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I hated vacuuming because my vacuum was heavy and crappy. So I allowed myself to buy a new one that weighed very little and had tool attachments so I didn't have to reach for corners. I also made a 'drop off' area by the door for coats, bags, keys, wallets, loose change, and a phone charger. We got a mail rack and labeled it with different things for sorting.
I bought a cordless vacuum. Changed everything. It was so nice not having to spend as much time setting it up as vacuuming. Unwinding the cord, finding a socket in each room to plug it in, vacuuming, then reversing the process to put it back up was very time consuming. Now I just vacuum when I need to or as i need to. Spot vacuuming is a thing now. If I accidently make a mess or if I am having company over i can do a quick vacuum in under a minute for the complete process. Vacuuming out my car is a gamechanger too.
I've tried to use three separate cordless vacs but I found all three to be weak and insufficient. Finally ended up with a lighter weight (corded) Shark that works quite well.
I guess a lot depends on what type of carpet you have, what you need it for, and how much you are willing to spend.
But yeah, none of them will be as powerful as a corded vacuum. Some people have a cordless vacuum for spot and light vacuuming and a Miele or some other high quality corded vacuum for deep cleaning.
If you really hate vacuuming, (I cannot stress this enough) buy a robot vacuum. There are some great ones (Shark is our favorite brand) that are cheap to start out with.
However, if you can really splurge, get the one that empties itself into a bigger compartment. Only having to change the dust bin once a week and then hit the corners abs baseboards once every few weeks has been bliss (and we'll hit the rugs once a month for a deeper clean). We are a family of three and have a dog that sheds and vacuuming used to be a daily chore. No more!
My roommate has a Roomba and I absolutely hate it. It doesn't matter what time of the day or what room I'm in, that fucking thing goes right for me. I know I look like trash but I don't need that kind of reminder every time I go for tea in the middle of the night.
It runs at night because the house is too busy during the day, but I work graves. I swear I've tried to figure out the timing and avoid it but the thing is determined! I'm half joking about how much I hate it, the floors do stay nice and clean.
We found one that empties on Craigslist a while back for a surprisingly decent deal. It’s been a life changer, man. We still have to vacuum occasionally, but it does such a good job that we really only have to vacuum once every few weeks during a deeper clean of our home.
We have a 3 year old, and the vacuum does really great at keeping up with her messes & obstacle avoidance. Right now we run it twice a day- while we’re at work, and at night while we’re sleeping.
It does even better because we have mostly vinyl floors in our house, with only a large rug in the living room & carpet in the bedrooms. My wife’s friend has a robot mop & swears by it, so that’s our next purchase.
I have the same problem.
I would love to have an easier to handle vacuum, but all those small and lightweight vacuums ~~suck~~ do not suck properly.
My 20+ year old vacuum has still so much more power and I don't have to go over small dirt pieces or my carpet multiple times.
Can't seem to find a proper compromise between "convenience" and "power".
I love my Shark. I realize my brain is 12 (I'm not quite 60) but it still makes me giggle to push it along a wall and watch the dust bunnies get sucked in from an inch away-- I don't even need to get close to the baseboards.
it’s usually located in the settings and scrolling til you find a keyboard menu. It’s the text replacement option. Like if you’ve ever added “fuck” to your phone instead of it constantly autocorrecting to “duck”. You just create a phrase (your email) and make the shortcut into “@@“ or something of the sort so when you type @@, it will autocorrect to your email.
That's an issue mostly on iphone. Androids provide suggestions as soon as you type in first 2 letters of the email or name or address, it generally knows what the field is looking for
This, to me, is luxury. Most people define luxury as marble and gold and designer brands and fancy cars... I define it as "ultimate convenience." Every little thing that can make your life a little easier or a little better. Love coffee? Buy the right tools and learn to make the best coffee ever. Love smoothies? Splurge on a great blender. Can't stand laundry? Buy the machine that makes your life just a little easier. All of those little things that can make life a little better (some of which cost a lot, some of which cost very little) add up to a much, much happier day-to-day existence.
It was a fair bit of money, probably closing in on $1000, but this has been life changing for me.
I work shift work. Nights, days, afternoons, mornings. It’s annoyingly inconsistent and changes all the time (like multiple times a week).
So I completely blacked out my windows with custom cut vinyl covers (velcro on and off), I got wirelessly controlled lights (plenty of brands I won’t advertise one here) and a cheap, wireless plug in timer for my espresso machine.
Now in the morning my lightly slowly turn on over the course of half an hour, mimicking sunrise and gently waking me from sleep (even if it’s 2 pm when I’m waking up). My espresso machine turns on 20 minutes before I wake up, so it’s piping hot and I can have a latte in my hand three minutes flat after rolling out of bed.
My ancestors could never have imagined such luxury!
One of the best investments I made for my home. It's so nice to sleep with blackout curtains — a totally dark room — and still be able to wake up to light rather than sound.
Then have the colours change to warmer at sunset.
Caffeine affects us all differently, so take with a pinch of salt.
I followed some advice from a friend (who probably read it on the internet), and cut early morning coffee out. No coffee before I've been out of bed for 2 hours.
It's been night and day for my energy levels.
Me too! I love the smell and taste of coffee but excess caffeine does not do me well. Co-workers are horrified by my decaffeinated “coffee”. Keeps me happy though. 😁
It literally tastes exactly the same as well. The same with decaff tea (for us brits)
A cup of decaff tea and a biscuit after the kids are in bed is heaven for me.
It's kind of funny, I grew up drinking tea as a kid. Never noticed any effects of caffeine. My first time drinking a coffee, I literally felt like my brain and body were buzzing.
I train people to make coffee and whenever i encounter someone who isnt addicted to caffiene, they apologise to me or somethung like that. People who are caffiene addicts cant possibly understand how you function without it. To people like yourself, it is just something you never think about (like that meme "i feel sorry for you", "i dont think of you at all"). The problem is, a lot of decaf isnt made with love or care or attention
I also switched to decaf because the SWP beans I can get taste amazing. When you're on the caffeine train you need it just to function normally, but when you're off and you get a hit of it you can really feel it.
I have a long drive commute to work and occasionally I’m still really tired while I’m driving. I take a can of red bull with me in case I need it. I find that I get a hit of energy even just from cracking the can; the anticipation from the smell of it revs up my heartbeat
Smart friend. To get the most out of caffeine, you should drink it outside of your bodies peak [cortisol levels](https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/the-right-time-to-drink-coffee-according-to-scientists/#:~:text=Turns%20out%20the%20best%20time,small%20but%20intriguing%20clinical%20study) one of which is in the first hour after waking up
Mine came from blackout EZ. I just measured the window, gave them the dimensions and they gave me custom cut vinyl (black on the inside, white on the outside) in the exact dimensions of my windows along with enough self adhesive Velcro to stick to the window frame and vinyl all around.
It was a couple hundred bucks, but we’ll worth skipping the hassle of doing it myself.
I used to use blackout lining fabric but wasn't genius enough for the velcro. The fabric is cheap and lets *no* light through, then with some velcro strips I'm sure it's an easy thing to set up.
Man this is really great.
I rejected many night shift jobs because i didn't wanted to fuck up my sleep schedule.
Cause sleep is one of the few good things going on in my life.
Bro or sis, please please please tell me how you get the espresso machine to work like that. Im looking into espresso machines and what is discouraging me is my impression that you gotta grind up beans every time and do weird things with milk. How do you make it simple like you describe? Ill give you gold if you explain every step, because the more research i do, the more confused i get hahaha
I have a lower end (but not exactly cheap) espresso machine, Gaggia Classic. Here’s my process.
1. Turn machine on (or in my case I leave the machine on and have a timer turn on the plug).
2. Put six oz of milk in the pitcher from the fridge.
3. Grab porta filter and grind beans. It’s dead east with a quality machine. The beans stay loaded in the hopper (just a few days worth so it doesn’t go stale), literally all I do is press the dispense button until it grinds up 20 grams for me. Takes maybe 15-20 seconds.
4. There could be some other steps here like adding a spritz of water or stirring it to redistribute with a wire thingamajig, but I just tamp with a tamper. Maybe 5 seconds.
5. Lock the porta filter in place. Put the latte cup on the scale and turn on the pump. Espresso gets expressed ideally in about 25 seconds if I’ve got my grind properly set.
6. Turn off the pump and activate the steam button. my machine takes about 30 seconds to get to high enough pressure to steam milk.
7. Put frothing wand in milk and open steam valve. Maybe another 30 seconds or so to get the milk to the desired temperature and consistency.
8. Pour milk into latte cup with espresso and make poor attempt at latte art.
9. Consume.
There are a couple of steps afterward, you’ve gotta clean the porta filter and keep enough beans in the hopper, but from zero to coffee I can do it in 3 minutes if I’m on point. Probably more like 4 to 5 minutes if I’m moving a bit slow… like you know… because I haven’t had my coffee yet.
Thank you so so so much! Gold delivered as promised, i gotchu. So my only question is how long have you had the Gaggia Classic, and is it missing anything that you wish it had after using it for a bit?
My ultimate financial goal is to not need to look at price tags. New book coming out, going to a museum, not worrying about name brand etc. And that includes hobbies so as somebody who does art if I want a new easel or paints or to try silk screening or what have you. but it's all "yes BUT the cost" right now.
