We all know what fresh herbs can do for your cooking but we also know what a short shelf-life they have so we rarely make them part of our weekly shop. With this tip, though, you can get yourself some fresh herbs without having to toss them after a few days.

Try freezing your herbs to keep them fresh — simply fill an ice-cube tray with your chopped herbs, cover them with olive oil, and pop the tray into the freezer. Next time you cook something, just drop a cube in for some extra flavor…

There’s nothing worse than stale bread. What happens, though, if you don’t have time to run to the store to buy a fresh loaf? Looks like you’re stuck with a stale baguette. Or are you? Maybe not!

Try running the bread under some water and stick it in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes. You can also wrap it in a damp paper towel and pop it in the oven. With this little hack, your bread will come out fresh and crunchy as if you had just baked it!

If eggs are stored properly, they can usually last for three to five weeks. Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry. After all, no one likes cracking open a rotten egg, especially if they’re planning to cook with it.

To ensure that this doesn’t happen to you, pop the egg into a large bowl or glass of cold water. If the little guy sinks, you’re good to go. If it floats, throw it away and buy yourself some fresh eggs!

Birthday cakes are fun and yummy until they aren’t anymore. Once the party has ended and everyone’s gone home, you’re usually left with the majority of the cake left over, which sadly will most likely sit on the kitchen counter for another week completely untouched.

Don’t fret, though. It’s almost shocking how long a cake can last. Here’s the tip — in order to keep the exposed cut sides of the cake from going stale, secure a slice of bread to each side with a toothpick, ensuring that this cake of yours stays fresh and moist.

Have you ever gone to use your sugar only to find that it’s hardened into a solid brick? That can be a hassle if you need it for a recipe or if you want to put some in your coffee. Lucky for you, we have the answer! Keep your brown sugar soft by tossing an orange peel along with the sugar itself into an airtight container.

For a quick fix, microwave the sugar — in a microwavable container — next to a small glass of water for a few seconds. The moisture in the microwave should help loosen up the sugar.

We don’t mean to sound like your dentist but have you been flossing? If you haven’t, start! If you have, that means that you should have some floss lying around, which surprisingly enough, can be pretty useful in the kitchen. How?

Dental floss is good for cutting things including soft foods like cheese or even dividing a large cake, just in case you don’t have or prefer not to use a large knife. Maybe opt for the unflavored floss, though. That might be the best option for these kinds of cases.

Honey is sweet but it’s also sticky, making it a pain in the derriere to cook with. Measuring honey and/or other sticky ingredients can be quite messy and time-consuming. Luckily, we have a simple hack to get that honey to stop sticking!

Try spraying the measuring cup or spoon with a bit of Pam or smear some vegetable oil on it so the honey will pour out quickly and easily. Another bonus is that you’re no longer wasting half of your honey!

So, it’s Saturday morning and your kids are begging you for some chocolate chip pancakes. As easy as they are to make, you’re already dreading the cleanup. Fortunately, we have just the tip for you — a ziplock or pastry bag can be used to mix up pancake batter.

Just make sure to make a small cut in the corner of the plastic bag if you don’t have a pastry bag. This way, you’ll have less to clean up afterward and you can make some creative shapes for your little rascals!

If you’re like any normal person, coffee is essential to start your day. Sometimes iced coffee can be quite refreshing, especially on a hot day. When the ice cubes melt, though, they dilute the extra strong taste that we’re looking for.

If this is a problem you often encounter, try freezing some coffee ice cubes for yourself. With that, your iced coffee will no longer be tasteless and diluted. You can also use these ice cubes to cool down a piping hot cup of coffee without it becoming watery.

There’s nothing like cracking an egg open into the bowl only to notice that small pieces of the shell made their way inside. We’ve all tried picking those bits out with a fork, spoon, or our fingers.

Rather than wasting what feels like hours on trying to gather every little shard from the bowl, simply wash your fingers under cold water. That’s it — there’s no catch. Wetting your fingers will enable you to easily pick up those shell pieces in no time at all!

As we’ve mentioned before, there are ways to preserve fresh herbs so you don’t have to throw them out just a few days after buying them. If you’re not really keen on freezing them, you can try this solution — dry them out in the microwave.

