Oh sure, where the hell were you with all your fancy advice 20 years ago? TOO LATE!
Problems with vermin? Stuff steel wool in any openings until you have time to get them repaired. Critters don’t like the stuff and can’t gnaw through it.
Hey- get out of my linen closet!
But it’s fun in here!!
I thought of a few more:
Leftovers: When I’m putting leftovers away, I store them in portion-sized containers. That way I can just grab one for lunch at work, or to re-heat for dinner. I also portion-size my freezer stuff, like dinner rolls or meats. A little pre-prep goes a long ways.
I always leave a few of the cloth grocery bags in my car. That way I always have them with me - especially when I have to make an impromptu grocery stop.
I keep a small pair of scissors in my coupon organizer. And I usually keep my coupon organizer in my briefcase. If I don’t clip the Sunday coupons over the weekend, I’ll throw those in the briefcase too. Coupons are a great lunch-time task. You can clip them, throw out the old ones, and make your grocery list all at the same time. And since I keep my bags in the car, I can get the grocery shopping done on a Tuesday or Wednesday rather than wasting my weekend on it.
I freeze my meats in portion sizes, too. It might be single or double portion, but I won’t freeze two pounds of ground chuck in one package. I know that my husband and I will each eat four to five ounces of meat if we’re feeling quite hungry, and only two to three ounces if it’s just medium hunger. So that’s how I package the meat. And other things get frozen into one or two serving sizes. Before our daughter moved out, I usually packaged things in three serving sizes.
And speaking of serving sizes, in the last couple of years my husband and I have turned 50, and at just this point in time, we’ve found that we just don’t eat as much as we used to. I used to eat one or one and a half pork chops at a meal, and my husband would eat one and a half to two pork chops. Now, however, I cook one chop and split it, and both of us are full with that half a chop and some veggies. So don’t cook the same amount of food automatically…be aware that appetites change.
Either Granny Weatherwax or Nanny Ogg always had a string bag tucked away in her bloomer leg, just in case someone felt like giving her something. I keep a string bag in my car and another in my purse, just in case I need to go book shopping on a moment’s notice.
When I do get some plastic bags, I use them for trash bags. I try to stuff the plastic bags with the bits of trash that has accumulated since last decluttering…I clean out my purse, and my car, and just generally check all the hot spots that clutter tends to drift to. My aim is to remove as much volume as I’ve brought into the house. It’s amazing how much stuff I can find to throw away when I stalk through the house with an empty plastic bag and a goal in mind.
Here’s mine.
An immaculate home is the sign of a wasted life.
Don’t wait until the first big heat wave of the summer to turn your AC on for the first time. You and 90,000 other residents of your city will be doing this on the same day, and a certain percentage of you will all simultaneously find out that it’s AC repair time. Then it will be “find out that the the repair guy is now booked for days” time. Instead, try turning it on at some point in mid-spring (like right now) to road-test it. If it’s busted, you at least have some lead time to get it fixed before the repair guy is slammed.
Freeze loaves of bread with a bit of plastic or foil between every few slices. Keep a couple of different kinds of loaves going in the freezer. Then you can retrieve a few unfrozen-together slices at a time, alternating between, say, white and whole wheat or sourdough and rye. It keeps the sandwich selection from being boring.
Don’t wash the inner, clear plastic shower curtain. Throw the damn thing away when it gets grotty and treat yourself to a new one. They’re only a couple of dollars each and they’re a pain in the butt to wash.
I would prefer all my sheets and towels in lighter colours, too, so I can bleach them properly. We experimented with navy blue towels, and while they looked great, it made washing them less simple than it should be.
That’s the question for the ages. How about watching the show “Hoarders” while you go through your house? 
I do that, too (I made pottery pen cups for this purpose). I have also bought a big pack of scotch tape so I can keep a bunch of rolls around the house, instead of turning the whole house upside down whenever I want to wrap a gift.
My husband, for reasons known only to himself, LOVES dark colored towels. This man also loves to work on IC motors of all kinds, which means that he gets incredibly dirty and greasy, which means that he needs to use more towels in ONE DAY than most families need in a week. Which means that I have to fight with the laundry more than I should. I solved this problem by telling him to take all the MFing dark towels out to use on his farm, and HE can deal with them HIMSELF. And not to ever buy any towels, other than white towels, to use for the main house. Similarly, he’s allowed to buy dark sheets and pillowcases for his farm bedding, but not for the household. Fortunately, he is firmly commited to wearing only white undies. And while I enjoy colorful undies, I don’t get upset if they accidentally get tie dye patterns on them if they get bleached.
Oh, and a general tip? The person who does most of the laundry gets to decide whether or not garments or household linens can require special care. Anyone else who buys stuff that requires special care can perform that special care him/herself. And this includes transporting stuff back and forth to the dry cleaners. If it’s not that much trouble for someone who doesn’t wear that dry clean only stuff to do it, then it’s not too much trouble for the person who DOES wear that dry clean only stuff to do it.
Similarly, the person who usually does the cooking gets to decide whether to buy and keep and use any cookware that has special requirements. And the person who does most of the dishes gets to decide whether to buy anything that needs to be hand washed with special goose down scrubbers or similar.
[Mitch Hedberg - RIP] This shirt is “Dry Clean Only”. That means it’s dirty. [/MH]
You never went shopping with my mother. Before going shopping, she’d sit down and write a list, just off the top of her head. Of course she’d leave a lot out. Then, in the store, she’d get to an item on her list and it would remind her that she’s out of something not on the list . . . but was in the section of the store she had previously been in. This especially happened with produce. She’d be in the poultry area of the store, and suddenly remember that she’s out of onions. So she’d return to produce, then remember that she forgot to get some kind of meat.