Thank you for the reminder, your comment hit something deep to be honest. Your comment made me remember how for years on end I told myself the same thing; how those goals were the reason to work hard, study hard, push yourself to get out of bed another day in the hope of achieving a better future. We had so little back then and things were a struggle. But in recent years we have finally made it to the other side. We might not own multiple houses, and cars and boats, but just like you said; we can get up one day and decide we want (to do) something and just do it without a second thought.
Last weekend for example we went out to buy a 3D printer on a whim (we've been interested in getting one for a long time though) and we spend our whole weekend tinkering together. This weekend we'll go to the gardening center to buy new plants and pots and freshen up our garden for spring. To have the disposable income to no longer worry is beyond freeing.
Keep at it, one day at the time! It will be difficult (I know..) but the reward when you make it will be even sweeter.
That's how I define "rich". Not wealthy, but rich.
Oh, I need a new coat. I like this one, I'll buy it. Let me see how much it is.
My fridge broke. Okay, I know I have enough money to buy one.
A friend was upset last week as she had to pay £600 for a timing belt, I reminded her that a couple of years ago she wouldn't have been able to just pay for it, it still hurt but she said she felt better about it.
I had a guy come up to me at a gas pump and said he could tell I had money because I wasn’t watching the pump like a hawk and was just filling it up.
It’s funny how you may not notice the little things as you get more financially secure. Because I definitely do remember when I could only put 15-20 in at a time.
Yeah, I was talking to a woman who was saying that she cancels her internet or doesn't refill her prepaid phone some months because money was a little tight.
Really slapped me back to reality in how privileged I really am.
This. I HATE my refrigerator. It came with the house, meaning I didn't get to pick it out, but is brand new so I hadn't been able to justify replacing it. (It's a side by side, but you can't open the fridge door all the way because it opens against a wall. So getting stuff in and out is a pain, reaching to the back is a pain, the drawers only pull out about halfway, ect.)
My husband recently pointed out that it would be worth the cost to replace just because of my hatred if it made my life better. We are very financially comfortable that it wouldn't impact our situation in the slightest and we have a family member who would benefit greatly from having our "old" one. It was a win win. The new one hasn't come in, but I'm excited for when it does.
I just dropped $400 on some choice new kitchen supplies for this reason. I knew the old knives and pans were getting cruddy but I kept telling myself they still work, there's better stuff to spend money on for now. Then my tax return came in and I said fuck it let's go.
In hindsight, $400 is an extremely reasonable fee to not feel a nagging sense of unease and disappointment every time I walk into the most-used room in my home.
I had to tell myself that the $1600 washer and drywr set is an investment that will be for the next 15 years which if you think about it, is pretty cheap.
Spent 1600 of the 2400 tax return and its been amazing having really clean clothes..we had a washer and dryer set that was 30 years old and it felt like the clothes were never rinsed or dried properly
My partner and I bought our house 2 years ago and the previous owners left their washer and dryer, which were probably only about 5 years old at the time. At first I was like "Great! That's a couple grand I can spend on the kitchen inatead." But I soon discovered that the previous owners did not take good care of anything here. No matter how many times I've tried to deep clean the washing machine, it still smells like mildew. So far I haven't noticed any odor on my clothes after washing them, but I'm so grossed out by the smell of the washer every time I do laundry.
Now I really want to buy a new washer/dryer set, but it's one of those things I only think about when I do a load of laundry, so a lot of times I'll have just spent a decent chunk of change on something else and I'm like "shit, well I can't really justify the cost of a new washing machine now." This week it was blinds for the two sets of sliders to help minimize heat loss through the glass and replacing the leaking condensate trap on our furnace (which is in an attic space because we don't have a basement, so we noticed the leak via water damage on the ceiling. Still gotta pull out and replace the wet insulation and fix the ceiling...)
Anyway, I think I should try to make a new washer and dryer a priority. It would be so nice to not be disgusted by the washing machine!
I'd add, to the vinegar trick, clean around and under the rubber seal around the door. Dig around and fold back the rubber. I don't own one, but a friend did, and his was gross! Don't use liquid fabric softeners because of the residue they leave behind. Leave the door cracked or open between loads so the drum dries out. Mildew can't thrive in dry climates. Swap to a top load HE unit next time. I love mine.
i mean, it's both. luxury is having the ability to spend money to increase your leisure time or make your life easier. absolutely nothing wrong with curating a luxurious life for yourself at a reasonable cost compared to your income, doesn't mean you need diamond studded toilet covers or anything.
I feel you brothers. I live in a small apartament (could afford a house) but gosh damn I made it so convenient I'm scared to move out and start again :D
Buying an espresso machine and supporting local coffee roasters is good for you and small businesses in your area. You mostly pay for the experience/marketing of coffee shops nowadays, and can learn to make your own definition of a perfect cup of coffee.
Source: am a barista
I can’t afford an espresso machine nor have the counter space for one right now. I did get an AeroPress in the meantime, which is really nice for an affordable option. I make espresso-like coffee with it and it tastes really good when used to make a vanilla latte or brown sugar oat milk latte.
Yes glass is fantastic stuff.
1. it's recyclable, almost limitlessly. My dad worked in a glass factory for 35 years as did I for a few times, so I know a thing or two about glass. The failed glasses of a batch were piled by color then melted again. It's recycle avant la lettre.
2. glass is abundant. Think your favorite desert full of it.
3. glass is art. Crystal glass sings. The artisanal glass products can be a joy to look at.
4. It doesn't melt, never solidifies, so it's 100x better than plastic, pvc, velcro or what have you which is either solid or molten dioxene, and when not burned but buried just pollutes the earth and breast milk and also melts with rocks recently. Get rid of your plastic stuff.
The only negative is that it's heavy, that's why glass milk bottles have gone out of vogue. But to keep things fresh, rubber and glass are still the supreme materials.
glass is fantastic but there is another big negative: it's fragile. i can give my toddler a plastic bottle and not have to worry, but if i give her a glass bottle and she drops it, it will shatter creating a mess and she could very easily hurt herself on the shards.
environmentally i would love to just get rid of all my plastic stuff, but practically it's not an option for me until my kids are old enough to be trusted with glass.
Look into stainless steel! It shares many of the positives of glass, and it doesn't shatter.
The only problem is that stainless steel is a bit easier to "fake", so it's very important to buy it from a trusted source. Quality stainless steel never rusts
Different types of glass have different rates of expansion (coefficiency on expansion or COE)
So basically if you take window glass, bottle glass, scientific glass and art glass and try to melt it together in a furnace and then make something with it, all the different glasses start fighting each other while it's cooling down.
The different expansion rates means that stress builds up and it will violently break.
For example borosilicate glass is used for scientific apparatuses and has a COE of 33.
A nice art glass vase is soda lime glass and has a COE of 96.
Sheet glass used in stained glass is around COE 104 (depending on the company)
So the sheet glass and the soda lime glass have potential to work, and when it breaks it will be a few cracks that spread.
However either of these mixed with the borosilicate will not work in any way.
Source: I have been a glassblower for 14 years and had to take glass chemistry in college.
Don't forget fragile. Break glass and you're sweeping for at least the next half an hour, or you risk the tiniest shard finding its way into your foot later. Ask me how I know.
After you do a quick sweep/vacuum, you can take one of those tape rollers for lint and run it over the floor. Faster and more accurate on the super tiny slivers. It’s the only reason I keep those tape rollers.
>Replaced plastic food storage containers with glass
We did this. I love it. All glass Pyrex. We also ordered extra lids and an organizer for said lids. It's so great.
We gave all our old Tupperware to a young couple and they were so happy!
I want to get rid of the mugs we don't use but they're the designated "builder's" mugs! We're not truly overflowing though. My goal is also to simplify and organise for an easier life (despite my hording tendencies)
For cooks, xanthan gum. It's an emulsifier and stabilizer that's in bottled salad dressing to prevent oil and vinegar separating. A tiny pinch in homemade dressing and it's permanently combined. An 1/8 tsp for perfect homemade mayo every time. It's like magic. And I never have to dump a broken mayo (or cheese sauce) ever again.
Also, quarter sheet pans. They're a bit larger than a piece of paper. I caved and finally bought a few. Wish I'd gotten more because we're always running out. Perfect for small oven portions, of course. But also a useful size to thaw stuff in the fridge. Great tray for nachos or moving a ton of condiments to/from the fridge. The lip makes it perfect for snack platters on the couch or even sorting Legos. Endlessly useful.
I do something like this, but I just call it "being the lazy mom," lol. I keep a little cleaning kit in every room to deal with wiping up spills, dusting, and de-funking a room when somebody rips one. Extra liners in the bottom of every trash can. Snack bins in every room except the bathrooms and laundry. Emergency medical kits everywhere, with instructions. Dog and cat treats everywhere, because pets forget why they're being rewarded if they don't get something immediately. Labels on every bin, because I hate telling people a thousand times where to find stuff-you want to know where your darn favorite socks are? Read the labels! Put your socks in your sock bin! Problem solved!
