Vicki's little tips - dedicated to Simone
1 If a member of your family is ill, and the telephone keeps ringing with kind enquires,
put an update on the answer phone twice a day, and don’t answer the telephone.
2 Have a box for spare buttons, and buttons that are found.
3 Have a card index box for seeds, and sort them by month.
4 Always buy the best you can afford, it costs less in the end.
5 Never wash your good glasses at the end of the evening, simple collect them into the kitchen and then pour some water
in them. Wash in the morning. The water helps wash them, and the delay saves breaking them. Never hold the stem
of a wineglass when drying, as you twist, you can break it. Always hold the stem of a wineglass when drinking white wine.
6 If you can, file your documents by colour; pink for bills, blue for receipts and so on.
7 Clean vases, ice buckets, water jugs with a handful of rice in some soapy water, swirl around.
The rice will pick up all the dirt and leave
it sparkling.
8 Par steam your vegetables when entertaining, in advance. Refresh under cold water.
They will only take a minute to reheat when you need them.
9 When you have a bit of spare cash, tuck the odd £10, or £5, in a jacket pocket,
a hand bag you don’t use very often etc. It is always such fun to find it.
10 Get up ten minutes early, and use that time to have a quick tidy up.
It is always so relaxing to come home to a tidy house.
11 When you buy a new shirt that has stiffening in the collar and cuffs, DO NOT IRON. Once you do, you always will have too, if you
never do, you will never have to.
12 Open the windows every day, especially in winter.
The house will feel fresher, and you will feel better.
13 Change your potato peeler annually, you will notice the difference. Do it at a fixed time, your birthday,
Christmas when ever. Just do it.
14 Get your knives sharpened at the same time.
15 Have a Birthday Calendar whereyou can see it.
16 Have a selection of cards in a box.
17 At the beginning of each month, get all the cards organised; write, where the stamp is to go,
the date for posting.
18 After Christmas, when you have some free time, make out next years Christmas Card list.
19 Keep a note on who you gave what to. If you recycle presents, make a note who gave them to you.
20 There a three people you must always tell everything to. Your doctor, lawyer, and mother.
21 Save for Christmas, it always happens
22 To clean the microwave, put a bowl of water with some lemon in, in the microwave, and zap
for ten minutes, the steam will make it so easy to wipe over, and the lemon gives it a fresh smell.
23 The string pull in the bathroom always gets grubby, thread some beads, or a case from
a biro on it. You can be really adventurous.
24 Soak tea towels, teapots, washing up brushes, in Milton.
25 Have different colour cloths for bathroom and kitchen. Change daily.
26 Remember to clean bathroom and kitchen door handles.
27 Always wash between your fingers and around your thumbs, these are areas that bacteria love.
28 When decanting tea, flour,sugar etc, does it on the draining board.
It is so easy to clean up the spills.
29 If you are really cold, and want a hot bath, dip your feet in first, and then remove them.
This gives them a chance to warm up, so that they can tolerate the water at the same temperature as the rest of you.
30 Spray cleaner on the bath as soon as it has emptied. The warmth helps to get the cleaner going.
31 When cleaning the house, try to do as many things at the same time. Tidy, soak, spray, clean.
32 Always use cotton for cleaning, it cuts down the static.
33 A shaving brush is an invaluable cleaning tool.
34 Wash starchy (potatoes, rice, pasta) pans out with cold water.
35 Never put cold water into a hot frying pan, you will warp the bottom.
36 Dust before you Hoover.
37 When moving home, always make your bed up before you do anything else,
by the end of the day you will be too tired to do it.
38 If you want to eat or drink after you have brushed your teeth,
put a dab of salt on your tongue, it takes away the nasty taste you experience if drinking orange juice
and toothpaste. (Thanks to Hattie for that one)
39 Pour a kettle full of boiling water over the draining board and down the sink every day.
Rub the draining board up with a tea towel. It will be clean, shiny and hygienic and the sink should not block
40 Put soda crystals over the bathroom plugs, and pour boiling water over them, This helps
prevent build up of scum (other sorts of scum will need other methods). Try and do this once a month, and your
drains won't get blocked.
41 Have a special place to keep the shopping list, so everyone can write down what is needed at the next shop.
42 Read your electricity meter weekly, to make sure you can afford it.
43 Read your Gas meter weekly.
44 Heat uses the most electricity. Things to avoid are the:
Oven - very expensive, especially just to heat up one pizza. When you do put the over on, cook as much
as you can in it. Potatoes, vegetables, casseroles, chicken, anything you can think of that will keep.
Heaters, turn them off when you leave the house. Don’t heat empty rooms
Lights, turn them off, get low energy bulbs
Washing Machines; do a collective wash of Jeans, whites etc. Don’t ever just put in a few articles of
clothing, great waste of money. Find something to make it a full load.
45 If you cook too much pasta, keep it in the fridge, you can always make it into a salad with
some tuna sweet corn and salad cream.
46 Keep you accounts up to date. Your mother will check them!
47 Eat some fresh fruit and vegetables every day.
48 Drink lots of water, its cheap, and good for you.
49 Eat and drink before you go shopping, its cheaper
50 Eat, drink and wee before you go out, it is more comfortable, and cheaper.
51 Iron your clothes before you need them, that way you might not be late.
52 Do
something while you watch television, iron, tidy, clean, your
nails, hair, whatever.
53 Always have ten pounds tucked away at home, to pay for late night taxis for which you
hadn’t budgeted.
54 Do not have unprotected sex, EVER.
55 It is easier to apologise than fight
56 Keep in touch with old friends, if you can’t afford a card for their birthday, write a letter.
57 If you plan your time, you will find you can fit in more.
58 Make friends with your dentist, he will be more likely to fit you in.
59 Find out where the Dental Hospital is.
60 Sunday Afternoon Tea is a fun and cheap way of entertaining
61 Make sure you always have a spare roll of loo paper.
62 Never have chipped nail polish
63 Ring people when you know they are out, leave a message for them to call you back.
64 Don’t forget dustbin day
65 Vaseline is an effective and cheap moisturiser
66 Have a calendar, where everyone can write down important dates
67 New Shoes, wear them in, before you wear them out
68 Keep your oven clean, it is easier than having a blitz, try and do it once a week,
once a month at least.
69 Wash your hair brushes when you wash your hair
70 If you write something on any computer, be aware that someone else will find it and read it,
maybe years later. Be aware that computers are not private. They are like postcards.
71 You can put washing up brushes, hair brushes, combs etc through the washing machine,
if you put them in a net bag. An old pillow case secured with a rubber band can be used if necessary
72 Don’t be too defensive
73 Buy your fruit and vegetables from the market, at the end of the day, get a price.
74 If you make a mess, clean it up.
75 Put things away when you have finished using them, it keeps the place tidy.
76 When supermarket shopping, put the bags in the trolley, and pack in the trolley, this
saves one “picking up”.