What do you do to make your life easier?

Hope2008

2013 is going to be all about making my life easier so thatI have more time to enjoy things.

Off the top of my head, here are a few things I’ve alreadystarted doing:
· Long gone are the days where I’d get my haircoloured at the hairdressers, pop to the beauty salon for a wax/massage/facial/nails.With 3 children under 5 I don’t have the time and definitely don’t have themoney anymore. So Friday night is my pamper night I have a long bath, bodyscrub, face mask, do my legs, nails, colour my hair (if needed) etc. To makethis easier I have a ‘pamper’ wash bag which has body scrub, face mask, nailvarnish remover, nail polish, nail file, toe separators, hair band, etc. Itmeans I don’t have to spend time running round looking for everything and Iactually feel relaxed.
· I have a desk tidy with a good stock of pens,envelopes, note pads, stamps, birthday cards, etc. It makes me feel reallyorganised.
· I know this one sounds a bit sad but when I’dpack away the Christmas decs I’d almost always include my Christmas card listso when the following December came round I’d have to wait until we took thedecs down from the loft before I could make a start writing cards. Last year Iput it all in an excel spreadsheet and now it’s so easy for me to access it. I’mplanning on adding all addresses this year so I can print off the addresses aslabels next Christmas!
· I’ve converted an old chest into a shoe box and boughta coat rack with shelf for the hallway. In the winter we have all thehats/gloves/scarves on the shelf and then in the summer we swap it forsunglasses/hats/sun lotion.

So what do you do to make your life easier? It can be big orsmall. All tips (however obvious) are gratefully appreciated.

Rossy2692

Do things myself saves me soooooo much time as i do it right first time! :P

red_devil

get the cards half price for next christmas so i always have a stock.

WantToBeSE

Ii have copied and pasted this, which is what i wrote in a similar thread, its the best thing i have done to stay orgainised!:

Oh, a quick tip for all of those with school age children who wear uniform to school.
Have a 'Uniform bag' that you keep in the same place all the time (mine is just a morrisons reusable bag-nothing special).
Put ALL clean uniform, plus 5 pairs of sock and pants per child into the bag on a Sunday, and then you never have to rush around in the mornings looking for clean unifrom/underwear for the kids
As soon as any uniform is clean and dried, it goes into the bag, so on a Sunday i just have to put the underwear in.

I also have a whiteboard that i use to mark out my week, to see what i have planned,when money comes in/goes out, my meal plan etc. I have a blog post about it, if anyone wants to check out my blog

loubylou35

Well, my simple things are meal planning, (which i have let slip over recent months) But I am going to get back on track, I hate not knowing what I am cooking.

I have certain days when I do things ( Iguess it depend how often you do these jobs!)
I wash all the bedsheets at the beginning of the month I used to just do them whenever, but I find having a system helps.
I clean the whole house properly on a Friday, then a flick over on a Monday.( and vacc etc as needs)
I keep a stock of presents and birthday cards in the cupboard,(from the sales often) it makes party planning much easier and I don't always have to rush out to spend alot on a certain gift.
I am trying to train the kids to put things away but IU fear this is a loosing battle!! haha

Jinx

Im another who has a 'stock' of birthday cards

Dresses for work are non-iron, wash, shake, hang up to dry

Also re clothes, all my basics in external wear are black or red eg have handbags, scarves, boots and shoes in black and red - so no hassle matching colours.

Menu plan and shop weekly

Trying to minimise the toiletries I have - looking to have only bottles of the stuff I love. Have baskets in our cupboard with the stores of shower gels etc, see at a glance what needs replaced

bluebag

I have a couch, for a nap after dinner, helps me no end. I recommend it.

Honeythief

I make my lunch and lay out my clothes the night before rather than scrabbling round in the morning.

And I do chores during the ad breaks rather than skipping forward (we record most programmes to watch when it's convenient). That way, the place stays picked up and presentable and I don't feel like I've done anything extra

shegirl

Only just starting to make things easier,so the following are my plans,bits I''ve started

Bulk buying meat online monthly.Saves me going out to top up,saves money and means I can keep a better track on how much I spend (because I generally take no notice:o)

For the first time in my life I've made a proper shopping list for a whole month:D

Makes things easier with caring for my son!

