40 Life Hacks Every Mom Needs To Make Life a Little Easier

Thank you to Mint SIM for kindly sponsoring this post. All opinions are 100% honest & completely my own.

It’s surely no surprise that being a mom can be a busy, demanding job. With so many claims on your time, what you really need is extra hours in the day. But since that’s not possible, you’ll need the next best thing: life hacks. There are plenty of life hacks available online, but so many of them are rather impractical or too niche a topic to really be useful. That’s why I’ve rounded up 40 life hacks for moms to make life a little easier.

1. Mint SIM

It seems to be the endless debate right now. Just when do you let your child get a phone? With all of the extracurricular activities our older daughter is in, getting her a phone to use at those activities was the smart and convenient thing to do. When we looked into adding her to our existing phone plan, it just added extra cost to our already ridiculous phone bill.  We needed something that was easy to use and didn’t cost an arm and an leg.

Enter Mint SIM.

Mint SIM is a completely new way to do wireless. They let you buy your wireless time in bulk for 3, 6 or 12 months at a time. If you aren’t sure how much you are going to need, you are going to buy a small amount, if you know you are going to need the phone for longer, you can commit to a year at once and lower the overall price.

According the research Mint SIM has done, they average person uses about 5GB of data a month but pays for unlimited. Instead of overcharging you for something you don’t use, you can pick a 2GB, 5GB or 10GB plan, so you just pay for what you need.

For Mint SIM, you bring your own GSM unlocked phone, which allows you to keep your current number and prevents you from having a monthly payment for the hardware.

Right now when you switch to Mint SIM, you can get 2GB of 4G LTE Data and Unlimited Talk and Tex for $15 a month when you buy three months. We were able to find one of our old phones, pop the Mint SIM card into it and activate it online. My daughter had a phone in literally less than 10 minutes and it has been such a great change for our family. I can drop her off at soccer knowing that when she needs a ride, she could easily get a hold of me. That is an incredible amount of peace of mind for only $15 a month.

Check out all the plans below to see how much you can save. Find more information at Mintsim.com. 

2. Prevent mold from growing in your bath toys

What kid doesn’t love bath toys? They can make bath time a little easier, but one thing you may not know is bath toys are a breeding ground for mold. If you ever want to freak yourself out, cut open a bath toy that’s been used for months on end. More than likely it’s full of mold. Yuck.

Before you swear off bath toys, try this tip to prevent mold growth. Bath toys that have holes (which is fairly common) are the biggest culprits of mold growth. Prevent this by filling the hole in the bath toy with hot glue. This keeps water out, and slows down the mold growth.

 

3. Keep kids entertained anywhere you go

Kids have an attention span of approximately 0.00079 seconds. And nowhere do kids have shorter attention spans than when they’re stuck in a waiting room, especially one that doesn’t cater to kids. It’s easy to be tempted to hand over your phone to keep them occupied, but then you lose your entertainment. Instead, encourage creativity and keep your kids busy with mint tin play sets. You can find free printables here. You can make these play sets with either felt or paper and there are multiple options to keep your kids entertained.

 

4. Elegant bathroom storage you won’t be ashamed to display

Bathrooms admittedly aren’t the most glamorous rooms in the house. But that doesn’t mean they have to be ugly. In some bathrooms, storage may be at a premium. You can get around this storage dilemma by creating elegant bathroom storage. You can create a fun storage display by hot gluing Mason jars to a candle holder and placing small toiletries in the jars.

 

5. Basket of books for your car

Long drives, like waiting rooms, are tough for kids. Again, resist the temptation to hand your phone to your kids. Instead, encourage brain development and reading skills by keeping a basket of books in the car. Use a plastic or wicker basket to hold books your kids love. Keep the basket in the car. Then car rides become more enjoyable because they get to read their favorite books. This works equally well with picture books for kids who can’t yet read.

 

6. Organize your bows with wall-mounted bow holders

If you’re a mom of little girls, you know how out of hand bows can get. It’s easy to lose them and it’s a pain to hunt for a matching set. Solve both problems with bow holders. These holders take only a couple minutes to put together and are super cute. Using hot glue, attach a span of ribbon (about 2-3 feet) to a wood or plastic decorative placeholder (which you can find at most craft stores, or you can carve yourself). Then nail picture hanging brackets to the back of the holder and mount on a wall. Bows easily clip on the ribbon and look nice.

 

 

7. Bracelet storage solution

Keep your bracelets organized with a thrifted mug tree. Paint a mug tree (or leave as is). The arms make perfect bracelet storage, and cost significantly less than traditional jewelry organizers.

