Tell me at one or two small thing you've done to make your life easier

[listsandbudgets]

I've done 2 this year

1. I've unsubscribed / marked as spam from nearly all my mailing lists. Now my inbox is an oasis of calm and I don't spend what feels like hours every week wading through emails I don't want My spam file is brimming over!
2. I found a sharpie and (once I was sure they were the right way round!) labelled my double fitted sheets with side and top - wish I'd done this years ago not having to shuffle them about trying to work out which way up they go

Buying a pack of Bic biros, decent pencils, good erasers and a pencil sharpener with a container attached.

I realised that we didn’t have to always be trying to find a pen that worked / non-broken pencil / non-crap rubber from various picked up as work freebies and in kids’ party bags. I was a grown up and could buy new ones! Just a little thing but it removed a small daily frustration.

I have set days for specific washing and also usually keep a similar routine for folding and putting away :)

I stock up on unisex birthday presents (lego/books) and cards. And wrap at least a few days ahead so we're not rushing the morning of.

Often make breakfast (overnight oats) the night before.

Have started running the dishwasher straight after dinner and unloading before bed. Previously would run overnight and unload in the morning while making tea and being harassed by my 4 year old.

Plan all my meals (breakfast lunch and dinner) for the week on Sunday and do the Sainsbury's order at the same time. (Have lost 1.8kg since January and this planning has been a big factor!)

Use my commute time to catch up on WhatsApp messages and respond, as well as check in with long distance friends.

Use a bullet journal as well as a shared calendar with my husband - somehow writing it down helps cement it into my brain.

Keep a running list of gift ideas throughout the year.

Keep notes on what works for different holidays like Xmas (menu, food items, schedule etc) so I can refer back and refine year on year.

Also currently working on the spam email! Have unsubscribed from dozens so far this year.

Split my wardrobe between black and navy rather than by type of clothes - no more scrabbling around in the morning trying to work out which is which.

I have also sharpied all my sheets but by writing on the edge D, K or KS so I know which ones fit which bed!

I bulk buy bin bags to fit the kitchen and utility bins, then add a couple of loose bags to the bottom of each bin. If I ever get to using the loose one I know it is time to re-order…

@ladybranstonpickle I also try to unload the dishwasher every night before going to bed. I don't really enjoy it but getting up to an EMPTY dishwasher in the morning is a joy.

@MeemawTucker Why didn't I think of that - off to find my sharpie again as soon as I get home

I bought a pack of document label pouches so I never have to stick the address on a parcel again.

I use the times I have time to seriously batch cook things like vegetable sauce, or lentil bolognaise, rice, so that mealtimes can be so much easier. Label every tub that goes in the freezer, one reddish thing looks remarkably like another!

Excellent thread OP! Here's mine -

Do a bulk order of gorgeous cards early January from Whistlefish so they work out £1 each then at the end of a month get all cards written for the next month with a post date on the back bottom corner of envelope so they go out on time

Like a pp keep a list on my phone if gifts we've been giving to avoid duplication

Also on my phone keep a note of what I have stored in my various huge bags in the loft. That way when I send DH up to get something I can direct him to the right place. Although currently all our lift contents are stored all over the house having had to empty it at the start of this year having discovered we have a fucking rat. And it's still not gone despite x 2 pest control bods being called in and it's entry point blocked in. Waiting for the bugger to die and it's horrible. Just want my bloody loft back. Anyway I digress, apologies

Passports - strip of washi tape on the back with our first name sharpied on. Much easier to match up with boarding cards

Shall think of more ...

I have a giant list on notes on my phone that is shared with DH. It has the contents of our freezers listed, then we add the weekly meal plan and the shopping list to it.
Under all that are random recipes that we like.
Was a faff to start but means we don't find things we forgot about in the bottom freezer drawer etc.

I have 2 rolls of generic wrapping paper (stars and polka dots I think) and buy a big pile of cards every so often so I don't have to panic when I forgot a birthday get together anymore.

I keep a running list of present ideas for people we know on my phone.
I also note down things I would like but don't want to buy so I have actual ideas when people ask me what I want for birthday/christmas.

When we moved to this house I bought a load of different strong plastic storage boxes. Everything is neat now, I use them in the attic, the shed, the utility room cupboards, the ottoman on the landing, the bottom of my wardrobe.