All you have to do is throw them in for twenty-second intervals whilst turning them over until they’re completely dry. At this point, you can crush them up and even make your own unique blend of herbs!

Cherry tomatoes are absolutely delicious but they can be a pain to cut. If you’re making a salad and need to chop a whole bunch of them in half, stick them between two plates and slice through them with a knife.

It may take you some practice, a few tries, and a hint of patience before mastering this trick. Once you’ve got it down, though, you’ll be able to slice a ton of those suckers in just one swift motion. You can try this with grapes, too!

Making whipped cream is a pretty simple task if your kitchen is equipped with the proper things. A plastic bowl and handheld mixer work best. If you don’t have a mixer, what should you do? You can always use a whisk but that takes a lot of time and effort.

As luck would have it, though, we have just the trick! Just pour some heavy cream into a large mason jar, close it tight, and shake away. Within a couple of minutes, you’ll have created fluffy whipped cream. Not bad, eh?

Sure, eggs are an easy food to cook. Poached eggs, however, are a bit intimidating. They definitely require more skill than a simple omelet or fried egg. With this method, though, your life will change forever.

Just crack the eggs inside high-quality plastic bags — ones with a melting point of minimum 250 degrees Fahrenheit — pop the bags into boiling water for a few minutes before taking them back out. One tricky part of the process to keep in mind is taking the finished poached eggs out of the bags without breaking them.

It can be a total bummer when you’re really craving a fruit that just isn’t ready to eat yet. We’ve all been there. Don’t stress too much, though. Instead, simply throw those stubborn fruits (i.e. avocados, bananas, peaches) into a paper bag to speed up the ripening process.

Fun fact — when fruit is put in a paper bag, the concentrated ethylene gas helps it ripen faster. Just sit back, relax, and watch the magic happen right before your eyes.

Speaking of ripening fruit — don’t let them ripen and brown too quickly! We often store half-cut fruits in the fridge that end up browning before we get back to them. It doesn’t have to be like this, though. Instead, find a happy medium between not ripe enough and too ripe.

Try storing sliced fruit in a mixture of water, honey, and lemon juice. The citric acid and vitamin C in lemon juice, as well as a peptide in honey, slows down the oxidation process that causes the discoloring. Plus, the fruit will last much longer!

Plastic or saran wrap can be the absolute worst, especially if all you’re trying to do is cover your leftovers. You end up wasting a ton of the wrap because it either rips or starts sticking together, turning into a ball of saran along the way.

So, have you had enough of wrangling around with it? Try this hack — chill the wrap in the fridge while you eat. This will make it easier to transport the plastic wrap from the roll to your container.

So this may not be a cooking tip per se but you’d be lying if you told us that you don’t love ice-cream — plus, it technically counts as food. Now that we’ve established that, let’s discuss how annoying it is to pull your ice-cream out of the freezer only to have to wait 15 minutes before you can manage to scoop anything out.

So, the next time you buy a pint of your fave Breyer’s, try keeping it in a zip-top freezer bag. With that, your ice-cream should stay soft and scoopable at any time. You’re welcome!

Most of you probably know what it’s like to have prepared some sort of meat-based stock, stew, soup, or sauce only to have to spend time scooping out the fat that forms at the top of the broth. While it’s not the hardest job in the world, there are definitely ways to make it easier.

Take this tip for instance — wrap a few ice cubes in a paper towel or cheesecloth and skim that along the surface of the liquid. The ice will help to solidify the fat, making it easier to remove it with a spoon.

Sure, homemade mashed potatoes are delicious but they do take a while to make. On the other hand, the instant stuff sucks. So, what to do? Pay attention to this simple cooking hack and you’ll have your answer — all you have to do is rinse some potatoes, poke holes into them with a fork, place them on a damp paper towel, and pop them in the microwave for about eight minutes.

Once done, the potatoes will be soft enough to mash. Top it with a piece of butter, add seasoning of your choice, and voila!

