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?

@FruitPastillesaregood

If driving to a self catering holiday let and it’s a few hours drive, I always freeze as many food items as I can and put them in a cool box so by the time I arrive they are still cold and have kept other items chilled. Assuming you take food with you of course. Handy if you are miles from a supermarket on arrival.

I've even had online food shop delivered to my campsite!

Lots of places in Scotland don’t have online delivery though.

I put shavings from a bar of vanish soap in the drum with a white wash. About a tbsp.

A slow cooker and frozen onions, garlic, frozen chopped peppers and mushrooms has revolutionised my evenings after work and getting a meal ready on the table quickly. I just chuck all the chopped veg, spices etc meat or fish in in the morning (or weekends) and let it cook! I make chilli, bolognaise, casseroles, curries etc. Really tasty, healthy and hardly any veg chopping! I always make quite a bit and then freeze the rest in meal sized portions for other evenings. It's saved so much time and dc can get to bed on time as I'm not faffing about cooking for too long.

in this heat a washing up bowl with cold water under the desk to dip in your feet is much more effective than a ventilator.

If your at a T junction trying to turn right & there’s a roundabout not far away if you turn left then for the love all things holy turn left and go around the roundabout.

Traffic would run smoother if people did this.

for very thin slices of cheese use a potato peeler, easier than using a knife

@bluefoxmug

in this heat a washing up bowl with cold water under the desk to dip in your feet is much more effective than a ventilator.

As I now do a big shop every 2 weeks I was finding that I was losing track of expiry dates, especially for meat, so now when I put it away I make a note on my phone diary for the day before it goes out of date so I can freeze it if I am not going to use it.

I'm finding that I am throwing less out

Use an old magazine (weekend newspaper supplement) under the cat's food bowl. Open the magazine, remove staples and put under bowl.

When it has food splashed on it, remove the top layer, use it to wipe out the food bowl before washing it up, and then throw it away, leaving clean paper to replace the bowl onto.

@SnugglySnerd

In winter I hang toddler bed sheets and duvet covers on those clippy hangers for skirts and hang them on the door frame to dry. They dry in no time.

Keep a flannel for each child in the kitchen. They are handy for wiping sticky hands and faces after a meal, saves money and environmental impact of wipes and they can just be chucked in the wash with everything else.

Keep stuff for cleaning the bathroom in the bathroom for quick wipes round. The bathroom is cleaned much more regularly since doing this.

Take photos on my phone of things like DC party invitations or letters from school so I still have all the details if I lose the original.

Keep a xmas notebook to jot down gift ideas throughout the year. It's especially useful when the dcs see something in a shop or at a friend's house they like, then xmas shopping is easier.

I have an app on my phone for gifts. It's called Gift List

Hang your washing up to dry grouping by person, or by drawer or room they are to go in. Then put it in your basket in order, saves ages in traipsing around the house or ferreting through a basket of clean clothes as you go, messing them all up.

Well this thread has kept me reading for a couple of evenings, really enjoyed it. Here’s mine that I don’t think have been mentioned already.

Keep fresh ginger in the freezer and grate into dishes as required whilst still frozen and return the rest to the freezer for another recipe.

For bed linen, each bedroom has a “main” set that goes with the decor in the room. This is washed then tumbled or line dried and goes straight back on the bed that day. I did it originally because I bought sets that matched when I redecorated the bedrooms and didn’t want to use the older bedlinen that didn’t match so well and spoil the aesthetic, but then realised that it forces me to choose a good day to do the beds, and saves the bedlinen sitting in the laundry basket for days afterwards. I did worry it might make the bedlinen fade or fall apart quickly but I’ve been doing it for three years and it’s all fine. I’ve been able to free up lots of space in the bedlinen cupboard too because now I’ve just got a spare for our bed and a couple spares for the kids ones in case of disaster/illness.

I use a scoop of napisan in the wash when kids have a stomach bug or a nappy explosion on clothes to kill the bugs. I also use it on white or light coloured clothes if they’re stained, I mix it into a paste with washing up liquid and work it in with a toothbrush. Don’t do this on darker clothes as the napisan will bleach them a bit. For darks I just use neat washing up liquid.

Similar to another post, all our painted woodwork in the house is the same colour to help with touch ups. For the wall colours, I get a sample pot made up of the same colour and keep that. I’ve gone through a few pots of some colours over the years, I try to touch up every six months or so. I have found that touch ups are less noticeable if you do a light skim over a large area, rather than tiny dots which can stand out more I think. Wood works needs to be in wee dots though, I’ve discovered,

I was recently looking for Birthday cards for three people: my sister and two friends. After a few minutes of looking I had only found one I liked and was feeling frustrated. It suddenly occurred to me that I could buy three of the same card and send them all the same one. Why I thought they all had to have different cards I will never know. They don't know each other and are never going to spot the identical card on someone else's mantelpiece!

Now if I see a card I love and buy it for my card stock, I buy several.

I expect however it was only me who was dim enough to buy different cards for each person in the first place.

Put a piece of paper towel in with boxed lettuce leaves. Keeps it fresher.

You can freeze butter. And homemade cheese sauce.

Use supercook.com to find a recipe for anything. You just put in what you have and it finds recipes.