124 Genius "Life Hacks" I Learned In 2023 That I Can't Wait To Personally Test Out In 2024

I'm a sucker for a good "life hack." So much so that I've been writing a monthly series about the best hacks I discovered each month throughout 2023. To celebrate the end of the year and for your convenience, here are all of the best hacks in one place so we can go into 2024 by working smarter, not harder:

1."Use a beard trimmer to remove the cat scratch threads from your couch."

2."If you live in an apartment, put numbers on the bottom of your door for proof of delivery. Most of the time, the drivers don't get my door number in the photo, and this way, they have to."

3."Unscrew a tight spotlight bulb using suction cups so you can get a better grip."

4."How to move clothes on hangers."

5."Don't have a toothbrush container? Use a water bottle!"

6."You can connect two Ziploc bags by flipping one inside out to make a larger one."

7."A simple doormat could save the life of a beloved pet or wild animal who has fallen into an unsupervised pool."

8."If you ever lose small jewelry or really any small items, this is how to find it. Put a stocking, pantyhose, or sock over the nozzle of a vacuum, and swipe it under furniture. It'll stick to the material without getting sucked into the vacuum."

9."I use a 3M hanger upside down to keep trash bags in place."

10."Tape a garbage bag to the floor for easy cleanup."

11."Silence your unbalanced and noisy washing machine by using a pool noodle."

12."My dad shared this trick with me. To deter his perfectly good extension cords from being stolen when camping, he would wrap them in electrical tape in various spots so they looked older and like they've had to be mended."

13.This super easy way to quickly calculate a tip:

14."Keep your toddler safely in the grocery cart seat with a carabiner."

15."Here's how you can sew in a straight line."

16."Can't fit two pizzas in your small oven? Cut them in half for optimal pizza placement."

17."I’ve been married to my wife for 11 years, and she just taught me that if I use a cheese grater on a cold stick of butter, it’s easier to spread on toast and muffins."

18."Write the date on your blister packs so you know if you've taken your meds for that day or not."

19."Turn your tackle box into a snackle box. It's perfect for a day trip."

20."Pizza cutters are the most under-utilized kitchen utensil. You can use them for so much more than just, well, pizza."

21."Duct tape a washcloth around a hanger to clean under your fridge and stove."

22."Our diaper bin broke so I am using a litter container instead. Just saved me $30."

23."One chopstick + two rubber bands = getting all the toothpaste out of the tube."

24."Drink your coffee without watering it down. Just freeze coffee in an ice cube tray and store in your freezer."

25."Throw your pillows in the dryer to help fluff them back up. Who doesn't love fluffy pillows?!"

26."Put lemon juice on your apple slices to keep them from oxidizing for a couple days."

27."I use a hairpin to mark the end of my tape."

28."Keep your craft beer fresh by covering it with a cat food cover. They have a dual purpose!"

29."Use two thin rubber bands to hold rickety gingerbread walls in place!"

30."If your bathroom stall doesn't have a hook to hold your bag or purse, try using the door lock."

31."Wear gloves when you're decorating or touching anything covered in glitter."

32."Foil, baking soda, salt, and boiling water. Perfect for cleaning silver-plated flatware."

33."I got tired of family members using a cup then abandoning it, so now, we each have our own colored rubber band we put around whichever cup we’re using that day. I end up washing fewer dishes!"

34."Use a safety pin to keep all your bobby pins together while traveling."

35."Use broth in your boxed mac 'n' cheese if you’re out of milk."

36."When I have something in the fridge that I don't want to forget to bring with me, I put my car keys on the handle."

37."Heavy cream about to go bad? Shake it in a jar and make butter (and some bonus buttermilk). Don’t forget the flaky salt!"

38."If you're struggling to put on a bracelet, just put tape on one end and connect the other side."

39."When making meatloaf, add boxed stuffing mix. It'll act as your bread binder AND seasoning."

40."Rub a walnut on damaged wooden furniture to cover up dings. I tried it for the first time today, and it worked."

41."My wife just had a surgery and needed to ice regularly for the following days. All the ice packs we had were too large, and I couldn't find one that was quite right at the store, so I MacGyver'd her one out of Orbeez and a vacuum sealer bag that's just the right size."

42."I had to add a large amount of fresh pepper to a dish and grabbed my drill. It worked like a charm."