When the kids are home, and you’ve got a busy week ahead of you – all you need to do is spend one Sunday cooking up a storm. Take that lazy Sunday and cook up enough veggies, fish, rice, baked potatoes, or whatever else you may fancy! Then, store the food in plastic containers, and you’re good to go!

You have meals that are ready to go for the next few days or the entire week! Try mixing main courses with the different sides you whipped at the beginning of the week.

Pancakes are often viewed as a guilty pleasure, something you indulge in on special occasions, right? We often see healthy pancakes at cafes and breakfast boutiques, but you can make your own version at home!

If you’re having a lazy morning and you’re in the mood for this special breakfast treat, you can make a healthy diet-friendly version. You can use protein powder, almond milk, oat flour, fruit, dried fruit as substitutes for the fatty ingredients – it’s that simple!

We’ve all been in the scenario when we’ve boiled an egg, but when we try and peel it, all that is left is less than half of the egg. If you let the eggs cool off, they’ll be much easier to peel.

If you’re really in the mood for eating the boiled eggs the moment they’re done cooking, you can add a little salt in the water when they cook. When they’re done – use a spoon to crack one end slightly and peel the shell from the inside!

A problem we’ve faced one too many times is buying fresh produce for the whole week or two weeks, and having them bruise or ripen too fast – especially bananas! If you hang the bananas on a hanger, it will prevent them from going bad too quickly.

If it’s located somewhere that allows them free movement, this contraption will slow down the ripening process. Another tip is to keep them away from other fruit – bananas give off gases that cause produce to spoil quicker.

Squeezing lemons is a hard task, especially if you thought you were cutting open a juicy lemon, and you realize it’s not! You can get more juice from a lemon by microwaving it on high for about 20 seconds.

It sounds crazy, we know, but it works! It will become softer than a lemon straight from the fridge, making the citrus fruit much easier to squeeze. Next time you’re stuck with a tough lemon, try this!

Juices and smoothies are the perfect way to start your day – they are full of nutrition and will keep you feeling full for a while! Prepping them can be time-consuming, so when you have a moment, divide fruits and vegetables into individual food bags (frozen produce works too), and store them in the freezer or fridge.

Take out when needed, adding whatever you like to spice up your hearty breakfast. Yogurt, water, coconut milk, and orange juice are all good options, use whatever you have at hand.

This may come as somewhat of a surprise to you, but you can add a tangy sweetness to a dish with an ingredient that is always in your fridge! Ketchup is sometimes a better answer than sugar when you’re cooking.

It’s an essential ingredient in barbecue sauce and also makes a great glaze when it comes to chicken wings! If you’re feeling fancy, you can even add it to the classic prawn cocktail!

If you’re on a budget or just want to use those legumes that have been sitting in your pantry for some time now – lentils are the way to go! They are a great way to make your meals more interesting – they bulk up sauces, soups, and salads!

They are an excellent source of both protein and fiber and will have you feeling happy and satisfied with every bite you take! There are different types of lentils so you can mix and match – figuring out which type works with what meal!

This may be the greatest hack of them all! There is not much we love more than potatoes, in any way, shape, or form. Mashed, fried, cooked, grilled – potatoes always work! You won’t be able to get potatoes that are perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy like a cloud in the middle by cooking them in the microwave – but you can use one as a timesaver.

Poke holes into the potatoes with a fork and microwave them on high for ten min! When they’ve softened up, transfer them to a preheated oven for the perfect potato!

Dried pasta is one of the most versatile foods out there – it fits every palate and every occasion. From kids to college students, to a romantic candlelit dinner, there is a pasta dish that is suitable for everyone. There is more science behind the perfect pasta and sauce pairing.

For example, pasta shells should be served with a chunky sauce that collects inside the shell and sticks to the outer surface. Next time you’re in the mood for pasta – make sure you pair the delicious food with the right sauce!

Freezer burn can be a real bummer when it comes to preserving food. After all, no one likes to throw away food that was perfectly good before freezer burn ate away at it!

The best way to prevent freezer burn is to make sure all of your foods are as sealed as tight as possible — reducing the amount of air the product is exposed to. For example, if it’s a bag of frozen peas, try cutting off as much excess bag as possible and sealing it as tight as possible.

