1. Use olive oil instead of extra-virgin olive oil when cooking with heat. It has a higher smoke point and is cheaper. Use your nice oil for finishing dishes, not for preparing them.
2. When you break a glass on a hard floor, shine a flashlight parallel to the floor so you can see the shadows of tiny pieces you would otherwise miss.
3. Unless you like soggy wet toast, buy butter/margarine with the highest grams of fat per serving.
4. When ironing clothes, don't start from the front side. Leave the front side to the last to have an excellent finish.
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5. When cleaning mirrors or windows and have no window cleaner in hand, use newspaper with water.
6. If you want to avoid pocket dials, move your recent calls icon into a separate folder.
7. Bees hate CO2. If one is bothering you, gently blow on it and it will fly away.
8. Tourist with a camera? Take a picture of your contact details. This would make it easier for someone to get in touch with you if you ever lose your camera.
9. If you are given a prepaid debit card as a gift, save it after you spend the money. You can use it to sign up for free trials online without worry of being scammed.
10. If your printer is out of black ink and you need urgent printout, change the color of the font to #010101, which is 99 per cent grey, it will help you quite a lot.
11. Let someone know you're picking up the tab for a meal after they've ordered. This allows a considerate friend to order what s/he wants freely and also prevents a colleague/acquaintance from taking advantage of your generosity.
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12. If your other half can't make a decision about where to eat, play the 5-2-1 game. You give them five restaurants, they pick two, and you pick from those.
13. Whenever you travel abroad bring a new soundtrack for each place you visit, preferably one you have never heard before. In the future, every time you listen to each soundtrack again they will bring you vivid memories of the places you have visited.
14. If Word crashes or shuts down and your document didn't save, search ".asd" in the file Explorer under "This/My PC". It should be there.
15. When you're about to cry, think of words that rhyme or count backwards from 100 in sevens. Engaging the logic part of your brain shifts blood flow away from your emotional centres and helps you maintain your composure.
16. If you are buying headphones/speakers, test them with Bohemian Rhapsody. It has the complete set of highs and lows in instruments and vocals.
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17. If you want to "vacuum seal" food, put it in a ziplock bag and submerge it in a bowl of water with the bag open above the water. The water will push the air out of the bag, and you can close it without any left inside.
18. When you sign up for anything online, put the website's name as your middle name. That way when you receive spam/advert emails, you will know who sold your information.
19. If an indoor cat gets outside and lost, put their litter box outside. They can smell it from up to a mile away and find their way home.
20. Learn to read food labels. "Made from 100 per cent ..." is not the same as "Made with 100 per cent ..."
21. If somebody comes to your door selling a home security system and asks if you have one, always say yes. You never know if you're talking to a potential burglar.
22. When walking your dogs, make them sit and wait before crossing streets. This will make them hesitate about running into roads if they ever get loose.
23. If you want to learn a new language, figure out the 100 most frequently used words and start with them. Those words make up about 50 per cent of everyday speech already and should be a very solid basis.
24. Go to the zoo when it is a little cool outside. The animals will be active trying to warm up.
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25. Bring a healthy snack to work. If you're looking for a snack but don't feel like eating the one you brought, you're not hungry, you're bored.
26. There is a visible difference between not working out at all and doing 15 pushups every day. Make 15 pushups your new "not working out".
27. If you can hear them but they can't hear you, you're the one with the weak signal.
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28. Leave the washing machine lid open after every load of wash to allow moisture to escape and dry it out.
29. If you have a clogged drain use baking soda and vinegar to dissolve the clog and flush with boiling water to avoid buying expensive drain cleaners.
30. After you assemble furniture, use duct tape to attach things like hex keys, that came with the furniture, to the underside. You won't have to look for it when you have to disassemble the furniture.
Better living, everyone!
