36 socks to a better life | Being Cheryl: Cheryl Harrison

The most rewarding thing I’ve done for myself in a long time is buy new socks.

Some of the socks that I owned had been with me for nearly ten years. And they LOOKED like it. They were filthy. They had holes. And I didn’t own two of most of them.

But I never threw them away still because of course it’s likely that a sock that has lacked its match since I graduated high school will suddenly find a mate and besides, it is wasteful to get rid of one half-decent sock.

I’ve spent mornings for years getting MAD when I can’t find a pair of matching socks. I allot myself JUST enough time to get out the door and get to the office in the morning, so I seriously don’t have 5 minutes to spend looking for a sock. I’ve put up with starting my days stressed. Or settling for flip flops in the snow.

NO MORE.

Monday I bought 18 pairs of identical socks and threw away every other sock that I owned. For the foreseeable future, I will never have this problem again.

When I went to pack my gym clothes and rush out the door yesterday, I reached in the sock drawer and smiled an absurdly wide smile because it didn’t MATTER which two socks I grabbed.

Last night I set up Amazon Subscribe and Save so that paper towels, dishwasher tablets, trash bags and toilet paper will just show up at my door at 1, 2 or 3 months intervals – because we run out of those items ALL the time, especially toilet paper, and then we have to rip up pieces of paper towels to use, and if the paper towels and toilet paper run out at the same time we are IN TROUBLE.

This weekend I’m going to move all of my recurring bills (student loans, credit cards, etc) to my PNC Virtual Wallet, so that my nifty little calendar view will actually show me when I can expect items to deduct so that I don’t have to play cell phone calculator roulette when I’m out shopping and so that my bank app can let me know with BIG RED SCARY BARS when I might need to make some transfers from my business or savings accounts to cover expenses.

What the hell was the point of putting up with these inconveniences when they can be solved with a couple dollars or just minimal effort?

I’m trying to figure out other ways I can eliminate unnecessary pains and stresses. I think some people call this “life hacking” but I hate that word. So I’m going to call it “less fucking stress worrying about my big toe protruding from both of my non-matching socks or worrying about wiping my butt with quarter tears of rough paper towels.” Actually life hack is starting to sound OK.

What’s your best life hack, stress reducer or timesaver?

UPDATE 1: This post was originally called “32 socks to a better life” because I don’t know how to math, in case you’re wondering why the permalink is wrong. I’m leaving that so you can laugh at me.

UPDATE 2:: Make sure when you set up Amazon Subscribe & Save that you select your HOME ADDRESS not your WORK ADDRESS because it’s pretty awkward when a case of toilet paper shows up with your name on it.

Phyllis

Online banking — by far the best thing to make life easier. I just learned about Amazon subscribe and save this week. My goal? Never go to the grocery store again.
Cheryl

I’ve got about 50% of my banking stuff set up usefully, I have no good excuses for why I’ve put off the other 50% lol
http://twitter.com/ryanmeray Ryan Meray

Oh man, this is such a great topic. I hope some people post some good stuff.

If you’re in the Detroit area and never want to wake up only to find out you forgot to buy coffee beans (TEH HORROR!), local micro-roaster Chazzano coffee offers a subscription service whereby every 3 weeks you get a pound of coffee delivered automagically, so you never have to do the walk of shame up to a gas station for some swill to get your day started.

I’ll try and thing of some more useful stuff later.
Cheryl

“automagically” is a great word.
kellylaine

My best life hack is to throw things away/get rid of things I don’t use. All the time. And not feel bad about it… even if it was a gift or it’s linked to some obscure memory. Make room for new! I’ve moved once this year – coming up on another this October – and purging before the last move felt so good that I might do a little more very soon.
Cheryl

I LOVE purging. I don’t save things (I’m not even sure if I saved my diplomas) because realistically I’m gonna put stuff in a box in a closet that takes up space and never look at it again. Great tip.
Laura Oldham

Amazon subscribe and save sounds amazing; I miss not having Peapod in Columbus, which is a lame complaint, but it really made life super simple. Anything similar that anyone knows about here?

