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 with jars. Also use them to store spices and leftovers.

Better for the environment and also cheaper than buying glass (don't like using plastic)

Loving this thread! I'm not naturally very organised...
I got sick of kids' PE kit items getting lost in the house, when clean disappearing upstairs and getting lost in the ether.
Now when washed and dry I put all PE kits in a jumbo bag and let the kids sort it out for themselves. Much easier.

Simplifying finances changed my life. They are much more complex now but they boil down to: 1 current account, 1 credit card and 1 savings account.

The financial cycle depends on payday. So say I get paid on the 28th in my account, all my DDs go out a few days later on the 1st. Everything left on the 2nd goes into the savings. Current account is at £0 until the 28th again. Nice and simple. All the usual spending is on the credit card which is paid in full on the 1st by DD with the other DDs. If the credit card is higher than usual for whatever reason then I'll transfer from savings to cover it.

I wasn't aware years ago that you couldn't choose a date for direct debits to be taken and had issues with them coming out at various points of the month, the same with debit card payments. I could never track where we were financially.

I’ve put stikin labels on my net curtains so I know which room is which when I wash them. I’ve also got a wrapping box that I keep scissors, sellotape, pens and labels in and, after spending far too long hunting down scissors, I now keep a pair in the living room, dining room and kitchen. I also keep a pen, a needle and thread and some safety pins in a pocket in my bag, which all makes me sound much more organised than I actually am!

There are tons of clever hacks here but I dunno if they really change your life. I have a few from my experience:

• consciously seeing maternal guilt as unnecessary/ unhelpful - I have chosen to work, there is no alternative, I’m not being selfish by going to work because it means I’m looking after my family financially
• getting better at delegating at work - really encouraging my teams to take up the slack and run with things
• a lot of psychotherapy to let go old crap and learn better habits.

Not as simple as battery storage or using sharpies for sure but has really made a difference to my life.

For those who are self-employed as sole traders:

The challenge is not to spend money that isn't really yours. Sole traders receive gross sums that include tax, VAT (if their turnover is over threshold) and which also includes regular business expenses that have to be paid promptly like premises rent, accountant fees. I'm professionally regulated so also have to pay for practising authorisation and insurance.

I got into a lot of debt early on as all this money went into one account and I lost track. I paid off my debt and now have the following system to hive off business expenses:

All money goes first into a business account

I have a monthly standing order to a ledger account for tax/self-assessment - this means come Jan and July I can always pay my tax

I have another regular standing order to a ledger account for regular business expenses (professional indemnity insurance, authorisation to practice, accountant fees, premises etc). This means every year I have the lump sums I need to meet basic regulatory requirements.

I also pay myself a set "salary" every month to my personal account that covers all my essential personal expenditure, including savings (this was worked out after budgeting my household stuff and ditching anything we didn't need). I never use the business account for personal purchases, ever.

Anything else just stays in the business account. Generally there is enough there to cover me for 4-6 months if I can't work and also to pay VAT every quarter (though really I should have a separate account for this too)

I've done this for years having previously got into a lot of debt which took a lot of work to clear. This means I am always compliant with my basic professional obligations, never behind on tax, and - the important bit don't spend what isn't really mine.

It was much harder to do this before I was a high earner, but at least it made it much easier to work out what I was in debt for - I was spending stupidly on personal stuff whereas I should have prioritised business non-negotiables like tax and cut my cloth accordingly.

I switched my banking to Monzo which allows you to split your account into separate “pots”. I have a pot for bills, one for subscription services, one for groceries and then savings pots for general, house repairs, car costs, Christmas, holidays, and costs for childcare / activities etc in the holidays for for DD. As soon as I get paid, my salary gets split up into these pots according to my budget. My bills and subscriptions automatically come out of the right pot, and then I have a separate card for food shopping. It means that a) I can relax knowing all the essentials are covered without me having to think about it and b) whatever’s left on my current account is for discretionary spending. It also rounds up all my spending and puts the spare change into my savings pot which can really add up. I’ve never been so relaxed about finances, it’s made a huge difference.

I did the same! DD no longer needs these for school, but it makes such a difference when she studies or does math exercises at home. We no longer search, I know exactly where the decent technical pencils are and the erasers are good quality.

I did that wardrobe thing too - now I have all my trousers and skirts together going from black through other colours to navy, then my jackets and then my handful of blouses. Makes such a difference.

