Amazon finds that actually made my life easier

*disclaimer

There was a time where I just didn’t get the hype of online shopping. We’ve already established I don’t like shopping for clothes or dressing myself, but that translated to all online shopping initially.

Hold on…I’m pretty sure I can hear my husband (and bank account) laughing in the distance.

Boy, have the times changed. We live in a very remote area. Popping into a store just isn’t a reality out here. But Amazon? Oh, Amazon. At this point I should probably add a place at the dinner table for our Amazon delivery driver.

I love knowing what people use regularly, especially if they actually improve their lives. For instance, the first item on this list is because a YouTuber I follow had a baby just before I did and she just happened to mention it in a video and I was like oh, my Gosh — that’s a solution to a very specific problem we’re having. Sold.

Amazon products that actually made my life easier

This Portable charger

I bought this thing so fast once I realized it existed. At the time, it was a much needed solution to a baby monitor situation we were having. (I know, we were weird but didn’t want a monitor that connected to our phones. The unit would die so quickly, but I didn’t want to have to be attached to a wall. And of course, as a first time mom, I wanted that monitor ON MY PERSON at all times. Enter: this portable charger.)

While that was our original purpose for it, it serves a whole myriad of solutions. It has every type of cable you might need and a regular USB and a USB-C port that you can plug other cables into as well. We use it daily and probably need to buy a second because we fight over it.

This Affordable Cordless Stick Vacuum 

Okay, confession? This was a rage-induced purchase. Something happened at work that pissed me off so much that I literally bought a vacuum cleaner without thinking twice. Yes, I realize it’s probably weird that a vacuum would be my go-to. But I promise, if you know me, like really know me, you’re nodding your head right now going yup, that checks out.

That rage-purchase was 2+ years ago, and I still claim this is the best gift I ever gave myself. Our son was an infant, and we had a dog and a Maine Coon cat. We’ve since added a golden retriever to the mix. I do a lot of vacuuming.

The hubs installed it in the kitchen for me, which also happens to be pretty central in the house. And I use it multiple times a day. There was also a period of time when the little demanded to play with it on the regular — and surprisingly the battery is still holding up even after all that abuse.

If you keep convincing yourself that you don’t need a cordless vacuum, let me stop you right there. Because that was me for years and years. I wish I would have just have given myself the gift of ease years ago. You won’t regret it, I promise.

An Amazon Alexa Echo Show

I honestly don’t know why I bought this. Like, I can’t think back to the reason it ended up on my kitchen counter at the start of 2023. But dang it, I’m glad it did. I use it for everything. This little friend keeps my frazzled mind organized, keeps my toddler entertained, provided critical assistance in eliminating screens for the toddler (see how here), and so much more. My husband even figured out how to watch ESPN plus on it!

Do you need it? Probably not. Will your life improve because you have it? For sure.

This Ice cube tray

I know everyone is buying those pebble ice machines. And trust, I’d love to get one eventually. But this ice cube tray is what has actually stopped me from splurging on the machine time and time again.

So here’s the deal. We have an ice maker in our refrigerator. In fact, it was the ice machine that got held at gun point by my husband on our second night in our house (ask me to tell that story…it’s hilarious and terrifying).

But we have a Samsung refrigerator. And if you know, you know. And if you don’t know, well. Consider yourself lucky.

We went about a year and a half just not having ice in the house. Occasionally, I’d remember to buy a bag on my way home, but who wants to have to remember to buy a bag of ice on the way home? Not me.

A friend used this ice cube tray in front of me on a marco polo one day and that was it. I was sold. (Some might say I’m easily influenced. Whatever. It’s worked out in my favor.)

Anyway, if you have a need for ice and don’t want to splurge on the pebble machine or a new fridge, we like this one so much we have two.

This veggie chopper

You’re not living under a rock. You’ve seen a veggie chopper before. You might have even wondered if you need a veggie chopper. That was me. I’d see it and think huh, that’s cool then keep scrolling.

I make two dishes for lunch pretty often. The first is a greek bowl (with cucumbers, tomatoes & onions in it) and what circulated the internet as “The Jennifer Salad” that was later revealed not to be “The Jennifer Salad.” This dish has a buttload of cucumbers in it. I chop a lot of veggies throughout the week.

And I thought to myself, is it really all that time saving to use a chopper? Isn’t it easier to just use a knife because doesn’t the chopper then open up a whole new cleaning can of worms?

The answer, my friends? Yes, it does actually save time. And yes, it does make my life easier. And cleanup? Well, it’s all dishwasher safe so that’s a breeze. I can chop all the veggies I need for the week all at once to store in plastic bags in under 10 minutes. You gotta love that.

This inexpensive hanging storage

Our house is small. And storage is super limited. I like to pretend I’m an organized person, but if I don’t have a simple system in place — things go sideways…fast.

I needed two very specific storage solutions, but again, you know me and I don’t like to spend money. I don’t even know how I found these, but they’ve worked out perfectly and I’ve been so happy with them!

The first solution: I needed somewhere to store my hair stuff (specifically, my shark flexstyle & all the accessories) in a way that made grabbing it to use simple. This has been PERFECT! I’m able to store the barrels in the side appropriate side pocket, so I know exactly what I’m grabbing without having to think. I have it hanging on the inside of the door of our linen closet in our bathroom but it would also work perfectly on the inside of a cabinet door.

The second solution: I needed somewhere to store plastic bags and other random odds and ends in the kitchen. I use plastic bags to dispose of meat containers (I don’t put them in our house trashcan because they stink almost instantly). I have one of these hanging on the back of our appliance closet and it’s been great!

Okay! That’s it for me! Until next time, friend! XO