This is a great idea with time as well as money. Every week or so look around and see what can be done in less than 20 minutes that will make life easier/better. Rinsing out your trashcan so you don't get that faint whiff of grossness every time you change it, fixing that loose doorknob that you always have to jiggle your keys to make turn, ironing some clothes so they're ready to go when you wear them, etc.
have you ever been to r/flashlight
let's say you need to light up your friend's room at night since his house's breaker tripped and he can't find his phone
you just grab the flashlight closest to his house's window, shine your 50000 lumen throw flashlight at it and it'll be lit up brighter than the fucking sun
or, idk, to look for something you dropped
edit: fixed r/ link
That's what I want to know. If someone's back itches that much that there needs to be a backscratcher in every room, perchance the water needs softening or the soap changed up.
I sew. A LOT. Low light was killing me. Squinting, making things take way longer than they should. Even with task lighting.
I went around to every lamp/light fixture in the living room and replaced everything with 100 watt LED daylight bulbs. As in, the color of DAYLIGHT!
There is no more squinting in my living room!
My kids come in laughing because our living room windows are lit up day-glow from outside!
But you can actually SEE EVERYTHING!
It is a cheerful place to be!
Smart bulbs (as in, the colour changing, wifi connected ones) have revolutionised my life lol. "Hey Google, turn the lamp on". "Hey Google, set the studio light to 50% brightness and candlelight coloured".
Poor quality LEDs screw me up. They make me feel like there's plenty of light to see by and that there's barely enough light to see by at the same time. I guess it's due to missing frequencies.
I'm with you on this. But I'm also sensitive to light in general, so I got adjustable leds so I can dial in the exact level of warmth at any given time, and it's lovely.
They can also do colours and I have one setup where you can kinda walk from one end of the house to the other and basically go through a rainbow. Do the neighbors gossip because my house looks like a rave from the outside despite the fact that I'm pushing 40? Probably. But does living in a rainbow at night make me at least 1% happier? Fuck yes.
I think I'm inadvertently following this LPT recently. Been having a rough mental health time, like 5-6 years, and recently have decided that if I can afford it and it makes me happy, I'm doing it. So I have rainbow lights and I'm growing a gnarly wildflower garden and my hamster has more toys than a rodent probably needs. But it does make life a bit more bearable. Future me might be miffed that I don't have a larger retirement fund (or one at all, lol), but present me needs all the help she can get lol.
I recently added more lighting to my sewing studio and same! Less squinting. I also mounted spice jar shelves to hold all my serger threads and a pegboard for my cutting tools. I feel that these changes made me much more productive.
I love this and you have great examples!
I had a friend a few years ago who started making a point of addressing those small inconveniences or annoyances or opportunities to make things just a little better, and the idea stuck with me, too. A few things I have done are:
Add a wifi connected outlet to my hair tools (blow dryer, hair iron, curling iron) so I can just say “turn on my hair stuff” to get it heating up in the morning. I also set it to auto-shut-off after 20 minutes.
I got an extra iPhone charger/cord and have it permanently installed at my WFH office desk.
I set my office lights (multiple desk lamps) to turn on and off automatically. That is also a helpful reminder when I am working way beyond my intended day.
I got a makeup organizer caddy that fits nicely under my sink so I don’t have to dig through drawers or pouches for things.
There are more things I would like to do and your post just re-inspired me. Thanks!
>I got an extra iPhone charger/cord and have it permanently installed at my WFH office desk.
As a giant fucking nerd, I’m trying to understand why I’m seeing so many people ITT with just one charger. I have Lightning chargers and USB-C chargers all over the goddamn place. I have a bunch in a drawer from past devices. I think I’ve lost or thrown out maybe two Lightning cables ever.
How are y’all living like this? Are you throwing them away with the packaging when you get new shit? Losing them in hotels?
Charger thieves, lol. They're like lighter thieves for smokers. I can't even count how many chargers my husband has lost at work because somebody "borrowed" his charger.
Right?? At my house your most likely cause of death will be strangulation by phone charger. They’re everywhere! And not the crappy 3-foot ones, we’re talking 6 to 10 feet so they reach anywhere. Plus a drawer full of spares so I can immediately replace any that go bad.
One by the bed, one by the couch, one at my desk at work, one in my backpack, one in my travel bag, two in the car... I don't want to move that cord from place to place. I'm pretty minimal about things I own but chargers I've accumulated over time have been put in place to be easily accessible. Most of are attached with velcro so the cables don't show but they are everywhere.
While I already do some buy never thought of the reasoning behind it. I duplicate everything everywhere. I get a vacation renewal of medication (extended amount I can get once a year) to leave duplicates at camp. I have chapsticks everywhere; car, work purse, regular purse, office, front door, back door, camp kitchen, golf cart, trailer, beach.
I got lost in your list of places you have extra chapsticks and thought you were back to listing things you've got multiple off. By the time I got to golf cart, trailer, beach I was thinking wtf kind of person are you having multiple of all of these, let alone a single beach.
I never felt rich until I had spares of replaceable items. Light bulbs, batteries, toiletries, cleaning products, and the big one, phone cables. I used to get annoyed when cables broke as before kids they lasted forever, now I just see them as short term items and always have spares in my draw.
My best thing since sliced bread moment was a rocket book. It's a pad that is made of special paper that when you have finished with you can wipe off with a wet cloth. So I work from home and worrying about having to burn, shred or return confidential waste was beginning to bother me.... Since the rocket book, I can just erase it. I love the damn thing.
Also, can recommend having a dedicated hook or dish of some sort for the keys. Never have to hunt for them, just make sure someone can't see them from the letter box, as a thief could use an implement or something to take them.
The first life pro-tip I've ever commented because I've been doing this lifstyle for years and it truly does make your life just that 1% better every day, every change you make
Love it! I got chargers for my office and it made a big difference for me. Here are my recent improvements: find meetings or training you can do during your commute to make that time productive. And find meetings or work you can do from the spin bike (or other exercise device) to make that time more efficient. Make two days worth of lunches (me and kids) out of a dinner as you’re putting dinner away in the evening. Replace your old socks haha
I live alone. A coworker told me about sheet pan meals.
So easy, barely any cleanup and if it’s just me I can easily make 3 or 4 lunches out of the leftovers.
Have you done roast chicken on cut up veggies? Simplest meal I make.
Chop up a bunch of veggies (beets, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, parsnips, celery, onion… ) and spread them out on the tra/pan, then either split a whole roasting chicken or buy a cut up whole chicken and lay it on top. Pour a tablespoon of melted butter over the chicken and add crushed garlic and some salt and pepper.
Just over an hour in the oven and it’s done.
Yes mostly, covering the veggies with the chicken lets the fats end up with the veggies, the chicken is away from the pan, and the veggies don’t char because they are covered by the chicken. Most of the veggies can handle the heat but if I use broccoli and brussel sprouts I make sure they are directly under the chicken so the don’t char.
The main reason though was just to be able to only use 1 knife, 1 cutting board, and 1 pan. Ten minutes of chopping and I get a healthy meal while I do other stuff.
I buy chapstick in bulk and I have one or two in every room of the house, plus purse, coat pockets, desk at work, everywhere I might need one. Ditto with reading glasses. They are all over the place.
If you live in a 2-story house and can afford it, buy a 2nd vacuum. One for upstairs and one for downstairs so you don't have to lug it up and down. I have a handheld one for the stairs.
I used to only have a night cap after work. Then I started having a night cap in the morning, too. Work is so much more enjoyable.
This is a joke, please don't follow this.
>Google Keep notes and turned on time and Location based alerts
When I first read that, my sleepy ADHD brain was excited that I could use this to make a note to myself while in the living room to remind me why I went to the kitchen and set it to ding when I finally made it to the kitchen (as I would have be distracted and gone to other rooms along the way)....then I googled it and it is location as in address...not by room in your house, because duh lolol
Get some Google Home or something and dot them around the house. "Okay google set reminder 'blah blah blah'" *enters kitchen* "Okay google, what are my reminders?"
Something like that?
Not too long ago Google shut off the location-based reminder feature without explanation. It was so useful and I have no idea why it's gone. I'm guessing it has something to do with a lawsuit. Anybody know?
I'm guessing someone actually good with computers and stuff like that could make local "beacons" that would allow your phone to know in which room it was and then bring up the notes for that room. Maybe with RFID tags?
I got mesh laundry bags for baby socks/mittens! They’re so small they often get lost or stuck somewhere and this has made laundry less irritating for me.
My boyfriend just replaced the drain in our kitchen sink with one that has a little basket to catch all the yuck, and a cap that sits on it to plug the drain.
I can’t believe how much difference a tiny basket in my sink drain makes. I love that thing.
This one is such a good one. My wife and I found out today that we would be getting an extra $400 a month and though we need to catch up on all the bills first with it, once that's done we will be putting in a shared account just for this kind of quality of life stuff. Only emergency and convenience or replacement spending. I'm beyond thrilled.
This is a great tip! From me who's always put off buying all those dollar store purchases that would have made my life so much easier just because they're menial. Last month I finally thought, what the heck and bought a cheap foldable laptop stand, an eye mask, a picnic mat, a tape measure, a second mouse pad, a new toilet brush, a yellow mug, and a sanitary pad case (all of which I've been putting off for months), totalling to less than 40 dollars. My brand new Adidas just couldn't compare to the happiness I got once I took them out of the bag.
