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!

Bulk out mince for cottage pie with lentils. Makes it taste lovely and two pies for one this way.
I grew lots of tomatoes in the summer and made passata.
When lemons or limes start looking a bit naff I slice them up, open freeze and then pop them in a tub ready for gin and tonic.
Save chicken carcasses in the freezer and then use them to make chicken stock. My daughters save me theirs.
Im trying to label stuff in the freezer but we do have several bags of brown stuff of unknown origin at the moment.

I love the chicken Kiev garlic bread idea!

But can’t get onboard with boiling eggs in the same pan as pasta or rice, sorry.

Things that make our life easier...

Sets of bedding inside a pillow case

Teach DC to change bedding/set table/clear table etc. at an early age

Batch cooking different soups for lunches to take to work

Have things where you need to use them. E.g each bathroom has cleaning stuff in it, iron has been moved to bedroom so clothes get put away as soon as ironed

Box that has all our travel essentials in one place - passports, phone chargers, packing cubes, credit card that only gets used abroad, bottle opener and mini speaker.

Everything has a place - we have shelving that has dedicated boxes for screwdrivers, spare batteries and bulbs, stationery etc.

All instructions for everything in one box.

reduce weekly laundry and long term wear & tear on clothes by establishing principles with which clothes can be re-worn (no visible food or mud stains, no armpit smell, pants&socks are never re-worn)

make sure the kids are pulling their weight. it is good parenting to ensure they have basic survival skills so they should be doing things like learning how to unstack and restack the dishwasher, load and set off the washing machine, make a couple of simple meals, and tidy up after themselves.

I think having a place for everything and putting it back there, makes a massive difference.

Deux
The rubber band from a glove idea - genius!
My ones to share -

when flying on hols is put a strip of washi tape or the white tape for decorating, on the back of each passport. Then use a sharpie to write the owners first name on. That way when harassed in an airport and heading for check in/security wherever you can easily see whose is whose and pop boarding cards in the corresponding passport. Every little bit of calm helps in an airport, I find . Oh and once you've packed your hand luggage back flat fold a reusable canvas bag and pop on the top for your airside shopping etc. Or if your like me and precious about your new leather jacket still, you can get you pop it in the bag once boarded so it doesn't get knackered in the overhead lockers.

If you keep your plastic storage tubs in a drawer in your kitchen, store on their side. That way it's easier to see what you have than when they're on top of each other.

I do the multiple bin bag thing ... I find it's a hack because I only give the actual inside of the bin cylinder a clean every time the last bag comes out IYSWIM? I still clean the rim (that's what she said ) each time a bag comes out though and the inside of the lid every time too. Oh and you know the plastic wrappers from apples, multi crisp bag packs? I cut those up and line the bottom of the bin before bagging it up and also at the bottom of each bag so if anything leaks or a bag splits it's less likely to make the entire bin manky.

If anyone has a hack for how to clean the inside of a wheelie bin thoroughly I'd be grateful. There's a chap locally who does it but you have to commit to a fortnightly clean which I don't need.

I'm by no means an organised goddess but these have definitely helped me:

1. Meal plan. I have 5 lots of weekly meal plans that I alternate. It stops us eating the same things and a whole set of weeks meals are pre-done. I get the shopping delivered as well. Ain't nobody got time to be going to the shop anymore.

2. make sure all direct debits are set up. On payday, first thing, I transfer savings and make sure any additional payments are made that may be needed.

3. Put a wash load on in the evening and take it out the following morning to dry. It stops the washing piling up.

4. buy precut veg, it's more expensive but totally worth it.

5. I'm not very good at saving money, probably because I do things like number 4

@BitterAndTwistedChoreDodger

always buy the bigger mince.often cheapr and then use the leftover for next days meal.
cook chicken on the evening.then its in the fridge for the next day so you can either take the meat of for a dish or have it cold with jackets and salad.easy tea sorted and is great for when you know you have a day where everyone is busy so noone can cook.
seperate basket for uniform so you can never miss something at the bottom of the usual one!and make it clear this is the only place you will be looking for it.
bags packed the night before.
coats hung up.
get them cooking.dont make it a chore make it something to start love doing.it sreally really helps with everything from cooking for learning to being better at making good food choices.
when you hang clothes up on the clothes horse put it in front of the radiator.it gets it dry so much quicker and makes the room smell lovely. this is especailly lovely if you have a radiator at the bottom of the stairs.it floats up throughout the night.
mac and cheese with salmon on the bottom gets them liking fish!
always put an open melon in a bowl in the fridge.
wilkos floor wipesare the gods of all things cleaning.
boiled water from the kettle is your helper.for cooking and for getting hob cleaning.and for dishes.
hang your ironing board up with two coat hooks.

Builder's hoover for £50 not a house hoover. Faster, cheaper.

Brothel sheets if you're ill: two layers of sheets and duvet covers, strip one set for instant clean sheets when you start to feel better.

We have a calendar in the downstairs toilet where we write anything important on. I also have a birthday book I bought years ago that has a page for each month with a pouch for cards. I write birthdays and names on each page, then try to in January get suitable cards for the year to put in each pouch. Also have a drawer with wrapping paper.

