Boring tips and tricks which have made your life easier.

[NoEffingWay]

Inspired by the purchase of a flat mop thing from wilkos with removable washable pads, and some method spray and mop bottle. No longer am I wrestling with a dirty looking mop, a kettle and a mop bucket. It took 5 minutes, the house smells like rhubarb (!) and the floor is shiny as.

Any more time-saving, life changing tips for me? I seriously hate mopping so this has made me a lot happier and life's most boring jobs!

When I'm cleaning the bathroom, I find using a floor cloth with some hot water in the sink to clean the floor much easier, more thorough and dries quicker than going off to fetch a mop and bucket to do the same job. Then I clean the sink last.

Dice celery, carrot and onion and freeze in sandwich bags as a base for bolognese, chilli, casseroles etc.
Two identical bins side by side - one for waste, one for recycling.
Marie Kondo tshirt folding, so when they're lying in a drawer, you can see all colours, patterns etc.

I wash whole lemons and limes,dry them and then pop them in the freezer...when I'm ready to use, I let them sit on the counter a bit to defrost or put them whole in a warm cup of water to soften before I cut them..... no need to squeeze and freeze ahead of time for later use. The peels help keep the pulp as fresh as fresh can be...also works for passionfruit..pop in freezer whole and when ready to eat, you can eat them frozen or wait a bit for them to defrost...tastes like fresh off the vine

A whiteboard (wipeable) pen, use the inside of my ingredients cupboard as a whiteboard. Have week 1 and 2 columns for menu planning. A list of batch cooked meals in freezer. A list of what to buy (and also one of what not to buy). Our wifi code written here too. Plus visiting family who is gluten free, dairy free etc.

Wrote how to unlock the washing machine on the inside of the cupboard above the washing machine. (How on earth do you accidentally lock it??).

Obviously make sure you use a wipeable pen. A bit of bleach wipes it all off.

I use the same pen to write the contents on plastic tubs containing left overs in fridge.

Fantastic thread!

@BrinksmansEntry

Do The Thing!

That's what I tell myself. If I'm taking a plate into the kitchen, it goes straight into the dishwasher rather than on the counter to wait to be loaded. If the washing is dry, I fold it and take it upstairs and put it away (or put it in the place for DD to put away, or add to DH pile to put away).

If I'm cooking, I tidy and clean as I go as it means i have less to do later.

If I need to do some admin or bill paying or booking childcare, and I can't do it when I remember or get the notification, I put an appointment in my phone calendar and when that alarm goes off, I do the thing.

It isn't a life tip like how to get sparkly tiles or batch cooking, but it makes me feel more organised and less piles up for later.

I've just used this to send an email with some resources enclosed, to a colleague. I haven't done it all weekend because I couldn't quite be bothered to find the email with her details, then get links to all the sites, etc. then I read this and a light went on. I did the thing! At this rate, I might send the bloody meter reading off today. Madness!

I've heard about freezing lemons before but personally use lemons so often I find it hard to imagine a situation when I'd need to freeze them before they went off.

Dice celery, carrot and onion and freeze in sandwich bags as a base for bolognese, chilli, casseroles

Or get a food processor and spend ten seconds each time. There is no way in this world I'd ever hand chop veg for a mirepoix.

When you meal plan include plans for left overs eg if I'm baking a potato I will actually bake a few and the following day I will make gnocchi and then something else the third day - maybe loaded skins.

@Drunkpanda I agree with the padlock, padlock the handles together

Or buy left handed and use them upside down (not great if you have left handers in the family)

On the subject of left handed family, you do not need to spend extra on some left handed products, eg to open wine put the corkscrew in and then turn the bottle.

Always have a spare cartridge for your printer, sellotape the receipt to it while it is store so you can remember where you got it.

If you have to print text and it doesn't matter what colour it is print it in red or orange or green so you are saving your black ink.

Buy the industrial or large version of anything if you can eg electric stapler, it's not as easy to 'borrow' so you will always find it.

This one might just be for me, I have a lot of 'text book' type books so there are in Dewey decimal order on my shelves.

Tesco sell this frozen.
They call it "Chef's Base"., but just a mirepoix. I also use froxen chopped onion. Their chopped chilli is good too, but I find the grozen garlic too roughly chopped, I usually use crushed garlic.
Their frozen herbs are OK as a standby, I live in the north and growing most herbs isn't possible.

If you eat lots of veg bulk prep it for week.
Make porridge the night before.

