Have you ever developed/invented a "lifehack" (system or method of doing an everyday activity that saves money, time, and/or hassle) that you would want to share here?

I cook almost all my food for the week at one time. saves all three.

Hm, I would say that if you have a hard time budgeting your money, use cash and save the change in a coffee can. its kind of like getting a small tax refund after 7 or 8 months you get like 130 ish dollars that you can buy yourself a gift or something. but if you dont stick to your budget, you use it to pay a bill.

I have several little systems that make perfect sense to me, and I rarely see others using them. They are tiny improvements, but I find them worthwhile:

1) Keep your cups and glasses in the upper cabinet closest to your fridge. Saves steps.
2) Keep your pots and pans in the upper cabinet closest to your stove. This seems so obvious to me…reaching down and lifting up to move the heaviest things in the kitchen seems counter-intuitive.
3) For women, keep only what you need everyday in your purse. I have the smallest purse out of any woman I know, and I carry two packs of cigarettes and two pairs of glasses in there!
4) Still in the purse realm…get one with a strap long enough to wear crosswise over your body. It keeps your hands free. Also: always, always, always put your keys/debit card/glasses back in your purse right away when you’re done with them!
5) When storing left over brown sugar or raisins, roll up the bag it came in very tightly, packing the contents as you go and leaving no air, then place in a ziplock bag, again rolling out all of the air. They will remain soft and usable indefinitely.
6) Infant care: Ditch the changing table, and get your self a big rectangular basket or two. Stock w/ diapers, a changing pad, and a box of wipes. Keep in whatever room(s) you spend the most time with the baby.
7) Infant care part II: (If you are not breast-feeding) When going out with the baby, take bottles full of room temperature water and ziplock bags filled with one serving of powdered formula. At feeding time, snip off a corner of a bag, pour into bottle and shake well. No refrigeration required.
8) In the bathroom, forsake all toothbrush holders in favor of a small canister (don’t use the lid). In my house, this 4” wide vessel contains 5 toothbrushes, 3 tubes of toothpaste, and various dental implements neatly and compactly.
9) Back to the kitchen: When filling ice cube trays, take them all to the sink at once, fill them all and stack them, then return them all to the freezer at once. Again, this seems obvious, but I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen people walking back and forth carrying 1 or 2 trays at a time.
10) (Because 10 is such a nice, round number.) Instead of buying expensive gift bags, head to a craft store and buy plain craft (tan) paper bags. Super cheap, and when used with pretty tissue paper they are quite pretty. I buy them by the dozen. Even cheaper: For smaller items, use brown paper lunch bags. After placing the item(s) inside, fold down the top edge 2 or 3 inches. Use a hole punch to punch two holes through all layers of the fold, thread a curling ribbon or piece of raffia through the holes and tie in a bow. If you like, use markers or stamps to decorate…I prefer to keep mine simple. I always have these items on hand, and they work for any occasion.

Ok…I think I’m done changing the world ;)

Isn’t it harder to lift the pots to the top shelf in the first place than merely lift them to the stove?

@steve6 I keep my most used pans on the bottom and middle shelves, so it’s not much of a reach for me. Seldom used ones go on the top shelf, or somewhere else entirely.

I’m teaching myself how to read and respond to e-mails in bunches, rather than checking constantly throughout the day. I can happily process 10–20 e-mails at once, as much as just one or two. And the weird thing is, it doesn’t take much more time. I do love the shiny new factor of seeing a fresh e-mail, and wondering, “Who’s it from?”

Oooh, I just thought of another one: Before I leave the house, I stand in my doorway, keys in hand, and mentally rehearse all the places I’m about to go. I wonder if there’s anything else I need to bring, and if I’m all set. I often remember something I’ll need, but more importantly, I really feel prepared and ready to go. Takes about 10 seconds.

It’s my way of life. If I go to the toilet, I’ll remember that I just bought shampoo and take it on the way there, then empty the bin on the way back. I put coloured dirty clothes straight into the washing machine, and whites over it, then swap once that lot is done. I always charge my mobile when I already have to stay somewhere for several hours, rather than have to wait for it. When I had to wake up early, I’d have my tea ready the night before and drink it in the car. If I have to run errands, I take the route that will save the most time, and always calculate the time right so I don’t have to go back and forth or be late or something. I even change guitar strings during the breaks when I sing and mark homework while students are doing listening tests when I teach. Or do the washing up while I’m waiting for my food to cool down. Generally I save every second there is to save, and always find time for everything, without ever having to rush. I’m always punctual, always get enough sleep, and always have time to waste on things like fluther :)
I know all this may sound stressful to chaotic people (my gf is one such person), but the important thing is that it is so much a part of me that I don’t get stressed or tired at all. It’s just the way I do things.

