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

I do this but have t heard of a glass marker. Where can I get one please?

Brilliant idea re jacket potatoes

@Stoufer I hardly ever find a tip on these threads that I don’t already do/sounds genuinely useful but your dustpan and brush car one is genius! I already do a quick whizz round just getting rid of rubbish etc if I’m waiting somewhere a couple of minutes but I can actually see that a good brush would be more effective than the hoover at getting all the crumbs out of the seats and off the floor mats…

I do a daily clothes wash (eco wash) to stop the washing from all piling up

I batch cook meals once a week

I do a online food shop to stop me going crazy in the shop and to save money

I bought a flash mop with the dust magnets and do a floor dust once every other day, stops a build up and the need for a deep floor clean

dish’s go straight in the dishwasher. I watched a you tube video on how to load it properly to save loading twice if there is lots of dishes

I have bought a double bin so that I can separate recycling and normal waste and they can then be emptied separately when full

I moved house and completely decluttered I made sure that I now have a place for every item therefore nothing is ever out of place and tidying up is so much easier

I bought a heated clothes maid this stops having washing lying about on radiators

I use a rubber toilet brush, it’s so much easy to clean the toilet with and is easy to clean and my guests look at a nice clean toilet brush (if they need one 🤣)

I'm finding mornings less frazzly if I set the cups and plates out on the worktop the night before, fill the kettle, put the ground coffee in the cafetiere, make sure bags and PE kits are packed the night before, the shoes are clean, and there's money, gloves and tissues etc in blazer pockets. And give myself ten minutes before everyone is up to drink one cup of coffee and feed the cats. Because I have never seen minutes melt away so quickly as between 7 and 7.30 am...

Thanks! If you buy one of those very slimline/ flat shaped dustpan / brush sets (you can get them in TK Maxx and the like), I think they are supposed to be for brushing cake crumbs off dining tables in a very genteel way!) then they can get down into the crevices between the seat and the side, and the runners etc.

Don’t be so chippy

THE PP is musing that women tend to hold more of the list making organising in families (which research support) so that’s what they’re doing on the train.

It seems reasonable.

I store each set of duvet cover, pillowcases and a bottom sheet in one of the pillowcases (learned this from MN).

I have a little pot hanging by the front door for keys (house too small for a hall table).

Make sure you do the passport names with something easy to peel off because anything written on/in or stuck on/in the passport invalidate it when trying to enter certain countries. I found this out the hard way when trying to enter Vietnam years ago.

I'm now registered blind so have passport office attached braille on the outside of mine and that came with a warning about not doing the above.

Few years ago I got rid of all papers in the house apart from two small folders (well, it took me ages to go through all of them so I did it over a period of time). First folder has important docs like passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates and degrees. Second one has a small selection of my child's artwork and a few other sentimental items. So important and sentimental

I opted for electronic versions of everything - doctor's letters, bills, bank statements. If one comes through, I shred it after a week or so. I deal with incoming catalogues/junk mail immediately and bin it. I shred my docs at work once a week. The house is so much more peaceful without random papers. Doing this wasn't a small thing, but maintaining it now is.

Divorced 2 husbands

It's taken me months to sort out my parents' house so I completely agree with getting rid of the paper mountain. I think 'Swedish death cleaning', however morbid it sounds, is a great idea from mid-life on.

Also another one for me which has been a gamechanger - I keep two plastic bags in the cupboard under the stairs. One is a bag for the local charity shop. I put in anything I want to donate, and when it is full, I take it in. At the moment there is a dress I no longer like, a few of DC outgrown clothes, a book I finished and a kids puzzle. The second bag is for textile recycling for things that can't be donated, like clothes that are stained, worn out towels, holey socks etc. It just means clutter won't build up and the stuff on its way out has a designated spot.

Love this thread.
best thing I’ve done is make use of slow cooker and batch cooking. Meal times are SO much easier

Gmail labels. I'm self employed so everything goes into one inbox. Created a different coloured label for each client and then a filter to automatically label all emails from the client (e.g. all staff on the project) with that label. One called Family for everything from the school, activities etc. Took 5 minutes max. Life changing.

Yes, we grew up using top flat sheets - when duvets were a new thing and I was the only one in my class at school who had one - and I just found it fiddly and messy - it became untucked and I got wrapped up in it. TBH I think the only reason we had them was because it was the early days of duvet covers - Brentford Nylons anyone?

The proper name is chalk marker, but they are not powdery or greasy. They behave as a normal marker.

I bought mine as a set in Costco. For less than 20£ and they come in several colours. The brand is UNI

I'm sure you're right that in many/most households with kids, it's the women who do the bulk of the domestic organising.

However, I think the sleeping on the train thing is more likely just that men feel less vulnerable. I think women are perhaps more (even if only subconsciously) worried that falling asleep means their bag will get stolen, or they'll be groped, or someone will take a photo of them with their mouth hanging open and drooling or something.

Obviously that's just as much of indicator that women get a shitter deal in life than men, though!

That said (although I don't have kids so can't speak as a parent) in our house it's my DP (a man) who is way, way more organised than me and does the vast bulk of planning and admin.

I don’t make lunch now as it’s always leftover dinner. (I make enough for four adults - there’s two of us.) Cuts waste from things like stale bread and sandwich fillers like ham too.

Folding from the tumble dryer minimises time spent ironing massively and with many things you don’t even have to iron them.

A daily short maintenance tidy and clean to reset prolongs the need for a deep clean and makes for a far calmer home. We spend about 15 mins hoovering through, mopping, wiping surfaces, putting stuff back in their place… Sometimes we divide and conquer rooms, sometimes one of us cooks while the other does all rooms - we don’t have many.

Leftover shelf in the fridge. I start meal planning for the next half-week using these to minimise waste (We do a big shop on the weekend and top up half way through which makes meal planning easier, I find - I used to take ages trying to do it for the entire week and we like to go out a lot last minute so it didn’t really work.)

I’ll add more as I remember.

@Wherediditgoto

https://www.costco.co.uk/Business-Office-Supplies/Office-Supplies/Highlighters-Markers/Uni-Chalk-Bullet-Tip-Markers-8-Pack/p/246684

I do this, too. I find it bizarre how incredibly helpful it is.

I have bene using these for about 4 years and they're brilliant. (Family of 6 so do lots of batch cooking). Much nicer than plastic.

I am funny about Tupperware. DH thought I was mad but he’s exDH now 🤣

Put everything away after use. Clean the bathroom when out of the shower...takes a couple of minutes.