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!

Take a photo of party invitations as soon as they are brought home. Saves hunting for them to rsvp.

I keep on top of everything by writing everything down old-school. I have a big wall calendar hung inside the pantry door - one with space to write on each day and a notes bit at the side. Everything gets written on that calendar. Appointments, birthdays, holidays, invitations, reminders to book the MOT, get insurance quotes, worm the dogs etc. If a letter comes from the school about a trip for example, I write a note on the square for that date to say "School beach trip", then in the notes section I'd write "School beach trip on 10th. Leaving at 10am, away two hours. Take wellies and snack" or whatever other vital info is contained within the four paragraphs of waffle we usually get in school letters. The letter itself goes straight in the bin and I forget about it until the time comes. At the beginning of each month I'll take a glance at the month ahead but I don't worry about anything until the reminder comes up. Birthdays will have two reminders - one for the day itself and one for a week before to "send X a birthday card".

On the fridge I have one of those wipe clean weekly planners with a magnetic pen. Loads of space on it to write. Every Sunday I refer to the calendar and transfer over any reminders. The planner also has a To Do section and a space for notes which can be added to during the week. Once something is done, it gets crossed off. At the end of the week, the whole thing is wiped clean to start again. It's probably the best thing I've bought from an organisation point of view.

I don't use my phone calendar any more because it's too easy to delete notifications. But that's just me. I need to see things written down. I do use the notes app on my phone a lot though, to note down random things I've thought of or lists of ideas for presents etc as they pop into my head.

Although I find it easy to remember things, I'm training myself not to. It uses too much mental energy, like a computer with too many things running in the background. They might be minimised but they're still there. There's only so much "stuff" my brain can hold before I start forgetting things, or my brain starts helpfully popping up and reminding me of pointless things at 3am or in the shower. So I'm a big believer in physically writing things down to clear out the mental clutter. If someone verbally tells me something that needs added to the calendar, I ask them to send me a message with the details, or I send one to myself. Then I don't need to remember that "DS has a playdate at Aaron's house on Saturday 16th at 4pm and can he bring his football stuff". I imagine some people think I'm probably a bit ditzy not being able to remember things, but meh. Better than trying to remember everything and missing stuff.

If like me you always need to blow your nose after a shower, use the knickers you've just taken off.

I’ve found this thread really inspiring but this is just grim!

I don’t think that comment was entirely serious

I don’t think that comment was entirely serious

Ah.

Save 20 mins by not reading a life hack thread.

I love these. Nappy bags instead of dog poo bags. Sainsbury's basics were 9p for 100. Bought about 10 packs last summer and still going!

I put cheap IKEA peg rails along the walls of the utility room - can use to dry clothes but also to hang swimming bags, PE bags etc so the kits can go straight from dryer to bag. I also have shelves with baskets which hold tea towels dishcloths etc so when I take the dirty ones to the laundry I pick up clean ones at the same time.

Paint a rectangle of blackboard paint on kitchen wall - then anything anyone needs gets written on it - great when DC have to bring in ingredients for cookery etc. Take a photo when going to do the weekly shop

In the spring I change my wardrobe so go through summer stuff and think did I wear it last summer if not, in a bag for charity. Ditto in the autumn go through winter stuff if not worn last winter in the bin.

Charity shops cannot shift winter stock in summer nor summer stock in winter.

I am trying to little avail to get OH to do the same. You would think I was asking him to go to dentist for an extraction sans injection.

Loving this. So many good ideas.

As it is just 2 adults here and we wear dark work uniforms and most of our clothes are dark, whenever we needed new bedding I started buying everything white. (Use cushions and throws for colour).

That way when I do a load we have enough whites to make it worthwhile. Towels etc bulk out the clothing wash.

Before this DH would wear something white and then have to wait ages for enough whites to join in and get washed!

Some good tips on this thread!

Mine are:
Cutting up odd bits of wrapping paper/Quality Street wrappers/colourful envelopes etc and storing in a box for the dcs to use for sticking/mosaics.

