My all-time best Life Hacks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I think hack I think taxi. Life hacks is a stupid phrase trying hard to be cool not catching on but I'll play.

Bought a hair dryer stand. Should have bought it years ago. Works great.

Bought an induction cooktop. LOVE IT.

Bought a Gotham steel pan. O M G. It really works. Buying the square one tonight.

What is a hair dryer stand? Why does it work great?

[Anonymous]

I use a calendar app on my phone however with constantly changing kid schedules, I can never make appointments a year ahead. When I have an appointment I make a placeholder appointment in my phone one a year from that date as "1 yr. since eye appt." etc so I know when to schedule a new one.

[Anonymous]

When hanging up one-piece swimsuits to dry, hang them by the crotch instead of the straps. Then the straps don't get stretched out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buy rotisserie chickens from Costco. I pull all the meat off the bone and separate them into freezer bags. (I get about 5 bags per chicken.) Then I use the frozen cooked chicken for quick dinners (stir fry, pasta, etc.) I use the chicken carcass to make chicken stock for soup. All for $5 per chicken at Costco.

Do you go to the Gaithersburg Costco by chance? 'Cause there hasn't been one occasion that I've bought that chicken where it hasn't been crazy undercooked - like pink, pink and still bloody. And it always had a raw-ish smell to it. I stopped buying it for that reason.

Yikes! That's disgusting. I hope you told management. I go to the Pentagon City store . worst traffic, worst selection, but hey the chicken's cooked!

PP here. I reported it each time to management, but nothing ever came of it, and when I saw that they weren't cooking them longer, I just stopped buying them. Next time I'm in Pentagon city though, I'll grab one. I love making chicken salad and using rotisserie is always so much easier!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I think hack I think taxi. Life hacks is a stupid phrase trying hard to be cool not catching on but I'll play.

Bought a hair dryer stand. Should have bought it years ago. Works great.

Bought an induction cooktop. LOVE IT.

Bought a Gotham steel pan. O M G. It really works. Buying the square one tonight.

Oh, please, please, please tell me you still remember which hair dryer stand you purchased! I've been dying to get one but I don't know anyone who has one to see if it's worthwhile. If you have a link (or brand / model) that you can share, I'd greatly appreciate it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When hanging up one-piece swimsuits to dry, hang them by the crotch instead of the straps. Then the straps don't get stretched out.

We stuck a row of plastic hooks around the top edge of the kids shower (fiberglass shower walls) and hang all the bathing suits in it to dry. Now I don't have a pile of wet suits in the bottom of the tub (or in their rooms) and I always know where they all are and they are usually dry. We bought hooks at Target that specifically said for wet areas.

[Anonymous]

I'm the emergency key poster. We also keep the key lock on a fence behind a big bush. It's a slight pain to get to because of the bush, but it's hidden and better then getting locked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hooks instead of bars to hang up towels in the bathroom and coats in the entryway. So small, yet such a big difference in things actually getting hung up. And if the entryway is clean, other messes don't sprout as fast.

One place to put keys. Always. Every time. Immediately after coming in the house.

Emergency key in a combination lock box outside the house

I like this idea. Then you don't need to give your house key to your neighbors.

All of the locks on my exterior doors are operated via codes. No keys to deal with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buy rotisserie chickens from Costco. I pull all the meat off the bone and separate them into freezer bags. (I get about 5 bags per chicken.) Then I use the frozen cooked chicken for quick dinners (stir fry, pasta, etc.) I use the chicken carcass to make chicken stock for soup. All for $5 per chicken at Costco.

Do you go to the Gaithersburg Costco by chance? 'Cause there hasn't been one occasion that I've bought that chicken where it hasn't been crazy undercooked - like pink, pink and still bloody. And it always had a raw-ish smell to it. I stopped buying it for that reason.

Doesn't matter if you're going to cook it again before serving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hooks instead of bars to hang up towels in the bathroom and coats in the entryway. So small, yet such a big difference in things actually getting hung up. And if the entryway is clean, other messes don't sprout as fast.

One place to put keys. Always. Every time. Immediately after coming in the house.

Emergency key in a combination lock box outside the house

I like this idea. Then you don't need to give your house key to your neighbors.

All of the locks on my exterior doors are operated via codes. No keys to deal with.

Was chiming in to say this. It is life changing. With this and remote key for car, I never have to take keys out of my purse. Also can change code when needed (new cleaner etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the emergency key poster. We also keep the key lock on a fence behind a big bush. It's a slight pain to get to because of the bush, but it's hidden and better then getting locked out.

When we bought our house, we picked a garage door opener that came with a programmable keypad. We key our spare key in a hidden place in the garage. If anyone needs to get in when we aren't home, we can give them the keypad code, tell them where in the garage the spare key is hidden and they can get in. If needed, we can change the programmable code on the garage door opener when we return. Our family knows the code so we can all get in if we lose our house key.

Our tip. We travel a fair amount. We have one travel bag that we keep various supplies we use regularly on trips packed. We just take that with us each time and don't have to worry about if we packed certain things. To avoid wastage and things aging too much, if it is something that we use regularly at home, when I buy a new item of something in the travel bag, I put the new one in the travel bag and use the one in the travel bag around the house. I started doing that when I would find various items in the travel bag that were old and no longer usable.

Small empty glass jar in the dishwasher. When the d/w runs, jar fills up. When you empty d/w dump the water in the sink. If the jar is full of water, the dishes are clean. If the jar is empty the dishes are dirty.

[Anonymous]

We keep our travel carry-on's basically pre-packed. There's a lot of stuff we only use on airplanes (small packets of wipes, tissues, hard candies, crayon carriers, sticker books, DVDs, card games) and then it's basically all just there and we can add snacks and whatever book the kids are reading. We use their old school backpacks for travel.

[Anonymous]

Save more than you earn. Your older self will thank you.

Desire peace, joy and helping others, not possessions.

Write your obituary now, and spend the rest of your life making it truthful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy rotisserie chickens from Costco. I pull all the meat off the bone and separate them into freezer bags. (I get about 5 bags per chicken.) Then I use the frozen cooked chicken for quick dinners (stir fry, pasta, etc.) I use the chicken carcass to make chicken stock for soup. All for $5 per chicken at Costco.

Me too!!! Those things are delish!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before I can tomatoes, rhubarb, beans, carrots, okra, squash and zucchini, I pick them off them vines.

Rhubarb and carrot vines. Some people need a bit more time on the vine.