Often when we cook, we find ourselves stuck with leftover sauce. Instead of throwing the extras away – try freezing them! Egg cartons are ideal for freezing small liquid portions such as juice or sauce. Cover and freeze leftover pesto or red sauce and transfer the cubes to freezer bags.

To use, defrost the cubes in your fridge for around two hours – and they’re ready for action. You can also use egg cartons for your meal preps if you want to prepare ready-to-use sauces!

Believe it or not, some delicious snacks are found in a can! Yes, you read that, right! Roasted chickpeas, for example, are a great afternoon snack that can be found in a can.

You can roast them in the oven, or even make hummus. Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas, saving two tablespoons of the liquid in the can. Puree the chickpeas and the liquid with two tablespoons of tahini, three tablespoons of olive oil, two garlic cloves, and salt to taste!

Stay-in movie nights call for popcorn! You can give microwave popcorn a gourmet twist in many different ways. If you’re feeling fancy, you can add some herbed olive oil and toss taco seasoning or garlic powder and rosemary. Topping off the treat with dill and lemon zest.

If you’ve got a sweet tooth, you can drizzle some chocolate on the popcorn and enjoy yourself a sweet-savory snack. The perfect popcorn for an at-home movie night.

Ginger is basically nature’s medicine. Not only does it have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, but it also helps soothe tummy aches and muscle soreness. If you’re in the mood for a cup of tea, simply add a few slices of the root plant to your piping hot cup.

No need to worry if you prefer your ginger skinless. Since the peel is fairly thin, all you have to do is scrape a metal spoon down the side and around the tricky round edges to flake the skin away.

It’s a pretty common mistake to put our ingredients into the frying pan before the oil is even ready. In fact, it has probably happened to all of us at some point or another. For the best results, though, it’s important to make sure the oil is piping hot before cooking.

No, we’re not telling you to touch the oil — please don’t — but it’s a lot easier than you think to check. Just stick a wooden spoon or ladle into the pot of oil. If the oil begins to bubble around the wood, then you’re ready to go!

So, you’re craving pizza but you’re sick of ordering take out and the frozen stuff just doesn’t cut it. Not to worry! We’ve got the perfect and most simple recipe for tasty homemade pizza dough.

Just take a cup of greek yogurt and mix that with a cup of self-rising flour. There you have it — that’s the recipe! All you have to do now is add some tomato sauce, cheese, and any toppings of your choice. How easy is that?!

There’s no denying that fried food is absolutely mouthwatering. Still, frying food in hot oil comes with the price of dealing with hot splatters of oil constantly jumping out.

While you can use a splatter shield to prevent yourself from getting burned, another option is to just sprinkle a bit of flour or salt in the hot oil when it starts to bubble. These two ingredients are able to absorb moisture from food, which will ultimately prevent splashing.

While baking can be a fun thing to do, it’s not always the most time-efficient…and neither are cravings for that matter. So, what exactly are you supposed to do when you’ve suddenly gotten the craving for cake but you just can’t be bothered to bake?

Simply coat a mug with nonstick spray, crack an egg inside, and whisk. Then, stir in ¼ cup nut butter or Nutella and microwave for 60 seconds for a tasty dessert! Perhaps this isn’t an everyday solution but it definitely works in the moment!

Garlic is a staple of any yummy recipe. Get past the hassle of peeling garlic by following these steps — (1) remove all the cloves from the garlic head and place them on a cutting board, (2) take a chef’s knife and place the blade down flat on the cloves.

(3) Make your hand into a fist and carefully apply pressure to the blade, (4) carefully whack each clove with the flat side of the blade until the skin starts popping off the cloves. If you’ve done it right, the skin will peel right off!

When traveling to other countries, one of the hardest things to remember is that your home country may not use the same kind of outlet, meaning you need to bring along or buy a converter. However, there are a few workarounds if you forgot. One of the easiest things to do is simply plug your phone charger into the USB port on the back of the TV. With modern TV’s in almost every hotel these days, it’s a fairly failproof method.