Saving the plastic trays out of a box of chocolates (or the ones avocados sometimes come in) to use as glue pots/paint pallets for the dcs. This limits the amount of paint/glue they can use at once and cuts down on mess. Plus they can be rinsed off and then put in the recycling.

Taught dd to sort out her own uniform. She is in Year 1 and gets herself dressed with minimal I out from me every day and I don't lay anything out for her. I just wash it, hang it in her wardrobe and do her hair.

When any of the dcs are ill I assemble a pile of stuff we might need in the night and leave it in our room so we can sort them out without waking up the other dcs and without rummaging for Calpol, thermometers, spare pjs, nappies etc in the dark.

Every time I log in to my online banking app I transfer all money to the right of the decimal point on current accounts into a savings account. It's like saving loose change but digitally. I don't miss the pennies but save a few quid a month.

I have a Christmas notebook to write down gift ideas throughout the year. I also buy stocking fillers as and when I see them which spreads the cost and makes shopping less stressful.

On the meal plan I write the book and page number of any recipes we are going to have so whoever is cooking knows where to find it quickly.

I don’t understand how people are doing so much washing?? A dark load a DAY? We have 3 kids (including one sicky baby in reusable nappies) and some days the washing machine is not on at all! We probably (definitely) don’t wash bedding as much as we should but we’re all pretty healthy anyway and pretty sure we don’t smell. Washing isn’t good for clothes or the environment so I try and do as little as possible - saves time and money too!

Ditto ironing - last time my husband got the ironing board to iron a shirt for a wedding our daughters were like “what is THAT?!??”

Have less stuff. We have a one in one out policy so we only really buy new clothes when something needs replacing. I have one bag that I really love, one pair of boots that I really love (I do have an old spare pair for if they get completely wet) etc. Simplifies life a bit.

Overnight oats with a spoonful of cocoa powder (stir in before adding milk is much easier) and frozen raspberries is delicious, add honey in the morning.

We do our overnight oats in a little glass mixing bowl with a small plate on top as a lid.

Always get loads of longlife milk with online shop so that we never have to go to shops just for milk.

Easy and quick soup - fry an onion, add frozen peas, add stock and dried mint. Blend when peas are cooked - pea and mint soup.

In summer any fruit on the turn gets whizzed with yoghurt and poured into an ice lolly mould - less food wastage, kids love it and eating fruit, cheaper than shop bought ice lollies, win win win.

We do that with fruit in the summer too. I also have a box in the freezer for chopped bananas (either overripe or ones that ds has insisted he wanted and then not eaten) which we use to make cakes and things.
I breadcrumb stale bread and add it to the breadcrumb bag in the freezer too then us it for things like stuffing.

Dd has fresh uniform every day. It's not expensive its sainsburys bought when 25% off. I work full time so shes in it from 7am till bedtime. I also only buy new uniform when she needs it, not all new for the start of the school year. I size up too so it lasts longer. All gets washed friday night and hung up on hangers.

Dry clothes on hangers. I dont even own an iron. I have pull out 'instahangers' over a heater in our utility room. Clothes are barely creased and a full load dries in an hour. In summer I hang the hangers on the arms of a rotary airer in the garden. Also quicker to bring in when it starts raining.

Put up coat hooks low down underneath the coat rack so smalls can hang up own coats and bags etc.

Full set of bed linen in pillowcases. I also have two piles of towels incl. Bath mats, hand towels and flannels which get alternated each week.

Here’s a few that’s made my life exponentially easier.

Follow the TOMM cleaning thing. One room one day, 30 mins max. It’s brilliant.

For the baby, I fold her outfits together and wash together. So top an leggings get folded together then washed together then folded together again. Saves searching got suitable matching articles.

I do the same for uniform, jumper and top are folded together. All are in a kallax box with a small box of pants and socks (also folded together). He just has to grab a couple of things each morning.

Meal plan, batch cook, utilise you’re slow cooker.