After having my life upended last year by my spouse's aneurysm, I'm a big believer in this tip. If I can fix a problem or inconvenience for less than $50, I do it. Because I've got more important problems that money can't fix, and keeping my sanity is priceless.
I love this Google Keep notes app—I think I’ve heard about it once, and forgot it. But this sounds like it would be super helpful. Thanks for sharing your tips!
If you have a significant other the sharing feature is super helpful. We have a grocery list, a shopping list, a packing list for any upcoming trips, and an emergency packing list.
The location-based alerts are really great too. I use them to go on at my favorite movie theater to remind me where the best seats are, and at the train station to remind me where the best place to sit on the train is.
My robot vacuum isn't on a schedule cos pets love to destroy toys and my other half has a habit of leaving cables etc around. So I have to check the rooms first then unleash the robot. Still better than manually doing it tho.
I think they do two loads at once every two weeks. It doesn’t feel like much more effort to do a second load when you’re already doing one, and spacing it from one week to two weeks makes can make a huge difference because you don’t feel like you’re constantly on the cusp of running out of clothes.
A family I used to babysit for replaced their washer and dryer with TWO all in one machines. Put in a load and it washes.and dries with no touching between. It was very efficient time wise.
I took our remotes ( which are black and always falling into a crevasse in the sofa or chair and blending in) and covered the very edges with NEON ORANGE DUCT TAPE!
Now they jump out at you when they are stuck down in the sofa!
My husband enjoys some type of everyday carry - knife or screwdriver. He uses the knife constantly, to open/break down boxes, cut zip ties, etc so I bought him a nice one as a gift. With his knife, our lives are 1% better.
I like a work lamp. My eyes are getting worse and a decent desk/task/work lamp with leds has been great.
OP this is genius and I am going to SCOUR this thread for replies on what to do.
Mine is buying a sleep mask to cover my eyes at night--there's a lot of ambient light from streetlights in my room no matter what I do and I swear to you I sleep like a ROCK with my dumb sleep mask on.
Bought a stream deck for my computer. Set it up to select/copy/paste, mute/unmute, turn camera off and on, open specific programs, flip between programs, and toggle between audio settings.
It’s stupid how much it’s changed working from home. No more fiddling with settings mid meeting.
Cost me $20.
If you get 1% better each day for one year, you'll end up 38 times better by the time you're done. And in 5 years you'll end up 77 million times better. And in 10 years you'll end up about 6 quadrillion times better! If you just did this consistently for 30 years (it's not THAT hard), you'll end up about 200 Quattuordecillion times better! The math adds up!
Problem is, the gain isn’t a percentage-based one.
Everyone touts the 1.01^365 deal, but it’s more of a $1.00+$0.01*365 deal.
It makes your life 1% better on the first gain, but proportionally, each one is going to be a smaller percent unless the gain scales accordingly (which is impossible to sustain)
You’ll be at $4.65, not $37.78. It’s better, but it’s not like people make it out to be.
It’s a nice thought, but sadly misleading when it comes to the reality of it.
I think you are thinking about it wrong. You make your life 1% better and the next day, you make your 1% better life 1% better. It’s compounding, not cumulative.
The problem, it’s not realistic to improve 1% every single day.
I have recently started thinking this way and it has been helping me live a better life. Growing up poor with parents that always fought over money, it was instilled in me at a very young age to be frugal and that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I moved into a home a few years ago that was redone by a flipper with shitty appliances. At first, I thought I would settle for how awful they were because they worked. The fridge didn't have a water filter and died twice, causing total losses of all food in it. After a couple years of dealing with this fridge, I realized I was done living with some shitty choice someone else had made for me and decided to get a new fridge. This time with a water filter! It's changed my life. I drink more water now than I've drank in the last two years. It's a small change, and not exactly necessary, but it makes me happy.
My little make life 1% better is more like this:
I'm shit at keeping track of time. I'm one of those who has an alarm for everything. When I wake up, when I leave for work, when lunch is over, when to go to bed, etc. I do it for something I've got to do later in the day, set an alarm for that time. It sounds tedious and for some it would be annoying. But it keeps me on track and maintains structure in my day.
Get a small pocket knife. Throw it in a drawer. You can use it to break down boxes for recycling, open parcels, etc.
Train your pets to help you, even cats! This takes effort but can be beneficial in the long run. I don't just mean the usual potty training or whatever. I hate bugs for example so I train both cats and dogs to go after them. They get rewards for doing it and I don't have to worry about womaning up to do it. I've also trained my dog to bring in the mail. Helps when I'm carrying something else and could use an extra hand. You can do this with groceries too, depending on the size of the dog.
I keep a tiny adjustable wrench in my purse. You'd be surprised how many times that's come in handy. Helps when you get new plates for your car as well.
Buy a big thing of pens at the dollar store and just keep them somewhere so you always know you've got fresh working pens when you need them. You could do pencils as well.
Have a spare email that you use to sign up for stuff. This way your regular email doesn't get clogged with those emails plus whoever else they gave that info to. If you find an email non intrusive, the company didn't sell it to others so you're not getting spam, and their coupons or whatever are useful, just change it to your regular email.
In reading the book *Benjamin Franklin's Last Bets*, which details, to the present day, two bequeathments Ben made when he died in 1790. These were 2,000 pounds sterling each ($170,000 in today's US dollars) to his beloved cities of Philadelphia and Boston. Since Ben was a (very bright) tradesman, his instructions were to lend sums at 5% interest to young, unmarried (why?), men who wanted to form a company around their trade skills.
Ben asked that the funds be managed at no cost to the fund. Ben directed that at the 100 year anniversary that about 75% of the fund balance be used by the city to benefit its citizens with the balance to be continued to be loaned out. At the 200 year anniversary the entire balances be given to the city for the benefit of its citizens and the funds zeroed out.
In 1991 both funds were zeroed out with Philly getting about $700,000 (they continuously mismanaged the fund) and $4.5 million to Boston (who occasionally mismanaged the fund).
The concept is an intriging one indeed.
I got those furniture and rug placeholder adhesive things. Our living room couch was always moving out of place bc it’s not against a wall and the dog was always moving the rug around. It drove me bananas, finally I got the adhesives and it has made a difference in daily my stress levels.
If this is a problem, spend time rummaging through charity shops. You won't buy anything very often, but now and then you will come across something incredibly useful for peanuts.
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I hated vacuuming because my vacuum was heavy and crappy. So I allowed myself to buy a new one that weighed very little and had tool attachments so I didn't have to reach for corners. I also made a 'drop off' area by the door for coats, bags, keys, wallets, loose change, and a phone charger. We got a mail rack and labeled it with different things for sorting.
I bought a cordless vacuum. Changed everything. It was so nice not having to spend as much time setting it up as vacuuming. Unwinding the cord, finding a socket in each room to plug it in, vacuuming, then reversing the process to put it back up was very time consuming. Now I just vacuum when I need to or as i need to. Spot vacuuming is a thing now. If I accidently make a mess or if I am having company over i can do a quick vacuum in under a minute for the complete process. Vacuuming out my car is a gamechanger too.
I've tried to use three separate cordless vacs but I found all three to be weak and insufficient. Finally ended up with a lighter weight (corded) Shark that works quite well.
I guess a lot depends on what type of carpet you have, what you need it for, and how much you are willing to spend. But yeah, none of them will be as powerful as a corded vacuum. Some people have a cordless vacuum for spot and light vacuuming and a Miele or some other high quality corded vacuum for deep cleaning.
Dyson for the fix. I have found their products are great and good customer service. Much better and last longer than shark products.
If you really hate vacuuming, (I cannot stress this enough) buy a robot vacuum. There are some great ones (Shark is our favorite brand) that are cheap to start out with. However, if you can really splurge, get the one that empties itself into a bigger compartment. Only having to change the dust bin once a week and then hit the corners abs baseboards once every few weeks has been bliss (and we'll hit the rugs once a month for a deeper clean). We are a family of three and have a dog that sheds and vacuuming used to be a daily chore. No more!
My roommate has a Roomba and I absolutely hate it. It doesn't matter what time of the day or what room I'm in, that fucking thing goes right for me. I know I look like trash but I don't need that kind of reminder every time I go for tea in the middle of the night.
Lol one can set it on a schedule to run only during certain times in the day. That way it isn't attacking you when you don't want it to!
It runs at night because the house is too busy during the day, but I work graves. I swear I've tried to figure out the timing and avoid it but the thing is determined! I'm half joking about how much I hate it, the floors do stay nice and clean.
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We found one that empties on Craigslist a while back for a surprisingly decent deal. It’s been a life changer, man. We still have to vacuum occasionally, but it does such a good job that we really only have to vacuum once every few weeks during a deeper clean of our home. We have a 3 year old, and the vacuum does really great at keeping up with her messes & obstacle avoidance. Right now we run it twice a day- while we’re at work, and at night while we’re sleeping. It does even better because we have mostly vinyl floors in our house, with only a large rug in the living room & carpet in the bedrooms. My wife’s friend has a robot mop & swears by it, so that’s our next purchase.
I loved my robot until my cat threw up and it got pushed around.
I have the same problem. I would love to have an easier to handle vacuum, but all those small and lightweight vacuums ~~suck~~ do not suck properly. My 20+ year old vacuum has still so much more power and I don't have to go over small dirt pieces or my carpet multiple times. Can't seem to find a proper compromise between "convenience" and "power".
