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!

@cricketmum84 it’s ridiculous isn’t it! My mum knows that when she stays here the bedding will not be ironed and she’s fine with that, it’s just her own home that has to be perfect. I’m sure that she resents raising a slattern 😂

I don’t get the bin bag thing either. You’re still spending the same amount of time putting each bin bag in so there’s no time being saved, just moved around.

A damp sock over your hand to clean blinds works a treat. I wet then spray with cleaner (a mixture of water, white vinegar and tea tree oil). Not time saving but effective.

I never wear matching socks.

I organised my work clothes on a Sunday so I put every outfit on a hanger to the right and just pick off as I go each day. No faffing with what to wear.

Put a hook on the back of high chair for bibs. Handy to grab!

Dump bags for the slow cooker are great if you’re having a busy day. As is batch cooking as other PPs suggested.

Bedding, one thing that I learned here is a complete game changer for me. When you wash bedding put all the dried components for one bed into a pillow, that way you have a whole bed to hand when it comes to changing the bed.

I love this because I was always trying to work out which sheet or duvet cover I needed for which bed, having a whole beds worth of linen in one pillowcase not only saves time but it also saves the immense stress associated with changing bed linen.

I’ve thought of another one! If I’m cooking potatoes or rice I add a few eggs when the water comes to a boil, when the spuds or rice are cooked I then also have perfect hard boiled eggs that will last at least 5 days in a Tupperware, perfect for lunches or snacks.

The massive change that I’ve made is not washing so much, me and DH work from home and are very sedentary, DH insists that his tee shirts are washed with each wear. They honestly don’t need that so I take them off the floor (tut) fold them up and put them in the airing cupboard lol 😂

If there’s a reasonable amount left over from a meal I bag it and pop it in the freezer. Once every couple of weeks I take out all the bits and we have “eating up tea” . No work and surprisingly popular!

The bin liner thing.... the whole roll lives in the bottom of the bin, so you just take the full bag out and pull the new one up.

My tip is to have a useful husband.

I was always confused as to why my life seemed easier than women's, realised it's because their husbands do literally, or next to, nothing.

I'm being 100% serious. If your husband is a useless wanker, ditch him or go to therapy til he's useful.

Delegate. DS6 loves hoovering with the cordless hoover and earns 20p.

Buy birthday presents in advance when you see them and pop in a drawer. Bulk buy brown parcel paper to use as wrapping paper--add ribbon if it needs brightening up. Bulk buy 29p cards from Home Bargains. I get 20 at once. Keep all the above in a drawer with scissors.

When cooking chicken Kiev, pop a slice of bread under each one on the tray. The bread mops up the garlic butter to make instant garlic bread and the tray is a lot less sticky and easy to clean.

Frozen chopped veg is a game changer. Onion, chargrilled mixed veg (lovely with couscous and feta), mixed peppers. Frozen cherries are delicious heated in the microwave and served with creme fraiche.

For easy lasagne defrost a batch of bolognese sauce you made another day, layer it between soaked lasagne sheets and cream cheese, sprinkle grated cheese on top, shove in the oven.

Small one but whatever meal I’m making at night I freeze 1 or 2 portions for my son (21 months) so I always have meals for him if I don’t have time to cook! Also do the jacket potato thing!

Decluttering is helping a lot to keep things running smoothly. I scoop up outgrown clothes and shoes every few weeks and shove in a bin liner for the charity shop. I try not to have too many clothes for the DCs now they are at school, except extra t shirts and shorts for holidays. Both get a big pack of pants for their birthday 🎂😂 amongst other things of course!

I have a big box downstairs where all the drawings and colouring books can be shoved at the end of the day. Every school holiday we sort through it and they choose what to keep and stick on their bedroom wall. The rest goes into recycling. They usually find an activity book or sticker book in there which entertains them for a while during the holidays.

I've trained the DCs to strip their beds on their own and shove the sheets in the washing machine. They can't really get it wrong and it's half the job done.

• always buy kids clothes in the sales never buy full price
• supermarket brand clothing for kids are as good quality as the high streets

I don’t sort socks. At the moment everyone has their own type of plain coloured socks except dd who has multi coloured ones. It takes her 2 seconds to find a matching pair. Everyone else can just reach blindly into a drawer and pull out two socks. And I’m saving them the time of unrolling them

My iron is set up on the counter beside my drier and as I unload the drier I quickly do hems and collars as needed and fold or hang. I hang shirts to dry onto hangers on a drying rack.

The thing about over-ironing is that it’s not good housekeeping anymore. Back before tumble driers, modern detergent and central heating it was how you ensured clothes were dry and disinfected. You had to iron underwear and tea towels but now it’s inefficient and environmentally irresponsible.

Spring cleaning made sense at the end of the coal fire season when the house was properly filthy and needed deep cleaning and a good airing but nowadays it’s not needed. Just moving the furniture and getting into corners now and then, all year round is enough. It’s important to see jobs for what their purpose was rather than as a perfectionist standard to beat ourselves with.

