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?

This is probably useless but help me!

• put bottles of water in the fridge before you go to bed so next day everyone has a cold drink straight away. We are terrible for drinking enough water as it seems the effort of turning the tap on is too much for my family so having lots of those reusable bottles full and ready in the fridge means we all drink more!

I usually make an extra portion of dinner for lunch the next day.

Clean the shower when you're in it...I use soap and white vinegar so I'm not getting splashed with chemicals!

I put all my loose change into a hidden compartment in my car.

The only place I EVER need change seems to be car parks (some of the small ones near me don't take cards), and it means that I've always got some cash on me if I forget to take my payment card - enough for a pint of milk or some crisps or something. I live very rurally, so if I'm out anywhere I need to spend money - I always have my car!

Don't buy multi packs of socks with different patterns.

Freeze sideways - when you pull the drawer out you can see everything in there without having to burrow through everything.

If you are freezing 'wet' meals like curry / chilli / soup etc put in a freezer bag and lay them flat to freeze so they take up a lot less space.

I recently moved to a house with a downstairs bathroom (only bathroom in the house). I spent an inordinate amount of time sorting out clothes, carrying them downstairs only to drop knickers or a bra on the stairs and having to get partly dressed then wander around the house looking for the remaining clothing.

So I put a chest of drawers downstairs with most of the clothes I wear day to day in. Now I can get washed and dressed without trailing clothing through the house.

Might be obvious to most people but took an unreasonably long time to dawn on me!

Lay your makeup out in the order you’ll put it on the next morning.

Nappies all over the place. We have a large house and used to trudge up and down the house for nappy changes. Now we have nappies and wipes on each floor. Revolutionary.

Also, we have cleaning things in every bathroom.

Laundry basket in the bathroom and bedroom so dirty clothes don't live in the floor.

I’m enjoying these!

Sorry if these are obvious, but mine are:

Have a ‘bills bank account’ and have every bill direct debited from it. I worked out the amount I need to transfer each pay (rounded it up), and this has taken a load off my mind.

I get Hello Fresh meals, and what I like best was the reduction in the ‘mental load’. I don’t have spend time mentally deciding what is for dinner - my choices are on cards and I just pick one. I also like not having to deal with half a carrot or an extra 200g chicken, they only give you what you need (mostly).

I liked this idea so much, i do it with clothes now too. I put out 5 full outfits (including jewellery, shoes etc) on a Sunday night, then each day just put on one.

I write all birthday cards for the month on the 1st of the month, and send in a bulk lot. No one seems to mind getting it early and this way I don’t forget or have to do it multiple times throughout the month. I also quickly glance over the next months at the same time. Any special presents to get? I then have a whole month to keep an eye out for something suitable for Aunt Sally’s 60th, before sending on the first of the following month.

I have birthdays in my phone calendar and everyday at 9am I have a short alarm that goes off, which reminds me to text friends for their birthday (obviously this one and the above are for different levels of friends/family!)

I label and date any frozen meals. In the past I have defrosted taco mince, thinking it was bolognase! Labelling has saved me a few times.

Make sure everything in your house has a ‘home’, so tidying is returning to places, NOT trying to create new space/systems. I reorganised my pantry earlier this year, and it’s incredible how I now have more space and can see everything. It saves me time and money, as I don’t find 3 out of date coconut milks under everything!

@Flippinfurloughed as a fellow single parent, I think you might be my new hero.

I write all birthday cards for the month on the 1st of the month, and send in a bulk lot. No one seems to mind getting it early and this way I don’t forget or have to do it multiple times throughout the month.

My birthday is on the 29th and I'd think it really odd to receive a card on the 3rd. I'd presume the person had forgotten the exact date, but knew it was in that month, or they'd thought it was the 29th of the previous month and had sent it late.

keep flour in the freezer it stops the weavils (sp)
learnt this off mumsnet years ago

If you're using pesto, harissa, curry pasted etc & don't use the whole jar, scrape down the sides & cover the remaining paste with oil so no paste etc is sticking out. This will protect the contents from mold & should mean the jar lasts longer.

