Top Ten Life Hacks to Improve Your Life

My top ten favorite everyday life hacks!

When you're done with this instructable, if you'd like to see more of my videos or check out some other step-by-step tutorials, check out my YouTube channel and website. I do my best to keep things fresh and interesting!

Youtube: Youtube/TheBestHobbiesBlog

My website: Thebesthobbiesblog.com

Here you can watch as I explain and demonstrate each life hack in a short video.

Sick of your straw floating and bobbing as you try to enjoy a sweet refreshing can of soda? Simply bend the tab forward over the opening and insert your straw into the hole in the tab. Voila, your straw won't be going anywhere!

It only takes a minute to make, it's practically free, and it doesn't use electricity. What's not to love? Just trace the bottom of your phone onto the roll. Cut out the outline with an X-acto or other small knife. Add some push pins for support... and you're ready to rock!

If you'd like to see this TP roll speaker in action check out the video in step one.

Always have a few of these ready to cool your water quickly. Fill a water bottle just enough so that when laid on its side nothing pours out. Reattach the cap and place it in the freezer on its side. When it freezes the ice will all lay across one side instead of at the bottom of the bottle. this will give the ice greater surface area, meaning that when you add your drinking water to the bottle it will be cooled faster. As the ice melts it will replenish the water and keep it cool for hours. Perfect for a hot day at the beach.

After opening a bag of chips, simply start rolling up the edges around the bottom of the bag. Once the chips have been pushed up to the top of the bag you now have a perfect chip bowl.

Ahh bananas...delicious, but they only stay ripe for a short period of time. Luckily, the solution, or at least an option for solving this problem, is quite simple. Just wrap some tinfoil around the top of the bunch where all the bananas come together. They will now stay fresh and ripe for longer.

It can be expensive to run the air conditioner all summer long. Instead try filling a gallon jug half way with water and freezing it. When it's become a solid block of ice place it in front of a fan. I can promise you'll be shocked at how well this works (I definitely was). It won't cool your entire house by any means, but it will make the room it's in much more bearable. I tried this in my bedroom while I was sleeping. Not only did it keep my room noticeably cooler but when I woke up in the morning there was still a good sized chunk of ice in the jug (that's over eight hours later!)

If you've ever tried peeling the skin off of a kiwi with a knife then you know it's not very efficient. Instead of losing half the fruit using that technique use a spoon instead.

After cutting off the top slide a spoon in-between the fruit and the skin. Work the spoon all the way around the kiwi so that the skin is completely separated from the fruit. The fruit will now slide out in one large piece.

Just soak a sponge in water and toss it in sealable plastic baggie, then freeze. It makes a perfect ice pack, and the best part is that as it melts the sponge soaks up all the water. It is also infinitely reusable!

Cut off both sides of a mango. Take one side and cut a shallow checkerboard pattern with lines running horizontally and vertically into the surface of the fruit. Now press your hands against the skin and push it inside out. There you have it, a bunch of perfect bite sized pieces. You can use a spoon to scoop them into a bowl or if you're as impatient as I am scoop them right into your mouth.

If you're like me, then sometimes you just forget your wallet. No worries—you can easily turn a used tube of Chapstick or lip balm in to a keychain that will hold some emergency cash. Remove the plastic disk inside the tube with a pair of needlenose pliers. Next use a small blade to pry off the spinning wheel on the bottom of the tube. This will reveal a small hole in the center of the bottom of the tube. Hot glue a coupling into this hole; this is where the tube will attach to your key ring. All that's left now is to add some cash!

I explain this quick project in its own video which is embedded above. Note that this video goes more in-depth on this project than the "Top Ten Life Hacks to Improve Your Life" video. Enjoy!

Don't forget that if you'd like to see more of my instructional videos you can check out my YouTube channel at "The Best Hobbies Blog Youtube Channel" or find more step-by-step instructional and how-to articles on my website "TheBestHobbiesBlog.com."