Your mum/life hacks?

[Emlou07]

Aibu to want alllllll the 'hacks' for an easy life

Please share

I take pyjamas to after school swimming lessons and DC just get straight into them after showering. Everyone there now does the same!

When washing bedding sets, store the whole set in one of the pillowcases so I’m never hunting for the right size sheet.

That’s about it. Following for more tips!

What’s a ‘hack’?

You mean tips.

Yes, tips.

@Waitrosepigeon you are above us all.

You know how you open a jar of pesto, use a few spoons or So, put it in the fridge, then next time you get it out it's grown lots of fluffy friends?

I open the new jar, spoon in to ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen pop out in to a little tub or freezer bag and stick in the freezer for when ever you need them.

1 or 2 cubes defrosted is great pastry brushed over a freezer pizza too!

Work out of your oven has a timer. Finding out that mine did revolutionised my life and the dc’s meal times! Either for cooking food while we’re out (eg jacket potatoes) or warming the oven up to cook more quickly once we get in. Defrosted fish fingers and skinny over chips cook in about 10 mins in a preheated oven.

Baby wipes clean most things, especially patent school shoes.

The pesto tip is fab thank you

We do the pjs at swimming too. We also have lots of little drawstring bags and as the washing/ironing is done it gets put in the bags for after school clubs so a bag for swimming, gymnastics, karate etc- always ready to go then!

We do a ‘ten minute family tidy’.

Set a timer. (Siri can do that, lazy bastard)

Each person has a carrier bag. Well ‘bag for life’ in these modern times.

We move as a pack tidying and putting things that belong to us or that are in the wrong room in our bags.

No splitting from the pack ~ this is important as otherwise they all just bugger off.

After the timer goes off, you put the stuff from your bag in the right place.

We get as much done in ten minutes than I would in half a day.

@foodylicious your pesto tip may well change my life!

I don't eat fish but DD loves it so I buy big pieces, cut them up into smaller fillets, individually clingfilm them then pop them all in a freezer bag. Much cheaper than buying small pieces, I can take out one at a time sms they cook from frozen in about ten minutes

Get disclosing tablets for your children to use when brushing their teeth. They can see if they have done it. It focuses their minds (no more 20 minutes "brushing my teeth" chatting with siblings and faffing and you can check really easily.

Sorry but I hate seeing chikdren in pyjamas at the swimming pool but that’s a whole other thread. (And has been)

GordonShakespeare that's a great idea.

Here's one of mine. Train everyone in your household to put dirty cups etc. straight in the dishwasher and not in the sink. Do the same as you cook - finished stirring with a spoon? Then place it straight in the dishwasher. It keeps the kitchen much clearer.

I buy a set of school uniform a size bigger (which will be grown into) and then if I run out of clean uniform in the right size, I can just use one of the bigger size items.

Oooh I'm stealing the 'family tidy' idea SavoyCabbage.

@alwaysatyke that's a great idea for getting DC involved!

Mine is folding laundry into baskets. I have 6 baskets, one for each family member and one for teatowels/dish clothes etc. It all comes off the horse, gets folded into respective basket and then the owner takes it to their room to put it away. It is a work in progress to get someone other than me to notice when the laundry is dry though.

Other biggest 'hack' - if you can afford a cleaner for a couple of hours a week, get one. It is an absolute godsend and a pleasure coming home after she has been. Our whole house has wooden flooring and it now gets mopped throughout once a week!

Ooh sorry it was @savoycabbage who 'moves as a pack'!

Robot hoover.

Ooh I'll stop with the swimming pool pjs right now then
not giving a rat's arse what judgy feckers think

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Pesto one is brilliant, as is the sheets and duvet cover in pillow cases - I got that from here ages ago and it revolutionised my life.

Obvious but hang socks in pairs on the line.

I have nothing though, our house is a nightmare.

Don't accept a lazy twat as a partner.

Get a slow cooker! It’s a lifesaver, especially on dark winter nights where we are all tired and I don’t want to cook. It’s so nice to walk into a hour that smells great, and all I have to do is plate up dinner.

I batch prepare and freeze bags of veggies/ spices. Then, in the morning I dump it in the slow cooker with a little stock and some fresh meat. Doesn’t always have to be soup or stew, in mine I make: pulled pork, chilli con carne, fajitas, braised beef etc.

Buy all your greetings cards in one go.
Buy all wrapping paper, gift tags and presents in one go.
Buy a book of stamps.

Fold all laundered bedding into one pillowcase before putting away, so when you change bedding it's easy to grab in one go.

Cut up chicken/pizza/meat with scissors. (we have a pair of red scissors for raw meat)

Use a shopping list.