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!

Colour catcher sheets in the washing machine so I can wash everything together

Recently discovered coffee bags for coffee - gamechanging

ebay for kids clothing bundles - much cheaper and environmentally friendly

Wireless earbuds for listening to something while cleaning

@speakout

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.

So do Waitrose, sold as soffrito mix. I use loads of it.

I don't get packing the bedding in a pillow case trick either but we only have two sets of sheets for each bed - which has made my life simpler. Same goes with everything, small wardrobes and only the amount of clothes we need, no masses of Tupperware in the kitchen, bar of unscented soap in the bathroom that everyone uses instead of four different shower gels.

Also kids sort our socks, they seem to recognise their own socks even if they look very similar to me so that's another hack. Not even a boring one !

@VioletOcean

Take off duvet cover and button the end, that way no washing gets inside it

YOU ARE A GENIUS!

Thank you.

Warburtons bagels come pre sliced.

My tip is use a knife sharpener to keep knifes and scissors sharp. I only got one recently and didn't realise how blunt my knifes were until I'd sharpened them.

My tip would be reduce everything. Go through everything and decide if you actually need it.
I’ve been having a good throw out, the charity shop will Barr me soon !

Cleaning the inside of my wood burner glass with a soft cloth, a little water and wood ash - its truly amazing

Oh Xmas shopping! I have an Amazon wish list that's set to private, throughout the year as I have ideas I add them to the wish list. Then at the beginning of November I just sit and work through the wish list adding stuff to the basket and ticking off people from the list. All the shopping done in 15 minutes. You can add external links to the wish list so aren't restricted to only buying from Amazon, it's just a handy place to compile the list.

Always buy white bedding and towels so you can wash them on hot wash together, without any colours running

I have a smaller stick vacuum cleaner which lives at the top of the house, so I don't have to drag the bigger one upstairs - it means the stairs and top floor gets cleaned a lot more.

Also - OLIO for getting rid of food waste/cupboard lurkers you'll never use

When you've opened a jar of pesto and used what you need, put the rest in ice cube trays and freeze.

[quote VioletLemon]@cardoon brilliant idea with the pillowcase, my inability to make decisions can see me faff and get frustrated picking out the correct pillowcases for covers! I will start this.[/quote]
The poster who couldn’t see the point might change her mind if she had an airing cupboard like mine.

I often used to wonder why my DM, in a considerably smaller house, had a comparatively vast airing cupboard, where it was entirely possible to keep bedding and towels in nice orderly piles.

If it's more then one onion, or needs carrot and celery too, I use the food processor. It takes seconds and I swish the last bits out with the stock. Then it's an easy rinse and drain.

And I did the Marie Kondo thing on my drawer-full of tops - you don't stack, they're folded and arranged in rows front to back. No toppling stacks, I can see everything. That has been really the smallest change with the biggest impact.

Always, always do your tasks there and then . Be organised for the next day before you go to bed . If you are a SP that works full time there's no other way .
Also , teach kids small chores like laying the table.

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER

Stuffing the duvet cover, bottom sheet and pillowcase(s) into the other pillowcase, (for doubles), so no scrabbling around in a far-too-full airing cupboard to find the whole set. Wish I’d known about this years ago.

Can't do this. I need my pillowcases to have fold marks as if they've been ironed My days of ironing bed linen are ling gone.

I just fold them in sets when they're dry: duvet cover - sheet - pillow cases. They don't get muddled.

Thinks back wistfully to my B&B linen cupboard piled with beautifully ironed (by me) white bedlinen...

@LBOCS2

If you're not into doing household filing, get an A4 sized box and put it near the front door. When post comes in, if you need to keep it pop it in the box, otherwise bin it. The box then goes into the loft at the end of the year to be kept in case you need to reference anything - and you don't have piles of post and assorted paperwork hanging around everywhere!

Also, if you get letters from school or invitations or general child life information, take a picture of it on your phone so you have it easily accessible to reference.

Great tip, I will be buying a box.

E cards.
They're more interesting, don't waste card and you can set them ahead of time so no forgotten birthdays, or scrabbling for cards at the last minute.

Walking around during phone calls with headphones in. Do this during work meetings when working from home so get lots of steps in, fitter and thinner. I rarely sit down during the day

@Tamarasnotmyname

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

I'll second that one and if you get frozen sliced peppers as well you can throw a chilli together in no time.

@TragicMuse

If it's more then one onion, or needs carrot and celery too, I use the food processor. It takes seconds and I swish the last bits out with the stock. Then it's an easy rinse and drain.

And I did the Marie Kondo thing on my drawer-full of tops - you don't stack, they're folded and arranged in rows front to back. No toppling stacks, I can see everything. That has been really the smallest change with the biggest impact.

I store all my separates in plastic boxes, and I roll them instead of stacking.

@CherryAndAlmond

Have less stuff. A battle with three DC, but I'm getting there.

Please tell my DH this!

He is a hoarder of tools, fishing gear etc.

It's like living with a squirrel!

A key pot by the door. I never, ever spend time looking for keys anymore - they are always magically exactly where I need them. It is a lidded, opaque box, so they can't be stolen through the letter box.

Rather than folding towels to put them in a cupboard, roll them. Absolute game changer, so no one can pull one from the bottom of the pile a d mess the whole pile up