Buy packs of bread wraps & freeze flat, & take out as & when you need them. They defrost quickly on the counter or in seconds in the microwave.

I premake sausages rolls using sausage meat & puff pastry, then freeze them raw. Then when we want them cook them from frozen - great for picnics.

When washing and sorting bed linen
Put the duvet cover and sheet into the pillowcase - keeps it together
Has been a life saver at 3am with a vomiting child

Also keep spare duvet with clean cover on in space saving vacuum bag in airing cupboard

• same reason as above

I still do the extra layering of bedding with waterproof sheets for my dc even now they are older (11,9 & 7).

They no longer wet the bed but sickness bugs are hideous at any age & it saves so much stress over night if they don't quite make the bowl. I also have sick bowls that live in the bathroom to grab quickly.

I no longer change duvet covers if someone is sick, obviously strip the dirty one etc but then give them blankets/throws as they're easier to wash than the actual duvet if they vomit multiple times.

Packed lunches made the night before.

I often grate a pot of cheese to keep in the fridge for quick use.

Excellent tips on here.
One that was very helpful with a baby was to put a muslin under their head, could change that quickly when they posseted rather than the whole sheet.

I often grate a pot of cheese to keep in the fridge for quick use.

I usually grate the entire block in the food processor. Takes seconds and is so handy! You can freeze it and use direct from freezer too (maybe a few mins for a sandwich).

Fold up the shopping bags into 'sets' and keep together in an elastic band- my sets include two large heavy duty, two flimsier bags for meat/fish and one bottle bag -good for cleaning products as well as wine- easy to put a few sets into the car and just grab before going into the supermarket.

when chopping onions always double the quantity- they are just as good frozen- even better, buy the bags of frozen lol

make an extra portion of supper to take to work for lunch

hang tee-shirts on hangers straight out of the washer, I hang them on the shower rail (south facing bathroom)- they dry quickly and dont need ironing.

(does anyone remember Kevin Turvey's tip for ready spread crackers? )

I always feel very outclassed on these threads but here is my token contribution!
Pair socks by pegging them by the top together when you hang out your washing. That way when you are taking your washing in, you pair them as they are going back in to the laundry basket.
We have a laundry basket that separates darks and lights. So whoever is doing the laundry doesn't throw everything in together regardless of colour/temperature etc.
Get the professionals in if you can. We have a cleaner (well pre lockdown) who keeps on top of the house so I can do the big stuff like sorting the spare room or whatever.
We have a man who comes once a year to professionally clean the carpets/sofas. The difference is amazing! And we are a shoes off indoors house.
Ziploc freezer bags. Use for freezer stuff of course but also for keeping cheese, ham, herbs fresh in the fridge. Put packs of noodles, rice in them to stop them spilling everywhere. Also great for separating Lego, containing marbles, bringing reusable wet wipes on days out.
Meal plan! One of the things I hate most is trying to think what the hell to cook midweek. Knowing what I'm going to do takes that stress away.

@Plummy987

Put all the knives, forks and spoons in their own slots in the dishwasher so you can them all out at once to put back in the drawer.

Never understood this. Why is it better to spend the time sorting them before rather than after? Surely it's the same amount of time but after means you're not handling the mucky cutlery any more than is necessary.

"I write all birthday cards for the month on the 1st of the month, and send in a bulk lot. No one seems to mind getting it early and this way I don’t forget or have to do it multiple times throughout the month. I also quickly glance over the next months at the same time. Any special presents to get? I then have a whole month to keep an eye out for something suitable for Aunt Sally’s 60th, before sending on the first of the following month."
I aspire to this!

But you're still having to sort them into the individual baskets surely
Don't all dishwashers have those baskets?

If I find an odd sock after a wash I hang it over the edge of the sock drawer, its not allowed back in the drawer without its other half.

when I make cheese on toast I put two slices into one slot of the toaster; this toasts each slice on one side. Top untoasted side with cheese and bung it under the grill.