I keep a roll of bin bags in every single bin. I don’t have the head scratching moment of wondering whether this roll is the big ones or the small ones, or forget to bring a bag upstairs and find a lovely yucky mess in the bin later.

I keep toilet cleaner and spray cleaner beside every toilet in our mansion Couldn’t do that when the dc were younger obviously but it’s so quick to wipe up a stain or spill.

I have an old school magnetic shopping list pad on the fridge and my family are trained to write on it anytime they open a new package, tin or carton (except milk which is delivered).

I write on my freezer door with dry erase marker, what’s inside, shelf by shelf. I can see where things are without rummaging and what’s running low. I found dry erase pens with a wiper on the lid which are even better as I don’t end up with blue fingers as often.

I like to cook something in my slow cooker on a Sunday, then stick it in the fridge and heat up for tea on a Monday night. We have to be out of the house by 7am and don’t get back until 5:30 ish so it’s great having a dinner cooked without having to leave the slow cooker on for 11 hours.

Frozen pre-cut onions.

Oh some of these are absolute genius. Why have I never thought of them! I absolutely love this! The bin bags! I HATE grating garlic because of the mess and the faff but could get on board with doing it all in one go and freezing it for sure.

I think I am going to order a dry erase board for the freezer and write what’s in it, I feel like I spend at least an hour a week looking in it!

@littlemisssugarpuffs I buy all clothes and basically everything else in the sales/second hand.

Fuck paying 50 quid for something that's reduced to 25 a month or two later.

If you are grating cheese, grate the full block and freeze what's left for readymade grated cheese.

If you are peeling veg for something, including potatoes, peel whatever you need for the next day and pop it in the fridge well covered with water.

Have some leftover recipes. If you have a roast chicken on a Sunday, buy a bigger one and use the leftovers for fajitas or something. Or soup if there is only a bit.

B and M, the poundshops, Home bargains etc all sell much cheaper biscuits, cereal bars, snacky stuff. Go in payday, buy enough for the month then separate into a weeks supply and hide the rest. That way you don't end up on week 3 with a pack of rich tea left and no kitkats.

Mealplan utilising leftovers. So make a double batch of bolognese and do 1 week spag bol, 1 week lasagne or turn it into a chilli.

Eggs are a really cheap way to fill everyone up. I do Mexican eggs as a teatime meal. Warm your wraps in a dry frying pan, add scrambled eggs and I usually buy one of those tex mex dip trays. Add whatever sauces they want, roll and serve with rice or chips or wedges. My fussy fuckers love it.

If you have some bits of veg knocking about like a pepper, some cherry tomatoes, a courgette etc wang them in a tray with a red onion and roast. When they are done add a squirt of tomato puree and a ball of mozzarella cheese then melt the cheese. Stir through pasta for a cheap and cheerful roast veg pasta sauce.

Do 1 room a day properly. Do windows 1 week, pull furniture out and do corners and skirts another. My 6 year old dusts my skirting boards for stars for his pocket money. Hoover and mop all way through once a week. Everyone puts their own clothes away and keeps their own rooms tidy. Wipe the fridge out before you go shopping and tidy food cupboard as well. Makes it easier to out everything away.

Also give less fucks. If you eat biege food a few nights a week it doesn't matter, just chuck some fruit at them. If your house isn't pristine it doesn't matter. If you are knackered and want a takeaway it doesn't matter. Just do your best, be productive as much as you can and the rest of the time it really doesn't matter as long as you arent living in squalor.

pumpkinpie01

I have a sock drawer, they used to be in a basket but I decided I didn't want to look at them anymore so I dedicated a drawer to them. After they are washed and dried, I gather them all up in a big pile and dump them (cram them) in the drawer. Dp made a complaint about it a while ago, I told him he he wants to start pairing them he is very welcome. Funnily enough, he hasn't done it yet

The massive change that I’ve made is not washing so much, me and DH work from home and are very sedentary, DH insists that his tee shirts are washed with each wear. They honestly don’t need that so I take them off the floor (tut) fold them up and put them in the airing cupboard lol

But surely that's the very opposite of saving time, why are you having anything to do with picking up after another adult?

I forgot to say. When you are making mash, do the whole bag of potatoes and freeze some.

*And also give less fucks
*
This! ^

We have pads in the kitchen for shopping lists. The rule is if it's running out write it down otherwise don't moan. You will also need a pot of pens. I also wash pillowcases in with the lights twice a week rather than a full bed change every time.

Wash clothes less often, iron the bare minimum, wear odd socks. All makes life a lot easier.

Meal planning, online grocery shopping and using my Alexa to add things to the shopping list just before I run out. I select a previous order and modify it for the things that I need this week and then go into my Alexa App and add in those items that are in my shopping list. It's now become a good habit to do it this way and it means I'm not having to pop into Tesco to get stuff (and more stuff on top of that).