Simple things that I should have done years ago to make life easier

[malificent7]

My lovely cat has been waking us up at 5/6am for 6 years.
Last night I had the genius idea of closing the lounge door so she couldn't come to our room.
Hence we slept longer. Why did I not think of this earlier? I love cat snuggles but love a lie in more.

Am I thick or does anyone have similar stories?

A kitchen should have 2 dishwashers, one clean crockery and cutlery, one dirty

my friend has 3 teenage sons and DH, all roughly same size so colour coded socks pants and basic tees and if possible sportswear. DS1 black DS2 grey Ds3 navy blue, DH mainly lighter blue or patterned black/grey, white school shirts sharpie initials on label but she didn't bother if had wrong shirt

We all have lots of the same socks but different from each other, so DS has 12 pairs of grey sports socks, DD has 10 pairs of much smaller grey ankle socks etc. makes life much easier.

Only problem is now me and DD have similar underwear and neither of us is willing to change. It means I have to check the volume of material on each pair of pants as hers are considerably smaller than mine!

I have two washing baskets, one smaller one for whites and a big one for everything else. I do the washing but then everyone's washing gets put into their own basket and they take it upstairs and put it away themselves.

Dishwasher goes on twice a day and doesn't have to be completely full, this still feels wild and reckless but really helps.

The main thing for us was a massive declutter and DH isn't allowed to be in charge of any storage area now as he can't be trusted.

When I hang a hanger on the line I clip a peg next to it on the downwards slant then it doesn’t slide.
have a sock and pant hanger which is a space and time saver and I can hang anywhere to dry( kids swing in summer and on to radiator in winter)

A room with a bed/chair, scratcher, water, litter tray/s (and a radio) and a hard floor in case of protests works for us.

My old boy used to yell at the same time every day to get me up, but it was the time I used to feed him, not the time he wanted to be fed. We both knew where we stood. Subsequent cats have also had a room of their own at night, the one they had when they moved in and were settling in.

I had one that didn't wake me, because she was still snuggled with me until we both got up.

I thought of this little gem two Christmas' ago and thought I was a genius!!! 😂

Trust me, you will never look back!

Yes and don’t buy cheap tape in a sale! Go with proper Sellotape all the way.

PicaK this dishwasher 'hack' reminds me of the hilarious tips in the Viz mag years ago....!

This is what we do! My husband bought a massive Christmas tree storage bag last year so we didn’t have to fight with the crappy box anymore and ANYTHING Christmas-related goes in it. It’s in the garage outside so if I find anything around the house throughout the year that’s Christmassy I go out to the garage and chuck it in there.

We found we were throwing things out in the fridge as we could never remember when it had been opened. Bought a permanent marker and put it beside the fridge. Now as soon as a pack of ham or houmous etc is opened we scribble the date on it. Completely reduced our food wastage as it also draws the eye to what needs used first.

After this, we also bought a label machine and stick a label all leftovers that go in the freezer. Has saved us a fortune!

My friend actually has this…. 2 half ones in drawer format, stacked on top of each other.

😂

Just bin the stuff

I had a frying pan that kept sticking. One day I just walked outside and dumped the pan, complete with omelette in the bin and bought a new one

Dry clean only top that has been sat at the bottom of the laundry basket for 10 months. If I've not bothered to wear or have it cleaned in that time.. binned it

The only thing I am sentimental about really is photos. Take photos of the certificates/artwork etc, you can always then get a photo book made into categories and have "holiday/X artwork/X certificates" then you've just got a small photo book instead of loads of paperwork
You could even do it by year of school or age, I have photo books of pets etc

I'm entertained by your in-depth knowledge of the pants of your friend's DH!

I number School uniform jumpers and polos so I know if one is missing (5 of each, but they are never in the same place, so if I can’t find No 3 I know to ask school).
instead of buying bulky cleaning products I now buy the dissolving tablets - it uses up so much less space.

Plus frozen garlic , chilli and ginger. Gamechangers. Especially the garlic!

Hanger on the line with a peg keeping it in place. No need to buy more plastic.

I tried this with my cat and she ended up with a bloody nose from trying to get out, and pulled up the carpet so the door wouldn't open. Now back to having her on the bed - they aren't in your life for long, so would rather cat cuddles than a sad cat.

Re dishwashers organising the cupboards so you empty the dishwasher into cupboards next to it.

Or as I read on another MN post, Ben Fogle has 4 dishwashers, so I guess just uses them as cupboards and rotates them?!

I just hang the hangers on the line and secure with a peg or a clip to stop them slipping.

I pull the top layer of the dishwasher out to empty it, so it drips on the door, not the clean stuff underneath.

I stopped peeling potatoes for mash. I microwave them and remove the skins afterwards, then mash.

My cat has worked out how to ring her own little doorbell. We have a microchip cat flap, which clicks when it unlocks. She doesn’t want to come in the cat flap, she wants to use the people door. She sticks her head in the tube bit made by the hole in the wall for the cat flap and it clicks. She then peers through the glass door next to it hopefully, repeating the process until someone lets her in

My tape cutter. You turn the daisy wheel and the thing that looks like the paddle on a water wheel delivers the tape cut into small strips. It does other things too, which are probably game changing but I have never worked out what they are.

@badger2005she told me that's how she stopped launder getting mixed up, but still 😃