Household tips that actually work

One box, everything labelled with a strip of masking tape at the plug end, and a hard rule that unidentified cables go in the bin.

Attach each task to something you already do, rather than to a day of the week. A routine tied to an existing habit survives; a schedule on the fridge does not.

Handle every piece of post once, at the door, with the recycling bin in reach. Most of it never needs to enter the house at all.

You have statutory rights that last far longer than most extended warranties, and many are duplicated by a bank account or credit card you already pay for.

Contact the company before the payment is missed, not after. Energy and water suppliers have hardship schemes, and free debt advice is available that is better than anything advertised.

If you have more bedrooms than people in the house, a meter is usually cheaper. In England and Wales you can generally ask for one to be fitted free and switch back within a set period if it costs more.

Set the rule once, put it on a timer or a device setting rather than on your judgement, and make the end of the session a predictable event rather than a decision.

Plan for boredom rather than for entertainment, bring more food and more spare clothes than seems reasonable, and build in stops you do not need.

Move everything that can be done the night before to the night before, and give children a visual sequence they can follow without being told each step.

Change one thing at a time and give it twelve weeks. Skin cell turnover and hair growth are slow, and almost nothing shows a real result in a fortnight.

A good handle with cheap replacement blades, hot water and time, and shave with the grain first. Blade cost per shave matters far more than the number of blades.

Petroleum jelly, plain sunscreen, a simple pharmacy moisturiser, a wide-tooth comb and a silk pillowcase. All cheap, all with real evidence or real mechanism.

Check whether it is your line or the provider, restart the router, and check the master socket. Most faults are one of those three and none of them need an engineer.

Change the router's admin password, keep WPA2 or WPA3 encryption on, update the firmware, and put smart home gadgets on a guest network.

Use the 5GHz band for nearby devices, plug in anything that does not move, restart the router properly, and check for a neighbour on the same channel.

Warm water with a little washing-up liquid, a soft brush for the frames, and a squeegee for the glass. Nothing abrasive on uPVC, which scratches and then yellows.

A stiff brush and a decking cleaner, brushing along the grain. A pressure washer raises the grain and turns smooth decking into something splintery that traps dirt.

Twice a year, autumn and spring, with the ladder tied or footed and never leaned on the gutter itself. If it is above single storey, pay somebody.

Add depreciation, insurance, tax, fuel, servicing, tyres and MOT, then divide by the miles you actually do. Depreciation is usually the biggest line and the one nobody counts.

The legal minimum is 1.6mm across the central three quarters, but wet braking deteriorates badly below about 3mm. Age matters too: rubber hardens after about six years.

Shop around three to four weeks before renewal, pay annually rather than monthly, and check whether a slightly higher voluntary excess or a black box policy helps.