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

Shared family email address for school, bills/utilities, tradesmen. We also have a shared family calendar linked to it too which is shared with myself and DH.

ToDoIst app for packing and also household chores. Everyone know what they need to pack/do.

Genius. I hate those damned lights so much.

A decent eye mask works well for annoying lights also. I never go anywhere without one when travelling. Great for planes too. A spare peg or two can help bring curtains together in hotels so the light doesn't get in, or you can use one of those trouser hangers with clips to keep the curtains together.

This is a genius, genius thread. Except I feel so deflated, I thought I was somewhat organized and I am clearly such a amateur in comparison to the sharpie/document wallet/card stash ninjas on here!

We put our cat bowls on a large plastic place mat on the utility windowsill to save bending down, also stops the dog gobbling cat food…

Bad back saver: cat litter, catfood, washing powder and drink all delivered.

I skip through the weekly shop now - anything heavy’s already home.

yes to this! I bought a pack of 500 small hair ties when dd was 1 from Amazon for about £10. 6 different colours, all small-ish ones. They're still going strong at 4 - fully expect them to last another 4-5 years. so much cheaper - and feel like there' always a hair tie somewhere!

She naturally, loses clips, nicer hair ties etc... I'd have no idea if she lost these ones, there's so many of the bloody things ha ha

I have numbered the four sides of my mattress which needs to be turned and rotated regularly. This way I know which side is next.

I buy my skin care products when I see a good offer (often saves me £10 per product). Then I store it in the fridge until I need it. That way I dont’t run out and risk it being out of stock in the shops, or having to pay the regular price, and have saved money. I usually have two spare pots of each in my fridge.

I reckon I’ve spent c.3 hours today reading this thread, plus £28 on Whistlefish and have over £100+ stuff in my Amazon basket, so I dunno if I’m saving time or money… but it feels great! Can’t wait to compile my greetings card stash in an A4 concertina file 🤗

Sharpie to mark the labels of my tights blue or black because I can never tell by lamplight, esp. when bleary eyed in the morning.

Vacuum bags to store baby/kids clothes that might one day get used again - with a big paper note in the front for what age/size they’re for.

Automate as much household stuff as possible - toilet roll (who gives a crap), dishwasher and washing machine (smol), milk (milk man)…

Another thing which I thought everyone did is buy stuff on offer

So my dad for example drinks coffee all the time. Sees his fave on offer and goes "yes but I don't need it"
Well buy it! It's not going off soon, and next month when you need it, it might be not on offer
I do this for everything, toothpaste, deo, coffee, peanut butter... as long as you have an idea of how much the "usual" price is you can get decent offers

Same with more expensive stuff - I will use Quidco, lookfantastic codes, shop their sales, make sure I do an order all at once to get the free delivery/gift with purchase etc

Great thread 👏
I'm fairly well organised anyway but have picked up more tips on here.
Genius tip for the me WhatsApp. Thanks to those that suggested this 😊

@tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz
tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · Today 18:58
I always take a small amount of blu tac when staying in a hotel so I can cover up annoying tiny lights on the likes of smoke detectors, tvs that sort of thing. I'm a shit sleeper and the smallest light illuminates the entire room for m

someone on another thread, I think it was the best thing you bought in 2023 theread, posted about tiny black stickers you can buy for this specific purpose but they never posted a link to it.

These sound great but i couldn't find them.

So many wonderful ideas on here!

@twopencepetula could it be these?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blocking-Stickers-Dimming-Filters-Blackout/dp/B0BLGPKZTG

woah there @beetr00 ! thank you.

BLOCKING stickers is the term I needed obviously. My next purchase 100%

I love that picture of the woman in despair over a pile of clearly-Photoshopped on batteries! 😂

Best thread ever, getting such joy from it

Cooking large amounts of dishes like spaghetti bol and freezing portions.

Starting dishes in the morning and then covering the pan, so the main meals come together easily.

What an amazing thread. Mine are:

One of these magnetic racks on the fridge - everyone knows where to find their keys, and we keep return receipts or letters that need action in the tray until they're dealt with.

A pair of scissors in every room. It sounds ludicrous but it is very handy.

All instruction manuals and guarantees are in clear folders, organized by the room the thing is in - e.g. the microwave instructions and oven instructions in the 'kitchen' folder.

I have a charity shop bag on the go at all times, so if I try something on and it doesn't fit or I don't love it, it goes straight in the bag.

Planta app which tells me when to water my houseplants - total game changer.

A clothes ladder in the wardrobe where things that have been worn but don't yet need to be washed hang out.

A giant sharpie for colouring over old address labels if I can't peel the label off.

Sundays if no plans I batch cook. I make everything from scratch. Breads, soups, currys, sauces etc etc. Purchased some decent glass dishes so I can freeze and use to heat up. Saved my life during newborn stage and still do it. Week nights are much easier now.

When toddler is bathing and playing in the bath I take the time to clean up the bathroom and make sure everything is stocked up.

We have separate files for each of us with all important documents. If anything was to happen all on one place and easy for us all to manage.

Fully stocked my larder cupboards with long life foods like pasta/lentils/rice/sugar/baking ingredients and herbs and spices. So whenever I want to make a recipe I generally have most of the ingredients instead of making a mad dash to the supermarket and regularly check them to replenish stock when needed.

Got a boiling water tap installed

Genius idea!

A list called “where is it?” Is genius! I’m always wondering where the tweezers or the plug converters have got to!

This. This. This. A billion times over. ❤️

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@aitchteeaitch
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I don't watch the tv news or listen to it on the radio and I switch off current affairs programmes.
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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.
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As the old saying goes - what they eye don't see, the heart don't grieve over.

I do this as-well, most of the crap that goes on in the world I can’t do anything about and most of the news is just depressing, I prefer to focus on things that I can actually do something about