Make your life 1% easier

[Wanttobefrugalchic]

I followed tiktok Amy Astrid last January for her 1% easier series and saw her first one of this year today. I found her tips last year so helpful such as buying all the greeting cards you need in one go and also taking photos of outfits so it's easier to chose in a rush. So coming here to ask if anyone has any other tips that are easy to do upfront or gadgets that make life a bit easier during the year?

Wash, and chop fruit, veg and salad into reusable containers when the food shop arrives. Takes 5 minutes and speeds up food preparation no end during the week. Kids can also help themselves.

It sounds ridiculous but this year I bought a sellotape dispenser for present wrapping.

It was a total game changer!

Instead of cutting loads of strips and sticking them round the edges of the dining table, I just ripped them off the dispenser and got on with fast wrapping 😁

Love these, definitely going to do the F&V one! I also bought a sellotape dispenser, best purchase ever. Also got remote control plugs for the Christmas tree lights (used to be a pain getting in behind the tree to turn on the lights) and will redistribute them now to lamps for easy evening lighting.

Oh yes, smart plugs in as many things as possible; lamps, tv, you can even get smart kettles

And me @DameOfThrones, super cheap in Aldi, and is as you say a game changer.

Adding on to this:

1. Use a food processor to chop whatever you can. Order the F&V so you aren't, for example, doing tomatoes after smelly onions.
2. (when done, add a slosh of water and turn it on again, stops bits getting dried on before it is washed)
3. Buy XL or L sizes to make chopping easier and faster. Only one set of peeling and chopping vs 2 or 3 of the small garlic/potatoes/tomatoes/onions....
4. Semi-related: for salady type stuff, put a wet scrap of fabric in the sealed container and it lasts much longer. I've got a bag of chives dated 21 December which are still fresh! Old t-shirt material is perfect.

I have a sellotape dispenser and agree (the weightier the better) but I also tried the Japanese method of wrapping (saw it on YouTube) this year and saved so much time as you only need one piece of sellotape and you use less paper.

I did buy a sellotape dispenser for when l have to wrap a gift but my tip would be buy gift bags and pop some tissue paper on the top - no wrapping required and bith can be reused. I am terrible at wrapping by the way!

Swimming stuff in one place.
Started 30 years ago when the dc were tiny. They’ve all left home now but I still have a drawer full of costumes goggles and swimming towels. And one next to it with cruise/ summer wear/ international plugs and sun cream. I’ve never been on a cruise but I could pack for a long haul holiday in 10 mins.

I also used some gift bags for family gifts.

Before they left to go home, I handed them all a carrier bag and made them give the gifts bags back for next year! 🤣🤣

#tightasarseholes

I buy extra happy birthday cards that would suit a range of people for those last minute birthday invitations.

NOOOO!!

you lose loads of the nutrients doing this 😬

DO NOT DO THIS OP!! 😂

A pot by the front door for all keys. Drop on the way in, pick up on the way out.

Folder on phone with photos of all passports, driving licences etc.

Fold socks together on the way into the laundry basket and then wash them like that (unless they are really grubby).

Use smart reminders on your phone (ie remind me to pick up prescription when I get in the car)

Things that work well for me.

I have a kallax downstairs with one box for -

Everyone's swimming stuff - I used to keep everyone's in their drawers, what a waste of time!

A hot weather box - has sunhats and sunscreen and insect repellent

A cold weather box - has wooly hats, gloves, scarves etc

Fourth box has spare shoes of different sorts

When you are getting towards (but not at the end) of something you use regularly but don't buy every week, write it on the shopping list. Guarantees you never run out or have to do a last minute dash to the shop and you also don't have to check what you need before going shopping.

(This is both for food items e.g. tomato ketchup, and toiletries e.g. toothpaste).

Train up everyone in the house to do likewise. Every time the family run out of something say "I didn't buy it because it wasn't on the list".

A pot by the front door for all keys. Drop on the way in, pick up on the way out

You don't have pampas grass in the front garden by any chance? 😬🤣

Where do they go? Evaporation into thin air?
I doubt it.

A vacuum for upstairs and one for downstairs. I’ve now done the same with mops.

I have a lot of people who like to ring me for a chat. So as soon as I answer my phone, I pick up a damp cloth and walk around the house and dust. It's painless, because my mind is engaged with the phone chat, and I can do a stupendous amount of dusting without even really noticing! When my youngest rang me the other day I got all the skirting boards done!

The added exposure to oxygen, light and heat cause many vitamins to deteriorate. Keeping them in airtight containers in the fridge slows much of the loss, though not all.

For me total game changer was plastic drawers in the laundry room labelled by kid activity. Off the rack folded into the ocntainer so no losing kits and no ‘mum where is my?’.

Healthy snack box for people to help themselves and not wonder what was to eat.

Mini bin for the car - so rubbish isn’t left in all the doors.

Skylight - complete game changer

Already go cards - in fact I bought them all for the year today!

Containers do all the bedrooms sheets by size - makes it easier to find them and put them away properly.

Haha! Not like that….

But the amount of time spent by adults and teenage kids looking for house and car keys without this is ridiculous!

Keep a go bag in the boot of the car. Spare outfit for everyone in the family, ratty old pjs, nappies & wipes for baby, tampons, a box of cereal bars, box of raisin packs, a tenner note, little first aid kit, towel, sunscreen, bubbles and a ball. Saves packing the car for impromptu days out / emergencies / someone fell in the lake again / forgot to bring the nursery bag in the car.

Roll of pedal bin liners left in the bottom of every bin of the house.

Pack of antibacterial wipes in every bathroom vanity, swipe after brushing your teeth as needed.

Favoriting all the groceries I normally get on the grocery app, so I can scroll through the list.

A chuck-it-bucket in each room, where clutter gets thrown. Clear it out when it's full.

They are in airtight containers. And whatever small degradation there is, is far better than throwing most of it out uneaten at the end of the week, which is what happened before

Never leave a room empty handed. Have a scan and take things to wear they live, put things in the bin, whatever it is.

Use Amazon subscribe and save for regular purchases if you aren’t buying supermarket own brands.

Take screenshots of insurance etc and make a folder on your phone of them.

Google keep for shared lists / shopping / tasks lists / present ideas

have a 7 day menu,

Sunday - roast
Monday - leftovers (curry / fried rice / wrap)
Tuesday - stir fry
Wednesday - jacket potatoes
Thursday - pasta night
Friday - fish
Saturday - long cook / bbq / special

you can vary what roast / stir fry / pasta you have, but having a structure makes it super quick and you can have a good pantry.