Quick and sometimes obvious time savers..

Eenymeeny

PollyWollyDoodle wrote: »

A plastic basket with a handle - from the pound shop or similar- has been a game changer for me.

I store all the ‘Tupperware’ (actually mostly takeaway!) plastic box lids in it, upright, and stack the boxes on the shelf next to it. When I need one I select the size I want, lift the basket down and find the lid. No longer do I open the cupboard to be deluged with boxes and lids falling all over me, and I put identical lids together so I don’t have to try every single one before finding one that fits.

Good idea! I use these in the fridge for sauces and another for yogurts. Saves them falling over and easy for selection or taking straight to the table

kboss2010

I’ve started doing my laundry by category rather than colour. I put large items like towels, trousers & tops in one wash then do a separate wash entirely for “smalls” - that way I’m not needing to wade through the big things to pick out odd socks & pairs of boxers that have got stuck inside pillowcases. I also have one of those octopus peg hangers from Ikea for socks. It makes hanging the washing out SO much faster.

I also bought a Japanese-style waffle towel from John Lewis & they dry you & dry out like a sports towel but feel like a fluffy cotton towel - honestly, best towel I’ve ever had.

[Deleted User]

My eldest daughter travels quite a bit to visit my grandson in New York and also holidays in Europe. (she's a lot richer than me )
She always gives my the shampoos and conditioners which are in small bottles.I have a toiletries bag that was my late husbands and I put them all in there ,also the small soaps, and when I go on holiday I always pack that bag in my case as I know exactly that I have more than enough shampoos and hair conditioners and soaps with me .
I normally self cater with my youngest DD and family every year on the IoW so the boys all know if they run out of toiletries Granny's 'granddad bag ' will be available for raiding .
Its surprising how often it gets used and it saves having to cart a big bottle along with you and a small hotel soap means it gets used up on our holidays plus of course its a freebie .my eldest DD usually stays in some really nice hotel in NYC so we get some quite 'posh ' stuff needless to say she never minds bringing it home as she only ever uses her own brand of soaps etc.
Waste not want not

JackieO xx

Primrose

Make the most of these nice freebies as I fear many of them are starting to disappear in the environmental war against plastic.

In the last two hotels we stayed at, there has just been a general soap/hair shampoo bag squashed into a container on the bathroom wall. Whilst I suspect it's partly an environmental move, I suspect it's also cost saving too. I guess the more up market hotels will probably still go on providing them for though as monied customers will probably still go on expecting more value for their buck, regardless of the war on plastic waste.

Pollycat

Primrose wrote: »

Make the most of these nice freebies as I fear many of them are starting to disappear in the environmental war against plastic.

In the last two hotels we stayed at, there has just been a general soap/hair shampoo bag squashed into a container on the bathroom wall. Whilst I suspect it's partly an environmental move, I suspect it's also cost saving too. I guess the more up market hotels will probably still go on providing them for though as monied customers will probably still go on expecting more value for their buck, regardless of the war on plastic waste.

That's my recent experience too (although I can't really say the hotels I stayed in were that up-market ).


I do save small bottles and decant enough shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, face moisturiser etc for a 2 or 3 week holiday instead of taking full size bottles.

[Deleted User]

I agree I stayed in an hotel in Torquay in September this year, and the soap wasn't brilliant, and the shampoo non existent but as I had taken my DDs 'posh' New York stuff with me I was pretty pleased . I sometimes grate the smaller soaps and with a drop of water melt them down and reform them into a bigger bar with the aid of an old soap holder lid (normal soap bar size ) I do this with the end bits of soap bars anyway absolutely nothing gets wasted if I can help it

Primrose

I've been spending much of today clearing out an old filing cabinet which is so full of paperwork it won't close and have been shocked at how much of the paperwork is completely out of date and ready for shredding.

We have several overflowing folders containing product manuals, receipts, guarantees and related paperwork and I was shocked to find folders and manuals for the last three washing machines we've owned over about 30 years.

It was a job to work out which was the current one as they've all been Hotpoint models. I've now put a small sticky label on our current machine with the date purchased so we know when it comes out of warranty. Also because many till receipts have faded and the date of purchase is no longer visible,I 've resolved that in future whenever anything goes into that folder it will have a big sticky label on it showing the date and place purchased so if we need to refer back because of a breakdown, it's immediately accessible.

I've found as I grow older, I can't remember exactly when items were purchased. I think it's a couple of years ago and then that item turns out to be 10 years old (Yikes!) so some visible labelling up on warranties & manuals will hopefully allow me to keep on top of guarantees and warranties. We still had a receipt for a TV purchased in the last century !

I'm also resolved that once a year I'll go through all utility bills and only keep the last 12 months. I know many people keep their details online these days, but I'm a "belt & braces" person who likes to keep control of this information, especially now even big companies are capable of having their computer systems hacked. If I ever need to dispute something with a supplier I like to have paper evidence !

building_with_lego

kboss2010 wrote: »

... I also have one of those octopus peg hangers from Ikea for socks. It makes hanging the washing out SO much faster.
...

I clip my socks up by the toes on my one of these- so I can pair them up and then unclip them. Saves a few seconds, but by the time I've sorted out which of the four of us that particular black sock belongs to, it all adds up!

[Deleted User]

I used to send over 150 cards, a few years ago I rebelled and just sent about 25 to very close friends and family. I send a donation to our local childrens hospice for roughly what it would have cost me to post those cards.

We have 5 children, 13 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. The Grandchildren are grown up, once they reached 18 they dropped off our present list - it was usually money. The GG children are all quite small so mostly get a token present.

Eenymeeny

Thanks Primrose for reminding me that my paperwork needs to be tackled over the next couple of weeks. Good idea with the front label.
I try to remember to print out a statement from each bank account on New years' eve and place it with the year's statements. These are moved out of my current file and kept together for a year. Like you, I like paper copies.
I used to burn the old paperwork but I've returned to shredding them and have resolved to use the shreddings as 'filler' for the base of my spring pots and hanging baskets! (They can also be added to compost bins)