Changes you've made to make life easier

[bethwc101]

If the ingredients are already sitting in the fridge, it makes no difference if it's assembled as a sandwich. Turkey slices taste the same sitting in their original package as they do on a piece of bread. Same with cheese slices, and peanut butter. But YMMV.

I think the bread sitting with mayo on top of it gets soggy.

 

[nighttowll]

We travel a lot by car. Usually 15 to 17 hr car trips every 3 to 4 months and shorter day or weekend trips at least twice a month. We also do a lot of picnic style meals and snacking to save money along the way.

About a year ago, I got a car organizer from Sam’s and filled it with all the little useful stuff we always found ourselves packing or needing in the car on trips. Scissors, tape, paper towels, wet wipes, paper plates, plastic cups, plastic silverware, tissues, hand sanitizer, a cooler, picnic blankets, zip lock bags, extra cords for charging, small trash bags, pen, small notebook, etc. We keep the stuff in the car at all times. No need to pack or unpack. No finding ourselves stopping to buy something on the way. However, since everything is in the car organizer, if I need to remove stuff for some reason to make extra space, I can just pick the whole thing up and carry it inside in one trip.

We don’t use everything every trip, but when you need something, it’s nice to have it readily available. Makes long car rides so much more enjoyable and saves me a ton of time running around the house trying to get packed up for a picnic or trip. I started out with only a few items, but have added as we find ourselves needing new things.

The scissors, zip lock bags, trash bags, and cooler are probably the most useful. I’ve lost count of the number of times we needed to cut something open. The zip lock bags are invaluable. (Dirty clothes, stinky shoes, unfinished snacks, ice bags, anything leaking, so many uses.) The trash bags help us keep the car clean, so we don’t end up with trash shoved all over because there is no where to put it. The cooler is really a life savor. We always end up going somewhere where we have left-overs and no way to keep them cool or somewhere where we want to buy something that shouldn’t sit in a hot car, like chocolate candy or groceries. It is super easy to grab a bag of ice from any grocery or gas station if we decide to use the cooler. I only keep the soft sided ones, so they fold up and take up virtually no space.




In regards to sheets and old sandwiches, I also see no point in the top sheet. If I try to use it, I usually wake up to find it tangled in a little ball somewhere near my feet and definitely not still on me. I’m also in the premade sandwiches are not for me group. We pack everything separate, bread, meat, cheese, condiments, and put it together when we are ready to eat. The bread definitely gets soggy or sticky (whatever you want to call it, there’s a change in texture) where the meat touches it, even without condiments. I’m also not a big fan of cold bread either.

The only exception to this is if we make chicken salad sandwiches with Hawaiian Rolls. I had a friend who introduced me to this. She’d put the chicken salad inside the rolls, then stick the rolls back in the package, and put the whole thing in the cooler. They made the perfect ready to eat snacks for days on the lake or at the beach. And there’s no real clean up because you just throw the packaging away when you are done. I’m not sure why, maybe the rolls are already a wetter texture, but I’ve never noticed the soggy thing happening with the premade roll sandwiches.

 

[Toolulu22]

I guess if you slather a sandwich in mayo or oil, that could become an issue. But we don't. If anything, a turkey and cheese sandwich may have a light coat of mustard...our kids really aren't into condiments. For my lunches, I don't pre-make it completely. I weigh out my turkey or chicken and wrap it in plastic wrap. I then grab one of my wraps in the morning and then put them together in the afternoon at work.

Each to their own, but it really doesn't taste any different (again, assuming you aren't covering it in sloppy stuff). For us, the time it saves is invaluable. Instead of having to go into the fridge each day to take the ingredients out, assemble everything, put everything away, pack the sandwich in bags, etc...it's so much more efficient to do it assembly line style. Same with dinner. Most of our weekdays literally go from 4am to 9pm non-stop...there are many days when I'm in the house a total of 45 minutes or less in a 24 hour period when I'm actually awake. The rest of the time we're out, or sleeping. It's a necessity to do what we can to save time.

Besides, IMO, a lot of it is perception anyway. Unless you buy bread fresh from a bakery, it's probably a week old...or more...before you made the sandwich. Same with lunch meat and peanut butter. That peanut butter jar wasn't packed this morning, it could literally be a few months old. We keep it all in the fridge, just like it is kept before it's assembled. Except the peanut butter. I think people just get weirded out by having the ingredients touching each other for a few days. If the sandwich is basically dry, it doesn't change any taste from when it was in its own packaging.

I think what you’re doing is pretty brilliant. We don’t have such a hectic schedule, but we like to cook extra on the weekends so we have left overs. DH takes them to work during the week for lunch.

 

[Klayfish]

Two years ago I was able to convince my employer to let me work from home a couple of days a week. That is a HUGE help and if anyone has that option, I highly recommend it. It took some time and convincing but I'm glad I didn't give up.

