Let's start a thread of just random advise / hacks

[washingmachineslivelongerwithcalgon]

No specific topic, just great advise you'd give.

Keep it simple.
(Apologies, I didn't know which other category to put this under that would gain traction)

I'll go first:

• don't sweat the petty stuff, & don't pet the sweaty stuff.
• if you can't open a food jar, pierce the top to get the air out and it opens right up!
• drizzle a tablespoon of marmite into the cooking fat before you roast your potatoes (and drizzle some over the spuds)
• if you don't have egg cups, use shot glasses
• hair spray gets most things out of carpets. (Learnt this when staying at a boyfriends house as a teen and dropped lipstick. Blind panic and hairspray saved me!) used it ever since, in emergency situations.

For a fussy dog….I have started to make my own dog food out of mince, marrow fat peas and pasta. (Still use dry food as well).

i buy large tins of pilchards from Asda for the cat £130 for 400g (she gets dry as well).

Easy soup from onion, veg stock and large bag of frozen peas. (Blended)

teens love the air fryer.

Meal in minutes…Tesco finest fish cakes (air fryer for 7 mins) with a poached egg on top served with salad. Crack the egg into a large mug of boiling water and microwave for 1 min. Saves on dirtying pot.

iron less.

dunelm mill’s ‘dear curtains’ are like curtains the would cost £100s on. If you order online you can add option of black out thermal linings

i buy large tins of pilchards from Asda for the cat £130 for 400g (she gets dry as well).
I love DCat but I don't love her that much

Here's a site that is not in the USA, in fact this is in the UK so I think it is more relevant

@sashh, but if you use brown paper, you can reuse it or compost it, which is much better than recycling.
I recycle as much as I can, but I don't recycle if I can re-use or compost it.

@OnAPostItNote Don't microwave eggs! They can explode! And if you put it in boiling water, you're increasing the risk of scalding water shooting at your face 😬

If it’s a bigger amount of blood put in cold water with masses of table salt and rub and soak.

Crack the egg into a large mug of boiling water and microwave for 1 min. Saves on dirtying pot.
and gives you a cracking excuse to give the microwave a spring clean.
The yolk will explode.

It works out much cheaper than regular cat food. Even the most expensive pouches. Based on weigh.

weight.

@OnAPostItNote I assume £130 for 400g is a typo then

I'd have thought so.
Glenryck Pilchards in Tomato Sauce - ASDA Groceries

Hard to do in a shop before you buy it though!

Brown paper and pretty ribbons is a great idea, thank you.

Hot weather hair style - wet hair in the shower and brush, then apply a bit of leave in conditioner/hair mask and twist up into a bun while still wet. Secure with a hair band and two clips. Your hair will stay nice all day and you will not get a sweaty head from wearing a hat.

I've always remembered this helpful spelling tip:

Separate has A RAT in it

Saves you from the dreaded 'seperate'!

OOh - another spelling one:

Stationery - paper and pens etc (has a 'e' as in 'letter)

Stationary - as in still, immobile (has an 'a' as in 'car')

These have always helped me.

I just remember E is for envelope!

As an alternative to wrapping paper, use scraps of material… to secure around gift, just put in a line of tacking stitches.

More wrapping ones. If you're trying to be more ecological about your wrapping IKEA wrapping paper is all recyclable (I think). They also sell raffia/string which is also recyclable.

If you don't want to use IKEA wrapping paper it is worth it (unless wrapping HUGE presents or for children or adults who just rip the paper off) to buy good quality thicker paper and to measure and cut carefully to make the most of it. Our local garden centre sells some really beautiful designs in paper like this, some double-sided, and I have bought far less gift wrapping paper this year.

Wrapping something carefully in nice paper can make an inexpensive present look special. (And yes - I do realise that not all of us have the time and energy to do that).

Here's my failsafe method of tidying a room when you just feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start. I taught my kids this when they had to tidy their bedrooms:

First place an old sheet/throw on the bed to protect it form dust.

Next, take everything off the shelves, floor, surfaces, windowsill and just put it on the bed - don't waste time assessing it at this stage.

The room will become clear pretty quickly, so the next stage is to dust and vacuum. This gives a really rapid return for your effort and is motivating.

Then (with duster/damp cloth in hand) evaluate all the stuff on the bed and categorise 3 ways: 1) replace correctly 2) charity shop bag 3) landfill bag.

You will get a result quickly and feel you've sorted your life out too!

If you need to add syrup, honey, treacle etc to dry ingredients and don't want to get your measuring spoon all sticky, use the measuring spoon to make the right size indent in the dry stuff (e.g. flour/sugar/oats), then pour the sticky stuff directly into the little hole you've made.

You bloody genius!

My ones:

Make a list on your phone notepad of all the things you packed for your holiday that remained unused. And another list of all the things you had to buy on holiday because you forgot to pack that same thing you have at home.
The following year, use these lists to help you pack better.

When struggling to get motivated cleaning, pretend you are a home organisation guru and that you're filming for your You Tube channel.

Have a recipe app on your phone with all your recipes so that the next time you are in Asda you can quickly look up quantities and only buy what you need.

Have a shopping app and add something to it as soon as it runs out. That way you know what you need and don't buy the wrong thing.

If you (like me) put your bra on by clipping the hooks in front of you and twisting around to normal, and if you find that after a shower/bath it is impossible to twist it around again because skin is a bit slippery - then put on your knickers, clasp bra over knickers at the front, twist bra around the knickers and voila, easy peasy and no struggle.

Sorry for the long sentence there.

Do the thing that makes you happy! I paid to get my nails done yesterday.. they will make me smile every time I look at them for the next four ish weeks. That might be someone else’s waste of money, but - if you can find it in the budget - doing the little thing that will make you smile is a good investment.

I’m going to try that, mine is horrible!

How big is your freezer? We have like 5-6 bags of food scraps by bin day.

Cutting a pomegranate... cut one top of. Cut down the white pith lines. Then break apart in a bowl of water and take out all the seeds in the water. The pith will float to the top. Easy to take out and no red stains everywhere!