Meal plan – it took me a long time but I put together a spreadsheet whit a list of 5 meals per week (leaving 2 nights out as we might be eating out/have take away/eat leaftovers etc). I stick to the list so I know the variety is good as I made sure to have the meals balanced for fish/egg/meat. Then I only buy the ingredients for those meals and I cook/prep them all at once during the weekend. We have nice dinners every day in no time. No waste, relatively cheap and super quick to be on the table as they often only need reheat or assemble or quick cooking, depending on what we are having.
Small leftovers in freezer – fruit eventually ends up in smoothies and veg in soups
Freeze half jars rather than keep them open in the fridge to get mouldy
Prepare everything for baby the evening before: nursery bag with changes, clothes for the day ahead
Got a cheap bottle warmer and plugged in next to cot. I then put in a full bottle of milk before I go to bed and it’s so much quicker and easier to give it to baby when he wakes up at night. No need to go downstairs and risk to fully wake baby while waiting.
Save most food plastic bags (from cereals, bread etc) and reuse them at least once to wrap other food. Never bought disposable food bags.
One washing machine load every night with timer set to start at midday the following day. We have solar panels and it’s cheap/free to use anything electric during the day.
Stewed apples in the microwave. I then use them to be added to cereals in the morning (for the baby) or overnight oats.
Online grocery shop.
Spray a surface and let the spray work for at least few minutes before wiping vs wipe immediately after spraying. Sounds basic but it took me several decades to figure out! Now hobs, sinks and any surface in my house is VERY clean with minimal effort.

I love these threads.

This is very bad from an environmental POV but I have a ‘wipe cleaning’ system whereby I blitz any obvious dust in a room with a few baby wipes.

One I read on here was all hats/scarfs/gloves in a bag (ideally with dividers/pockets) by the front door.

I love cooking. I invested a bit of time on expanding my repertoire of recipes that i could get on the table in less than 30 mins. Lots of cookbooks out there, but remember that Jamie lies his arse off about this. I found this one brilliant.

www.amazon.co.uk/Donals-Meals-Minutes-suppers-scratch/dp/1473674263/ref=nodl_?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Oh and I freeze all left overs in child sized portions so that if needs be I can get a meal ready for the kids in 5 mins

Only do the school bags in the car thing if you have a garage. I dream of doing this, but we have to park on the road so can only get them ready in the hall the night before lest we get up to a smashed car window.

If making sandwiches do a loaf's worth at a time and bag up in portions e.g. one round for a littlie or two rounds for older kids / adults. It makes pack ups easier to pull together, having juice cartons and yoghurt tubes frozen ready helps to keep lunches cool and stops people nicking items bought for packed lunches as snacks.

My mother used to freeze sandwiches for the week.

That might be taking it too far though.

My tips are mainly about keeping on top of the house so it never gets to that "omg it's a shit tip, where do I even start?" stage...

• Never leave a room empty handed. There is always something that needs removing/binning... whether it's an empty cup, a sweet wrapper, something that belongs in another room etc...

• Only handle it once / don't put it down, put it away. Eg. as soon as you come in the house, put your shoes/coat away right away. Saves the dumping them in the hall (or wherever) and then having to go back later to move them to the correct place.

• Clear/tidy as you go when cooking. Makes cleaning up at the end SO much easier & quicker.

• Give your hob a wipe every single night whether you think it looks dirty or not. Stops it ever getting to the stage where you have to scrub it. Literally takes 2-3 minutes a night.

• Wipe around the bathroom, loo, sink etc... every single day. Takes 5 minutes and saves the having to scrub the bathroom for hours scenario. Of course it needs to be clean before you start this but once you keep on top of it, it's a life changer lol.

tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz - for the wheelie bin, this what I do but only about twice a year when the weather’s good.

I turn the bin on it’s side and use the garden sweeping brush to get any wrappers or bits out. I then turn it upright and put a couple of buckets of hot water and some fairy liquid in. Leave it for a while then I use the mop to clean it. I kept the last old mop head from my Vileda mop and use it. I’ve got a path down the side of the house with a drain so I tip the bin over again to get the water out.

I have stopped using the dishwasher unless using lots of dishes. It is quicker to wash up a cup and a few plates in the sink and put them away, than load and unload a dishwasher with lots of bits.

I do homemade pasties for the kids' packed lunches instead of sandwiches

I alternate between chicken curry and cheese and onion, using leftovers from Sunday dinner - so one week we'll have mash with Sunday dinner and I'll make extra - mix with cream cheese, pepper, mustard, grated cheddar and loads of chopped spring onions, then put in puff pastry and bake. Then the next week we'll have roast chicken - hive off one of the breasts and some of the brown meat, add curry spices/chickpeas/yoghurt/chicken stock cube/sometimes curry sauce left over from a previous meal, put in puff pastry and bake. I cool and bag up the pasties and leave them in a tin in the fridge for the kids to help themselves all week.

poster DisinterestedParty Fri 24-Jan-20 03:14:31 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.

^^ This, absolutely

@Retroflex I've been trying to explain this to my husband for years!! He seems to think patterned socks are harder to match and always cursed me for having multi coloured socks!

Ooh thanks Deux! Agree it's a nice weather job so I'll try your suggestion.

If your DC are old enough, a plastic laundry basket for each family member with their name written on in indelible ink. All clean dry laundry goes into their basket and is given back to them to put away.

For a money saving tip, google micro investing. Fab and loads of fun.