Things you've done to simplify your life

[faithfulbird20]

Less laundry and drying will be mine for this year. I used to wash everything mostly after one wear. Especially my kids clothes. Just realised no wonder our clothes don't last and look dull really easily.

Not my idea but found it quite useful. If you have clothes you think you want to keep hold of but may actually never wear do the following thing. Sort your wardrobe and then hang everything with the open side of the hanger hook facing towards you. When you wear something and rehang it turn the hook around. As time goes on you will see which items you have never worn. At the end of the season, year its really time to get rid of anything you haven't even worn once. Charity shop it or sell it but ultimately let it go.

@AngelinaFibres

Not my idea but found it quite useful. If you have clothes you think you want to keep hold of but may actually never wear do the following thing. Sort your wardrobe and then hang everything with the open side of the hanger hook facing towards you. When you wear something and rehang it turn the hook around. As time goes on you will see which items you have never worn. At the end of the season, year its really time to get rid of anything you haven't even worn once. Charity shop it or sell it but ultimately let it go.

I've never quite understood this one. I know if I've worn something to not because I have a brain. I don't need to wiggle hangers around.

However, great if it helps simplify things for others!

As soon as my number of facebook friends gets to about 70, I trim some off - it means there's only the people that really matter to me, and means I spend barely time on it as there simply isn't much to see. I avoid other social media. I deleted whatsapp and avoid any chatty messaging; it's just not a way I enjoy interacting with people, and it's a constant distraction throughout the day. I turn off as many notifications as I can.

Basically every hot meal I eat was batch cooked in either the InstantPot or the crockpot.

No pets for now. It's would just be too much work to be make it compatible with my other responsibilities.

I'm trying to do project 333 (33 items of clothing for 3 months) basically a capsule wardrobe for a brief time. Just trying to simplify for a short but busy time so I've less decisions to make, but it's also been an enjoyable change

Have kids in your teens so they have all moved out when you are in your early 40's

@bluesky45 not to derail thread but I would love love love to see an example meal plan. Pre Xmas I was meal planning weekly and it does save some time, but I feel I could be better/ more efficient??

A few things that have been mentioned.

Food shop delivery I pay for a saver plan at £7 a month I get a delivery a week sometimes 2 as I get small shops delivered to my dad's when I'm there to save me doing his shops (I care for him).
I started doing this 4 years ago - I used to dread after a 40 hour week waking on a Saturday to push a trolley around a supermarket even with a shopping list it took a good 2 hours out of my day and would make me and my husband bicker. No more bickering - he opens the door and gets the shopping in and I put it away. Win.

I get a cleaner bi weekly. This is a luxury me and my husband hate cleaning and used to do one off cleans as a treat (no joke I've paid for it as a birthday present to myself before!) Once again working all week then spending 2 hours cleaning of a weekend me and my husband would bicker and we got some time back for ourselves! We now only have to do about 1 hour bi weekly aswell as our usual day to day 20min clean ups but it means it's a lot less stressful.

Packet brown rice as someone mentioned - saves time and the brown rice in a microwave packet somehow tastes better and more like white rice?!

A few I can think of anyway!

The Tilda sachets with wild rice in are good too. I never thought I'd become a person who buys them, but now there's just 2 of us it makes so much sense.

I buy frozen chopped onions, garlic, ginger, assorted veg and mashed potatoes. It cuts down cooking time by half and I cook from scratch daily or every other day.

I cook a big pot of curry sauce & Jamie Oliver's hidden veg pasta sauce once a month. I portion it out and freeze it in bags so it's easy to cook a quick mid week curry or pasta dish.

@Twinkleylight can i ask how do they compare on taste to the normal onions/ginger/mash etc?

What supermarket ones do you recommend please?

@jamandmarmaladethesecondcoming I mainly use Iceland and Morrisons own brand as they're my nearest supermarkets. I don't notice much difference in taste especially with the curry sauce as its flavoured with spices. I buy all my spices from my local international food shop. I use fresh herbs, chillies & coriander to balance the frozen ingredients.

The trick is to brown the meat in the space base so the flavour is sealed into the meat. Rather than browning the meat separately and adding it in later which most TV chefs do.

@Twinkleylight thank you that's v helpful.

hmmm...adds note to shopping list....

I don't have those shops near me but there are others.

Do you spend much more?