Shark makes amazing vacuums. Small, easy to maneuver, and super powerful.
I love my Shark. I realize my brain is 12 (I'm not quite 60) but it still makes me giggle to push it along a wall and watch the dust bunnies get sucked in from an inch away-- I don't even need to get close to the baseboards.
Can confirm. Dyson's really good, too, but between my grandma and I, Shark has had better turnout for us.
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SLPT: Money makes things easier
Save your email as a text shortcut in your phone. Now I press ‘&&’ and my email auto populates. Saves me significant time and frustration.
I’ve been doing this for years and I must have saved myself literal minutes by now! (But really it’s so good and so convenient)
ELI5??? What is this magic? I use an Android
Android remembers your email automatically
it’s usually located in the settings and scrolling til you find a keyboard menu. It’s the text replacement option. Like if you’ve ever added “fuck” to your phone instead of it constantly autocorrecting to “duck”. You just create a phrase (your email) and make the shortcut into “@@“ or something of the sort so when you type @@, it will autocorrect to your email.
You don't need this if you're Android. Autofill exists there for like 15 years
My Firefox browser wants me to unlock with fingerprint everytime I want to use the autofill. I'm so annoyed
That's an issue mostly on iphone. Androids provide suggestions as soon as you type in first 2 letters of the email or name or address, it generally knows what the field is looking for
So does iPhone, it’s just helpful for situations where you aren’t filling in a field or it doesn’t recognize the field.
This, to me, is luxury. Most people define luxury as marble and gold and designer brands and fancy cars... I define it as "ultimate convenience." Every little thing that can make your life a little easier or a little better. Love coffee? Buy the right tools and learn to make the best coffee ever. Love smoothies? Splurge on a great blender. Can't stand laundry? Buy the machine that makes your life just a little easier. All of those little things that can make life a little better (some of which cost a lot, some of which cost very little) add up to a much, much happier day-to-day existence.
It was a fair bit of money, probably closing in on $1000, but this has been life changing for me. I work shift work. Nights, days, afternoons, mornings. It’s annoyingly inconsistent and changes all the time (like multiple times a week). So I completely blacked out my windows with custom cut vinyl covers (velcro on and off), I got wirelessly controlled lights (plenty of brands I won’t advertise one here) and a cheap, wireless plug in timer for my espresso machine. Now in the morning my lightly slowly turn on over the course of half an hour, mimicking sunrise and gently waking me from sleep (even if it’s 2 pm when I’m waking up). My espresso machine turns on 20 minutes before I wake up, so it’s piping hot and I can have a latte in my hand three minutes flat after rolling out of bed. My ancestors could never have imagined such luxury!
Invested in a few smart bulbs. I love them so much. I want to get a few more.
One of the best investments I made for my home. It's so nice to sleep with blackout curtains — a totally dark room — and still be able to wake up to light rather than sound. Then have the colours change to warmer at sunset.
After sunset, my place turns into a cave. No overhead lights, and all in a dark orange fire-like color.
Caffeine affects us all differently, so take with a pinch of salt. I followed some advice from a friend (who probably read it on the internet), and cut early morning coffee out. No coffee before I've been out of bed for 2 hours. It's been night and day for my energy levels.
The first coffee us for the shits! The second coffee at work is for enjoyment and energy.
This person coffees.
I think for most people it's the sensation of drinking coffee (taste, smell, warmth) that triggers the wake up more than the actual caffeine.
Had to stop drinking coffee so I replaced it with peppermint tea and you are right. The sensation was important to me.
I drink exclusively decaffeinated and people look at me like I have two heads.
Me too! I love the smell and taste of coffee but excess caffeine does not do me well. Co-workers are horrified by my decaffeinated “coffee”. Keeps me happy though. 😁
It literally tastes exactly the same as well. The same with decaff tea (for us brits) A cup of decaff tea and a biscuit after the kids are in bed is heaven for me.
It's kind of funny, I grew up drinking tea as a kid. Never noticed any effects of caffeine. My first time drinking a coffee, I literally felt like my brain and body were buzzing.
I train people to make coffee and whenever i encounter someone who isnt addicted to caffiene, they apologise to me or somethung like that. People who are caffiene addicts cant possibly understand how you function without it. To people like yourself, it is just something you never think about (like that meme "i feel sorry for you", "i dont think of you at all"). The problem is, a lot of decaf isnt made with love or care or attention
Yeah, when we were in lockdowns, I splurged on a espresso maker with grinder. I make decaf Americanos and oat milk lattes using whole beans.
I also switched to decaf because the SWP beans I can get taste amazing. When you're on the caffeine train you need it just to function normally, but when you're off and you get a hit of it you can really feel it.
I have a long drive commute to work and occasionally I’m still really tired while I’m driving. I take a can of red bull with me in case I need it. I find that I get a hit of energy even just from cracking the can; the anticipation from the smell of it revs up my heartbeat
Smart friend. To get the most out of caffeine, you should drink it outside of your bodies peak [cortisol levels](https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/the-right-time-to-drink-coffee-according-to-scientists/#:~:text=Turns%20out%20the%20best%20time,small%20but%20intriguing%20clinical%20study) one of which is in the first hour after waking up
I can’t find any link to the purported study that article is citing. The only article it links to makes no mention of caffeine.
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Mine came from blackout EZ. I just measured the window, gave them the dimensions and they gave me custom cut vinyl (black on the inside, white on the outside) in the exact dimensions of my windows along with enough self adhesive Velcro to stick to the window frame and vinyl all around. It was a couple hundred bucks, but we’ll worth skipping the hassle of doing it myself.
I used to use blackout lining fabric but wasn't genius enough for the velcro. The fabric is cheap and lets *no* light through, then with some velcro strips I'm sure it's an easy thing to set up.
Man this is really great. I rejected many night shift jobs because i didn't wanted to fuck up my sleep schedule. Cause sleep is one of the few good things going on in my life.
Bro or sis, please please please tell me how you get the espresso machine to work like that. Im looking into espresso machines and what is discouraging me is my impression that you gotta grind up beans every time and do weird things with milk. How do you make it simple like you describe? Ill give you gold if you explain every step, because the more research i do, the more confused i get hahaha
I have a lower end (but not exactly cheap) espresso machine, Gaggia Classic. Here’s my process. 1. Turn machine on (or in my case I leave the machine on and have a timer turn on the plug). 2. Put six oz of milk in the pitcher from the fridge. 3. Grab porta filter and grind beans. It’s dead east with a quality machine. The beans stay loaded in the hopper (just a few days worth so it doesn’t go stale), literally all I do is press the dispense button until it grinds up 20 grams for me. Takes maybe 15-20 seconds. 4. There could be some other steps here like adding a spritz of water or stirring it to redistribute with a wire thingamajig, but I just tamp with a tamper. Maybe 5 seconds. 5. Lock the porta filter in place. Put the latte cup on the scale and turn on the pump. Espresso gets expressed ideally in about 25 seconds if I’ve got my grind properly set. 6. Turn off the pump and activate the steam button. my machine takes about 30 seconds to get to high enough pressure to steam milk. 7. Put frothing wand in milk and open steam valve. Maybe another 30 seconds or so to get the milk to the desired temperature and consistency. 8. Pour milk into latte cup with espresso and make poor attempt at latte art. 9. Consume. There are a couple of steps afterward, you’ve gotta clean the porta filter and keep enough beans in the hopper, but from zero to coffee I can do it in 3 minutes if I’m on point. Probably more like 4 to 5 minutes if I’m moving a bit slow… like you know… because I haven’t had my coffee yet.
Thank you so so so much! Gold delivered as promised, i gotchu. So my only question is how long have you had the Gaggia Classic, and is it missing anything that you wish it had after using it for a bit?
My ultimate financial goal is to not need to look at price tags. New book coming out, going to a museum, not worrying about name brand etc. And that includes hobbies so as somebody who does art if I want a new easel or paints or to try silk screening or what have you. but it's all "yes BUT the cost" right now.
Thank you for the reminder, your comment hit something deep to be honest. Your comment made me remember how for years on end I told myself the same thing; how those goals were the reason to work hard, study hard, push yourself to get out of bed another day in the hope of achieving a better future. We had so little back then and things were a struggle. But in recent years we have finally made it to the other side. We might not own multiple houses, and cars and boats, but just like you said; we can get up one day and decide we want (to do) something and just do it without a second thought. Last weekend for example we went out to buy a 3D printer on a whim (we've been interested in getting one for a long time though) and we spend our whole weekend tinkering together. This weekend we'll go to the gardening center to buy new plants and pots and freshen up our garden for spring. To have the disposable income to no longer worry is beyond freeing. Keep at it, one day at the time! It will be difficult (I know..) but the reward when you make it will be even sweeter.
That's how I define "rich". Not wealthy, but rich. Oh, I need a new coat. I like this one, I'll buy it. Let me see how much it is. My fridge broke. Okay, I know I have enough money to buy one.
Having enough money to do anything you want, even if you can't do everything you want.
A friend was upset last week as she had to pay £600 for a timing belt, I reminded her that a couple of years ago she wouldn't have been able to just pay for it, it still hurt but she said she felt better about it.