Yes! I work from home twice a week, and it's a huge help. My office is 60 miles each way, so any day when I don't have to drive 120 miles round trip helps. It also allows me to be "home" (i.e. off work) earlier so that I can help out more with the kids and their activities. Plus, it helps wear and tear on my car. Even with 2 days a week at home, I drive a solid 30k miles a year, so anything I can do to ease mechanical stress is good.

 

[mousefanmichelle]

I don't do what I don't want to do anymore. My time is more precious than feeling obligated to do things, if you know what I mean. For instance, our best friends son is getting married. I do not like his future wife. They are having an out of town wedding we will be attending and I already have to give up a weekend for the event. We have to find lodging, give a gift, etc. The future Mrs's bridal shower is 2 hours away, on a Saturday morning. I am not going. I feel obligated but she is just a fake, not nice person and so I said - NOPE. Not going. I don't want to give up my whole saturday to sit around and be smirked at, etc. Maybe if she were a different person, I would reconsider it

 

[sjrec]

Now that I’m retired I am purging like crazy-donated lots of “work” clothing and shoes. Next is the basement.
We actually let our lawn cutter go-my husband no longer travels for work and enjoys the exercise. We still have a five bedroom house but cleaning isn’t an issue yet-but oh, I remember those days with working, my husband out of town (usually during a blizzard or hurricane!), my daughter’s activities...my advice is do whatever keeps you sane-a cleaning lady, food service, grocery delivery.

 

[mamacatnv]

My biggest thing was hiring a cleaning person last fall. I hated cleaning and I never did the whole house at once (unless we were having company), so it never really felt clean. Our lady comes every other week and does a whole house cleaning for $75. The best money I ever spent.

This was me, the daily tasks felt like the house was never completely clean - now that we have the housekeeper - its all cleaned at the same time and I really like that feeling

 

[mom2rose&john]

Schedules and to do lists help me save time. If I write it down it keeps me on track.
Food prep and cutting fruits and vegetables on Sundays for the Week. Saves me a ton of time in the mornings
Picking out my outfits by the week. Everything is ironed and ready to go. If I had to pick my outfit each morning I would just stand and stare into my closet. I do not make choices easily when I first wake up.
Running list of grocery items we need to pick up. I do heavy grocery shopping on Sat or Sunday and mid week pick up for milk and fresh fruits on Wednesday if needed.
I have a stock pile of non perishable items. If I do not have it I will not go and buy it mid week.
Try and stay off the internet on Weekend mornings. I have a nasty habit of getting so involved it's 11 am and I haven't gotten a thing done.
Pick up as I go. This I learned from my husband who is a neat freak. Saves so much time and aggrivation than spending a lot of time at once.
Purge every season or at least every six months. If I haven't look at it or needed it, it must not be relevant.

 

[clothesmindedmom]

It may have already been mentioned, but I gave up social media and it really made my life easier. I'm not constantly checking my phone, and am more concerned about improving my own life than peering in on others' lives. I still spend too much time on the Internet, though!

 

[Belleofthehouse]

Walmart Grocery Pick up (what took sooooo long to get that in my town!!!)

I do NOT shop warehouse stores (Costco, Sams). It takes too much time out of my day.

I say NO ALOT now. Yep, made my life my easier

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I do NOT shop warehouse stores (Costco, Sams). It takes too much time out of my day.

I actually spend probably 2 to 3 times more time at my Walmart to get stuff than Costco and it probably has to do with what I buy at Costco. I go to Costco primarily for toilet paper, kleenex, bottled water, chicken, snack items (like nature made bars, trail mix, apple sauce, etc), etc.

I sure do miss when our local Costcos had self checkout and wished they brought those back.

 

[barkley]

along the same lines as having stuff prepacked for travel-

not for airline travel (whole different animal) but for trips we travel inside the u.s. by car-i've collected small travel sized bottles of the various otc meds we use/may need which i keep in a ziplock bag at the ready (refilled from the larger bottles we use day to day), i've also got one of those 8 day pill containers which i've relabeled w/individual prescription med names so we take one small container vs. 8 prescription bottles.

for all the various and assorted electronics and their cords i came across one of ds's old rolling backpacks that i use to put everything into. it's already got a padded interior area, it's got plenty of individual pockets-and it sits easily on the seat next to ds whose idea of enjoying travel by car is to plug in a video game and veg out.

 

[gillep]

I travel a lot so I have a complete second set of toiletries and makeup all packed and ready to go at all times, I check when I get back from a trip that nothing needs to be replaced or topped up but I don't need to re-assemble everything for each trip.

I also have a travel checklist of all the things I need to pack for trips. I have separate categories on the list for work trips, Disney trips, Running trips (my husband does marathons), so it makes it very easy to know that I am not missing anything.

I have a somewhat small blue makeup bag that I put all of my purse essentials in (portable charger and cable, floss, pen, chapstick, stain stick, tissues, basic meds like Aleve and benadryl, etc.) I move this from purse to purse so that I always have everything that I need with me, no matter what purse I have, or if I am traveling I throw it in my backpack.