While some hotels offer irons in the room or at the very least through the front desks, others have no such option, requiring guests to pay out hefty sums in order to make their clothes look presentable. However, there is another option. Forget ironing your clothes at all and kill two birds with one stone by hanging your garments in the bathroom while you shower. The steam from the shower will help release any wrinkles that may have built up.

The real butter on offer at hotel buffets usually has one major drawback: it’s way too cold to be spreadable. Rather than waste precious time waiting for your butter packets to soften, you can try this clever hack. While you’re toasting your bread, lay the packets on top of the toaster. By the time your bread is done, the butter will be the perfect consistency for spreading on all of your toast with none of the frustration.

For those who love to travel, we often find that there’s a constant tension between being able to afford a high-end experience and having the cash in order to travel more. These travel hacks will help you upgrade your vacation without having to pay the big bucks. Discount travel sites may seem like the path to the best deal, but sometimes booking through the hotel itself will give you access to secret deals they don’t have published online.

These days, many hotels require a key card to be inserted into a slot near the door in order to keep the power on in the room. Rather than turning everything on and off every single time you leave, you can stay plugged in by asking for an extra key card when you check in. However, if you forgot, you don’t need to suffer while waiting for the AC to kick in once again. You can throw any card into that slot.

Room service can be a nice treat, but it’s rarely worth the cost. However, if you still want to eat without leaving your hotel room, you can easily hack your amenities in order to cook for yourself. At its most basic, you can use your coffee maker to boil up some water for a cup of instant noodles. However, with a little help from some portable appliances, you can make some high-quality meals without ever leaving your room.

Travel with your kids can be a great experience, but sometimes having so many people cramped in one hotel room can easily become a nightmare. While splitting up the kids as best you can is always a good thing, adding in an extra cot can take up even more of that precious space. That’s why you can use the extra pillows to create two separate sleeping spaces on one larger bed, both separating the kids while also giving them their own space.

Remembering to bring water with you on a trip can be a problem, especially if you’re only traveling with a carry on bag. A good way around that, however, is to bring an empty water bottle with you. No, you won’t be stuck drinking from the sink. As long as your hotel has a fitness center, you’ll very likely find a water cooler there, which you can use to keep you hydrated throughout your whole stay.

Humidity is often talked about as a bad thing, but when you’re spending extended periods of time in a climate controlled room, we can end up being far too dry from the lack of moisture in the air. There’s a quick fix for this in any hotel room. Take the suitcase rack and drape it with a damp towel. Place the rack in front of the radiator, and it will help maintain a more human level of humidity to keep you from shriveling like a raisin.

If you find that the city lights shining outside of your room are making it hard to sleep, you can easily change that situation. Most likely, you’re struggling to deal with the gap in your curtains. Whether or not you came prepared for that, you already have everything you need. Just take one of the pants hangers from the closet and use the clips to hold the curtain shut. It’s vacation after all, you should sleep well.

When you’ve traveled to a foreign country especially you might not find television in your native language, which would take precious catch-up time away from your vacation. However, there’s no need to shell out for on-demand videos when you can just hook up your laptop. From there, you can easily watch Netflix or any of your other favorite streaming shows on the big screen. Just remember to bring the HDMI cable so you can get everything connected.

Every now and again we see hotels that inexplicably have no nightstand. Rather than surrendering and leaving your things on the floor, you can make a little pocket for your phone in the fold of the sheets. Since we generally use fitted sheets at home, this is one of the best hotel only tricks, unless you happen to be an expert at folding sheet corners yourself. Either way, it’s a convenient and easy trick to take advantage of.

It’s not uncommon to enter into a hotel room only to find that it doesn’t quite smell as good as you’d like it to. There’s an easy way to manage the odor, however. If you’re the kind of person who’s so enthused about air fresheners that you keep them in the car, you can easily just clip the car freshener to the air conditioning vent. Upon your return, your room will smell as fresh as a bunch of daisies.

When you’re staying in a building with multitudes of other people, you may find that your room isn’t quite as quiet as you need it to be, especially depending on when you choose to go to sleep. Because it won’t always be possible to be moved to a different room, there are ways you can deal with the excess noise or light. The easiest thing to do is to simply roll up an extra towel and wedge it into the crack by the door.