Get some cheap plastic bins (shallow ones) from TKMaxx and group like for like in the pantry.I have all our rices, pastas, lentils, flours, baking, etc all nicely organized by bin so I just have to look in one place or grab the right bin when I am looking for an ingredient.

I label all leftovers in the fridge - Amazon sells rolls of blank labels, so I write a note about what is in the tub and date/day it was made. That's helped when scanning the fridge for something to eat and no more wondering when I made something and if its still good or not.

Make a big batch of dried beans in the slow cooker and freeze flat in sandwich bags in 2 cup portions (same amount as a can) and 1 cup portions (when you only need a few).

I sort out a load of washing while the dcs are in the bath and put it by the washing machine. Whoever gets up first puts the wash on. It is done by the time we've had breakfast and can be pegged out/put in the drier. I also out a load away every single evening so it doesn't pile up.

I have a good old fashioned filofax.
Not as a diary ( I have a good old fashioned calendar for that) but as somewhere to write down important stuff that would otherwise end up on scraps of paper and get lost.
I update a new calendar every January with birthdays, school holidays, when the dog is due worming etc.

@Tamarasnotmyname

Buying frozen diced onion. It’s genuinely changed my life!

And ginger. And garlic. And herbs.

Oh, one more, which my mom does but not everyone may have the space for this (parents live in a rural part of the US and have a basement):

Pre-make favourite cookie/quick bread "mixes" to have on hand to bake fresh, quickly, for company or kids or you just cant be bothered to get to the shop. Combine all dry ingredients in a glass jar/resealable bag. Label the jar with what it is, what liquids need to be added, oven temp, cooking time, quantity expected. That way all you have to do is grab a jar, dump everything in a bowl, add liquids and bake. She then turns the empty jar (still labelled) over in the tray - when there are enough turned over she will spend an hour making more mixes in assembly line fashion.

Canning jars work well for this!

@ElftonWednesday

I've heard about freezing lemons before but personally use lemons so often I find it hard to imagine a situation when I'd need to freeze them before they went off.

I chop lemons and limes up into chunks, freeze them and use them as ice cubes in my G&T's.

Use Alexa lists. I have an Alexa in the kitchen and an Alexa in the bedroom upstairs. Whenever I need to add anything to the shopping list, I just tell Alexa to add it. You can also have other lists.

Frozen chopped onions
Lazy garlic

Duvet clips - put the top corners of duvet into cover corners and secure with these. You can then stuff the rest in, give a shake and voila

Clothes pegs will also work for this technique.

If I buy something on line I take a screen shot of the order at the end, so I’ve got proof in my photos. Occasionally go through photos and delete them when the order has arrived.
I have files in my email account labelled Xmas/orders/receipts etc and I always take a couple of seconds to pop them in the right place. I delete the ones no longer needed when I’m bored sometimes.

Just remembered another. If you need to dry washing indoors then clippy hangers (like you would hang a skirt with) are useful - clip up sheets, bath towels, duvet covers etc and hang then from the door frame. They dry really quickly.

With the mop, where you aren’t using a bucket to rinse the mop head, aren’t you just washing the floor with a dirty mop by the time you get to the end ?

When you wash uniform hang it in sets so every hanger has trousers, tshirt, knickers and socks on it. Then they just grab a hanger in the morning and get dressed.

II do the bed set stored in a pillowcase thing too, makes it very easy to find everything.

If you have little babies use pillowcases as Moses basket sheets, just put the mattress into the pillowcase, cheaper than special sheets and very easy to change in the middle of the night.

If you have young kids who aren't reliable at night double up sheets. So waterproof sheet, fitted sheet, waterproof sheet, fitted sheet. Then if they have an accident you just whip off the top sheet and waterproof and the bed is ready to be used again. No battling with a mattress and elastic corners in the middle of the night.

Every now and then when you have an hour to spare make up a big batch of mince in a plain tomato sauce, no herbs just basic seasoning, you can add whatever bulkers you would usually use like lentils. Then freeze it in batches. Then when you want it just defrost and add whatever flavourings you like to finish it off, Italian herbs for spaghetti bolognese, chilli seasonings to go on jacket potatoes or make enchiladas/burritos.

Boil cup of water in microwave leave for 5min then wipe,.
Put tea towel over veg in fridge salad drawer, lasts two or three times longer.
Rubber squeegee on stairs to pick up pet hair