Tips and tricks for everyday life

(I refuse to title this as "Life hacks" )

Inspired by The Child's resourcefulness with a coconut today I wanted to start collecting tips you have discovered to make life easier and to feel very smug and smart when sharing

How to get into a coconut, The Child, 2025:

 

My best invention when travelling with people, in particular kids, is to colour code everyone.

A handful of coloured hair bands (or rubber bands in case hair accessories are not readily available) will identify identical waterbottles and close crisp and sweet bags whilst also preventing "she ate my crisps"- situations.

Plastic pegs will show immediately whose white hotel towel it is. Paper clips tell everyone's passports apart.

IKEA kid's plastic cups, plates and cutlery sets continue the theme.

The arguments usually are just over who has to be Mr Pink.

 

Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
Don't be afraid to accept help when you need it.

 

Your own or other peoples.

 

Instead of struggling to remember all those pin numbers and trying to keep them safe, find a ten-letter word and just remember that. For example, COMPLEXITY is 10 letters long. Now think of each letter as a number from 1 to 9 plus 0. If your pin number is 6509, you can write it safely on your bank card or whatever as ELYT. Nobody can work out those numbers without knowing the clue to them. I’ve been using this system for half a century and it has served me well. By the way, I don’t use COMPLEXITY.

 

I have trouble spelling words as long as ten letters.

 

Some people just find an excuse for COMPLAINTS.

 

I sometimes find myself mumbling pin numbers, phone numbers, burglar alarm number, bank account number etc to myself. Like I'm going mad! So I don't need to write them down. They just come out. And my passwords are all different, but have a theme.

The government is starting to make us login with the same login for all gov departments - called OneLogin. That does not sound very secure. I've got 2 under that scheme so far.

 

I also memorise strings of anything without noticing it.

When I had my eyesight tested at work some years ago I stunned the nurse by clearing any size of letters easily. I had to confess my memory peculiarity as I remembered the line of letters from the first size (that I was actually able to see).


Back to the topic with a tip that I hope most members of the forum will find life changing!

Washing underwired bra in a washing machine requires a zipped washing bag that are always, always disappearing. Panic over, a pair of socks works just fine, slip the garment into one and pull the other one on top the other way around.

Obviously, this trick only works if your foot- bust size ratio is slightly less Sophia Lorenish

 

Wot’s a bra? Haven’t worn one since 1969:

 

Next time I need to wash an underwired bra I shall certainly follow this tip.