What are your Best Household Tips?

[heldt123]

Anyone want to share their best tips/ideas?

Here's mine: I bought one of those small, inexpensive multi-tab cupon organizers. Half of it I use for budgeted cash catagories and the rest I use to organize cupons. It is always in my purse and I always know how much money I have to spend and what cupons I have to use. In the front I store my shopping list so there is no "I left it at home excuse." I also keep Christmas/Birthday shopping lists in there so I always know who I have bought for and what I need to get.

Ever guess I have a bad memory! :LOL

[Jennisee]

Two of my favorites:

I like to sort through my freezer and pantry and make a list of things that are nearing expiration and need used up quickly. Then, when making my meal plan for the day, or week, I consult that list and use up those items first, instead of "discovering" them much later and having to throw them out.

Any time we're considering buying a new item, we spend time researching what's available, scour the internet for reviews, shop around for the best price, check eBay. That way, we're rarely stuck w/ an item that wasn't what we expected or wasn't worth the money.

[CandyApple]

I love cheap, little plasic baskets/boxes. They've been great in keeping every drawer in my house organized, junk, bills, clothes. When I can see everything, I waste less time and money buying duplicates.

I'm also fond of the dry erase boards that stick to the fridge, I use them like Jenisee to keep track of what's in the freezer, what projects need to be done around the house, ...

And lists, lists, lists... I've got a long grocery list that has all our normal items on it, I print a bunch of copies off the computer, and just check off what we need each week. Its so much easier than starting from scratch. I also list our common easy dinners, and post it on the fridge. Then dh or I can easily remember other possibilities and check for ingredients.

I've been trying so hard to stay on top of things since Christmas, and these few things have really helped. I can't wait to hear other great pointers!

[Super Pickle]

I noticed that I was wasting a lot of mental energy on my kids' (4 yrs and 18 mos) socks. I'd lose one of a pair in the laundromat; I'd have to match them up while folding; I sometimes ran out of socks for them and they'd have to wear dirty ones, etc.
So I ordered twenty identical pairs from Maggie's Organics in a size that fit both my boys. And, since they were getting old anyway, cut the toes out of every other sock to make rags. Now they have 40 identical socks; I never have to match them up, just put them all in a drawer and pull out 4 a day. If one gets lost, I won't even ever notice. I'll never run out of socks between washings. It feels really good. I have decided to do the same thing for my husband's socks once his get thin and holey.

[AngelBee]

I LOVE the sock idea!!!

Sorting socks is killing me!

[heldt123]

Originally Posted by AngelBee

I LOVE the sock idea!!!

Sorting socks is killing me!

Love the idea too. I dread folding socks...it is always the last thing done!

[bdavis337]

1. I don't fold underwear, socks, etc! I cheat, I admit it, but honestly, who looks in that drawer anyway??? Saves me tons of time!

2. I keep a wooden crate in the family room to hold my 3 year old's toys. At the end of the play day we just toss them all in, and sort things out whenever we do a thorough house-cleaning, usually on the weekends. Keeps my floors free of dangerous Hotwheels cars, and nobody spends any foot time trekking toys back into his bedroom.

[mommyoftwo]

I did the sock idea too. My dd has 12 pairs of white socks from old navy that she got as a present, my request. Only a couple of color pairs. That way no sorting required.
Bought all tan socks for my toddler ds. Now I don't have to sort by size, just color.

[hlkm2e]

We do the sock thing for my husbands socks. He wears dress socks everyday, so we bought all black and tan at the same time and that way they wear at the same rate and he can just pull out two and not worry about light and dark black socks.

[Bippity]

My best household tip: Get your husband to do the laundry like mine does! :LOL

He does dishes & changes the cat box too!

[SpiralChrissy]

I keep bins on each floor of the house. We have a 3 level split and I was forever running up and down the stairs to put things away. Now I just use the bin on one floor and when it's full, THEN I around the house and put things away. It makes everything so much easier and all the clutter is contained!