I've also put a check list on the inside of my larder cupboard so I can note things that are running out (like the giant supply of chopped tomatoes:o) so I don't find I'm missing essential ingredients when I'm about to cook then rush to the shop:rotfl:

Bulk buying our Lush cosmetics and ordering litre bottles of my shampoo and conditioner to save money and,again, mean there's less running about and no running out.

Do the majority of our baking early mornings so we don't ' forget',it bulks out ds morning routine and leaves me with more relaxation time later (not that I know what that is LOL)

Make some extra portions to freeze/refrigerate when cooking dinner so I can just shove mine in the microwave when too tired (ds has very specific tastes due to his disability so,as all our meals are home made,a lot of the time I have to cook 2 seperate meals ie ds will have chicken breasts marinated in Greek yoghurt,garlic,onion and cumin with potatoes or hm wedges and roasted veg and I'll dice up another breast and make myself Spanish chicken)

Do the washing first thing in the morning while we're baking and doing his lunch,rather than in the evening.

Do one big clean a week (until ds gets his respite back- then I'll have a cleaner do it so I have a whole day completely off!) then just do bits as needed,rather than doing it all over the place.May sound odd but scattering it takes up more time daily,time that could be better spent!

Relax more,buy a bedroom chair to shut myself away and read at night away from distraction of tv,kettle and tea bags etc lmao so I'll sleep better and feel like I have some space and buy a dressing table with (safety!) mirror so I don't slob in bed or on the with a compact mirror and a cuppa to get ready,which leads to constant delay:o

No more deciding 'ah,I'll just have a cuppa then I'll do...';) It just lead to putting things off!:)

I'm also planning (whether it'll work is a different matter) to try and get up before ds wakes (which is early!!!) so I can do m Pilates and have a refreshing shower without having him present,or having to jump out to check him and so I feel fully awake and revived before he wakes and won't risk feeling lethargic and having to wait,then having no time so waiting til night for a bath (I love my Lush baths but I need to feel good in the morning too!!!)

I've got loads more to think of.

shegirl

Hope2008 wrote: »

2013 is going to be all about making my life easier so thatI have more time to enjoy things.

Off the top of my head, here are a few things I’ve alreadystarted doing:
· Long gone are the days where I’d get my haircoloured at the hairdressers, pop to the beauty salon for a wax/massage/facial/nails.With 3 children under 5 I don’t have the time and definitely don’t have themoney anymore. So Friday night is my pamper night I have a long bath, bodyscrub, face mask, do my legs, nails, colour my hair (if needed) etc. To makethis easier I have a ‘pamper’ wash bag which has body scrub, face mask, nailvarnish remover, nail polish, nail file, toe separators, hair band, etc. Itmeans I don’t have to spend time running round looking for everything and Iactually feel relaxed.
· I have a desk tidy with a good stock of pens,envelopes, note pads, stamps, birthday cards, etc. It makes me feel reallyorganised.
· I know this one sounds a bit sad but when I’dpack away the Christmas decs I’d almost always include my Christmas card listso when the following December came round I’d have to wait until we took thedecs down from the loft before I could make a start writing cards. Last year Iput it all in an excel spreadsheet and now it’s so easy for me to access it. I’mplanning on adding all addresses this year so I can print off the addresses aslabels next Christmas!
· I’ve converted an old chest into a shoe box and boughta coat rack with shelf for the hallway. In the winter we have all thehats/gloves/scarves on the shelf and then in the summer we swap it forsunglasses/hats/sun lotion.

So what do you do to make your life easier? It can be big orsmall. All tips (however obvious) are gratefully appreciated.

Oh,that's reminded me! I've been wanting a nice coat rack with storage for a while now to save hunting for things!Hall and stairs has been last on my list for doing the house up (it's only been mine a couple of months,I had builder in soundproofing etc) but once I've done it I shall invest in one

shegirl

Ooh,and a separating laundry ' bin' to save sorting and save accidentally dying ds school shirts pink again:o:o:o