There just aren’t enough hours in the day, are there? You’ve got work, cleaning, family, cooking, household chores and bills to pay so there’s never any time left over for you. That can’t be right, can it?! There must be a way to minimise the chores you have to do and free up some time for yourself. I’ve come up with some interesting solutions to get the time you spend ‘adulting’ back, so that you can use it for the more enjoyable moments in life…
DON’T MAINTAIN YOUR APPLIANCES
Let’s start with the thing you can do when you first set-up your home. If you get to choose the appliances, why not go for self-cleaning models to save you the hassle of doing it yourself? Self-cleaning ovens use high temperatures to burn off debris, saving you scrubbing time and the cost of chemical cleaners. Frost-free freezers don’t require defrosting, so that twice-yearly defrost (and having to eat up everything in your freezer!) is no longer needed. You can even get self-cleaning cat litter trays (how does that work?) and toilet cleaning systems. And don’t forget a dishwasher! If you’re starting afresh in a new house, have a look at integrating some of these appliances to save you time and effort.
DON’T DO THE CLEANING
Does anyone really like cleaning? I mean, I quite enjoy the finished result, but I’d still rather not do it. And considering it can take a few hours of your life each week (probably during your valuable weekends) it would be a good idea to look at ways that you can automate this process.
Firstly, floors no longer need your attention. Why? Because there are robots that can do that for you these days! All you need is an automatic vacuum cleaner that wakes up, trundles around the house picking up dirt and pet hair, and then returns to its charging point when the battery gets low. You can compare robotic vacuum models online and choose the one that’s right for you, with brushes for hard floors and filters that reduce dust and allergens in your home.
DON’T DO YOUR GARDENING
Likewise, you don’t necessarily have to mow the grass either. There are plenty of robotic mowers on the market that actually do a better job of mowing the grass that you could. I’ve seen videos of them climbing slopes with ease and turning on the spot – amazing stuff. You only need to map out the cutting area once (avoiding your rose bushes!) and the robotic mower will keep your grass neatly trimmed at all times without you having to lift a finger.
DON’T SEND BIRTHDAY CARDS
Remembering birthdays, buying cards and putting them in the post on time (and going to the Post Office when you run out of stamps again) takes up a lot of mental space as well as time. There are now plenty of apps and greetings card sites that allow you to buy, write and post all your birthday cards without leaving your home. Plus, you can set birthday reminders so that you never have to remember that special date – the greetings card company will email you to remind you.
DON’T DO THE FOOD SHOPPING
If you haven’t already tried doing a home-delivery supermarket shop, the good news is that you can probably get a nice discount voucher to take some money off your first order! It’s so easy to use the online supermarkets these days and once you’ve made your usual shopping list, you can save it and reorder from it whenever you need a delivery.
If you already use a Tesco clubcard, they even look at your past purchases to recommend items you usually buy. This saves you the time and travel costs of going to the supermarket. You can find the cheapest supermarket for your shopping online and then use their delivery service to get the order to you.
There are also fresh food boxes that you can order each week, which contain everything you need to make the right number of meals for your family. The only downside is that you get nothing more, so you’ll still need to get those staples like milk, eggs and butter etc. Although, if you have a milkman in your area – bonus! You can order all those items (and more) to be delivered to your door.
DON’T SPEND YOUR MONEY
Of course, I don’t mean you shouldn’t pay your bills – I mean, set up automated payments! This will save you time trying to organize payments, either over the phone or by going into a bank or Post Office to pay a Giro slip or car tax bill. I’m sure many of you already pay for your utilities and rent or mortgage by direct debit but what about other things?
You might be paying for insurances, car tax, dentist, TV license, self-assessment tax, national insurance etc with one-off payments – so why not investigate whether you can set up direct debits for these? This saves you from having to remember payment deadline dates and you can spread the cost of big bills throughout the year. And while you’re at it, automate your savings too! Set up a monthly to transfer to move money from your current account to your savings account as soon as you get paid.
Will you give any of these household and adulting automation ideas a go in 2020? What other things do you already do to automate your tasks and save time? I’d love to hear your home and life hacks so please leave me a comment below with your top tips 😊
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