The moment you realize you’ve forgotten your phone charger might be one of horror, but the truth is, just like you’ve left your charger at home, others have left their chargers at the hotel. If you find yourself in this predicament, the best thing to do is not to panic, but to call the front desk and ask if they have a charger for your particular phone model. You’re likely to discover that the answer is yes.

Not every hotel room comes equipped with a mini fridge to keep your extra food and drinks cold. That doesn’t mean you have to throw out all of your leftovers and stick to lukewarm beverages. You can create your own cooler by filling your bathroom sink with ice, which will cool off all of your beverage in no time. Even better, you don’t have to worry about cleaning up a bag of water since the ice will melt straight down the drain.

If you find yourself without cooking implements but still hungry, you don’t have to settle for paying for overpriced room service. Just as if you were at home, you can probably order food for delivery from a restaurant of your choice, especially if you’re staying in a major city. Sure, going out to eat can be an attraction while you’re on vacation, but after a long day of seeing the sites, the last thing you might want to do is go out again.

Parents know that almost any surface can be made into a diaper changing station, however, some surfaces work better than others. Rather than having to crouch down onto the floor while trying to wrestle with your squirming kid, you can change diapers at your own level by using the desk provided in the hotel room. The surface is much more like a changing table you have at home without the risk of getting the bed dirty.

Most hotels these days come equipped with air conditioning, at least in modern buildings. However, you may find, especially as you travel in certain areas of Europe that the older hotel buildings don’t have such amenities. If you find yourself in a room that’s just a little too hot with no air conditioning to switch on, you can wet a towel, then roll it up and place it next to the window where the breeze will blow cooler air onto you.

Most people who prefer to stay in hotels when they travel are very likely to be overzealous about their packing list. However, good hotels often have much more on offer than some free soap. You can find almost any toiletry imaginable at the front desk, but that’s not all. Many hotels also have basic appliances like hair straighteners available, while some even go so far as to have gaming consoles on hand for when kids stay over.

Though many of us may not use shower caps on a regular basis, the ones offered by hotels have more uses than keep your hair dry when you bathe. If you happened to forget to bring some extra plastic bags, they can be used to keep dirty shoes separated from the rest of your luggage. They can also be used to cover the TV remote if you feel like it hasn’t been disinfected well enough prior to your stay.

For those who are traveling with kids who need to eat before you can head out to go sightseeing, there’s an easier way to keep them from making a mess. While there might not be enough chair space to seat them all at the desk, most hotel rooms come with an ironing board. You can set the board up in front of the bed with a towel laid over top in order to create a makeshift table for messier eaters.

This might not be the most popular approach when trying to save a little bit of cash while you’re traveling, but trust us, this works. Every time you check in to a hotel, you are asked for some form of identification. According to scores of internet testimonials, if you ask for an upgrade as you slide a $20 bill along with your driver’s license, more often than not you are given an upgrade. Worst case scenario they return your money, best case scenario they upgrade you and return your money.

There’s usually some reason to have to travel. Are you on your honeymoon? Niece’s christening? Nephew’s bar mitzvah? Let the hotel know. Besides telling you congratulations, they will often comp you with something free. They might give you a huge discount, or even upgrade you to the honeymoon suite free of charge. There’s no reason to be shy. Just getting personal with them and talking with the hotel employees candidly and respectfully goes a long way.

Hotels don’t often give you a special cup to put your toothbrush in, and that can be quite a bummer. Even if hotel rooms are cleaned all the time, you never really know how much bacteria is festering on a surface at any given time. All you need to do it take a paper cup, cut a hole in the middle, and place your toothbrush. Now you won’t have to worry about the bristles touching a yucky surface before you put the brush in your mouth.

It’s your last day and there’s no hot water? Did the front desk not give you a wake-up call when you asked for it and you missed your flight back home? Don’t be afraid to complain. As long as you are respectful, there is no reason for the hotel manager to not give you some sort of benefit, even if that means offering you a discount or a voucher the next time you come stay with them.