 

8. Store hair ties like a mountain climber

The only thing worse to find on your floor than bobby pins, is hair ties. But there’s an easy solution to keep them organized and untangled: clip them on a carabiner.

 

 

9. Simple electronic cord organization

Put those empty toilet paper rolls to good use by using them to store and organize electronic cords. Untangling cords is a major pain. But losing those cords can be even worse. Solve both problems by using toilet paper rolls to keep cords wrapped and labeled.

 

 

10. Spare the seats in your car

If you have plans to one day sell your car, you’ll want it to look good. But, if you have kids, that can be a challenge. Kids are disasters for back seats of cars. They drop food, spill drinks, and find a way to make everything sticky. Even with regular vacuuming and cleaning, this can take a toll. Spare your seats by putting dish drying mats over the seats. This is particularly helpful when you have kids in car seats or booster seats. Once the mat gets dirty, take it out and wash it. Meanwhile the seat underneath stays clean.

 

 

11. Organize your bathroom with a desk drawer organizer

Desk drawer organizers can work wonders for your pens and thumbtacks, but you can also use them for organizing your bathroom drawers. Toothbrushes, floss, razors, and more fit perfectly within the organizer.

 

 

12. Clothes organization stickers for dressers

My husband is good about folding the laundry. But when it comes to putting that laundry away, well, he struggles. Part of the problem is he can’t remember which drawer each item of clothes is supposed to go in. My kids have the same problem. So I made it easy on my hubby and kids by placing vinyl symbols of articles of clothing on the appropriate drawers. Now even little kids can figure out where to put their shirts. Get the free vinyl symbol printables here.

 

13. Use glasses cases for portable storage

You don’t have to wear glasses to find a use for glasses cases. They make perfect storage solutions for items you want to take on the go. Fitting nicely within most purses, you can use a glasses case as storage for things like cords, headphones, a first aid kit, small toys for your kids, and more.

 

 

14. Green onion dispenser

Save yourself some prep time with this green onion dispenser. The next time you’re chopping green onions, chop up the whole bunch. Place the green onions in a water bottle and place the water bottle in the freezer. Next time you have a recipe that calls for green onions, simply shake them out.

 

 

 

15. Glue gun plate

Protect your counters from hot glue excess by designating a specific plate to place your hot glue gun on in between uses. You won’t feel bad when the glue gets on the plate because that’s what it’s for. Be sure to choose a ceramic plate, as the glue can melt some plastic plates.

 

 

16. DIY necklace and earring holder

Necklace and earring holders can be expensive and lack the features you really want. So make your own! Use this tutorial to see how to create a drilling pattern in a board to create the necklace holder. Once the holes are drilled, screw in some cup hooks to hang your necklaces from. Place a dowel between two hooks and dangle your earrings from the rod.

 

 

17. Keep your pantry organized with pantry labels

Do you struggle to tell the difference between your flour and sugar containers? Can’t remember what exactly you have in your pantry? Keep things organized by creating pantry labels with chalkboard vinyl. Use a vinyl cutter to cut the vinyl into your favorite shapes, then write the name of each pantry item with a chalk marker.

 

 

18. DIY recylcing

You don’t need a fancy blue bin to start recycling. Create your own recycling bin with dollar store laundry baskets.

 

 

19. Lego organization and labeling for easy set building

If you or your kids have lots of Lego sets, it can be tough to keep track of all those pieces. One thing that really helps is using plastic drawers to store the Legos. They slide out easily and show a sizable number of pieces at a time. Keep your drawers organized by labeling each drawer by color. Trust me, this is a lifesaver and a time saver. Get the printable labels here.

 

 

20. Lunch cart to build your own lunch

A three-tiered cart makes an excellent storage solution for lunch supplies. Simplify the process of preparing a school lunch each day for your kids by placing specific items on each tier. Then use this printable to guide your kids on what needs to go in the lunch.

 

 

21. Track medication dosing

Some medicines require multiple doses a day for long periods of time. It’s easy to forget if you took a dose or not. Solve that problem by drawing a dosing chart on the medicine bottle with a permanent marker. Then check off each dose as you take it.

 

 

22. Tin can desk organizer

Keep your pens, markers, and other office supplies organized by creating tin can desk organizers. Clean out empty tin cans and decorate them with Washi tape for a simple storage solution that looks cute too.

 

23. Children clothes packing tip

Whether your kids are traveling on their own, or they’re like mine and can wreak havoc on a suitcase, it’s important to keep outfits organized. Do this by placing each day’s outfit in a gallon-sized plastic bag.

