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Super Easy Life Hacks and Tips

Life hacks are tips on how to deal with everyday problems. After all, life can get difficult at times, and there’s nothing you can do to change that.

However, something southerners know is how to use hacks to make things a little easier.

Life Hacks in the Home

If you drop glass and break it, pick up the big pieces. And then sweep up the medium and small pieces.

You’ll still probably have some slivers left. Don’t fret. Grab a piece of bread and wipe the area to pick up the glass particles you missed. The bread basically becomes a sticky mop.

Vinegar is an amazing product since it cleans drains. It’s even better when you add a little baking soda. Equal parts of each can unclog drains just as well as strong chemicals.

Vinegar is one of the life hacks and tips that solve a lot of cleaning problems.

While you have the vinegar out, use it to clean the house. Add a few drops to a bucket of water, and you can mop floors, wash windows, and clean bathroom fixtures.

However, don’t use it to clean granite or any of the natural stones because it can cause damage.

You can also use lemons or grapefruit to clean the bathtub. Cut the fruit in half, sprinkle some salt on the cut side, and rub it over the whole tub. Rinse, wipe dry, and it will sparkle like new.

Allow your blender to clean itself. Fill your blender halfway with water, squirt a little bit of dishwashing detergent into it, and turn it on. Now rinse it out, and the blender will be surprisingly clean.

More Tips for the Home

Use a clothespin when you first start to hammer a nail. That will save your thumb if your hammer slips. Clothespins are handy to have around for many of my favorite life hacks and tips.

Package of clothespins scattered across a table
Clothespin Hacks

In order to clean shower head buildup, pour some vinegar in a zip-lock bag. Place the bag over the shower head and secure with a rubber band.

After a few hours, remove the bag of vinegar and wipe off the shower head. It should be free from gunk next time you run the water.

There is a reason people claim that dryers eat socks. That’s because most of us have experienced one sock missing, and we never find it.

In order to prevent that from continuing to happen, safety pin the pair of socks together before putting it in the washer. You can also purchase sock clips from large discount department stores or Amazon.

Speaking of laundry, if you like having clean clothes, you’ll appreciate these laundry hacks. They’re all easy to do, and you’ll be amazed by how much cleaner your clothes will be.

Car Hacks

If you park your car in a garage, you can avoid pulling in too far (or not far enough) by hanging a tennis ball on rope from the ceiling, positioned to touch the windshield when you need to stop.

Nail pool noodles to the wall of your garage to protect your car door when it’s open. There are a lot of different life hacks and tips that involve pool noodles, so it’s a good idea to have at least one on hand.

Do all of the keys on your key ring look alike? Pull out your stash of nail polish and paint the heads of the keys different colors so you can tell them apart.

Take a picture of your parking space so you can find your car later. Make sure there is a point of reference in the photo.

Personal Tips

Freeze a sponge and place it in a plastic zip-lock bag for those times when you need an ice pack.

When you run out of makeup remover, use a teaspoon of coconut oil. It works just as well, and you might discover you actually like it more.

Coconut oil is a favorite life hack.

Do you have to go on a search for a ponytail holder every morning? Solve this problem by storing them on a carabiner (metal ring with a spring hinge). Each member of the family can have a different color carabiner.

Life hacks or tips include using carabiners for organizing ponytail holders.

Are your shoes too tight? If so, wet some newspaper, wad it up, and pack your shoes as tightly as possible with it. After the newspaper dries, remove it, and the shoes should be a tad wider.

Have a stash of thank you cards at the ready and send one as soon as you receive a gift. That way, you won’t have to remember to do it later.

If you run out of shaving cream, use hair conditioner. It softens the hair and makes it easy for the razor to glide.

Before applying perfume, dab a little bit of petroleum jelly on your wrist. This helps prevent the scent from fading.

Travel Tips

Before putting plastic bottles into the suitcase you’ll be checking at the airport, put them in a zip-lock bag. You significantly decrease the risk of spills all over the contents.

Keep a few clothespins in your suitcase. You’ll undoubtedly find quite a few ways to use them, including holding the curtains together. It’s annoying to have the sun shining through the slit between the drapes at the crack of dawn.

Put your shoes in disposable shower caps before packing them to help protect your clothes. You can find multi-packs of shower caps at the Dollar Tree.

In order to avoid paying a high price for water at the airport, bring an empty water bottle and fill it after you go through security. Without a doubt, you’ll save a lot of money and hydrate to your heart’s content as long as there’s a water fountain nearby.

More Travel Hacks

Roll your clothes and put them in packing cubes. You’ll be amazed by how many more clothes you’ll be able to pack.

Place rolled up socks inside of shoes to take advantage of that extra space.

Sometimes it’s difficult to find enough power sources while traveling, so bring your own power strip.

When you pack liquids, remove the bottle cap, place a piece of plastic wrap over the open bottle, and then put the lid back on. This is an extra bottle leak protection, and you certainly don’t want to have a mess when you arrive at your destination.

Fold a potholder in half and sew two of the open sides, leaving one end open for your curling iron.

If you have a choice, pick a luggage color besides black so you can find it on the conveyor belt at the airport. However, if all you have is a black suitcase, tie a brightly colored ribbon or piece of fabric to the handle to make it easier to identify.

Scan important documents such as your passport and email it to yourself in case you lose the original or your luggage goes astray.

Moving Tips

If you run out of packing paper during a move, don’t despair. Stuff your glasses and smaller fragile items into clean socks.

In fact, that’s probably even better than packing paper because it’s less stuff you’ll have to move. And there will be less paper to dispose of after you’re all moved in.

You can also use Styrofoam plates between your dishes to protect them during the move. After you’re settled, stack them up and save them for your next picnic.

Life Hacks for School

Don’t let your gym shoes stink up your locker. Stick a dryer sheet into each one of them to keep them fresh. If they’re really bad, put two in each shoe.

Life hacks or tips include many uses for dryer sheets.
Dryer Sheet Hacks

When taking notes, add drawings to help you remember specific points. This can work in all subjects.

If you don’t have a dry erase board at home, use a picture frame with a glass front or a mirror. Your dry erase marker will erase just as easily with a paper towel or cloth.

Change your color of pens during the day if you start to get bored. This should help motivate you to keep going, especially if you use your favorite color.

After you write a paper, read it aloud to hear the sound and the rhythm of the words. Even better, turn up the sound on your computer and have Google or your software program read it back to you. That helps when it’s time to edit it before turning it in.

When you start to drag during the day, drink a glass of water. That should perk you up.

If you sleep through your alarm, even when the sound on your phone is turned up to top volume, place it in a glass or metal tumbler. That causes the sound to echo, and the noise is annoying enough to get you out of bed.

Decorate your locker with contact paper, photos, and other items you enjoy. It will give you a cheerful place to go each day. Make sure all your locker decorations are school approved.

Finding Your Own Tips and Life Hacks

Basically, life hacks are the result of finding ways to solve problems by using what’s available at the moment. They might be genius ideas, or they may simply be something to get by.

Whatever the case, share what you know with others. After all, we’re in this world together, so we need to help each other out.

You’ll find more life hacks and tips at Marilyn’s Treats and The Pin Junkie, a couple of my favorite blogs.

Please feel free to share!