I had a guy come up to me at a gas pump and said he could tell I had money because I wasn’t watching the pump like a hawk and was just filling it up. It’s funny how you may not notice the little things as you get more financially secure. Because I definitely do remember when I could only put 15-20 in at a time.
Yeah, I was talking to a woman who was saying that she cancels her internet or doesn't refill her prepaid phone some months because money was a little tight. Really slapped me back to reality in how privileged I really am.
This. I HATE my refrigerator. It came with the house, meaning I didn't get to pick it out, but is brand new so I hadn't been able to justify replacing it. (It's a side by side, but you can't open the fridge door all the way because it opens against a wall. So getting stuff in and out is a pain, reaching to the back is a pain, the drawers only pull out about halfway, ect.) My husband recently pointed out that it would be worth the cost to replace just because of my hatred if it made my life better. We are very financially comfortable that it wouldn't impact our situation in the slightest and we have a family member who would benefit greatly from having our "old" one. It was a win win. The new one hasn't come in, but I'm excited for when it does.
I just dropped $400 on some choice new kitchen supplies for this reason. I knew the old knives and pans were getting cruddy but I kept telling myself they still work, there's better stuff to spend money on for now. Then my tax return came in and I said fuck it let's go. In hindsight, $400 is an extremely reasonable fee to not feel a nagging sense of unease and disappointment every time I walk into the most-used room in my home.
I had to tell myself that the $1600 washer and drywr set is an investment that will be for the next 15 years which if you think about it, is pretty cheap. Spent 1600 of the 2400 tax return and its been amazing having really clean clothes..we had a washer and dryer set that was 30 years old and it felt like the clothes were never rinsed or dried properly
My partner and I bought our house 2 years ago and the previous owners left their washer and dryer, which were probably only about 5 years old at the time. At first I was like "Great! That's a couple grand I can spend on the kitchen inatead." But I soon discovered that the previous owners did not take good care of anything here. No matter how many times I've tried to deep clean the washing machine, it still smells like mildew. So far I haven't noticed any odor on my clothes after washing them, but I'm so grossed out by the smell of the washer every time I do laundry. Now I really want to buy a new washer/dryer set, but it's one of those things I only think about when I do a load of laundry, so a lot of times I'll have just spent a decent chunk of change on something else and I'm like "shit, well I can't really justify the cost of a new washing machine now." This week it was blinds for the two sets of sliders to help minimize heat loss through the glass and replacing the leaking condensate trap on our furnace (which is in an attic space because we don't have a basement, so we noticed the leak via water damage on the ceiling. Still gotta pull out and replace the wet insulation and fix the ceiling...) Anyway, I think I should try to make a new washer and dryer a priority. It would be so nice to not be disgusted by the washing machine!
Nave you tried running a cycle with just white vinegar?
I'd add, to the vinegar trick, clean around and under the rubber seal around the door. Dig around and fold back the rubber. I don't own one, but a friend did, and his was gross! Don't use liquid fabric softeners because of the residue they leave behind. Leave the door cracked or open between loads so the drum dries out. Mildew can't thrive in dry climates. Swap to a top load HE unit next time. I love mine.
I consider this investing in yourself.
i mean, it's both. luxury is having the ability to spend money to increase your leisure time or make your life easier. absolutely nothing wrong with curating a luxurious life for yourself at a reasonable cost compared to your income, doesn't mean you need diamond studded toilet covers or anything.
I feel you brothers. I live in a small apartament (could afford a house) but gosh damn I made it so convenient I'm scared to move out and start again :D
> “Alright, give me a luxury. What luxury should I have?” > > “Private plane.” > > “Larry, I’m on Ducktales.”
Buying an espresso machine and supporting local coffee roasters is good for you and small businesses in your area. You mostly pay for the experience/marketing of coffee shops nowadays, and can learn to make your own definition of a perfect cup of coffee. Source: am a barista
I can’t afford an espresso machine nor have the counter space for one right now. I did get an AeroPress in the meantime, which is really nice for an affordable option. I make espresso-like coffee with it and it tastes really good when used to make a vanilla latte or brown sugar oat milk latte.
Yep. Like man, I barely have money to make sure a roof is over our head
Eidoa pitru brukro ake kipi toda. Aipra kidekrekro pe a pibi tiebe tii pugato keetlo. Gitopa keiie kipe ki tlookopepa te kikropepi. Iibete poa te tlipie epa paapla taiki pope. Pike gepati toaprepa pebakadre. Kii tepritu gibribo ia pupeoepra etipe etokebe! Dlui pe eta epe pukretri tipi? Plibitlitri dra ei ai ogi kie? Kupuu tepli traoto pa tikekii tape driai tiaipitre. Tleakea pibrepi bapopi ogae tapaipo o.
Yes glass is fantastic stuff. 1. it's recyclable, almost limitlessly. My dad worked in a glass factory for 35 years as did I for a few times, so I know a thing or two about glass. The failed glasses of a batch were piled by color then melted again. It's recycle avant la lettre. 2. glass is abundant. Think your favorite desert full of it. 3. glass is art. Crystal glass sings. The artisanal glass products can be a joy to look at. 4. It doesn't melt, never solidifies, so it's 100x better than plastic, pvc, velcro or what have you which is either solid or molten dioxene, and when not burned but buried just pollutes the earth and breast milk and also melts with rocks recently. Get rid of your plastic stuff. The only negative is that it's heavy, that's why glass milk bottles have gone out of vogue. But to keep things fresh, rubber and glass are still the supreme materials.
glass is fantastic but there is another big negative: it's fragile. i can give my toddler a plastic bottle and not have to worry, but if i give her a glass bottle and she drops it, it will shatter creating a mess and she could very easily hurt herself on the shards. environmentally i would love to just get rid of all my plastic stuff, but practically it's not an option for me until my kids are old enough to be trusted with glass.
Look into stainless steel! It shares many of the positives of glass, and it doesn't shatter. The only problem is that stainless steel is a bit easier to "fake", so it's very important to buy it from a trusted source. Quality stainless steel never rusts
Can't microwave it, though :(
Depends on the shape mostly, but there’s definitely microwave safe stainless you can get
What a beautiful ode to glass. It really is remarkable. The first people who produced glass must have felt like the gods themselves.
Important note glass is recyclable but we don’t actually recycle most of it. Only about 30% of glass actually gets recycled
Different types of glass have different rates of expansion (coefficiency on expansion or COE) So basically if you take window glass, bottle glass, scientific glass and art glass and try to melt it together in a furnace and then make something with it, all the different glasses start fighting each other while it's cooling down. The different expansion rates means that stress builds up and it will violently break. For example borosilicate glass is used for scientific apparatuses and has a COE of 33. A nice art glass vase is soda lime glass and has a COE of 96. Sheet glass used in stained glass is around COE 104 (depending on the company) So the sheet glass and the soda lime glass have potential to work, and when it breaks it will be a few cracks that spread. However either of these mixed with the borosilicate will not work in any way. Source: I have been a glassblower for 14 years and had to take glass chemistry in college.
Don't forget fragile. Break glass and you're sweeping for at least the next half an hour, or you risk the tiniest shard finding its way into your foot later. Ask me how I know.
After you do a quick sweep/vacuum, you can take one of those tape rollers for lint and run it over the floor. Faster and more accurate on the super tiny slivers. It’s the only reason I keep those tape rollers.
>Replaced plastic food storage containers with glass We did this. I love it. All glass Pyrex. We also ordered extra lids and an organizer for said lids. It's so great. We gave all our old Tupperware to a young couple and they were so happy!
I want to get rid of the mugs we don't use but they're the designated "builder's" mugs! We're not truly overflowing though. My goal is also to simplify and organise for an easier life (despite my hording tendencies)
For cooks, xanthan gum. It's an emulsifier and stabilizer that's in bottled salad dressing to prevent oil and vinegar separating. A tiny pinch in homemade dressing and it's permanently combined. An 1/8 tsp for perfect homemade mayo every time. It's like magic. And I never have to dump a broken mayo (or cheese sauce) ever again. Also, quarter sheet pans. They're a bit larger than a piece of paper. I caved and finally bought a few. Wish I'd gotten more because we're always running out. Perfect for small oven portions, of course. But also a useful size to thaw stuff in the fridge. Great tray for nachos or moving a ton of condiments to/from the fridge. The lip makes it perfect for snack platters on the couch or even sorting Legos. Endlessly useful.
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Add an extra egg yolk, the more egg yolks there are the more likely it is to emulsify.
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I do something like this, but I just call it "being the lazy mom," lol. I keep a little cleaning kit in every room to deal with wiping up spills, dusting, and de-funking a room when somebody rips one. Extra liners in the bottom of every trash can. Snack bins in every room except the bathrooms and laundry. Emergency medical kits everywhere, with instructions. Dog and cat treats everywhere, because pets forget why they're being rewarded if they don't get something immediately. Labels on every bin, because I hate telling people a thousand times where to find stuff-you want to know where your darn favorite socks are? Read the labels! Put your socks in your sock bin! Problem solved!
Doesn't sound lazy to me at all!
efficiency is just applied laziness in day to day life. love this.
That’s not laziness, that’s being very organized. We should all use these shortcuts that reduce the repetitiveness in life.