43."When your grocery cart is full, but you still need to pick up drinks, you can do this":

44."I remove frozen items from the boxes they come in and just cut the cooking instructions out, then place them in bags. It saves so much room in my freezer!"

45."Have tiny cleaning brushes for straws? Don’t lose them down the drain by putting a key ring on the end."

46."Put a mouse pad under your coffee bean grinder. It makes it super quiet!"

47."I use a soup ladle to transfer paint. It costs $3, it's super easy to clean, and there's zero mess."

48."Medicine hack for kids!"

49."A pool noodle placed in the corners of a pop-up tent will keep rainwater from pooling around the supports."

50."If you alternate the orientation of the glasses in your cabinet, you can pack them tighter and get about a third of your cabinet space back."

51."Pull open dip bowl for more dipping room."

52."Use a hair clip to anchor charging cables on your bedside."

53."Pantyhose or tights will keep all your pots organized."

54."Use a bungee cord to keep the trash bag from slipping."

55."A simple and effective way to dry your toilet brush."

56."Using a spoon to keep her on the porch and not chasing squirrels."

57."Reuse your egg cartons to build up charcoal pyramids for the BBQ. Just light it on fire at the edges to get it going!"

58."Carry bread clips to fix worn flip-flops or 'thongs.'"

59."For fitted sheets, get ones with a pattern on them. You can use the pattern to determine which side is the long side and which side is the short side. This has been helping me for months."

60."Stretch your towels. Every time you fold your towels, stretch the short ends. This prevents that weird cinch that prevents them from folding nicely. This towel is likely 15 years old. No bunch!"

61."Put Saran wrap over your spackle before you put the lid on and store it."

62."Use a flag holder to keep your paper towels in one spot when you're camping."

63."Keep fleece, stuffed animals, and plush items fluffy when washing: Put them in a pillowcase and tie it closed before sticking in the dryer."

64."I was chewing gum while putting my wires away, and it suddenly clicked…"

65."My husband does this! It makes the hash brown patties bacon flavored. 🤤"

66."How to fill a mop bucket if you don’t have a hose or if the faucet doesn’t reach!"

67."My hack is for your kitchen garbage. I add a mixture of cat litter and baking soda in the bottom before putting the bag in. The litter soaks up any bin juices, and the baking soda stops the bin from smelling too badly."

68."Probably the simplest life hack I use daily is use empty tissue boxes to store extra fast food napkins."

69."When you need an impromptu phone stand, just use a crushed can."

70."I use silicone baking pans to make a HUGE ice mold. They fit perfectly in these five gallon jugs and keep everything so much colder than using traditional ice cubes. I fill up a bunch every morning in the summer for work, and it's been a game-changer for me."

71."Pretty proud of this. Using an old hanger as a bag chip clip will keep the snacks handy and out of the sand."

72."When deflating pool toys, a small clamp pinches the inflation nipple perfectly while you lay/lean/sit on it."

73."Clean a spice grinder or coffee grinder by blending up some white rice inside. It will trap any leftover spices and aromas."

74."After 28 tomato-loving years, I finally found the best way to keep my tomatoes on my sandwich. Maybe it can help you out, too!"

75."Cook your eggs in a slice of onion for a perfectly-shaped fried egg ready to go in a sandwich."

76."Store your fruit salad in a strainer inside a larger bowl. It keeps the fruit above the juices, and you can just take the strainer out and dump the juice out of the bowl every so often. The fruit stays fresh much longer!"

77."You can use a long clamp or vice if you forget your caulk gun."

78."Use tin foil to make your pan smaller."

79."Canned tomato paste hack. Open both sides of the can and..."

"...push all of the paste out. The can is now like a tube so everything will come out. No more scraping and wasting half the can."

80."Finally figured out how to store those pesky corn cob holders. No more poking myself in the kitchen drawer."

81."Tucking a large towel or hoodie on the top of your laundry basket will help prevent items from spilling out on the way down and up from the laundry room."

82."How to make impromptu garbage bins for a party. I am having a graduation party for my daughter tomorrow. We are having a large crowd. I wanted to place a few garbage bins outside around the yard, so here's what I did. I placed a 33-gallon plastic bag inside of a lawn and leaf palate bag. I cuffed the top, rolling twice, and clipped the plastic bag to the cuff."

