Don't you hate it when you discover that the burger for dinner you picked up at the drive-thru was tepid and unpalatable by the time you got home?
So much for fast food.
But I have a simple solution.
Just turn on the seat warmer on the passenger seat, and viola – you got yourself a food warmer that will keep your meal nice and toasty in transit.
Such is one example of life hacks. There are many other solutions we don't think about because we are conditioned to overthink things.
And here's one for all you frozen pot-pie lovers. Eater posted a tweet a while back ensuring the perfect way to enjoy a bite of pie-to-filling ratio was to dislodge the pie from its aluminum tin after cooking and flip it upside down on your plate. Genius move.
Wanting more simplicity in life, Redditor alexarciameyer sought suggestions from strangers on the internet by asking:
"What are some life hacks that you wish you knew before?"
Saving On Your Grocery Bill
"If you want to eat healthy but find you keep throwing out half the fresh food you buy, it's completely fine to buy frozen and canned. It often saves you prep time, you don't really lose any nutrients, and it can drop your food waste to nearly zero. Meaning it can save you a ton of money each month in grocery costs. My own grocery bill was cut by around 50% when I stopped exclusively buying fresh produce and ingredients only to always end up throwing half of it out from spoilage."
Let The Blender Work For You
"That you fill the used blender with water and soap and turn it on to clean itself."
– tfg0at
Now, There's A Twist
"When opening a jar or bottle, don't twist with your dominant hand, just grip it very firmly while twisting with your non-dominant hand. Something something physiology, it's an easier motion and you can open more difficult jars than you'd expect."
Avoid The Sting
"A crumbled up brown paper bag on a string in your window, balcony or porch will keep wasps away."
"They are territorial and will see the area as already occupied because it looks like a nest to them. No need to kill them or use traps, and they will tell their friends and family to avoid your place."
Get Swishy
"Having a glass of water after every meal, snack, coffee, or sofa will significantly improve your dental health. Swish that sh*t out."
Let's Keep It Clean
"if you spread your ass cheeks a little before sitting down on the toilet. You will use a lot less toilet paper cause the sh*t would easily slide through without interfering with your cheeks. I found this on another askreddit."
– ulectco
Proper Nuking
"How to properly microwave stuff. I used to put things right in the middle thinking that's where the most heat is, and that's the fastest most efficient method of heating."
"The better way is to put your food item on the edge of the plate so that as it rotates, it's passing through all the hot/cold spots of your microwave and it's getting heated/cooked evenly. This was a game changer for me."
Get Chill
"Freeze or get a colder bottle faster- dampen a paper towel and wrap it around bottle and put in freezer for ten minutes."
A Good Screwing
"Here's a goodin' for ya.."
"Have you ever had that pesky screw which free spins inside its own hole? Welp, there's an easy fix for that. This happens a lot with door hinges.""
Take a few wooden toothpicks broken in halves (assuming the screw is in a wooden fixture) and some Elmer's glue. Put a light coating of glue over the toothpicks, then fill the hole with however many toothpicks you can fit. Wait 30 minutes for the glue to dry. Then, reinsert the screw and screw in normally. Boom! No more stripped screw hole."
It Will Make A Chef Outta You
"Regardless of whether or not you can cook, get a pressure cooker. Just throw random sh*t in there and watch it somehow taste good later."
Spare Your Nostrils
"If you have rotting food in tupperware and dread cleaning it out, freeze it first."
"Then when you're ready, take it out, run water across the bottom of the container to loosen the 'ice,' toss that moldy block into the trash (and toss that trash away), and then clean the container that now smells less and has less crap in it."
Moving That Cursor
"When typing on an iPhone and want to select a certain part of a sentence, hold down the space bar in order to move a cursor rather than trying to tap on that part of the sentence."
– SnooRoar
What's On Your Toothbrush?
"To close the toiletseat before flushing to not have millions of microbacteria float around onto everywhere."
– 0JP1
Taking The High Road
"Always treat someone like they were the victim, even if they are harassing you. It's more likely that you'll end up making a friend than having a fight, by doing this."
"Some people had really sh**ty life's, reached a breaking point and lost it, and the only thing they are looking for is to be understood. Some times, people are having a very bad day and are yearnning for a hug, but just find evil everywhere they look."
"Demand respect from others, but never be an a**hole, even when you can be."
Social Time Saver
"The best way to avoid doing something you don't want to do is to simply say 'I don't want to.' Most people appreciate the honesty, and pushy people can't really argue with your excuses if you don't give them any."