And in my drawers, as I have a lot of both plain tops and jumpers, I have 1 line of them starting in black at the front and going through red to purples at the back, and the other starts with navy at the front going to greens at the back. So I can check if it's the red or green line and know the front one will match my trousers in the dim light😁

I also organised my makeup a few years ago - I had bits of all sorts everywhere and nothing ever worked together. So I took everything in my office desk drawer, my travel wash kit and my dressing table - threw away the trash and put together 3 kits that had the same foundation colour, decent powder (home is a big loose one but work and travel both pressed types), blush, proper mascara and eye pencils, same everyday lipstick and eye colours that all worked together (I use MAC palettes so have the same light and everyday darker colour in each - but I also have the other 2 colours ones that work with those but not necessarily all the same in each palette). I threw out the samples, the shades I didn't wear, the broken pencils, etc. My home kit has a couple of extra eye pencils and colours, and lipsticks, for getting dressed up. And if I know I will need it, I can add to the travel kit. But now I can do from scratch or touch up from any of them and it works.

My travel wash kit is always ready - I refill it when unpacking when I get home from trips and throw it back in the case. And I usually keep a few things I'll need like a small ziplock bag bag with 3 teabags and a sachet of hot chocolate to make on water, couple of bits of tights and underwear, clean PJs, the small handbag I use when travelling etc - it makes packing at short notice much easier.

Mine aren’t very interesting.

I buy Stikins name labels in bulk to label the DCs uniform.

I bought plenty of water bottles so that there’s always a clean one available as it will have gone through the dishwasher. It genuinely has made a big difference not having to hurriedly search for one and wash it up each morning.

I changed to black school socks as I couldn’t get the stains out of the white ones. School socks have their own place to live, away from patterned socks. Still on socks, I bought myself all black socks as I was fed up wearing odd socks.

I have a secret see-through pencil case in a kitchen cupboard with 16 Staedler pencils, three 4-colour biros, and two sharpeners (with rubber and sharpening containers).

This is how I make sure DD can easily do her homework at the kitchen table without extra fuss.

On a Sunday, when I clear the fridge for the food shop and bin day, any veg which is close to end of life, and which I don't have a plan for in the next few days gets made into soup that I freeze (currently have a ragu, celariac soup, lentil soup, and a green veg soup in the freezer).

When I make a food order I write the meals on the notes section of our calendar. Then when it arrives I plot meals into dates based on use by dates.

Fishing tackle boxes. Brilliant for taking all those useful bits and pieces that live in the drawer of shame and elsewhere just in case they'll come in useful one day.

I currently have four of these and will shortly order another. You can change the size of the slots to accommodate what you need.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tackle-Box-Fishing-Assorted-Fishing/dp/B00VKR0KFM/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=fishing+tackle+boxes&qid=1707564184&sr=8-6

Suitable for all the little bits every household accumulates. Also, I'm told, good for craft stuff. And with a label maker you can label each slot so that the right thing goes back after use.

During summer I always keep a couple of half filled water bottles in the freezer (horizontally so that the ice covers the entire bottle) so that I can quickly fill them up with water and have ice cold water for hours when I go out or go driving.

Oh and I tend to keep things where I'm most likely to need them...

Small first aid kit in a tupperware in the kitchen (big one in an upstairs bathroom).

Body moisturiser and deodorant on a shelf in my wardrobe (most toiletries in a bathroom).

Day to day cosmetics and face products in a washbag, everything else in cabinet or drawers in bedroom or bathroom..

DD's school uniform is kept in a single-wardrobe in the spare room so it's easy to check what she has available and get ready in the morning.

I got a budget going. Pay almost everything by credit card and it comes in automatically so I can see where I am. It has made me really think about what I spend and reduce spending on things I don't need. I also budget each month for bigger bills. For instance, water comes twice a year and is about £100, so I save £16.67 a month for it. There's now a good balance in my main account for all these big bills. I use https://www.ynab.com/, and its been revolutionary

@LenaLamont , @Stoufer , you've convinced me. I just ordered a label marker.

On Sunday evening, we discuss plans for the week and then meal plan accordingly. Meals are written in our joint google calendar so we both know what is going on. (I’m renaming this ‘Sunday Summit’ as per a previous poster).

