Things you wish you had been told about running your home?

[MrsVMorgan]

I always feel like there are things I could/should do better.

What tips do you wish someone had told you about running your home that make things easier? Especially if you live with an adult hoarder who won’t get rid of anything they haven’t touched for years 😬

Well, I wish I'd been taught DIY skills, if that's the kind of thing you mean?

Buy fewer things.
Aggressively treat carpet moths at the first sign.
I think a weekly routine is a good idea. Certain jobs on certain days helps you keep on top of everything.

God, yes to the carpet moths. That would have been a really useful tip

Also never have pets as your life will be a constant cycle of hoovering up hair and mopping muddy paw prints (I'm actually glad I never got this tip TBH)

This is such a good question.

I'm really thankful to my mum for preparing me for adult life. I knew which cleaning products do what, how to budget and meal, how to cook, and some basic diy/decorating.

My MIL on the other hand hadn't prepared DP at all. He still sometimes will ask really basic questions like the best cleaning product for a job, he never deep cleans etc. Oh and money skills aren't great either.

If you can afford it and have space, then bulk buy cleaning equipment and toiletries. Then you know that you won't run out of stuff. When I clean the bathrooms I check the drawers for loo roll stocks, so there's never a 'sat on the loo with one square of loo roll left' moment - because I can replenish it from the big box of them in the garage. Likewise shampoos, conditioner, soap, handwash, deodorant and toothpaste.

I was a real spendthrift when we first lived together, I really struggled to budget from a weekly wage to a monthly wage.

As the daughter of a lone parent who worked long hours we ate a lot of ping meals and stuff on toast so it would have been good to learn some tasty cheap home cooked meals and batch cooking.

Also, this is a weird, we grew up in rental accomodation and on a low income learning how to make a house 'my own' IYSWIM. Having the confidence to make renovations, DIY and decorating to my own style felt scary and liberating!

To save for the bigger jobs and always have a savings buffer. New boiler, new roof, bit of damp. It will always happen and without savings you'll be unprepared.

Agree with pp. Generally something will break or need replacement so being able to save regularly to cover house hold items or structures is a good idea.

DIY definitely. My parents always “got a man” in. When I bought my first home and couldn’t afford that I learned that simple DIY jobs are actually quite easy and enjoyable. My skills are limited though. I wish I could use a drill or wallpaper!

That you can phone up the oven cleaning people to come and clean your oven for you! I can’t believe how long it took to figure that one out!

Love these!