37 Handy Tips to Make Your Life Easier

Here's a list of handy tips. None of them a guaranteed, but many work or are worth a try. A few of them seem too outrageous to work, but when I've got black shoe polish on my white sofa, I'll try anything to get it out!

1. To fit more food in the freezer, cut out the cooking instructions from the pack and seal them, with the food, in clear plastic bags. The rest of the outer packaging goes into the recycling bin.
2. When hanging a picture, put corn plasters on the corners at the back and you'll prevent it leaving any marks on the wall.
3. If you've got small nail holes on white walls and don't want to repaint, fill them with some white toothpaste.
4. Keep a roll of plastic bags in your beach bag. They are handy for taking home wet bathing suits, keeping sand out of your sun lotion or camera, storing litter and holding leaky containers.
5. Hold a kitchen match in your mouth when peeling an onion and it will stop the tears.
6. To take away the onion smell on your hands afterwards, rub your hands with a stainless steel spoon.
7. Soak your new shower curtain in a salt water solution and it will stop mildew from forming.
8. If you are abroad and go on an excursion, take a photo of the pick-up point with your digital camera. If you get lost, all you've got to do is show the photo to locals for directions.
9. Try brushing your teeth with a mashed strawberry to get rid of yellow stains.
10. Freeze a selection of summer berries to use instead of ice in party drinks.
11. If kids leave hard to remove stickers on furniture, cover the stickers in mayonnaise for ten minutes to loosen.
12. Put cling wrap over an opened tub of ice cream before replacing the lid and putting it back in the freezer. The contents won't frost over.
13. To help cats get used to a move to a new house, hand a wind chime in the old house, then re-hang at the new place. The sound helps them find their way home after they've been out.
14. Use plain white paper tablecloths for kids parties. Put out some crayons, too. Fast eaters can sit and draw while others finish their food.
15. Throw a mothball in the bottom of your garbage can and it will smell fresh.
16. Keep a new toothbrush in the kitchen for cleaning the grater and the sieve.
17. When camping, store cereal in washed plastic milk bottles. It will keep it from getting damp.
18. Add a little white vinegar to your dish washing water. It will make cutlery and glasses sparkle.
19. If you have an old freezer that needs defrosting, line it with waxed paper after you are done. The next time you defrost the ice will come off easily.
20. Use chilled, sliced tomatoes on sunburn. It draws out the heat and feels very soothing.
21. If you don't have a shredder and need to dispose of important documents, soak them in water. Once they turn into pulp and start to break up, then form them into balls and toss away.
22. If the tops of your feet get burned faster than the rest of your legs, put on some short tennis type socks while tanning. It's not pretty by the pool, but it works.
23. When you get a haircut you like, get a friend to take pictures of each side of your head. When you go back to the hairdresser, you can show them exactly what you liked before.
24. Before leaving for a holiday, email yourself details of your passport, flights, credit cards and so forth. If anything bad happens, you can log on anywhere to retrieve your information.
25. If you get lipstick on your clothes, put some Vaseline on the mark before washing and it will soon disappear.
26. Keep your recipes clean and easy to read by putting them in a photo album with plastic page covers.
27. When going to the supermarket without a car, use one of the hand baskets instead of the shopping cart. You'll know if the contents become too heavy to carry home.
28. If you need to undo a Phillips screw but don't have a screwdriver, use the point of a potato peeler. With some sizes and patience it works.
29. Are mice a problem? Place several drops of peppermint oil on a cotton ball and place at the problem locations. They hate it!
30. If you have fresh herbs, cop them and freeze in ice cube trays. They will stay fresh until you need them.
31. Coil a garden hose in a figure eight instead of a circle. No more kinks!
32. An old carving fork is great for weeding around delicate plants, especially when you need to get close to the stem.
33. If you drop an egg on the floor, add some salt and leave it for five minutes. It's easier to clean up.
34. Another onion idea-when chopping an onion, take a sip of water and keep it your mouth. There's less chance of tears.
35. After packing a suitcase, put in a couple of perfumed tumble dryer sheets on top of your clothes to give them a nice fragrance.
36. Also, keep tumble dryer sheets in empty, stored suitcases--they will smell better when they are opened.
37. Tumble dryer sheets can also be put in stored sneakers and shoes to make them smell better.

By the way, I've found nothing really does get black shoe polish off a white sofa. I've tried professional cleaning, club soda, every product imaginable and there's still a trace. Red wine and chocolate can be removed, but shoe polish is really, really difficult.

If you have white sofas, the best thing to do is have everyone remove their shoes, I guess. I have heard of people who have white sofas who only serve clear drinks at parties...white wine, vodka, 7-up, water. It's not a bad idea.