[moma justice]

put my toddler in the high chair with a big bowel of frozen blueberries while i do a power clean...
she is happy to have her daily treat that helps her teething pain too
and i am happy to be able to accomplish SOMETHING while she is not pulling at my legs beggin for attention or making messes faster than i can clean....i have a highneeds toddler and my hubby is a fulltime student and works a full time demanding job that requires four hours of drive time
in otherwords, i have no help
this has been a good solution for me, as we do not believe in TV

[MamaOui]

The kids' books

We have tons of kids books. They used to be on bookshelves, which meant they were always stacked on the floor in front of the book shelves, haphazardely put on the shelves, and covering every surface in our home.

Now we have covered bins. One is downstairs for my older dss and we keep the cover on, one is downstairs filled with board books with the cover off, so that my babe can get at her books. We have a couple more bins upstairs and we rotate them. It's great because we store them upright and it's so easy for the kids to flip through their books now.

We have two small open basket that hold 10-12 books (upright) that we keep current favorites in. One in the living room and one in the bedroom.

[wildmonkeys]

After the kids get out of the bath - throw in a couple of denture cleaners. You can go in 15 minutes later and wipe out the ring without scrubbing (works great on toliets & sinks as well)

BJ
Barney & Ben

[Cloth4Colin]

1:1 mixture of baking soda & Borax solution instead of detergent in the dishwasher

vinegar in the washing machine (added during rinse cycle) for natural fabric softener


1/2 cup Borax solution added to fresh toilet water overnight for sanitizing toilet

3:1 mixture of hot water & vinegar for cleaning anything around the kitchen

2 c. baking soda added to diaper pail for freshness

1/2 c. Borax solution added to washing machine during diaper laundry removes all smells from dipes!

making lists & buying only what's on them... I NEVER go shopping without one - cuts down on spontaneous/impulse buying

use a small mesh laundry bag for DS's socks...an alternative to the posts above...but I love the idea of having all one kind of sock - great idea!!

use a nylon laundry bag for diaper pail - just cinch it closed, tote to laundry mat, and throw in with the dipes to wash!

labeled bins (small) for sorting recycling - paper, plastics, glass, etc.

[coleslaw]

The only thing I have (I am learning!) is to clean the bathroom while dd is taking a bath. I only use vinegar/baking soda/Dr. Bonner's (sp?) so it works. The tub is done by dh (he insists on chemicals, so I told him that he needs to do it then because I refuse! )

[darsmama]

Hmmm...
My best household tips:

The 27 fling boogie as Flylady preaches is a wonderful thing!

Everyday attain to do SOMETHING, thats it.

Sorry I am not much help here.

[momto l&a]

35% H2O2 for cleaning toilets.

[tboroson]

I always try to wear pants with pockets, particularly cargo type pockets, when I clean. I'm always finding little things, toy bits, trash, coins, cloth napkins that fell on the floor and scooted under the organ, etc. etc. that need to be elsewhere. If I leave them in a pile on the table to collect later, I'll never get back to them. If I run to the trash can or toy room every time I have some little thing, I waste a huge amount of time.

I was also doing great with a 5/5 list for a while, five things to do first every morning, five things that must be done before bedtime. I found that I was just more focused all day on keeping up if I knew I wouldn't go to bed until things were done. Like, on the list was going through the house looking for random pieces of laundry (socks and sweaters that DD and DH shed and leave laying, dish towels that were co-opted to wipe up a mess and left laying, etc.) I was more likely to notice them and grab them right away when I knew I would otherwise be cleaning them up at bedtime. Same with keeping up on dishes all day.

[moma justice]

another tip that i do at least once a week is have people over....
some friends with babies etc or a neighbor for dinner, whatever

this is my biggest speed clean inspiration....
i always amaze my self with what i can get done in a short amoun to ftime when i feel like i am really on the clock.

also i sometimes make a smoothie first thing in the morning and let my dd eat it with a spoon in the highchair while i do all the previous day's dishes and sweep and sometimes mop......

while i sip smoothie in between

then i feel like i have really earned my breakfast and sinc ei don't drink coffee it can really get me going for the rest of the day!