To ask for your ultimate life hacks/time saving ideas/easiest recipes/money saving tips all in one go.

[shakeituntilyoumakeit]

I’ve been unwell and off work for a money and the combination of getting back on my feet and January and kids and school and washing and ALL OF THE THINGS to be a bit much at the moment and need some ideas on how to make life easier.

I’ve just started making overnight oats for everyone which is very cheap, very quick, vegan, a nice kids activity for them to learn to chop fruit and pick what they want and thought of the time I could have saved over the years. This combined with the fact it’s really healthy and it’s a nice activity to do with the kids made me want to reach out for hive mind collective wisdom.

What am I missing! I’m looking for your smuggest tips!

Two bank accounts and a bill/cashbook that is kept in the above mentioned box with the files.

The bill account is a specific santander account that costs £1 a month but gives cashback on simply paying bills. Its not very much (roughly a five to ten pounds a month) but adds up over the year and pays for a takeaway or meal on special occasions

I have a list of all bills (mostly direct debits set up for the first week of the month) every month in the cashbook and the regular amounts of those who don't differ (gas, elec, water etc). I transfer the cash into the bill account and tick each off. Then I check the balance of those that differ and send that much across to the bill account too and tick those off and pay the 2 that aren't direct debits.

Means I'm sure each one has been paid and the money in the "other" account can be spent without worrying about direct debit dates etc.

I also have a buffer amount in the bill account of a month's worth of the direct debits that don't change amount and are important (gas/elec etc) incase anything happens so the bills are always paid. Otherwise I "forget" that money is there so its available for an emergency.

Thatmust it's the only-cleaning-inside-the-bin-every-3-bags part that I find saves the time, I find.

Even then there's barely any cleaning required on the inside.

I realise a plastic bin bag ain't great for the planet but we use 1 bag for three of us every week and a half so it could be worse

When I open freezer bags of veg. etc. use a clothes peg to keep it shut. Keep pegs in middle drawer which holds the big utensils. Wooden are better, plastic can crack.

@DisinterestedParty Its the same thing as writing the name of the owner of the passports on masking tape on the back, to make it quicker. Rather than opening the passports one by one and handing them out, everyone opens one and hands it to the correct person so its much much quicker in the chaos of a foreign country passport control.

When we go on holiday we unpack, then nominate the largest suitcase for dirty laundry. Anything that can go in a 40 degree wash gets chucked in. Then when we get back home, the contents get thrown straight in the washing machine. Saves a bit of sorting time!

I use a cotton laundry bag on holiday for everyone's underwear. Then the whole bag goes into a hot wash when we get home. Saves sorting through it all.

Tiger shop does an excellent pop up laundry basket for a couple of quid. Takes a bit of swearing wrestling and contorting to pack away in its little bag again but is lightweight, small and handy for hols.

Mug cake in the microwave. Takes minutes, keeps kids/teens happy.

Insulated food saver for pasta salads/hot soup for lunch at work.

Grocery shopping list on the laptop, print out loads and highlight before shopping at Aldi/Lidl, can shop under an hour. Ocado for non Aldi/Lidl items once a month.

Mix foundation into moisturiser to do make up in the morning.

Hammam towels in the summer instead of normal towels.

Download magazine app (check with your local library), read magazines on iPad, saves a fortune, no recycling.
More time for wine.....😂

It may have already been mentioned in this thread but I’ve found Gemma Brays TOMM a life saver. Practically and mentally it really works for me xx

I'm still baffled why people clean their wheelie bins??? It's never even entered my head to do this before and I'm a fairly neat and clean person.

Kids wear polo shirts for school in winter/dresses that dont need ironing in summer, I sort out any curly collars with my hair straighteners. Also use sticky name labels for uniform.

Callme please talk to me about hamman towels ... I've heard about these but skeptic about them replacing massive, bulky traditional ones.

Would free up loads of space in suitcase on hols though if they do

@recrudescence 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

@Supertrooper98 you add everything altogether the night before. You don't need to grate the fruit unless you want to. Lots of lovely ideas for what to put in online.

Not knocking the thread, it may help many, but I doubt any men have contributed. Women's work again.... sigh.

I heard a good thing on women's hour today - alphabetise your herbs and spices! This is going to revolutionise my life

I have baskets in my fridge and when I do the shopping I stick the ingredients for each meal in a basket so then on Monday I pull out Mondays basket and everything is there for the meal that's on the meal plan, it saves me searching cupboards for bits.

