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

For passport/driving licence pics I just have folders in my "gallery". Open it, click Aaa docs (it is alphabetical). Done.

Just tried it and it worked! Though I'll probably still stick to the files option because it's two or three less taps to get there and I'm that lazy 😂but handy for plenty of other stuff I'm always searching for. I had to manically fill in a health declaration for us both on my phone in the immigration queue recently as forgot to do it before flying and for once the queue was moving quickly, so every second was essential. We've got three passports between two of us (one dual citizenship), so saved under a specific file name with passport, name & nationality means I get straight to the one I need without having to squint.

Took <5 minutes to put a hanging rail in each drawer of the terrible kitchen we inherited from the previous owners. No more piles of pan lids scattering everywhere!

Actually realising I am pretty organised! I labelled the fitted sheets D, K, SK ages back as this used to drive me mental when making beds! I also don't have any notifications on my phone, I rarely even have the ringer on! LOL! Doesn't stop me looking ta it every 10 minutes though. Make my lunch, get my clothes ready the evening before

When my 3ds were babies i had a clear box in my room, living room and one at the bottom of the stair's(this 1 was only needed for ds3 as he was born at start of the summer)for if i was out side with the toddler with nappies, wipes, changing mat, clean sheet, blanket, 2changes of clothes and a handful of bibs. If we were out side it meant i could change baby in the play tent if needed without having to try get my other ds(2 at the time) up the stairs

You can get them on amazon, called photo storage box. Hth

I live in Scotland. We have food recycling where i live. Food bin gets emptied weekly and nappy bags get collected every 2nd week when food waste gets collected

I put my freezer bag in a jug and fold the edges out so I can tip the stuff in.

Thank You - great tip!

I love all these tips!

This one is going to sound weird, but you have to try it if you have a baby ...

You know the three poppers that fasten bodysuits/vests under the nappy? Only do up the outside poppers, leaving the middle one/s undone. The bodysuit stays completely securely fastened, but it's ridiculously quicker and easier to fasten and unfasten it every time you need to change nappies, etc.

Friends I've told this have laughed at first then come back swearing it's changed their lives 😁😂

Good for piping bags too

Thanks, these look great! I’ll still keep some albums but these will save a lot of space.

I wish my DH did this. Seeing 3000 unread emails on his phone brings me out in hives

I can’t see a link to the photo boxes. Was there one?

That's a good idea. Someone crashed into me last month, and when I was trying to type his details into my phone, I just couldn't stop shaking (lots of adrenaline!!!)

Just search photo storage box-there are loads

I'm an absolute amateur compared to most on here, but mine are:

• instead of hanging clothes on a clothes horse, anything that needs hanging goes on a hanger in the doorway. So when it's dry, it goes straight in the wardrobe. Less creases and dries quicker.
• use an app called OurGroceries as our shopping list. Keep adding it to it anytime we need something, and can pop to the shops without remembering the list (which we always forgot!!!)
• put shopping bags straight back in the boot of the car when we've unpacked, as was always forgetting bags. Handy for any unplanned shopping trips.
• 2nd toothbrush downstairs for DS. So when there's a battle about brushing his teeth, he only has to go into the downstairs toilet rather than upstairs. It's not worth the battle.

Folders in my email for things like tickets, receipts, school etc.

Same!

See also utilities, insurance documents, holiday folders with all bookings/confirmations/documents for trip.

Have also emailed myself photocopies of passports, driving licenses, certificates etc and they stay in a folder.

Our biggest mess comes from clothes. So…

1. hangers in the hallways with shelves useful for putting stuff on for the next day e.g. water bottle. Low shelves for dd so she gets into a habit of organising her stuff.
2. those curver baskets or ikea drawer inserts for underwear and socks divided into dark and light colours
3. adding a clothes rail in wardrobe for dd’s clothes and getting her kids hangers so all her uniform dries on hangers and doesn’t need to be ironed
4. regularly decluttering - one for one rule. I buy a jumper then I have to give one away.
5. john lewis heated clothes drier and maeco dehumidifier - the mould was driving me insane

The most useful thing I've ever purchased is a Leatherman Squirt. It's a mini pocket knife that can hang on your keyring and has scissors, screwdrivers, nail file, knife etc ... even has a tiny pair of tweezers that slide out. That thing has been used 1000s of times where I couldn't be bothered getting out the full size item. I'll be wrapping presents and using the scissors, unscrewing kids toys with the screwdriver and evening up a hang nail with the file. Even better the new ones come with a set of pliers.

I put lazy Susans in my bigger, deeper kitchen cupboards so I can see and get to tins at the back

I've just spent hours deep cleaning the kitchen and my offering is put kitchen roll on top of the cupboards as easier to swap out when dusty than the scrubbing I've had to do. It would have been better if I'd had cupboards made up to the ceiling of course..

Same with drying things on hangers, and this little gadget has made it much easier to hang things over the door.

I used to do this when I had a desktop Microsoft computer. Now I have a Mac I can’t figure out how to do it.

That gadget is perfect. Thank