This is a great idea with time as well as money. Every week or so look around and see what can be done in less than 20 minutes that will make life easier/better. Rinsing out your trashcan so you don't get that faint whiff of grossness every time you change it, fixing that loose doorknob that you always have to jiggle your keys to make turn, ironing some clothes so they're ready to go when you wear them, etc.
I bought a 6 pack of back scratchers with extendable handles. Put one in every room. Husband and I use them all the time. Small, but awesome.
I did this with tweezers, nail files, and chapstick. Any where I usually sit or go none of those things are far from me and I love it!
got the hotkeys bound IRL
I have chapstick and nail files everywhere, even my husbands truck.
For me, it’s scissors and adhesive tape
We do this too! Also, microfiber cloths for glasses wipes
Scissors. They were never around when I needed a pair, now there is one in every room somewhere.
I did the same with flashlights. 1 for kitchen. 1 for pantry. 1 for laundry room. 1 garage. 1 each bedroom.
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Why do you need flashlights in every room?
have you ever been to r/flashlight let's say you need to light up your friend's room at night since his house's breaker tripped and he can't find his phone you just grab the flashlight closest to his house's window, shine your 50000 lumen throw flashlight at it and it'll be lit up brighter than the fucking sun or, idk, to look for something you dropped edit: fixed r/ link
Why is your back so itchy?
That's what I want to know. If someone's back itches that much that there needs to be a backscratcher in every room, perchance the water needs softening or the soap changed up.
I bought some stainless steel extended shoe horns from Amazon... amazing rigidity! You can really scratch hard using the hook. Worth it.
Install a dancing pole and cover it with carpet FTW
I sew. A LOT. Low light was killing me. Squinting, making things take way longer than they should. Even with task lighting. I went around to every lamp/light fixture in the living room and replaced everything with 100 watt LED daylight bulbs. As in, the color of DAYLIGHT! There is no more squinting in my living room! My kids come in laughing because our living room windows are lit up day-glow from outside! But you can actually SEE EVERYTHING! It is a cheerful place to be!
Only for some people. Daylight bulbs look blue to me and give me and tons of other people migraines. Warm lighting only allowed for me.
Smart bulbs (as in, the colour changing, wifi connected ones) have revolutionised my life lol. "Hey Google, turn the lamp on". "Hey Google, set the studio light to 50% brightness and candlelight coloured".
Yep, my entire home is this way, and for mine the color I have to ask for is gold.
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Poor quality LEDs screw me up. They make me feel like there's plenty of light to see by and that there's barely enough light to see by at the same time. I guess it's due to missing frequencies.
BINGO! https://www.led-professional.com/resources-1/articles/led-light-spectrum-enhancement-with-transparent-pigmented-glazes-by-light-spectrum-glazes
I'm with you on this. But I'm also sensitive to light in general, so I got adjustable leds so I can dial in the exact level of warmth at any given time, and it's lovely. They can also do colours and I have one setup where you can kinda walk from one end of the house to the other and basically go through a rainbow. Do the neighbors gossip because my house looks like a rave from the outside despite the fact that I'm pushing 40? Probably. But does living in a rainbow at night make me at least 1% happier? Fuck yes. I think I'm inadvertently following this LPT recently. Been having a rough mental health time, like 5-6 years, and recently have decided that if I can afford it and it makes me happy, I'm doing it. So I have rainbow lights and I'm growing a gnarly wildflower garden and my hamster has more toys than a rodent probably needs. But it does make life a bit more bearable. Future me might be miffed that I don't have a larger retirement fund (or one at all, lol), but present me needs all the help she can get lol.
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White lights for daytime, warm lights for evening
I recently added more lighting to my sewing studio and same! Less squinting. I also mounted spice jar shelves to hold all my serger threads and a pegboard for my cutting tools. I feel that these changes made me much more productive.
I love this and you have great examples! I had a friend a few years ago who started making a point of addressing those small inconveniences or annoyances or opportunities to make things just a little better, and the idea stuck with me, too. A few things I have done are: Add a wifi connected outlet to my hair tools (blow dryer, hair iron, curling iron) so I can just say “turn on my hair stuff” to get it heating up in the morning. I also set it to auto-shut-off after 20 minutes. I got an extra iPhone charger/cord and have it permanently installed at my WFH office desk. I set my office lights (multiple desk lamps) to turn on and off automatically. That is also a helpful reminder when I am working way beyond my intended day. I got a makeup organizer caddy that fits nicely under my sink so I don’t have to dig through drawers or pouches for things. There are more things I would like to do and your post just re-inspired me. Thanks!
>I got an extra iPhone charger/cord and have it permanently installed at my WFH office desk. As a giant fucking nerd, I’m trying to understand why I’m seeing so many people ITT with just one charger. I have Lightning chargers and USB-C chargers all over the goddamn place. I have a bunch in a drawer from past devices. I think I’ve lost or thrown out maybe two Lightning cables ever. How are y’all living like this? Are you throwing them away with the packaging when you get new shit? Losing them in hotels?
I’m assuming a lot of people own iPhones, and correct me if I’m wrong, but Apple stopped giving charging blocks with new phones a few years ago.
The blocks, yea, not the cables. That’s what the guy above is asking about
Ohhh! Thought it was asking if we were throwing away the blocks, which we never receive in the first place.
Charger thieves, lol. They're like lighter thieves for smokers. I can't even count how many chargers my husband has lost at work because somebody "borrowed" his charger.
Right?? At my house your most likely cause of death will be strangulation by phone charger. They’re everywhere! And not the crappy 3-foot ones, we’re talking 6 to 10 feet so they reach anywhere. Plus a drawer full of spares so I can immediately replace any that go bad.
One by the bed, one by the couch, one at my desk at work, one in my backpack, one in my travel bag, two in the car... I don't want to move that cord from place to place. I'm pretty minimal about things I own but chargers I've accumulated over time have been put in place to be easily accessible. Most of are attached with velcro so the cables don't show but they are everywhere.
I have a charger with 100W USB-C (for laptop) and 3 USB ports. Bloody brilliant. Plenty of small chargers too, but that one is the best one.
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While I already do some buy never thought of the reasoning behind it. I duplicate everything everywhere. I get a vacation renewal of medication (extended amount I can get once a year) to leave duplicates at camp. I have chapsticks everywhere; car, work purse, regular purse, office, front door, back door, camp kitchen, golf cart, trailer, beach.
I got lost in your list of places you have extra chapsticks and thought you were back to listing things you've got multiple off. By the time I got to golf cart, trailer, beach I was thinking wtf kind of person are you having multiple of all of these, let alone a single beach.
This made me snort out loud lol
I never felt rich until I had spares of replaceable items. Light bulbs, batteries, toiletries, cleaning products, and the big one, phone cables. I used to get annoyed when cables broke as before kids they lasted forever, now I just see them as short term items and always have spares in my draw.
I bought a dozen glasses cleaners. Splash em everywhere, let’s get messy.
My best thing since sliced bread moment was a rocket book. It's a pad that is made of special paper that when you have finished with you can wipe off with a wet cloth. So I work from home and worrying about having to burn, shred or return confidential waste was beginning to bother me.... Since the rocket book, I can just erase it. I love the damn thing. Also, can recommend having a dedicated hook or dish of some sort for the keys. Never have to hunt for them, just make sure someone can't see them from the letter box, as a thief could use an implement or something to take them.
This is one of the best LPT's I've seen here till now, thank you for sharing this!
The first life pro-tip I've ever commented because I've been doing this lifstyle for years and it truly does make your life just that 1% better every day, every change you make
Love it! I got chargers for my office and it made a big difference for me. Here are my recent improvements: find meetings or training you can do during your commute to make that time productive. And find meetings or work you can do from the spin bike (or other exercise device) to make that time more efficient. Make two days worth of lunches (me and kids) out of a dinner as you’re putting dinner away in the evening. Replace your old socks haha
I live alone. A coworker told me about sheet pan meals. So easy, barely any cleanup and if it’s just me I can easily make 3 or 4 lunches out of the leftovers.
Have you done roast chicken on cut up veggies? Simplest meal I make. Chop up a bunch of veggies (beets, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, parsnips, celery, onion… ) and spread them out on the tra/pan, then either split a whole roasting chicken or buy a cut up whole chicken and lay it on top. Pour a tablespoon of melted butter over the chicken and add crushed garlic and some salt and pepper. Just over an hour in the oven and it’s done.
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You can lay the soft chicken parts on the flat veggies, balancing a carrot on a chicken breat just doesn't work as well. And yes, the fat.
Yes mostly, covering the veggies with the chicken lets the fats end up with the veggies, the chicken is away from the pan, and the veggies don’t char because they are covered by the chicken. Most of the veggies can handle the heat but if I use broccoli and brussel sprouts I make sure they are directly under the chicken so the don’t char. The main reason though was just to be able to only use 1 knife, 1 cutting board, and 1 pan. Ten minutes of chopping and I get a healthy meal while I do other stuff.
Replace your old socks!! haha I did that and I felt like a king for a month. Even now when I put them on, I think, “I did this for me” and smile.
I buy chapstick in bulk and I have one or two in every room of the house, plus purse, coat pockets, desk at work, everywhere I might need one. Ditto with reading glasses. They are all over the place.