I shop online, meal plan Sunday and get it delivered Monday evening, last slot every week. My shopping is now about £40-£50 a week for 6 (we have a stocked freezer/store cupboards) rather than the £150 we were spending every week.

The kids all have a coloured box in a unit near the door, a full uniform/book bag/coat goes into it every night so in the morning after breakfast they can collect their uniform out their box and go and get washed and changed.

Not a 'hack' but I have recently completely decluttered my kitchen, I removed everything from it and only put back stuff that got used in the most useful place, it has made me love cooking again.
I have also had to accept that I have to put things away as soon as I've used them or they'll just stay on the side building up until I lose my shit.

I'm going to start freezing rice. I use brown rice and it seems to take forever to cook so this will save loads of time.

The biggest time saver was a)getting divorced,much less tidying,dishes,cooking and b)utilising my teenager,I can phone from work and ask her to hoover,put clean dishes away,chop up veg ready for when I get home or she cooks most of it.She does her own laundry and puts some of mine in for a full load.
She needs reminding,won't wash dishes and uses every glass/cup in the house but I have much easier life than I did 3 years ago.

Pressure cooker. I have 3 in different sizes!

We bought an extra freezer and a slow cooker. Means I can just throw in more ingredients when doing a meal the freeze up meals ready to be defrosted.

Slow cooker also means you arrive home to a hot meal you just need to add pasta, rice etc too.

When I'm packing my shopping at the supermarket I unload all the fresh fruit and veg onto the conveyer belt, trying to keep it separate from the other stuff. Then i pack it into a separate bag once it's been scanned. Small thing, but it makes unpacking at home much simpler.

New for 2020 is I set an alarm on my fitbit for 8.00 pm (I don't have small kids any more so I'm not doing bed routine at that time) and that is my cue to get everything ready for myself for the next day (make packed lunch for work, get into PJs, wipe down kitchen, set roomba off somewhere) and then another alarm goes off at 10.15pm to remind me that I need to be in bed at 10.30pm (Sunday-Thursday). New year resolution was to be in bed by 10.30. It's mostly working. Then I wake at 6.20 and that enables me to do 45 minutes of workout 4-5 times a week before getting into work on time (which was a challenge last year). All this due to new year resolutions and working out how I was actually going to achieve them.

Wear clothes a few times before washing. Towels used twice before washing. Hang wet clothes on hangers from the shower rail to dry (creases drop out). If anything needs an emergency wash and there's space, I strip cushion covers and chuck them in too. Outfits for next day ready night before.

Last bit of washing up liquid, bath foam, shampoo / conditioner gets watered down a little (helps it come out easier). Refill soap dispenser with cheap bath foam. Swapped to soap rather than shower gel to save money / plastic. Everyone has their own. Make up zoflora to refill dettol bottle.

Prep lunches the day before for work. If I make pasta, I use a slotted spoon to remove the pasta and then boil eggs in the left over water. When making a roast, make extra portions & plate up ready for heating up for an easy dinner the next day.

Batch cooking & meal planning. Soups are great for using up veg which is a bit wrinkly. I turn the oven off a couple of minutes early. Also leave the oven door open after cooking to warm the kitchen a little.

I don't eat meat and dh has cut down to save £ / environment / animal welfare. Only buy reduced meat, remove from packaging & portion up in bags in freezer to save space.

We stock up when something is on offer to save £ & and jumbo packs of cat food.

Shopping list stuck to fridge, if something's running low it goes on the list.

Old vacuum upstairs & new one downstairs to avoid lugging them up / downstairs.

One full bag for life to the charity shop a week. Filled throughout the week.

Gift / wrap drawer & cards from the card factory (10 for £1, sometimes 20 for £1).

Buy second hand books in charity shops / eBay / go to the library.

Anything that needs to go upstairs is put at the bottom of the stairs ready to take it up on next trip.

If you live alone by choice, it must be brilliant!

One for the to do list there regarding all the hacks LOL.

Buy clothes in sales only.

Car boot your crap once a year.

Save £2 coins. In my house, this is my money to spend in the summer sales with the stipulation that it must be spent on something I don’t need.

Make full use of your banking app.

Make friends with your slow cooker and freezer.

Internet shopping and delivery stops supermarket impulse buys.

If you have union membership, check for any perks. I have a re-fillable supermarket gift card that if I fill up through the Union, I get a 4% discount on. I shift the 4% into savings every time using my banking app.