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

Along the same lines as the poster who kept a list of what is in her loft, I store bed linen, blankets and duvets in big bags (either from Amazon or the ones that duvets are sold in, with handles) and put an old fashioned tie-on luggage label on the handle. You can add or subtract contents as required if you keep a pencil with a rubber in your airing cupboard but generally I don't need to change the contents.
Also I have a big cupboard in the kitchen instead of a proper larder, so I put my tins, pasta etc in transparent plastic boxes that fill the depth of the shelves, separating the contents by type. Boxes can be stacked to make the most of the space. Bottles go on a "lazy susan" so I don't need to take them all out to find one. I use a lazy susan in my wall cupboards too, they're just the right size.
I use Ocado "Reserved' and they book me the same time every week for my order, using "Regulars" to guess what I'll need - you can choose to have these weekly, monthly or whatever. I can edit the time and contents at any time in the month before the order is due, or cancel up to the evening before.

Stopped disagreeing with my wife.

@Ponderingtosk
I've just looked it up on my Amazon orders and I bought it July 2022 😂

Got a bonus a couple of years back and spent a bit of it on having a gardener. Even though now my income is crap knowing that someone is coming to do the grunt work so I can look out and enjoy the view is well worth the £40 a month.

Genuis about the tights! I've ended up having to change my tights once its later on in the day and I realise I'm wearing nearly black instead of navy!

I’m so doing this!

I wondered this. I don’t send many cards and have given up sending Xmas cards altogether .

Hello, are you me?? 😂

The Dymo LetraTag prints upper case letters, lower case letters and numbers onto thin strips that are sticky on the back. No special characters or general jiggery-pokery. No £ signs or apostrophes (I do begrudge that!)

They are pretty cheap, very easy to get compatible cartridges for, and robust little hand held machines.

I use it for all sorts. My storage is labelled, the crates of Christmas decorations say which is for the tree, which are the advent calendars etc.
Craft supply boxes and tubs which stack neatly in a cupboard have the contents on the lid and side.
On the jars of rice and pulses, I have labels with the times they take in the Instant pot and the proportion of grain to water.
Obviously yes, the freezer stuff is labelled and it makes everything so easy. The instructions for the basic cycle for the washing machine are stuck on the front for my autistic son.
The tops of the jam jars I keep my spices in have the contents labelled so I can pull out the drawer and instantly find the one I need. Also the date, so I know when they will probably be getting stale.
Jars, chutneys and marmalades get the name and the date I made them.
The curry mix for my son's favourite chicken curry has the recipe on the jar so he can make it himself while at uni.

I use Alexa to compile my shopping list. I just call out “Alexa add item” and she puts it in my list. I can share the list if someone else is going shopping. Once I got into the habit it works like a charm. Use the last egg - hands busy - ask Alexa to add eggs. She even tells me if it’s already on my list!

Robot hoover. Bloody brilliant. Trays for the air fryer. I call them trays but not sure of the proper term, inserts? Again bloody brilliant. Three times a day I do energetic cleaning usually to the radio and I move fast. I reckon it's cleaning AND exercise. Tumble dryer and clothes steamer. Not ironed for five years.

Can you link to Airfryer trays please.

This is all so useful !

Good plan. I have a lively interest in Politics and current affairs. I traditionally check in with the TV News and Twitter several times a day, plus watch PMQs and BBC Question Time. Over the past week, I realised that I have been feeling a bit flat and stressed, so I have cut down to News once a day (maybe a quick look later too. I must cut that out), PMQs and Question Time and it definitely does feel better.

So far I have bought the following since this thread; vacuum bags - already laundered a king sized duvet and thanks to speedy Amazon delivery, it is a fraction of it's size, and on exhibit for all to ooo and aaa at😂; bought stackable freezer containers to get some order (massive chest freezer in my garage). It was under the umbrella of "serious sort/declutter/order" that PP's have inspired me to do. Purchased labels for cables and stackable large bins for shed.

I have also taken all my herbs and spices out the kitchen larder (and a separate trolley, don't even ask why they are in 2 places) and put them all in a drawer, with some drawer dividers my sister gave me ages ago (and hadn't used). It is already a breeze finding herbs (did a slow cook casserole today) and at a glance I know what I have got. I had to have a clear out and clean of the larder cupboards as a result. The sheer joy!

So many tips here. The one thing that has really resonated, is the need to have a clutter free, organised environment. I am down-sizing very soon, so the motivation to do just that is high. This is a great thread and came at the time when I really needed it. Thank you.

After years of stress (for all concerned) regarding lost and mislaid front door keys, I put a keysafe up in the porch! Absolute bliss and major stress banished :)

Omg I’m soooo jealous. Why can’t I be like you.

Yes I have a hidden key safe tucked discreetly in our locked garden and not visible to anyone , never had to use it but great it’s there

I have cancelled a couple of big subscriptions and got a gardener Yay! We have a large garden, way too much for just me to keep on top of and my husband has long covid. He quickly gets fatigued and it’s the kind of fatigue that wipes him out. The gardener has been out and sorted all the weeds we didn’t manage to address in late summer and the autumn. He has also done lots of early pruning. He will be back every couple of weeks from late March to keep on top of the beds. This leaves me time to grow plants and veg and DH to mow the lawn and plant his potatoes 🙂 I feel hugely relieved.

Child only has one style of identical sock. Making pairs is now so much easier.

I stopped listening to LBC- my anxiety levels have reduced

Yes all my kids socks are from one store and that way no hunting to pair etc

Vacuum bags. Forgot those. Lakeland ones are really good.

We love Really Useful boxes. They really are really useful!

This is so interesting! Do you have a direction you can point me that will help me decide my style? I'm not sure where to start as I have never heard of 'Maximalism' before so there's probably so many I need to learn.