To ask for your easy life hacks?

[Polkapjs]

I need easy ways to make life easier and help me get my life in order in all areas

Tonight have have used a garlic press with an UNPEELED love of garlic as recommended by Jamie Oliver. Genius.
Give me yours that don’t involve needing stuff I don’t have but help make stuff a bit easier or cheaper?

Soak BBQ grills in washing powder /liquid it seems to cut through the grease so no scrubbing!

Choose one colour of socks per male person. DH blue, DS1 grey DS2 black pairing of socks easier and no odd socks if holey bin and pair with another of the same colour

Get a short tension rod from b and q and put it in the cupboard under the sink. Hang your sprays off it. Frees up so much space.

That's brilliant. What's b and q?

We have a bin for paper recycling in the garage, which is how we enter the house, so we do the same thing. That saves a lot of clutter.

Instead of trying to scrub burnt on food in pans just put an inch of boiling water in the dirty pan and return to the stove and keep it boiling , stuck on food comes off easily if you run a wooden/plastic spatula over bottom while it is boiling and doesn't ruin the pans coating (works on normal pans too)

Practise clutter clearing on an ongoing basis and don't be fooled into buying things which claim to make life better but actually don't.

This includes ironing boards and clothes which need ironing and most gadgets.

Remember that every thing you buy has to be paid for, stored, cleaned, cleaned round and maintained. The less you buy, the less cleaning and tidying you have to do and the more money you have for what's really important to you, like creating precious, happy memories with loved ones.

Batch cook for days when time is limited
Never iron
Clean mess as you go
DIY meals, put out the food, say bread, salad and filings, let people make their own, the kids love it and saves time. Same to meals generally when able let people serve themselves.

Folding a bedding set into one of the matching pillow cases makes it much easier for me than searching through the ottoman for whichever sheet I want with duvet set

What's b and q?

Chain of DIY stores.

B&Q

missconduct it’s just a hardware shop.

You can get them off amazon - extendable spring loaded tension rod. So worth it.

When dc1 was in Reception, I realised I was first sorting the different bits of uniform into the different homes (hanging in wardrobe / drawer for sweatshirts / different drawer for school socks etc.), then, when helping him dress, getting it out from all the different places.
I decided to use a big plastic box for "Uniform" - all went in there, and only one place to get it out from.

I am so happy to see I am nit the only one not ironing!
My mum used to say "If you hang it right, you don't need to iron."
Yet she irons EVERYTHING

You can get them off amazon - extendable spring loaded tension rod. So worth it.

Found them! Thanks! I'm getting a set.

I buy something called Lazy Chilli, Garlic and Ginger - it's all done for you and you just need to stick it in your pan

Clean the shower when you're in the shower

Keep sets of bedding (duvet cover, top sheet, bottom sheet inside a pillow case

Make double quantity of your dinner and take some of the leftover for lunch

Fold up reusable shopping bags, keep them
Somewhere central in the house. Once there's a certain amount - stock up your car.

When I empty the bin I put 2 or 3 new bin bags in the bin, inside each other. Such a joy to empty the bin and find a bin bag already there, ready to go rather than an empty bin.

Everyone in our house has towels, flannels, bed sheets of their colour, DD fuchsia, DS1 Royal Blue, DS2 Green, DH Grey etc guest towels are white.

Everyone's bed sheets and duvet covers are folded into the pillow case for the set and have two each.

Toothbrushes are also colour co ordinated

We have a mud room and keep out of season footwear and hats/gloves/scarves in a big plastic stack of draws, everyone has their own draw.

I have a shoe organiser over my larder door to make more room, I put packets in them mostly or cake decorations and birthday candles/ balloons in the top sections.

I have labelled tubs in a block shelving unit in one corner of the living room and each child takes a turn to tidy up each day and they know what toys go where by the label.

I have a small section of washing line pinned under the cupboard above my draining cover and peg up cloths to dry after using or washing.

A medium sized 'bucket bag' sits on the stairs which gets tired upstairs a few times a day to put things back.

I put out washing (triangle stand) and usually use one side for each child/person who has the majority of washing and then take it off and fold in order so I don't have to root around and find stuff for piles when I take it upstairs.

I time my washes so they finish after breakfast so it's less wrinkled and has all day to dry or dry in time for a second load.

If I make soup and need to freeze it I do it in portions with stand up plastic zip locks so I don't have to waste a lot of it if I just want some for lunch one day etc.

Silicone cake pans
silicone muffin pans
silicone bake sheet liners
rolls/wraps/pitta for sandwiches
Buy lots of gifts at a time - party kids birthday, but them all the same item or variations on a theme
Washable fluffy dusters
Never iron - low spin, hang immediately

Deux

That is fucking genius!

Buy all your Christmas wrapping paper and so on at New Year when it's all in the sale. Then you can put it away with your decorations till next year.

I finally got a garlic peeler. Was totally skeptical but it has made my life a breeze. Also avoids getting your garlic press disgusting.

Avoid top sheets at all costs. Never iron, unless it's a button-down that really needs it. Do a fridge and freezer empty the night before trash collection. Autopay whatever bills you can (assuming you can). Always have a dog towel for the backseat of your car; always have a small bag for car trash. (This is particularly important in America, where many of us spend far too much time in our cars.)

I sit in DCs room with a basket of clean laundry and a podcast and fold stuff and put each item straight into drawers as I go. Otherwise I end up with tons of baskets of folded or half folded laundry that just get messed up again before I put them away

Never leave the kitchen without topping your glass up with gin. Makes life so much more enjoyable.

The children put their next day’s outfit together as part of bedtime routine. Then they get changed as soon as they wake up (most of the time!).

Clean the bathroom while kids are in the tub...then spray the tub after they’re out, and wipe it down before going to bed.

Gardening is a family event, everyone does something so it’s less of a chore.

Kids set the table, fold their own laundry (some of it), and put away their own plates.

QueenDoris
Excellent !

My hack: When DD had an eating disorder part of her recovery was to agree a weekly meal plan which stayed the same every week. It went against everything I had thought about trying new foods, getting bored etc but we had to do it.
It turned out to be my best life hack so far.

The kids and teens love it because they know whats for dinner each day - no asking or whining. It has saved me a fortune in shopping with lack of wastage and it makes life so much easier as there's no thinking what to have each night.

(sometimes we do swap a meal or completely overhaul the plan, and funnily enough all DC have been much more willing to try something different when out). I wish I'd done this 10 years ago :-)