If you’re really into this question, I recommend Getting Things Done by David Allen. It’s the best book out there on this topic.

I Fluther while I poop.

@ gooch – Too much information! I’m afraid to touch my monitor right now! :-)

I don’t know if this really saves any time, but when I’m sorting (e.g. cleaning a room, or folding laundry) I do the sorting into piles on a surface (table, bed, couch) that I mentally map to the layout of my house. It makes it easier for me to find and identify the pile I need.

My friend introduced me to what he called “systems” though I don’t know what they should be called. It’s easier to give an example than to explain it so here are my two examples:

On my nightstand I have an alarm clock in the back right corner, an mp3 player in the back left corner, loose change and a flashlight in the front right corner, and in the front left corner I have my “system”. This “system” is my “stuff I carry with me every day” system. I keep my wallet, phone, keys, pens, and pencil there whenever I am not using them. If I need to rush out of the house I can just grab all of this stuff – I don’t have to think about it. This seems pretty logical, but I am always surprised at the number of people that don’t keep all of this stuff together.

My other main “system” is on my bathroom counter. Even before I was introduced to “systems” I tended to do everything in the same order (I think most people do as far as getting ready for work/school in the mornings). I took everything off of my bathroom counter that I didn’t use every day (but used sometimes) and put it into an empty drawer (empty one if you don’t have an empty one). Then I organized the things that were left into the order that I use them every day. I can now just start at one side of the counter, and when I get to the other side I’m done. I don’t have to weed through all of the things I use infrequently (but if I need them they are all in one drawer). I hope that this helps someone. I would feel pretty dumb if it took me this long to figure all of this out while everyone else already did these things.

I know the rules for the piles of real paper on desk; only handle each page once.

PIck it up, throw it out, answer it or file in appropriate folder (not the one labeled “Gail stuff).

However, I still can’t seem to apply it to my desk, which I can hardly find due to all the tax forms lying about in heaps.

Put things in purse back in exact same compartment or section.

I make it a point NEVER to get stressed.
Overslept? Relax, you’ll be late anyway no need to make the day worse.
Burned dinner and the guests are close? Smile, order pizza and pour more wine, shit happens.
Humor is key! :D

oh btw I always put my wallet in my back right pocket, mobile in the back left, keys in the front right and change in the front left. Anything else and I’ll get lost. I could be holding the keys in my left hand and I’d never ever find them otherwise. And, like Baloo, I put things in specific places next to the bed, and generally everything in my world has its position (even if it might be some irrational one, such as the pair of scissors I have in my car boot).

@Jack79 great, now i know where to grab for what if i’m ever behind you on the metro.

1. I’ve written “bottom bottom bottom” across the bottom edges of fitted sheets so that I don’t have to get frustrated from putting them on sideways.
(I guess you could draw a row of little flowers. I actually like the word “bottom”.)
You can’t see the writing once the top sheet is on. I used a permanent Sharpie.

2. I keep sheets in the rooms they belong in. Not as confusing as trying to find the right
size in the linen “closet”. If you happen to have multiple bedrooms.

3. I share washer-dryer with a close neighbor. We use it on different days. Saves money, saves space, friendly. Sometimes I fold his for him and this tickles him. Ha ha.

4. I lucked into having another neighbor who owns an electric lawnmower and shares it. All the neighbors like it, because they’re quiet and don’t stink.

5. I only vacuum when people are coming over, most poignantly very tiny children who will pick up dog hair and eat it. The rest of the time, what do I care?
(I think cak is going to take exception to this, for some reason.)

6. I get my mail at the post office so I can throw junk mail in the government’s recycle bin. .... It just occurred to me this minute that I could bring other recyclable stuff to the post office’s recycle bin too… but that would be cheating, right?

@Jack79 Ever break your mobile by sitting on it? I lost a PDA that way after trying to hop up on a tree limb for a picture…. crunch Now back pocket is reserved for wallet only. Unless in Rome, then it goes in the front pocket.

I work second shift, my wife works first. She was used to me cooking her supper back when we both worked first shift (yeah, ain’t she lucky?) so now I ask her what she wants for supper a week in advance, then I fire up the grill, cook all the lovely things she likes on the grill, then freeze it all in single serving packages. Freezing pre-cooked meat does NOTHING to harm the taste of it. Slap it into the microwave, and voila, hot food is served.