83."The 10-ounce setting on a Keurig machine will perfectly fill a ramen cup."

84."Green onions in water works almost too well. Infinite greens hack!"

85."I bought this for $9. It's called an Amazon 'smart shelf' and is designed to automatically reorder an item when the inventory gets low. Instead of putting it in my kitchen, I placed it under my dog's water. Now I get an alert every time his bowl gets too low and needs to be refilled."

86."An absolute revolution for herbs. This cilantro is two weeks old (after vacation). It’s as if it were picked today. I put a paper towel on the bottom, rinsed and untied the cilantro, and put more paper towels on top. Then, sealed in a container. Wow!"

87."Serve ice cream in a wine tumbler to keep it frozen longer."

88."Seems that old couch springs make for pretty good plant climbers."

89."When eating a clementine, hold it up against light. You'll be able to see where the seeds are."

90."Use a rubber band to travel with pump bottles without a mess."

91."Keep your ladder from marking up your walls with an old shirt."

92."How to fix a curved rug corner. Place cup on corner and surround it with ice cubes..."

"...give it time to melt and remove the cup."

93."To help keep our pollinators hydrated, add some marbles to a shallow bowl of water. The marbles give the bees a safe place to land while drinking so they don't drown."

94."Been storing my headphones in this sour candy case for years."

95."I thought this was well known until my father who has been a mechanic for 30 years had not seen it before. Open your cable tie packets in the middle, and you will never spill them all over the floor again. Pull out however many you need from the center as seen below."

96."Cut a leg off of a delivery pizza topper thingy to create a smartphone stand."

97."Chair mat alternative."

98."My wife’s technique. She pokes the popsicle stick through a paper towel to catch the drips."

99."Here's what to do if you've been arguing with customer service or just generally having a hard time canceling a service/subscription."

100."Use pliers to hold small nails when hammering. It lowers the chance of smashing your fingers."

101."My roommate changed my life tonight. Candle warmer and queso dip."

102."If you're like me and have a broken laptop hinge..."

103."Hate slicing onions? Stab it with a fork and then use a potato peeler, sliding it back and forth, to make thin slices."

104."I use a nail brush for scrubbing the corners and small grooves of my air fryer. Regular brushes with big handles can't get into the tiny crannies."

105."Solar lantern + candy bucket = Glowing pumpkin wearing a hat."

106."Yet another use for a pool noodle."

107."Use a screw and two bolts to create a makeshift wrench."

108."Try making your omelettes in a panini maker."

109."The hack of all hacks."

110."For those that may not know, you can use dryer lint plus a toilet paper tube as a 'lighter cube' for your charcoal chimneys. Also great for starting almost any kind of fire, and it saves you a few bucks on buying starter cubes."

111."I employed a cheap adhesive cord holder from the dollar store as a bit holder on my impact driver."

112."Standing desk hack using IKEA dresser."

113."I lost the screw cap for our air mattress so tried screwing on a random bottle, and it worked!"

114."This house has color-coded switches: gray for fans, black for the garbage disposal."

115."I punched some holes in a plastic pill box and put it over my vacuum nozzle so I can vacuum dust out of kids' toy storage boxes."

116."These loops on the edge of a wire dish drying rack can hold tall glasses from tipping over."

117."It's not the sexiest life hack in the world, but some masking tape and a Sharpie can make rifling through medicine drawers a lot easier."

118."This juice package explains the life hack to smoothly pour your drink. It also works for similar containers and quarts of oil and transmission fluid if you don't have a funnel handy."

119."Tied a hoodie for a temp laundry hamper when I was staying at a hotel."

120."Used my paper towel holder to dry my wonky-ass decanter!"

121."Simple solutions. Use a piece of cardboard to keep all your bolts, screws, etc. organized."

122."Cleaning shower chain hack. Pour distilled white vinegar into a small Ziploc, submerge the affected area, and tie it with a rubber band overnight. Then I used a Scrub Daddy and wiped off excess stuff in the morning, and voila, nearly brand new shower head chain! I used it on faucets around the house, too, beautiful results."

123."Big propane cylinders can fit tightly inside a four-gallon milk crate. It's so much easier AND safer to carry."

And finally...

124."Cover the sensor on a public bathroom to stop it from flushing too soon."

Now, it's your turn! What's a life hack you learned in 2023?

Note: Submissions have been editing for length and/or clarity.