Lastly, shared calendar on the phone. Birthdays, MOTs, insurance renewals etc are all set to repeat annually and alert us (me and DH) 2 weeks before.
Before we lost ddog we also had a rule that if you made plans to go out, they went in the calendar because whoever's was in first could go, the other was on dog sitting duty.

This is genius

I don't watch the tv news or listen to it on the radio and I switch off current affairs programmes.

My stress levels are so much better than before. I can't do anything about wars or climate change, or terrorism, or political shenanigans, so what's the point in getting stressed out over it.

As the old saying goes - what they eye don't see, the heart don't grieve over.

I need to sharpie my actual duvet. I put it in the wrong way half the time. Great tip!

Meal planning, have a table on a word doc with days of the week, date (for BBF dates) activities such as swimming/Brownies, the meal, ingredients needed - we know what we need from the shop and can manage costs as not buying random things
Stock up on the 10 for £1 card offer at card factory.
One size fits all wrapping paper - silver stars for example, can be used for anyone's birthday presents.
Set laundry days
An excel spreadsheet for holiday packing shared with my husband, column for each of us for suitcase and a column for each of us for hand luggage
Online grocery shopping other than 1 Aldi visit at the start of the month to stock up on our favourite cupboard/freezer bits
Batch cook a bunch of meals for our daughter for her activity days as she has to eat earlier than us due to timings.
Main wardrobe for daughters 'nice clothes' and a drawer for clothes she can wear to the park/to holiday club.

I bought a dash cam. I am a self confessed shit driver and I have huge anxiety about getting points and fines and stuff. For the record, I have a clean licence, BUT that doesn't stop me worrying about stuff.

So now I can watch my journey back and I no longer have to worry for two weeks about getting a fine or a ticket because I can check my camera and confirm that No, I wasn't actually speeding when I passed that camera van, or that light (which I have zero memory of driving past) was actually on green.

Best money I have ever spent. It's just about fixed my driving anxiety.

Shared calendar and notes app. DH has 3 business calendars and is a Group Scout Leader so lots of meetings and things he has to go to. We would absolutely double-book a lot otherwise.

I have a separate email address for newsletters and online orders from companies I don’t use a lot. Keeps my normal email free from crap and I just see actual relevant emails. Every 6 months or so I go through my email account and change stuff or delete newsletters.

Third one, we have a shared Dropbox app for tickets or documents we update a lot so we can always access things,

F

I disabled all notifications from social media and the school app.

I have Whistlefish cards in stock and wrapping paper suitable for any occasion.

The best thing is the big heavy sellotape dispenser that makes wrapping a doddle.

amzn.eu/d/0qVQNgW

Definitely stopping all social media notifications.
I mooch on there maybe once a week - but only to see if anyone from my wild and misspent youth has sought me out 😂

The dishwasher one is amazing I'm going to start doing that omen

Sorted out the contents of the loft, boxing up everything possible into 2 different sizes of Really Useful boxes, numbered and labelled every single box, and photographed each number and label.

Is there a prize for being so utterly anal….

Always have stamps in my purse. Cleared out loads of crap.

aitchteeaitch I'm with you. It makes me massively anxious and gives me nightmares. I try and do what I can at home for wildlife and the climate .

I put a mug on the side for all the pens to live in. Any pens that don't work go straight in the bin. The sellotape and scissors go next to it.

We used to spend so much time hunting for pens! And we have a lifetimes worth of half used rolls of sellotape that got lost before they were finished. No more!

Set up a box with A4 and DL envelopes, stamps, packing tape, sellotape, scissors, Sharpie pens, writing pens and parcel bags. When I need to return or send something there’s no scrabbling about to stick a return label on/tape up a bag.

I have a similar box with wrapping paper, scissors, sellotape, adult and kid birthday cards so I can sort out a present fairly swiftly.

I also use a label machine a lot. I keep “nice” jars (mostly Bon Maman jam and Doritos salsa) and odds and ends like radiator keys, spent batteries that need to be recycled etc go in a labelled jar. Bulk supply of AA/AAA batteries off Amazon. We don’t have a junk drawer as this keeps it organised.