10 time-saving tips for doing household chores

Household chores aren't most people's idea of good time. Save time for life's more interesting activities with these time-saving chore tricks.

Keep a dispenser of baby wipes under your bathroom sink. Each morning, whip out a wipe and quickly run it over the counter, around the sink and over the taps. You'll be able to go longer between the heavy-duty bathroom cleaning days.

Place paper towels in the bottom of fruit and vegetable refrigerator drawers. When they're dirty, just replace them. Line kitchen drawers with wax paper to pick up crumbs and dust that accumulate over time

Every time you cook, make twice as much as you'll need for the meal. Freeze the extras and thaw when you want a night off from cooking. You'll save on cooking time as well as energy costs.

Make your own baking mixes with some forethought and storage containers. You can make pancake mix, cake mix, sauces, marinades and more. When you need to make a meal, just add the last remaining ingredient. It'll look like you spent the day in the kitchen, but only you'll know the truth.

Don't wait until laundry day to sort all your clothes. Provide each member of the family with at least three separate laundry baskets so they can sort their clothes by colour. All you'll have to do is combine like colours, add the detergent and press start.

Don't spend hours matching socks after they come out of the dryer. Buy only one brand, style and colour of socks for your family athlete. You don't even need to fold two socks together.

As soon as you return home from grocery shopping, process or prepare all your produce. Chop up the scallions and put them in a jar, ready to throw onto a salad. Cut peppers and onions into chunks, ready to add to a soup or stew. When all your produce is pre-prepared, you'll be more likely to eat well and use up those fruits and vegetables before they spoil.

Instead of spending hours cutting coupons, shop the sales at your local grocery store. Most stores email you their weekly sales, so you can be easily notified when items are reduced. Plan your weekly meals according to what's on sale that week.

Do what professional cleaners do and keep replacement garbage bin bags in the bottoms of the barrels. When you take the full one out, you'll have the correct size bag right there.

Take garbage to the curb only half as often when you freeze meat and produce that needs to be tossed. You'll be able to skip a garbage day since freezing the waste prevents it from smelling up your kitchen.

When you use these tips, you'll be able to spend less time on household chores and more time doing the things you love.