Helpful tips

I have found a local Handyman who can do odd jobs I can't manage myself.He is brilliant and it's such a relief to know help is available if I need it.
I've also had a Pixie haircut and love it. So easy to just wash and go. Not socialising because of Covid restrictions gave me the courage to go for a drastic "chop".
I've also decided to see what my natural hair colour looks like as I haven't seen it since I was a teenager!

I’m so happy that Goodreads was suggested as I’ve just spent the last hour discovering what it has to offer. My Bookclub has been running for over 30 years and we all find our memories are a little less efficient nowadays! There is no excuse now as we can all share recommendations and refer to Goodreads if we can’t remember whether we’ve read a book before.

I use my phone camera function to scan ingredients for recipes before I go shopping, instant shopping list.

BTW my phone (Samsung) now recognises when I am lining up to photograph a page, and swops to a scan function. Brilliant, no more shots of my feet at the edge of the pic, and no need to crop. If anything needs scanning, no fiddling with the darn printer/scanner attached to the computer either. My OH with his iPhone is very envious.

Knittynatter. Can you actually get a slot?? I wish

The ever handy camera phone has lots other uses than simple photography. I was first impressed when saw young teenage daughter taking a picture of her 'updo' hairstyle from the rear to check all ok! Yes good for shop receipts or even a section of a credit card statement to give proof of purchase. I have shopped for housebound folk and nice to take a pic of what is available for their opinion. I also have used to take pic of where car is parked in a large airport carpark. On subject of cars, take a snap of any damage if hiring a car before you drive it. The photos will be date and time stamped.

I buy a page a day diary in September, and I record in it all my 'financials' for the following year, money going in and out on certain days ( mine and OH pensions, etc). then when I spend anything I take it off the total and have a really good idea of what is surplus.....not much these days!!
I have been doing this for quite a few years, and find it very handy and also therapeutic to know when and where money is going to.

I have a spreadsheet of books read too. I’ve been using it for years so it is very long now but it is so useful. I also use a To Read app to keep track of books that I would like to read. I was a librarian.....

yogagran

For those of you who keep notes of what books you have read have a look at an app called Goodreads. You can enter books you have read with a star rating system, sort by author or date read and, if you use a Kindle, it will also enter books you have bought through Amazon automatically

Thank you I will tell my DH about this app.

BelindaB

You are going to think I am crazy....I have a spreadsheet of all my books because although I borrow several a week from the library, I also buy books. I had so many of the "oh that looks good!" only to find that I'd already got it that I started the spreadsheet in desperation.

I also keep the books I love as I read them more than once. What was the dining room became a library several years ago as the books threatened to take over the house!

My currant favourite gizmo is a tray that goes in the microwave but does not become hot, so that I can get reheated food out without burning myself. Heaven!

No you’re not crazy BelindaB. My DH also has a spreadsheet of the books he’s read and he also gives them a mini review and rating out of 10. He decided to do this a while ago when he found he was buying books he’d already read.

Again using the Notes app on my iPhone, I made a list of reminders for this Christmas last Christmas. So For example I remember to avoid poinsettias and make bread sauce to freeze a la Mary Berry . I make a similar list for next summer’s garden planting in advance! ?

Grocery on line shopping and clothes shopping on line.
Trouble is I have grocery shopped on line for a few years but now it’s harder to get a slot because everyone is doing it because of covid 19.

You are going to think I am crazy....I have a spreadsheet of all my books because although I borrow several a week from the library, I also buy books. I had so many of the "oh that looks good!" only to find that I'd already got it that I started the spreadsheet in desperation.

I also keep the books I love as I read them more than once. What was the dining room became a library several years ago as the books threatened to take over the house!

My currant favourite gizmo is a tray that goes in the microwave but does not become hot, so that I can get reheated food out without burning myself. Heaven!

Keeping a list of online orders and crossing them off as they arrive. Saves a lot of time searching.

My partner created a shopping list on my Notes on my phone. I asked him to order it so it reflected my journey around the supermarket I usually use. I mark the items I need before I go and remove the tick as I find them. By the end of my much faster trip around the shelves, I can do a quick check of the list to see there aren't any remaining ticks. And I haven't bought anything on impulse! (Well, hardly anything....)

Sorry, me again. Ready chopped onions!

Meant to say get

Purchasing a g tech cordless vacuum, and employing a lovely lady called Shirley to help with my cleaning has transformed my life as I have chronic back problems and advanced painful osteoarthritis, great help and can now fet on with my life!

Buying ‘coal’ for our multi fuel burner in 10kg bags. DH and I both struggled with the usual 25kg bags. Also finding a coal merchant who delivers so we no longer have to ruin the car springs fetching them.

Not eating red meats- happy, happy tummy and no constipation!

Letting my hair return to its natural colour after having it tinted for 30 years thus reducing my time spent in the hairdresser to about 30 minutes every four weeks. My Bissell Crosswave floor cleaner which vacuums, cleans and dries the tiled floor in our kitchen and hall and the laminate floor in our dining room. I am also a fan of ziplock plastic bags, they have them in larger Aldi stores and also of frozen onions.

Online shopping and Supermarket deliveries. Anything and everything to do with my iphone. Just love it and all its fab functions. Love vac-bags so i can store out of season clothes, quilts etc in a fraction of the space. And after a lifetime of rummaging around in drawers for matching bedding i now put each complete set into one of the matching pillowcases before i put it away. Eureka ! Talk about the blindingly obvious!! But its made life so much easier. And tidier. Ooh. And now Ive recently retired I dont wear make up or perfume every day. Never thought that day would ever come. Even go to the local shop now without putting mascara and lippy on. Scary sight but so liberating .

I had frozen onions substituted for real ones. no more chopping and weeping for me!

Lilyflower

My Dyson cordless has radically improved my life by giving me more time. It used to take an hour with the old, heavy corded Dyson to vacuum my house.

I saved up John Lewis vouchers given for birthdays and Christmas to spend half a grand on the cordless. It now takes twenty minutes without messing about with cords and plugs, lugging a big heavy beast around furniture and moving things to vacuum behind them.

Or...

I do downstairs and the DH does upstairs with the old Dyson.

That way it takes me ten minutes. Win!

I was about to say the same. I loved my old corded Dyson but had to admit it was beginning to feel heavy. DH hated it and managed to break it (swears it was not deliberate) so bought me the Dyson cordless. So much quicker when I don't have to mess about with plugs and leads.

I bought a Mud Daddy for bathing the dogs. No need to wait for a really stinky dog now to pay out; I just wait for a sunny day. ?

Not doing my hair every morning and not having my hair colored every 3 weeks. I just let it grow out and found that I have developed a nice wave and natural hair is quite soft and shiny.