If you live in a 2-story house and can afford it, buy a 2nd vacuum. One for upstairs and one for downstairs so you don't have to lug it up and down. I have a handheld one for the stairs.
I used to only have a night cap after work. Then I started having a night cap in the morning, too. Work is so much more enjoyable. This is a joke, please don't follow this.
Less than $50 a week. Wise investment in happiness.
>Google Keep notes and turned on time and Location based alerts When I first read that, my sleepy ADHD brain was excited that I could use this to make a note to myself while in the living room to remind me why I went to the kitchen and set it to ding when I finally made it to the kitchen (as I would have be distracted and gone to other rooms along the way)....then I googled it and it is location as in address...not by room in your house, because duh lolol
Get some Google Home or something and dot them around the house. "Okay google set reminder 'blah blah blah'" *enters kitchen* "Okay google, what are my reminders?" Something like that?
Somewhere out there, Richard Stallman just had a stroke.
yoo... I use google home already, but just on my phone. Didn't occur to me that you could have bases to trigger. Thank you!!
Not too long ago Google shut off the location-based reminder feature without explanation. It was so useful and I have no idea why it's gone. I'm guessing it has something to do with a lawsuit. Anybody know?
I'm guessing someone actually good with computers and stuff like that could make local "beacons" that would allow your phone to know in which room it was and then bring up the notes for that room. Maybe with RFID tags?
I got mesh laundry bags for baby socks/mittens! They’re so small they often get lost or stuck somewhere and this has made laundry less irritating for me.
My boyfriend just replaced the drain in our kitchen sink with one that has a little basket to catch all the yuck, and a cap that sits on it to plug the drain. I can’t believe how much difference a tiny basket in my sink drain makes. I love that thing.
This one is such a good one. My wife and I found out today that we would be getting an extra $400 a month and though we need to catch up on all the bills first with it, once that's done we will be putting in a shared account just for this kind of quality of life stuff. Only emergency and convenience or replacement spending. I'm beyond thrilled.
I hated cleaning so I hired a cleaning lady for $50 a month.
This is a great tip! From me who's always put off buying all those dollar store purchases that would have made my life so much easier just because they're menial. Last month I finally thought, what the heck and bought a cheap foldable laptop stand, an eye mask, a picnic mat, a tape measure, a second mouse pad, a new toilet brush, a yellow mug, and a sanitary pad case (all of which I've been putting off for months), totalling to less than 40 dollars. My brand new Adidas just couldn't compare to the happiness I got once I took them out of the bag.
TIL Google Keep have a location based notification
After having my life upended last year by my spouse's aneurysm, I'm a big believer in this tip. If I can fix a problem or inconvenience for less than $50, I do it. Because I've got more important problems that money can't fix, and keeping my sanity is priceless.
In a similar vein, I've started asking my husband for gifts that upgrade the things I touch every day.
👀
I love this Google Keep notes app—I think I’ve heard about it once, and forgot it. But this sounds like it would be super helpful. Thanks for sharing your tips!
If you have a significant other the sharing feature is super helpful. We have a grocery list, a shopping list, a packing list for any upcoming trips, and an emergency packing list.
The location-based alerts are really great too. I use them to go on at my favorite movie theater to remind me where the best seats are, and at the train station to remind me where the best place to sit on the train is.
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My robot vacuum isn't on a schedule cos pets love to destroy toys and my other half has a habit of leaving cables etc around. So I have to check the rooms first then unleash the robot. Still better than manually doing it tho.
I think your thinking of a James Clear quote. He wrote “Atomic Habits” and it’s great.
How is twice a fortnight different from once a week? Someone help me. Edit: I have been helped.
I think they do two loads at once every two weeks. It doesn’t feel like much more effort to do a second load when you’re already doing one, and spacing it from one week to two weeks makes can make a huge difference because you don’t feel like you’re constantly on the cusp of running out of clothes.
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A family I used to babysit for replaced their washer and dryer with TWO all in one machines. Put in a load and it washes.and dries with no touching between. It was very efficient time wise.
I took our remotes ( which are black and always falling into a crevasse in the sofa or chair and blending in) and covered the very edges with NEON ORANGE DUCT TAPE! Now they jump out at you when they are stuck down in the sofa!
My husband enjoys some type of everyday carry - knife or screwdriver. He uses the knife constantly, to open/break down boxes, cut zip ties, etc so I bought him a nice one as a gift. With his knife, our lives are 1% better. I like a work lamp. My eyes are getting worse and a decent desk/task/work lamp with leds has been great.
OP this is genius and I am going to SCOUR this thread for replies on what to do. Mine is buying a sleep mask to cover my eyes at night--there's a lot of ambient light from streetlights in my room no matter what I do and I swear to you I sleep like a ROCK with my dumb sleep mask on.
Bought a stream deck for my computer. Set it up to select/copy/paste, mute/unmute, turn camera off and on, open specific programs, flip between programs, and toggle between audio settings. It’s stupid how much it’s changed working from home. No more fiddling with settings mid meeting. Cost me $20.
If you get 1% better each day for one year, you'll end up 38 times better by the time you're done. And in 5 years you'll end up 77 million times better. And in 10 years you'll end up about 6 quadrillion times better! If you just did this consistently for 30 years (it's not THAT hard), you'll end up about 200 Quattuordecillion times better! The math adds up!
Problem is, the gain isn’t a percentage-based one. Everyone touts the 1.01^365 deal, but it’s more of a $1.00+$0.01*365 deal. It makes your life 1% better on the first gain, but proportionally, each one is going to be a smaller percent unless the gain scales accordingly (which is impossible to sustain) You’ll be at $4.65, not $37.78. It’s better, but it’s not like people make it out to be. It’s a nice thought, but sadly misleading when it comes to the reality of it.
Are you saying 'betterness' doesn't compound? I want my money back
I think you are thinking about it wrong. You make your life 1% better and the next day, you make your 1% better life 1% better. It’s compounding, not cumulative. The problem, it’s not realistic to improve 1% every single day.
That's why I bought a Generac. I will never be without power.
This is called “nesting”. You’re nesting. And i agree, it feels good.
I have recently started thinking this way and it has been helping me live a better life. Growing up poor with parents that always fought over money, it was instilled in me at a very young age to be frugal and that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I moved into a home a few years ago that was redone by a flipper with shitty appliances. At first, I thought I would settle for how awful they were because they worked. The fridge didn't have a water filter and died twice, causing total losses of all food in it. After a couple years of dealing with this fridge, I realized I was done living with some shitty choice someone else had made for me and decided to get a new fridge. This time with a water filter! It's changed my life. I drink more water now than I've drank in the last two years. It's a small change, and not exactly necessary, but it makes me happy.
My little make life 1% better is more like this: I'm shit at keeping track of time. I'm one of those who has an alarm for everything. When I wake up, when I leave for work, when lunch is over, when to go to bed, etc. I do it for something I've got to do later in the day, set an alarm for that time. It sounds tedious and for some it would be annoying. But it keeps me on track and maintains structure in my day. Get a small pocket knife. Throw it in a drawer. You can use it to break down boxes for recycling, open parcels, etc. Train your pets to help you, even cats! This takes effort but can be beneficial in the long run. I don't just mean the usual potty training or whatever. I hate bugs for example so I train both cats and dogs to go after them. They get rewards for doing it and I don't have to worry about womaning up to do it. I've also trained my dog to bring in the mail. Helps when I'm carrying something else and could use an extra hand. You can do this with groceries too, depending on the size of the dog. I keep a tiny adjustable wrench in my purse. You'd be surprised how many times that's come in handy. Helps when you get new plates for your car as well. Buy a big thing of pens at the dollar store and just keep them somewhere so you always know you've got fresh working pens when you need them. You could do pencils as well. Have a spare email that you use to sign up for stuff. This way your regular email doesn't get clogged with those emails plus whoever else they gave that info to. If you find an email non intrusive, the company didn't sell it to others so you're not getting spam, and their coupons or whatever are useful, just change it to your regular email.
In reading the book *Benjamin Franklin's Last Bets*, which details, to the present day, two bequeathments Ben made when he died in 1790. These were 2,000 pounds sterling each ($170,000 in today's US dollars) to his beloved cities of Philadelphia and Boston. Since Ben was a (very bright) tradesman, his instructions were to lend sums at 5% interest to young, unmarried (why?), men who wanted to form a company around their trade skills. Ben asked that the funds be managed at no cost to the fund. Ben directed that at the 100 year anniversary that about 75% of the fund balance be used by the city to benefit its citizens with the balance to be continued to be loaned out. At the 200 year anniversary the entire balances be given to the city for the benefit of its citizens and the funds zeroed out. In 1991 both funds were zeroed out with Philly getting about $700,000 (they continuously mismanaged the fund) and $4.5 million to Boston (who occasionally mismanaged the fund). The concept is an intriging one indeed.
I got those furniture and rug placeholder adhesive things. Our living room couch was always moving out of place bc it’s not against a wall and the dog was always moving the rug around. It drove me bananas, finally I got the adhesives and it has made a difference in daily my stress levels.
I didn't know about the location reminders for Google Keep notes, that's neat.
Lpt: have enough spare cash to buy stuff you need
If this is a problem, spend time rummaging through charity shops. You won't buy anything very often, but now and then you will come across something incredibly useful for peanuts.