A Life In Review

If we’re honest, we are all looking for ways to make life easier. Whether you’re single, dating or married, life can be complicated. So, with the help of some friends I have compiled what I think are some top notch life hacks. Over the years I’ve pinned a whole bunch of hacks on Pinterest, but I always forget to go back and actually use them. Hopefully by putting them all in one place, I can finally make my life just a little easier (and hopefully yours too).

^{** Disclaimer: I haven’t tried most of these but they come highly recommended. I also couldn’t decide how to organize them so they are labeled with a “topic” and then the hack is underneath it. **}

1. Iced Coffee Hack: Pour some coffee into an ice cube tray and freeze it. Then, when you make yourself iced coffee you can use the coffee cubes in place of ice cubes. As they melt, your coffee won’t get watered down. (The same hack can be used with wine, if you like Ice Cubes in your wine).
   
2. House Hunting Hack: When you are house hunting, check your phone in each home and make sure that you have decent service! (This is something that would have been nice to know at my parents new house).
   
3. Bobby Pin Hack: Take an empty Tic-Tac container and fill it with bobby pins. You can tuck it into your purse or makeup back. It’s a great way to keep track of them. (I’ve actually used this hack and it proved to be quite useful).
   
4. Bath Toy Hack: In order to prevent mold from taking over your child’s bath toys, hot glue the holes shut before letting the kids play with them. (Another tip that has worked well, after we had to replace our daughter’s moldy toys).
   
5. Cold Drink Hack: Forgot to refrigerate your favorite soda (and don’t have any ice)? Wrap a moist piece of paper towel around it and stick it in the freezer. In about 15 minutes your drink will be nice and cold.
   
6. Better Scented Bathroom Hack: Pour some fabric softener into the water that sits in the back of your toilet. As you flush, the smell will be released into the bathroom air. This is especially handy if you have a husband (looking at you babe).
   
7. Key Identification Hack: This is a great hack if you are someone with a lot of keys and don’t want bulky key covers (you know, those little decorative things?). Take some old nail polish and paint the top of the key (not the part that goes into the door). Each key can be a different color which will help you quickly identify which key is which (Thanks Dad for this tip)!
   
8. De-Wrinkle Clothes Hack: (Is de-wrinkle even a word?) That’s a terrible name for this hack, but you get what I’m saying. If you need some clothes ironed but you hate ironing (or suck at it like I do), throw the clothes into the dryer with a couple ice cubes. As they melt, they will act like a steamer and get the wrinkles out of your clothes (this is one hack I definitely will be trying).
   
9. Hiding Cash Hack: This was a really cool hack that I have seen on a few different blogs. If you are heading to the beach or a place where carrying a wallet isn’t effective, take an empty (and cleaned) chapstick tube and put some cash in it. It’s small and easy to hide. Just don’t lose this chapstick tube like you do all of your others.
   
10. Picture Frame Hack: I am constantly fighting with my picture frames. As we walk around the apartment and the walls shake, the pictures are bumped off their spots. One blogger suggested putting dots of hot glue on the corners of your picture frames to keep them from moving around. (I can’t stress this enough, let the glue dots dry BEFORE putting the frames back on the wall).

I chose to title this post specifically for 2021, because I feel like each year there are more hacks to make our lives easier (especially in the age of Tik Tok). I plan to revisit this topic next year and see what else we can learn. If you have a good life hack that you think should have been included, leave it in the comments so others can get ideas! Happy Hacking!