@Baloo72 That sounds like a good idea. I’ll try to see if my sister will go in on bathroom organization with me rather than the heaping mess we currently battle every day.

Now I’m starting to question the utility of the wooden duck, ceramic cow, apple orchard map, buttons, broken watch painted with nail polish, and paperclips on my nightstand. Its not like I would have to run out of the house in the middle of the night and all I would have to do is grab my duck, cow, broken watch, and apple orchard map.

In college, when my apartment did not have a washing machine, I develop a system for using hand towels instead of bath towels. They were cheaper to buy, and I hated to drag my laundry to the automat and realized that towels comprised about half the weight and volume.

One hand towel is for drying your hair and face, one is for the rest of your body. The next day, you use a new towel to dry hair/face, yesterday’s hair/face towel to dry your body, and yesterday’s body towel goes in the hamper.

That’s insane, why not use seven washcloths?

Following everyone’s advice, I attacked my desk yesterday. It fought bad; I discovered that I was a month late for my Jan.15 quarterly US and state taxes. And that Chase needed a real check rather than an EFT for my final car payment. So now I owe the gov’t some interest, but I do own my car. It is a wash.

A car wash?

LURVE!!!
I acknowledged as soon as I saw steve6, GREAT ONE!!!

Thank you, thank you very much.

(psst- I did it deliberately and was waiting to see who took the bait. Not to take any credit from steve6, whom I lurve.)

I assumed you did, it was pretty obvious. I was bored. I almost made a laundered money joke but showed a little restraint. Also, a car chase joke.

@gooch
Yeah, WAY too much info, man.

I used to check 5 different e-mails a day (I teach at 2 different schools, have a personal e-mail, business and junk accounts) This used to take way too long to manage. I finally just had them all come into Gmail… problem solved. Not only do I get them all in the same place at the same time… they all presort into a color coded list! After that I just installed a gmail notifier on my computers and now I don’t need to check my e-mail at all… I just wait till it says I have something.

@Baloo72 Good one! I use the system idea of grouping my daily “in-my-pocket” items like wallet/phone/mp3 player ALWAYS. If I don’t, I WILL leave something pretty often. And if I need something extra for the next day, a camera maybe or a movie to return, then I MUST place it in my backpack or on top of a regular item like my wallet. Or it will get left behind. I am more forgetful than anyone I have ever met. But I keep up with everything better than most, only because I’ve learned exactly how I will forget things, and I counter it. :)

This other thing I do is a drastic change of pace from everyone’s life advice, but so far in my 27 years, I’ve never seen anyone else do it. And I started when I was 13 lol. Eating crab legs! It can be difficult! But if you have a fork, and especially that miniature fork(it’s stronger and more stable as a pry-arm) you can use it to slowly crack open any crab leg or crab claw with ease and zero damage to the meat inside. For example: the crab leg is like a hollow tube(with meat of course), so you insert one prong(or two if it is especially tough) into the tube, then lift on the fork while holding the crab leg solid. the fork will tear through the crab leg leaving a cracked open slit. Continue this process all the way down the leg until you have a perfect broken slit all the way down it. You can do the same to the other side, and easily take the two halves apart, or can try prying it open like a treasure chest. I love doing it! Half the fun of eating haha. Enjoy!

@z28proximo I eat my crab legs that way, too! The only part I ever have to use a cracker on is the claw.

Same here! And I get the meat out of the tiny parts with the point-like “foot” at the end of the leg, or the “thumb” of the claw. It seems sort of weird, though, to use crab parts to take a crab apart.

@z28proximo I also have to put things that I know I’m going to forget on top of my wallet or other item that I regularly take with me. If the item I might forget is too large for my nightstand I put my whole system on the floor and put that thing on top of it. It seems to work for me pretty well.

I don’t eat a lot of crab legs, but I have seen my uncle do that. Genius ideas.

About eating crab legs, I’ve realized that you can get a beautifully clean break right down the middle and an entirely intact piece of meat from one of the straight portions using no untensils (okay, okay, so this is for use with family and close friend dining mates only).

Hold the piece with both your thumbs under the center (make sure they really are at the center) and rest the rest of your fingers on top. Use pressure on both ends of your hands (where your pinkies are) and push down until the shell cracks – but only the shell, or else the meat will splinter apart. Next, grab both ends and pull the shell apart and out falls your meat! Delicious.