If you’re too timid to ask for a hotel upgrade up front by “bribing” them at the desk, you can always ask to see other available rooms. Hotels will try to get rid of the worst rooms first, simply because it makes more sense. It doesn’t hurt to ask, and often you can find a room with an amazing view or something else that’s awesome instead of having to stay in a room facing the dumpster or parking lot.

This hack can also be used at home for all you fellows taking a shave in the morning. Instead of waiting for the fog to clear or wiping the mirror again and again with a towel, rub a section of the mirror very well with a bar of soap. After this, buff the mirror with a dry washcloth. The soap will make sure the condensation doesn’t collect on the mirror. What’s great is you only need to do it once every few days.

The conditioner they give you for free at the hotel is likely just as good as whatever you buy in the supermarket, so use it to your advantage. It will certainly make your hair silky-smooth, but that’s not all it’s good for. It can double as many other things, such as shaving cream, make-up remover, or cuticle cream. Sounds crazy but it’s true! You can also use it to wash delicate clothing by hand, not to mention protect your leather accessories, like your shoes.

Are you a germaphobe? Then traveling and staying at a hotel might actually be your idea of a real nightmare. You definitely don’t want to think about all the people who have slept in your hotel bed, showered in the same shower, or even touched the remote. There’s not much you can do about a lot of these problems without seeming like a crazy person, but you can do something about that remote. Cover it with a plastic bag, or even a freshly opened shower cap from the bathroom.

Hotel buffet got you down? Nowhere good to eat in the area? Head to the local convenience store to pick up some ramen noodles and have yourself a feast! Using the hot water from that dingy coffee machine in your room, you can make something much better tasting than the gross coffee they provide. Just add hot water to a cup of noodles, let it sit a few minutes, and tah-dah! It’s almost as good as room service.

When you’re on vacation, sometimes your mind isn’t so sharp. You’ve let yourself relax and forget all your normal everyday worries – but sometimes that means you forget other things too – like your phone or the keys. To make sure you don’t leave the room without them for the day, and even to make sure you don’t forget your charger when you pack to go home, loop your charging chord through your keychain and you’ve got a foolproof hack.

When you first check in to a hotel, it can take a while to get yourself organized, especially if you have your family with you or are an over-packer (guilty!). When you’re trying to lug all your things from the lobby, up the elevator, down the hall, and into your room, you wish you had a personal assistant. Well, this hack is almost as good. If the closet is right behind the door, as most are, just hook a hang around the door lock and it’ll stay open for you.

Is the hotel a bit shady and seedy? Accidentally get into an argument with the cleaning staff? In short, are you afraid that your things might get robbed? Just put on the “do not disturb” sign and you won’t have to worry about the cleaners coming in and taking your valuables. The sign also implies that you’re in the room at the moment, so any thief will likely be deterred by your presence in the room.

Another great hack is booking a room for the refundable amount, and then speaking to some other hotels in the area to see if they can offer you better rates. It’s generally more expensive to book hotels this way… but hey, you can always cancel before checking in and get your money back. To take things even further, if it becomes apparent that no one else wants to give you a cheaper rate just go back and take the hotel up on the non-refundable quote.

When you’re luggage space is limited, it’s worthwhile to consider which items are truly necessary, and which are just nice. You might feel like a trip devoid of audible music is worthless, but there’s a great hack to help you enjoy your music without having to carry along a speaker. No matter how small they may be, there’s no need to bring the extra gadget along, because you can make your own speakers by playing music from your phone within one of the mugs.

Especially if you’re traveling with kids, needing to do some laundry on vacation can become unavoidable. Hotel laundry charges can be astronomical, but going to an outside laundromat isn’t always an option. However, you can easily use your bathroom to effectively clean your clothes. For just a few small items, use the sink, which can be easily plugged with a piece of plastic and some coins set on top of it in the drain to hold the water in.

You may have noticed that the hotel buffet has much smaller cups stocked next to the juice machine than the coffee machine. If you’re big on juice in the morning, there’s no need to stick around in time for multiple refills. Just grab one of the larger coffee cups and fill it with as much juice as your heart desires. Some places even have lids available so you can take your juice on the go.