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

Diaries check after Sunday dinner each week.
Use the Tesco app to scan the barcode as items are finished before they are thrown away. They’re then there for the next order.

Google Tasks - you can create multiple lists and sub lists and check things off when complete and reinstate the items if you want to save for another time - eg packing lists.

I use it in conjunction with Google calendar - couldn't manage without it.

Google notes also very useful!

Gousto Meals for husband and I in the week has been a game changer. We never want to cook after working all day, and children have often eaten already.

Sellotape dispenser for wrapping.

I get uniforms out the night before and leave spellings/reading books on the breakfast table ready for the morning.

Very lucky to be able to afford a cleaner and a gardener.

I have four pets so have a chart on the kitchen wall when they need their flea and worming treatments then a reminder in my phone for so many days before the next treatment to order the meds.

Alarm in phone to order meds, send birthday cards, msg a friend on a sad anniversary.

List in phone what I buy for birthdays and Christmas so don't duplicate. Note if a gift was a fail.

I make all my own cards then personalise them at the time. I have a cardboard perpetual calendar and write months worths of cards at a time. I bulk buy stamps on line, especially if I hear they are about to go up in price again.

All bins have spare rolls of liners underneath. Kitchen roll in kitchen bin with bicarbonate to soak up leaks and smells.

I empty the dishwasher while the dog is doing her last night/ first morning wee.

Set days for certain laundry.

I labelled my quilt and cover but it got washed off so I fight each week until I work out the right way again.

Never go up or down stairs without taking whatever is waiting.

Take post at first walk with dog as the post box is emptied at a different time each day.

If I notice I'm low on petrol I put my note with PETROL written on it on the dashboard or my seat ready for when I next go out to remind me to fill up.

Admittedly, this isn't something available to most, but since we became Empty Nesters we eat out most days. Nothing especially fancy mainly just local cafés and pubs, or nicer restaurants at the weekends.

We never eat breakfast anyway and just grab a sandwich/soup for lunch. So we eat out every evening. It has saved us sooooo much time and hassle. No grocery shopping. No grocery unpacking. No cooking. No setting the table. No clearing away. Nothing.

Just a varied, hot and tasty meal every night with zero effort.

Drawer organisers

Each family members socks go into zipped mesh laundry bags in the wash. No more tiny socks lost forever. Also toddler gets blue socks, baby white socks, me black socks. No more sodding random lost single ones.

I have my own little 'tool kit' that no one is allowed to touch. It has a tape measure, small screw drivers, sellotape, Sharpie, small scissors, nail varnish remover pads, metal pencil sharpener. All the things I could never find when I needed them!

I am loving all of these! I have a separate email address for mailing lists, signing up for discount codes etc. joint calendar with DH tho still argue each week about the fact I do online shop and 90% of meal planning and prep. Diary session every Sunday night to plan for the week but whether we include meals in that is variable

Set my alarm clock 10 minutes earlier.

Get the kids clothes ready in the evening, so my husband doesn't have to look everywhere (he does drop off).

Leave keys, mobile phone on the stairs so I can grab them as I leave for work.

Fill my water bottle and make my coffee (take away glass cup with lid) straight away when I come down so it's ready when I leave.

It's the small things which make me late in the morning. Doing the things above probably only save me 4 to 5 minutes of real time but I feel much more organised and less stressed.

@Poachedeggavocado please tell me what your laundry system is! DH generally does our laundry, but we're swapping jobs so I'll do laundry and he's now responsible for food shopping and washing up!

I haven't watched or listened to the news for years, l don't miss it at all, do not find myself lacking and prefer to watch positive stuff such as Green Renaissance.
I don't sweat the small stuff, l ask myself "Is this worth worrying over or could l use my energy better elsewhere?"
I let myself off the hook. If l feel like a lazy day on my day off, l will have one. Zero guilt.

This .. every day. And every few days, I recommend Method Daily Shower Spray which removes all the scummy marks.

A separate mini washing basket for each fault member - clothes come off the airer/ dryer and go straight into them. They get put in the relevant room for owner to put away. Even when that's not done promptly it's much easier to find clothes you're looking for - no more wading through a massive pile of clean stuff.

A folded linen dishtowel placed under dish drainer, replaced weekly.
Means I don't have to clean the stainless steel drainer.

A plastic folder for each child ( I have 5).
To put in all doctors,specialist letters,school reports etc.

Laying out all clothes night before.

Colour coded sheets,I have white for king-size, blue for double and pink for single.

Storage baskets (2) up ndrr coffee table for all the clutter

My DC have ONE set of uniform which wash straight away when they get home on a 15 min quick wash. That way they always have clean uniform and we don’t have it hanging round all over the house.

Love the passport tip! And having a separate email for school correspondence. Will be doing both of those.

Like a PP I duplicate things but keep duplicates in different rooms. Scissors and sellotape are kept both in the kitchen and upstairs in the card/present drawer.

I have toothbrushes and toothpaste in both the bathroom upstairs and toilet downstairs - saves time corralling children to a different floor if we're running late.

Chargers are kept on both floors too and I have a pair of earphones I keep at work and one at home as I never remembered to take my one pair with me.

I also kept all the baby's clothes in a kallax unit in the living room. They had reflux so went through a LOT of clothes and again that made life easier and as everything was in drawers, it wasn't obvious.

I book my hairdressers appointments when I am paying for the one I have just had. My hairdresser uses an online booking system and I get a reminder to add into my calendar.
I stopped sending Christmas cards.
I use a set of filing trays for household post and filing. I shred personal paperwork during work time (I WFH).
I use my TIVO box and record all the evening's terrestrial telly. It means that programmes with ad breaks are reduced by up to 15 minutes for an hour long programme.

I bought DH a weed burner. We both hate gardening but it's revolutionised keeping the brick paving weed free.
When DS was a baby I used to sort his changing bag as soon as I got home, si that I wasn't running around grabbing nappies and spare clothes etc on my way out the next day.
DM has 2 vacuum cleaners. 1 upstairs and 1 downstairs.

Each member of the family has a "washing day" ( 5 or 6 of us at home). On that day all their clothes go on first thing on long wash. Then hung out or in tumble drier after school and then back in their washing basket to go straight back into their Room ( and get put away) that night. No more piles of clean washing to be sorted and hundreds of black socks! And no looking for clothes in the morning as I've got 6 sets of everything. Gamechanger.

Mine is a really good sellotape dispenser.

Also only book two things on any one day. That’s it. No more.

Sew a small button on the bottom left corner of your duvet and you will always be able to see which way round it goes and it doesn't wash off.

Me too!

I really like this idea - would you be able to share what questions you have down to ask and can I copy your work?!

I love the name label on passports and the £1 jar for school, I’m going to sort them.

I’ve started a running list of school things/events so I can be organised for them in advance e.g World Book Day.

I also have a drawer that I put all old clothes in and when it’s full I go through it and either recycle, charity shop or vinted all the contents.

And the ‘never leave the room empty handed’ motto really helps keep on too of clutter.

A roll of masking tape and a
marker pen in the cupboard beside the Tupperware so that batch cooking always gets labelled before it goes in the
freezer-too many years of random tubs which I think I’ll recognise when frozen!