8 Practical Life Hacks That Take 5 Minutes Or Less

242/365 - Spaghetti
Flickr | The Travelling Bum

We have all spent time reading about “Life Hacks for the Kitchen”, or “100,000 Hacks for Every Day” only to find one or two possibly useful tips. Well, here are a handful of hacks that I have found the most helpful. The best part is I have already saved you time by sorting through all the useless hacks. In other words, consider this article a life hack for your life hacks.

1. Garbage Bag Garment Bags

Anyone who has ever moved has had to face the problem of what to do with all those hanging clothes. Should you just pile them on top of everything else in the moving van, give them their own special box which takes up a ton of room or spend a bunch of money on garment bags to protect them all? Hack number one equals the best solution yet. Draw string garbage bags are essentially disposable garment bags, and they can even be repurposed to hold garbage once you’ve moved.

2. Shower Ring Hangers

Since we are already in your closet, we might as well organize a little. How about using some simple curtain rings. You may even be able to find some at the local dollar store. Simply hook them onto the bottom of a hanger and you now have a space savor. These can be used to hang scarves, tank tops, purses or anything else you can fit onto these inexpensive little rings.

3. Frozen Food Binder Clip Hangers

From closets to freezers, we don’t want things spilling over. So here we have not only a space-saving idea but also a food-saving hack.

4. Hidden Counter Space

Not only do we need more space in our freezers, but counter space is at a premium. How many times have you gone to chop veggies and found there to be no room for the salad bowl. Try opening a drawer, setting your cutting board on top and presto! More counter space!

Flickr | ewige

5. Two Bowls, One Microwave

Two hungry children and only one microwave to heat a meal. What is a person to do? Simple answer, elevate. Use a mug or any other microwave safe item to balance a second plate or bowl above the first. You have now made room for two. Make sure you use a stable base so you don’t have to see yourself featured in Life Hack Fails.

6. Toilet Paper Tubes

I could do an entire article on their many uses, but the one tried-and-true toilet paper tube hack I have implemented is for organizing charger cords. It’s so simple to just fold them up and insert. The best part is you can even label the tubes, so the cord stored inside can be found even faster.

7. Cord Clips

Since we are already working on our cord stash, what about the ones we use every day? If you need them daily, you probably don’t want to store them in tubes. For everyday use, you will need a more quickly accessible hack such as… binder clips attached to the side of your desk. Not only do your cords stay untangled, they are also easily identified and accessible.

8. Spaghetti Matchsticks

I have burned my fingers too many times reaching down to light a beautiful-smelling candle with a regular old matchstick. I admit I am usually rushing to hide the smell of whatever I have just cooked, or burnt, as the case may be. So what’s my quick fix? Spaghetti! It’s always on hand at my house, and besides I can never seem to find those extra-long matches when I need them. Simply light the end of a piece of spaghetti, then light your candle with it. No more burn cream needed.

Home, Life

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About the Author
Sarah Lewton
I love writing about little life hacks that make for better, more efficient living because we all need to get more from our time and money. It's also important to exercise and eat right which should always be balanced with some chocolate cake. Throw in a little about living with contentment and happiness and that about sums me up

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