Amazon Prime- love it and use it all the time.

I don't like the taste of pre-made sandwiches and I cannot eat the same thing day after day so I do not meal prep on the weekends but I do get meal boxes on occasion which is so easy if I don't have time to plan meals and shop. I get a box delivered on the day I am coming back from a trip and I have a great meal all ready to make waiting for me!!!

I hate the top sheet used as a top sheet, if I buy a set that comes with one I just put it over the fitted sheet and sleep on top of it to add an extra layer between me and the matress.

 

[aprilchem]

Same thing when returning from travel, other than possibly a quick trip to the bathroom or a quick drink of water if needed, I do not do anythign else until fully unpacked, everything (including suitcase) out away and the first load of laundry is going (socks/undies/etc go straight from suitcase into washer). Then i am not constantly moving the suitcase around to get it out of the way, looking for things tht are in the suitcase, stressing bout needing to get unpacked, etc.

I do this too! Everything is put away or put in the laundry immediately, before anyone sits down or goes onto another activity. Getting it all done at once makes it way less stressful.

I thought of another one that works for me - I keep literally nothing in my car. I don't allow anything to be left behind when we leave the car except for my daughter's carseat and a box of tissues. The reduction in stress that I feel by having a clean car all the time is wonderful!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Running list of grocery items we need to pick up.

Oh, I definitely do this! (I even have an isle-by-isle list of our really common items, so I can just highlight stuff.)

Another I forgot in my previous post is travel lists on the computer. Years ago, I typed up a master prep/packing list, and also a pet-sitter memo. I make updates as needed (ditching baby items from the packing list, adding fish or plants...) Then before trips, I just print them out.

Try and stay off the internet on Weekend mornings. I have a nasty habit of getting so involved it's 11 am and I haven't gotten a thing done.

I really need to do this!

 

[morgan98]

As I have gotten older, I have also become less rigid. I used to drive myself crazy about cleaning the entire house top to bottom and ruined almost one day every weekend just to do so. We now live in a much bigger house where everything has its place and is hardwood which I find to be easier to maintain and cleaner anyway. We are very neat by nature and clean up after ourselves every day. We also shut off rooms that are not used super regularly. So I rarely spend a large block of time just cleaning.

I also agree about trying to work from home. I probably could more often than I do, but even one day a week of saving on the commute and that whole routine really does help reduce stress and gives me back some time in my day.

Also, I have learned to say no. I know that is not really what the main purpose of this thread is, but I am very deliberate in things I agree to attend or participate in because I found I could make myself crazy and stressed that way too. I am naturally an introvert, but use a lot of energy to successfully overcome some of those tendencies at work. Therefore, I need some downtime to refresh myself. I do not mean to sound like a recluse or anti-social because that is just not the case. But I do not need to attend every single happy hour, meet and greet, neighborhood BBQ, pool party, etc., either. The fact that we don't have children probably makes declining easier too.

 

[belleatdisney]

We don't have grocery delivery, but I'll start using it the second Kroger starts in our area (the web site promises it is soon). I do use ClickList

This is a medical one - I started on bioidentical hormones recently. I cannot tell you how much easier life is. I have energy, and my mood is better. I wish I had looked into this 10 years ago. I get regular healthcare, but none of my doctors ever suggested it.

Bb

 

[GreatLakes]

The discussion of lists made me think of another helpful change. We went from paper grocery and "need to buy" lists to using Google Keep and synching them up on our phones. If either of us add to or subtract from a list (or mark as bought/done) it updates the other's in real time.

 

[cabanafrau]

along the same lines as having stuff prepacked for travel-

not for airline travel (whole different animal) but for trips we travel inside the u.s. by car-i've collected small travel sized bottles of the various otc meds we use/may need which i keep in a ziplock bag at the ready (refilled from the larger bottles we use day to day), i've also got one of those 8 day pill containers which i've relabeled w/individual prescription med names so we take one small container vs. 8 prescription bottles.

for all the various and assorted electronics and their cords i came across one of ds's old rolling backpacks that i use to put everything into. it's already got a padded interior area, it's got plenty of individual pockets-and it sits easily on the seat next to ds whose idea of enjoying travel by car is to plug in a video game and veg out.

I have two different friends who have run into bad luck on vacations with prescription meds, made worse because the actual prescription bottles were at home. Added to your routine I would include snapping a picture with your phone of the label of each script so you have it with you on vacation in the event of a problem -- especially when doctor's office is closed.

 

[mmouse37]

Yup this is me too. After enough time of the sheet ending up at the bottom of the bed anyways and washing something I wasn't using I stopped putting it on the bed. It's been fitted sheet and comforter (separate from my husband's comforter he uses) for quite a while now.

Yep, I forgot to add we each have our own king sized comforters!!!

MJ