This is why, when I took her shopping, I just waited in the car.
This, and also Post-it notes. I always wear gym shorts inside, and keep a pencil and a Post-it pad in the pockets.
Another tip: Buy a house that has a laundry chute . . . specially if, like me, you have bad knees that hurt going up and down stairs.
This is ME! Drives my family crazy.
And with that, I can’t think of a single tip to add. I need to go invent something.
My mom [who is 87 and has mild to moderate alzheimers] has actually started giving me items that are theoretically coming to me in the will now, so that eventually all that is left at the house will either belong to my brother, and will be in his part of the house, or going to be auctioned off along with the house being sold. I think it is working out so far, my brother really doesn’t have any interest in any of the stuff, and I really don’t have quite the taste for antiques that our parents did, so I am not actually taking all that much. I do get all 400ish of the cookbooks though =)
Think about what you are saying. The items are unique and old, true but you would rather not have them, yes? And your kids will view it with the same sense of duty, correct? So you’re condemning your descendants to years of “Yes, it’s an ugly lamp made out of a turtle shell but it was given to me by Great Aunt Sadie and I simply can’t throw it out or everyone will know I’m a completely thoughtless nincompoop”, etc etc etc. Break the cycle! I move that if there is something in your house that you don’t absolutely want there with all your soul, then you should send an email around to all your relatives saying, “Is anyone attached to the turtle lamp of Sadie’s? Otherwise out of respect for her great sense of charity, I’m going to donate it to goodwill.”
Two tips:
I keep a dry erase marker in the window ledge next to the kitchen door. When I need to remind the kids, my husband, or myself of something, I write it at the proper eye level directly on the glass pane in the kitchen door. Most “company” comes to the front door, so only friends and family see the “pick up milk, take out trash, don’t forget your lunch, baby is sleeping - wake her and die!” notes. The marker wipes off easily.
Also, before I start cooking or baking, I wash my hands and dry them with a paper towel, which I then drop on the floor. Drips and splatters get wiped up as I go along with that damp paper towel, which is picked up and discarded after I’m done.
More organizational tip than household tip: Every overnight bag, duffel bag, and suitcase in the house is pre-stocked with a wrapped toothbrush, small bottles of shampoo/conditioner/lotion, wee bars of soap, a packet of toothpaste, and a cheap disposable razor (all courtesy of hotels.) If we have an emergency trip (relative in the hospital, for example,) all we have to really worry about is grabbing clothes, since the diaper bag is always stocked and my purse has the rest of my absolute necessities (makeup, pain reliever, etc.)
I’m loving all these tips and can’t wait to try some of them out!
Inner Stickler - that is a wonderful suggestion - thank you. I have a sister who is much more extreme in her need to keep everything inherited. There are memories attached to everything for her: sentimental and nostalgic. The problem for her (IMHO) is that she’s moved from Ontario to Maine, back to Ontario and now she’s in California. She lugs her stuff everywhere (well except for the six storage lockers in various locales).
I should have been more specific when I said “not quite beautiful” - these things are not decorative objects or household goods (such as a lamp) those things such as lamps and china, etc., I keep only what I like and want and have ‘gifted’ my siblings with what I don’t care for (notably the packrat sister mentioned above - kind of evil, I know).
The things that I need to come to grips with are historical in some cases (my Uncle was a highly decorated airman in WWII); my grandfather was on the Canadian War Finance Committee - all of his books and ledgers - are in trunks in my home. I’ve tried the War Museum, but they have other similar items - do I just pitch those?
Likewise I have enormous posters that someone in my family collected in the 1940’s from the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. They are sadly folded up in a trunk because I have neither the space or decor to properly hang them, and I fear they’ll be permanently damaged folded. What do I do with the 8mm Mickey Mouse film that has some mold damage but the artwork on the box is still pretty cool. I don’t think I can sell it because it’s not pristine - I guess I pitch it?
Likewise the tin noisemaker from a 1920’s New Year’s party - or all those luggage and trunk tags from the trip my grandparents made on the original Queen Mary - and oh gosh I have the menu too . . . What about boot hooks and hairpins and hat pins and that bunch of old seed packets (they could be framed - they are quite beautiful).
One of my grandmother’s was a fastidious house keeper who, as all were, was affected deeply by the depression. I didn’t keep her rolled up bakery string - but every gift she was ever given was opened, admired, refolded, put back in the box, wrapping paper put back and tied with ribbon. Tucked neatly inside each wrapping is the name of who gifted her and when. The gifts? Terribly practical: a lot of Irish Linen hankerchiefs and aprons. Do I bundle them up and send them away? The boxes list long gone away stores with phone numbers that begin with Hudson-4, etc., the wrapping paper is uniquely different in art work, texture, etc. It seems if I throw it away - it will take a chunk of interesting history with it. Egads . . .
I appreciate your help!!
And I am loving these tips!! What a clever bunch we are 
Drano Gel is an all-purpose cleaner of hard surfaces. (Just test on a small portion to make sure it doesn’t crack or discolor them.) If you slather it on a surface and let sit for 5 minutes or more you can wipe off most dirt.
It’s like the ads for products where they just wipe off dirt and stains, except it really works (as long as you’re well-ventilated and wear glvoes). And it’s probably really bad for the environment and your health, but I prefer speed and ease
Re:socks. When I spill liquid laundry detergent as I am pouring it into the washing machine, I sop it up with a sock that’s going to go in there anyway.
Brilliant. I’m 53 years old and never thought of that. (Nice username for this thread, too.)