Ikea 365+ glass containers. They are oven/microwave/freezer/dishwasher proof and …the best bit… you can buy different sizes that use the same lid. No more searching for the matching lid! The 600ml square container takes the same lid as the 1.2L square container. Also, you can get different lids - plastic, silicone, wood etc. But they are all the same size so they are interchangeable!

White wrapping paper and white gift bags. Jazzed up with ribbons of various colors. No more Christmas paper versus birthday paper or girlie versus blokey gift bags.

I don’t buy anything that needs ironing. It just isn’t going to happen.

Socks are all the same. I buy them once every few years. A bunch of the same pairs. That means I never need to match them and when one gets a hole I can throw away one sock instead of a pair.

“Ikea 365+ glass containers. They are oven/microwave/freezer/dishwasher proof and …the best bit… you can buy different sizes that use the same lid. No more searching for the matching lid! The 600ml square container takes the same lid as the 1.2L square container. Also, you can get different lids - plastic, silicone, wood etc. But they are all the same size so they are interchangeable!”

oh wow. Game changer!! 😁👍

We use Alexa for lots of things.
Shopping list as many people have mentioned
Lists for everything e.g. upcoming holiday has its own list, things to do before Friday etc. Timers when cooking. Reminders, alarms, plus music music music and podcasts.
We have Alexa x 7 so can add stuff easily and when away from home it's all accessible on our phones.

We don't have top sheets as I can't stand having my feet enclosed at night - even in the winter. I pull out all the bottom bit of a duvet from the bottom of the bed if we're in a hotel. I wish they'd let you tick a box on whether you want them just left on the bed or tucked in!

We now have single duvets on all the beds. So changing them isn't an issue and I don't need to work out which way round they go. That started when I went through the menopause so needed less togs than DH. We'd been on holiday to Germany and just having a duvet that a) didn't cause a draught when the other person got up during the night, b) didn't get pulled off if they 'cocooned' and c) could be a different tog on the same bed was wonderful. So we switched when we came home. That was 5 plus years ago and I wouldn't go back.

But my biggest change that I wish I'd thought of before was getting large bags for the chest freezer. Ours is in the garage and, in the winter, there was nothing worse than standing in the cold trying to find the chicken under a pile of veg or meat that had fallen down on top of it. So I got two large bags to fit the freezer. Bread products go in one, main meals in the other and they lay on top of the frozen veg. So if I need frozen peas I just lift the bags out and there they are all neatly laying on the bottom. If I need a pack of pies I only have to go through the main meal bag, nothing topples on top of things and I don't end up buying yet another pack of bacon because I think I've run out and there are packs buried in the bottom of the freezer.

That and meal planning have already meant I don't overspend on food each week.

A random one but it saves stress when we go swimming, I sharpie my daughters name on all her diving toys and floaties so we know it’s ours, definitely useful on holiday when everyone shares their stuff in the kids pool.

I have the app Paprika, which does the same thing. I save all my recipes there; many I know are aspirational and I probably will never make, but most of them I will test. I have a "favorites" folder where I can just look and see what I could make right that very day. It frees up my mental space.

I have one too - it's the Victorinox Swiss card.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Victorinox-Unisex-Swiss-Black-Small/dp/B00URUTUU4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=26LX1UQ5ITSLL&keywords=victorinox%2Bswiss%2Bcard&qid=1707568593&sprefix=victorinox%2Bswiss%2Bcard%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-1&th=1

I have two wardrobe shelves. One for 'nice clothes' I e. Acceptable for clients and interviews and meetings or even a nice social event, and an everything else shelf for slobbing around the house and trips to Sainsbury's etc. other wise unsorted as my choice would depend on weather and occasion otherwise.

I buy two half bunches of bananas one yellow one green so they don't go brown at once and end up in the freezer.

We have a basket downstairs specifically for the kids socks so we aren't up and down stairs while trying to leave the house.

We have a shoe rack at the front AND back of the house.

We are open plan so a big toy box has been amazing. End of the day everything gets chucked in. We know when we need a clear out as it gets too full.

I have a draw specifically for baking stuff. All the fiddly bits you don't use often. Cutters, pastry brush, candy thermometer, food dye, offset spatula, buttercream smoother thing, piping bags and tips etc.

That Swiss card is cool, but I would drive myself mad trying to cut anything with those scissors! Would be handy to have in the car