JFF - Brilliantly Making Life Easier...

On laundry day, I put entire outfits for my kids in gallon zippy bags (generic ones, I'm cheap) -- socks, underpants, bottoms & tops. On school mornings, the kids grab a zippy bag and get themselves dressed. So much easier than digging thru several drawers looking for clothes, and also less risk of "creative" outfit pairing.

Saves time & aggravation in the morning. The zippy bags get reused every week. I'm thinking of doing this for my own wardrobe.

LOVE the SOS suggestion, thanks!

My animals are NOT allowed on the couch... but the cat and dog curl up on it every night. Nothing ruins a morning faster than sitting in dog and cat hair in black work pants. Instead of pulling out the vacuum, I've learned that a quick brush down with a dust pan broom takes it all off in a fraction of the time, AND it's so simple I can ask the kids to do it!

Also, when I'm cutting up watermelon, no matter how big the cutting board is, you know you get watermelon juice in every corner of the counter. I fold a bath towel in half, then place the cutting board on it... the juicy, sticky mess gets absorbed instead of spreading to every corner and crevice. I use the same towel to sop up any leftover juice, wipe it down with a Clorox wipe, and you're done!

And I do as much as I can the night before for the next day. Make lunches, prep the coffee, pick out clothes (for myself and the kids)... so mornings are literally dress, grab, and go. 30 extra minutes at night is worth smooth sailing in the morning before my 2nd cup of coffee!

We fill up one of those dish-scrubber wand things (you know... tube for soap attached to a sponge...) with 1/2 dish soap, and 1/2 vinegar. I keep it in the shower, and every time I'm in there, I take a second to wipe down the shower doors and the tub with it. I NEVER have to actually 'clean' my tub! :)

Also... I use newspaper when cleaning glass. No streaks or lint left behind!

AND (this one I discovered by accident... kind of...) use an electric toothbrush to scrub tile grout, or in creases (Like around the toilet). You can buy a pretty cheap kid's one to do the job. :)

Anyone with in-door cats knows they throw up - well, I'll take a plastic shopping bag (just the little ones you get from the store) put my hand inside, lay a paper towel on the vomit and scoop it up with my bagged hand! Spray the area with Formula 409 or some type of cleaner, again lay the paper towel and using my bagged hand wipe it all up. That way my hand doesn't have to touch ANY of the gross stuff!! I use this same method if/when they have a poop or pee accident too.

Loving all the tips! Great question!

I, by far, am NOT the Queen of Clean. However, I have been downsizing and organizing. Here's a couple things I've done that seems to make things a little easier:

On a wall, I have hanging a rack with several hooks for backpacks, coats, umbrellas, etc. Above it, I have hung those plastic 3 section file holders for kids info for school. I have 3 kids so each kid has their own slot. In the other holder, I have my work I'm currently working on, and important papers I need to do and a "misc" spot for stuff I shove in a hurry and go thru later. I'm a notorius paper piler on top of tables so this has really helped.

In the kitchen, I have a "coffee station". My coffee maker, creamer and sugars are out on the counter. In the cabinet directly above is coffee cups, coffee and the filters. Everything within reach.

Same thing for the toaster. The butter dish is right next to the toaster and right above it in the cabinet is the peanut butter, honey and cinnamon/sugar. Everything within reach.

Its a work in progress but I'm trying to "have a place for everything and everything in its place". =)

If you have a squeegee in the bathtub it really cuts down on the buildup. Not sure why but my kids would not clean their rooms without a huge fight but they loved squeegeeing the tub and shower after they were done.

We kept a pop up trash can, you know the really small stainless steel ones? We would throw all our compostables in there and really that is all the garbage we make during dinner. Again another strange thing my kids enjoyed, taking that to the compost bin and then giving it a spin. :)

I have to give my 6year old grandson the credit for this one. He came in from playing & needed a shower. He used our walk-in shower.Once he was clean, he deceided to clean the shower. Not a problem. He asked for a sponge to wash the walls. I came back a few minutes later & the bathroom smelled wonderful. He had used conditioner from the $ store. The odor lasted for hours. I'm just glad he didn't find my good shampoo or conditioner.

I wipe down the shower, the mirror and the bathroom sink with a microfiber cloth every morning while I get ready and it always stays clean.
I keep a big bowl on the counter when I am preparing dinner for the compost stuff and get the kids to take it out to the compost bin right after.
I wipe cat hair off the sofa with rubber gloves.
I put a cup of water in the microwave for two minutes, then wipe it out, and anything stuck on comes right off.
I keep all our holy socks and socks missing partners and use them for yucky cleaning jobs (such as cat puke) before I dispose of them, instead of using paper towels.

Best suggestion I received and used was to put all toys in rubbermaid bins by type (blocks, Barbies, Beany babies, My Little Ponies, plastic cats & dogs, etc). The kids get to choose what they want to play with but before they can have new toys something has to go back into bins and into the basement. This way they play with what is out, and the stuff that they request next seems "new" since they have not seen it for a while. Plus it trained them to put things away, and we did not have mountains of toys laying around everywhere.
Also, those 3M removable wall hooks are all over our house. For coats in the hall, for PJ's in their rooms, for handbags in my closet, for stringing ribbons along playroom wall where they then clip toys with wash pins. When one breaks or you move stuff around and you no longer want them where they were, they remove easily.

With a 2 story house, I find it makes life easier to keep certain things on both floors, paper towels, TP, Windex, a vacuum, Kleenex, hand soap, Clorox wipes, spray cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, etc.

I like your plate idea. I use plastic bendable "cutting boards" for most cutting, grating, etc... of veggies. When I have the peels, seeds and such on the floppy cutting board, I just pick it up and dump them into the garbage.... Super easy and it keeps my counters clean!! :)

I use an oversized mixing bowl instead of a paper plate. Right before I serve dinner, I empty the mixing bowl, fill the bowl with pure hot water and soap and then toss in the assorted cooking things to soak while we eat. It makes clean up much easier. Also I handwash dishes so I don't have to fill up the entire sink.

I save dry cleaning bags to cover coats in the off season and our nice dresses/suits. It keeps the clothes from becoming dusty.

I have two hampers in our master bathroom. My husband and I presort lights from darks as we put our dirty clothes in the hampers. It makes laundry just that little bit faster and I don't have to expect my husband to understand exactly how I sort our laundry.