@Twinkleylight

I buy frozen chopped onions, garlic, ginger, assorted veg and mashed potatoes. It cuts down cooking time by half and I cook from scratch daily or every other day.

I cook a big pot of curry sauce & Jamie Oliver's hidden veg pasta sauce once a month. I portion it out and freeze it in bags so it's easy to cook a quick mid week curry or pasta dish.

That seems like lot of extra plastic waste. Is it really necessary for the sake of a few minutes saved?

I photograph sentimental things from my DC's childhood as a memory, before I bin them (drawings, paintings, models etc). One particularly good model I gave away on Freecycle.

I have one or two days a month where I try to sort out finances.

Invested in a small a5 calendar - game changer

I would love a cleaner and we can afford it at the moment but I can't get over the idea of a stranger being in the house. Also I would be too embarrassed to hire one as it's so untidy!

Just to say currering - they're not a stranger for long, you get to know them. And there's nothing that helps you tidy up more than someone else taking on the cleaning, it releases so much time and mental energy.

They've probably all been mentioned but

-Frozen onion, frozen peppers, and a bag of ice

• On Sundays I cook a few meals for the week ahead and put them in those foil containers so i can just warm it up in the oven
• I buy the best possible thing I can afford with the money I have to avoid having to buy it again quickly. Things like boots etc. I dont buy into fashion so I will just buy some black ones that I can then wear for years to come and adapt the rest of my clothes to look more up to date if I want to. Boots are just boots imho.
• Ive stopped buying clothes online, I never return them and it's money down the drain.
• I have a colour coordinated phone calendar. I've tried all kinds of paper organisers and none work but I have my phone with me all the time so that works. I have it coordinated into uni, my children and then bills due, plus my period so I know when to expect it. I put reminders on for homework, spellings etc in it.
• I have a Starling bank account with different spaces that I put savings into, such as for birthday parties, my MOT etc. I work out how much I need to put in each money and set up a payment to it.
• I set up a Christmas saver with my local credit union. I pay £50 a month into it, sometimes I will add extra throughout the year too on top. I had 650 this year and it was a relief.

Oh and a very basic one is a dedicated file for important docs like birth certificates, medical letters etc so I can just grab it whenever I need to give evidence of anything. I used to have them located all around the house and it drove me bonkers so this one has helped a lot.

The bags I use are the heavy plactic zip lock bags which can be washed and reused again. I label and date the front & change it when I reuse it again.

Fresh and frozen vegetables come in bags anyway so I don't have a choice. It's the same amount of plastic waste whether I use fresh or frozen. I'm a carer so I don't have time to spend chopping and peeling so for me time is more important. It's economical as well because we can eat fresh home cooked meals rather convenience foods like we used to.

My previous post was for @Quackpot & @jamandmarmaladethesecondcoming

Most of the frozen veg are under £2 a bag and I use own mainly brand. The Iceland and sainsbury's own brand vegetables are really good. I always have their frozen corn on the cob to bulk out pizza meals.

@Twinkleylight

The bags I use are the heavy plactic zip lock bags which can be washed and reused again. I label and date the front & change it when I reuse it again.

Fresh and frozen vegetables come in bags anyway so I don't have a choice. It's the same amount of plastic waste whether I use fresh or frozen. I'm a carer so I don't have time to spend chopping and peeling so for me time is more important. It's economical as well because we can eat fresh home cooked meals rather convenience foods like we used to.

Yes. We all want to reduce plastic but fresh potatoes and frozen ones both come in plastic, so it was ridiculous to judge you.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie thanks I felt it was important to point out that fresh vegetables mostly come in plastic bags anyway.

Also, people have different lifestyles which impacts on the amount of time they have spare for cooking. Medical conditions such as arthritis and Dyspraxia also makes it difficult to peel and chop so pre cut frozen vegetables are essential.

@Twinkleylight

The bags I use are the heavy plactic zip lock bags which can be washed and reused again. I label and date the front & change it when I reuse it again.

Fresh and frozen vegetables come in bags anyway so I don't have a choice. It's the same amount of plastic waste whether I use fresh or frozen. I'm a carer so I don't have time to spend chopping and peeling so for me time is more important. It's economical as well because we can eat fresh home cooked meals rather convenience foods like we used to.

i agree and i think you are wise.

Even if I order loose vege from the supermarket, they bring them in plastic bags. It's ridiculous.