 

 

24. Spaghetti storage

If you don’t use a full package of spaghetti, an easy storage solution is to place the unused noodles in an empty (and washed out) Pringles can. You can decorate the jar with decorative paper.

 

 

25. Peg board craft organizer

A craft room has only so much storage. Take advantage of the z-axis of your room by creating more storage on your wall. A functional way to do this is to use a peg board for storage. Mount a peg board to the wall and use peg hooks and holders to organize crafting supplies you commonly use. I use mine almost every day.

 

 

26. Emergency phone number bracelet

If you have a child who’s not old enough to remember a phone number, keep him or her safe by creating an emergency phone number bracelet. You can find numbered beads at craft stores. Intersperse the area code and prefix with other beads. If your child gets separated from you, it’s easy for a responsible adult to know who to call.

 

 

27. Digitally store your kids’ artwork

Kids can make a LOT of artwork. And while these pieces of art can become treasured memories, it can also be difficult to find storage. An easy solution is to take pictures of the artwork and save the artwork on your computer, cloud storage, or a note-taking app like OneNote.

 

 

28. Grocery sack trashbag organizer

Keep your car clean by having a garbage bag on hand. An easy way to remember to always have a garbage bag is to stuff plastic grocery sacks into a water bottle. The water bottle easily stows away under a seat and makes sure you have a trash bag when you need it.

 

 

29. Card game storage containers

Card games are best when you have all the cards. Keep your card games organized by storing each set of cards in its own container. Soap containers are the perfect size for storing playing cards.

 

 

30. Prevent toddlers from rolling off the bed

When toddlers first transition from a crib to a bed, there is some concern about them rolling off the bed. Prevent this by placing a pool noodle under a fitted sheet at the end of the bed. It’s a soft protection for your child.

 

 

31. Portable homework station

It’s tough to get kids to do their homework. One thing that helps is having a dedicated homework area. Create a portable homework station using a cleaning caddy. Place common homework items like colored pencils, pencil sharpeners, scissors, glue sticks, and rulers in the caddy.

 

 

32. Wall storage for pots and pans

A fun way to decorate and store your pots and pans is to hang them on a peg board. Be sure to use long enough screws when mounting the peg board so the weight of the pots and pans doesn’t become too heavy.

 

 

33. Press-and-seal wrap disposable place mat

Kids are often messy eaters. Make clean-up a breeze by using press-and-seal wrap as a place mat. It makes for good table protection and quick clean-up.

 

 

34. Restaurant survival kit

You can’t always go to a fast food restaurant. But if you bring your kids to a restaurant that requires a wait, your kids will likely get bored. Create a restaurant survival kit by placing small toys in a cosmetics bag.

 

 

35. Easy bedding organization

If you have multiple bedding sets you rotate through, you’ll need a way to keep them organized. An easy and convenient way to do this is to place the fitted sheet, flat sheet, and one of the pillowcases inside the other pillowcase. Use a safety pin to clip a tag to each one.

 

 

36. Save the socks (and your sanity)

I’m not convinced dryers don’t literally eat socks because I can never do a load of laundry without socks disappearing. The good news is those socks sometimes show up again. But the time between losing a sock and finding it can sometimes be rather long. Create a lonely sock holder out of a candy jar. Place single socks in the jar and then every month or so go through the jar and see if you have new matches. You’ll probably be surprised at how many sock pairs you just saved. If you have leftover socks, give a house elf some freedom.

 

 

37. A better way to organize T-shirts

Most people store their T-shirts the same way: they fold them and stack them before placing them in a drawer. But this leaves a problem: you can only see the top shirt. Then you have to dig through all the shirts to find the shirt you’re after. A better way is to stack your shirts vertically within the drawer. Depending on your drawer depth, this can even save space.

 

 

38. Toy room organization

Enforce the rule of only playing with one toy at a time by creating toy bins for specific toys. Label the bins for better transparency and organization. Once a child is done playing with a toy set, they place the toys back in the bin and it easily slides into the closet to maintain organization.

 

39. Drink the recommended amount of daily water

Most of us know we should be drinking more water each day than we are. But it can be difficult to do. One way that encourages water drinking is labeling a water bottle. Set goals for yourself of how much water you want to drink each hour by marking that spot on the water bottle. It’s a fun, easy, and visual way to track your water consumption.

 

40. Index card sight word generator

Help your kids learn their sight words by creating a sight word generator out of a spiral bound index card set. Split the cards into thirds and write a complete alphabet on each stack of thirds.

And there you have it—40 life hacks that can simplify your life. Sure, you probably won’t use all of them, but hopefully you’ve found a few to make your life a little easier.