I don’t know if PNC offers this, so maybe a moot point, but I’m in love with the Chase app. I get all kinds of piddly checks a few times a week, and it’s nice to deposit on my phone rather than run to the bank every time. Plus I like their quickpay options a ton.

Great post, thank you for sharing.
Cheryl

Laura – yes! I can deposit checks to my virtual wallet on my phone, which is AWESOME. Unfortunately they haven’t integrated this feature to business checking accounts yet, and most of the checks I get are made out to my business :( they keep telling me it’s “coming soon.” I keep weeping into a pile of checks.
Cheryl

Also, I just Googled Peapod – was is just a grocery delivery service? Hills Market does that. Is that all it was? Cause you can totally get on that. I’ve been thinking about it. Maybe now is the time!
Laura Oldham

Oh whoa, really? Grocery delivery here?? I’ll have to look into the Hills service. Peapod was great. You could basically copy an entire order, search through specials by “food genre” etc. It was nice before I had a car, and outside of that, also incredibly easy and good for the busy set. Fortunately I’m assimilating nicely to getting off my butt and going to the grocery store again.

PNC will likely get its business checking act together soon. They make good baseball stadiums, so I can only dream of how awesome their virtual wallet is.
http://www.pcsupportforyou.com Paul Carter

Hands down, no doubt about it, couldn’t live without it, the best $75 bucks I spend every year is Amazon prime. They just have the best prices and so much is available with free second day shipping.

I am the type of guy if I have time between appointments I am chilling in a Barnes and Noble, I find something I like I order it from amazon knowing it will be here in a couple days.

I do my laundry late at night I notice I am running low bam! I order some and delay the torture of grocery shopping that much longer. It just makes it easy for me to handle things online without the worry of cost of shipping. Not to mention in my business it helps me get software and parts to my clients in a timely yet affordable manner.
Cheryl

Paul – Agreed, Amazon prime is a lifesaver. Especially for holiday shopping :)
Jem

Automating bill pay has been great. I was afraid of it for a long time but it is pretty awesome to just know that bills are getting paid. Chase’s QuickPay has been really great for speeding up sending money back and forth when Peter buys parts for my car or I pick up dinner, etc. Depositing checks through cell phone magic is really great, too. Until PNC rolls that out for business accounts, you can always deposit via ATM. It’s still not super convenient, but at least it eliminates having to get there during banking hours.

My favorite OMG-life-is-so-much-easier-now timesaver/stress-reducer is simply sharing my Google calendar with Peter. I take classes and have a variable work schedule. He travels a lot for work, has a business on the side and is taking classes. We had too much “By the way, if we don’t hang out tonight I won’t be able to see you until a week from Tuesday.” Now we can see what is coming up and the impact has been huge for what little effort it required.
http://bpdw.com/mentary/ Britain

Cheryl, when one of your new socks gets a hole, save the other one, because chances are another will get a hole soon too and then the orphans can be a matched set.

Sorry if that’s obvious, but you never know when someone’s going to say “oh, I wish I’d thought of that,” like having a hug break at the beginning of first grade girls’ soccer practice so they can get it all out of their system early.

Paul — please buy something from the Barnes and Noble once in a while, too.
http://www.twitter.com/jessicanicholas Jessica Nicholas

I need to switch ALL my bills/accounts to paperless. I’ve been hanging onto this old-school practice of wanting every scrap on-hand for way too long. Honestly, I’m tired of getting a bunch of mail, which I have to open and throw away the enclosed junk, then put the important parts on the desk until they’re paid, and then file in a drawer. I can get the info I need via an app on my phone or email, which I check all the time anyhow. If I need some random statement, I can access most of the accounts online or simply call and ask them to email or fax it to me. The leaning tower of trash on my desk makes me crazy every time I go in my home office…
http://thelifeofjimmer.blogspot.com Jim Brochowski

This is going to sound weird, but this may be one of my favorite posts ever written.

Practical, sensible, and time saving all in one. I’m always talking about “all this technology – are we making full use of it?” Put that with the sock application – Pow!

You hit this one out of the ballpark! Well done!
Cheryl

Oh wow, well thank you, Jim! Now go buy some new socks!

beingCheryl