum pack everything so it doesn't go musty.

We have extension leads with country specific plugs on the end for travelling, so we can charge phones/cameras etc in one place

Whenever we get a new piece of furniture we sellotape the Allen key to the bottom in case it needs tightening.

Same with warranties for appliances, I pack into a ziplock bag and tape to the back or underside.

Inside the airing cupboard we painted a square of every paint colour in the house with the room, brand and name of the colour.

We have a large extended family, lots of aunts and unless/siblings and nieces and nephews and I have a list of everyone's food dislikes/allergies on a spreadsheet. I also keep notes (not that I surveryed them, just when it comes up in conversation) on stuff people are into/football teams/favourite colours/favourite sweets/favourite perfumes etc I refer to when choosing gifts or wrapping paper etc.

Oh and all the lids and bases of my Tupperware are numbered with a sharpie so it's easy to work out what goes with what!

I had five kids and insufficient arsedness to sew in name tapes. So I bought a waterproof laundry marker and just wrote our surname in the clothes - either on the back of the neck or some other easily findable place. It helped that they were the only children with that surname in the school, of course! But clothes could pass down and still find the right owner.