Train older kids to put their stuff away straight away. Shoes and coat go away as soon as we get in. Before more toys come out, the last one goes away. Bowl of cereal finished? In the dishwasher it goes.

Train older kids on their morning routine. My 6 year old gets up, gets his breakfast, brushes his teeth, gets dressed, and does his bedroom jobs (make bed, open curtains, turn nightlight off, pjs away, floor clear) with minimal prompting. He knows he can’t watch tv until all is done. I started this as soon as he started school, he’s now a pro! And his own bedroom jobs make him feel grown up and responsible.

Online shopping. Food shop isn’t delivered because I take my Nan shopping each week, but I click and collect mine so I don’t have to do mine at the same time. Anything I can get on Amazon Prime, I do.

Sweeping brush and mop upstairs in the airing cupboard with cleaning products so I’m not wandering up and down when I’m cleaning the bathroom or the bedrooms.

Kallax cubes are amazing. I literally have one in every room. Each kid has one for toys in the living room. They have one for extra toys plus board games in the conservatory. We all have one for hats/gloves/scarves/baby blankets in the conservatory.
I have one with dishwasher tabs, laundry stuff in the kitchen, one for baby milk and food, one for random electronics, school uniform box, outdoor bbq stuff, crafts box, bibs and wipes. SO useful.

I also keep calpol, ibuprofen, thermometer upstairs for emergencies.

Emergency bottle of ready made milk upstairs in case baby randomly needs and extra feed in the night.

Double up on bedding with a puppy pad in between in case of accidents.

Keep a list of birthdays organised by month, then buy all next months cards in one go.

You can make lots of shopping lists on the ASDA website (can probably do on others too!) so I can add a whole meals worth of ingredients to my basket without searching for them every time.

It takes more time to begin with, but teaching your kids to do stuff alongside you like making toast, loading the washing machine and turning it on, etc means they’ll be able to do it alone sooner. My 6yo can make toast, put a wash load on, hoover, and wipes the table down after he’s eaten by himself. And I trust him to do it competently and safely because I talk to him about dangers etc when I’m doing it. He’s so helpful and he doesn’t even realise it. In his head, he’s loving being such a grown up. In a pinch he could change the baby’s nappy if I really needed him to (but I don’t intend on actually getting him to do it before anyone shouts at me!)

Buy a couple of emergency presents every so often so if a birthday does creep up on you, you’ve got a suitable game for a child or bottle of wine for an adult stashed away.

In the boot of my car I keep spare nappies, pack of wipes, ready made formula, coat, blanket, bottles of water, change of clothes. Just in case.

Download all of the parking apps and store your car details and card details. Saves so much time when out and about.

I got fed up with my DH watching sport on the TV and not pitching in so now I give him all the laundry to sort and fold. We are both happy as he watches loads more sport and I haven't folded a t-shirt for 2 years

For those who have pets, you can remove fur/hairs more easily when you put on rubber gloves and stroke them off the bedding, sofas etc.

Sounds like women only work here! But what the heck.

Let the man do his thing.

For pet hairs I saw something on FB so ordered it. Well it is magic. I have a large one and a travel one. It takes the pet hairs off the sides of chairs and elsewhere. Off clothes better than anything I have ever tried. Cannot find the same one again but something similar on Amazon. Believe Lakeland sell them too OXO product. You just shove it back in the case once or twice and voila it is clean again, just empty the case.

www.amazon.co.uk/OXO-Grips-FurLifter-Furniture-Brush/dp/B01DF316EW?th=1&ref_=ast_sto_dp&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I am amazed at the women's work.

I would not do it alone. But maybe women are conditioned to be the carer/cook/laundry/sorter etc. While the hunter gatherer goes out to do REAL work ok.

FK that. If you take it on it is a rod for your own back.

Men really get away with lots.

Am I wrong?

On the beach, dust feet with talc and the sand just brushes off.

I LOVE this thread!!!

some useful tips here