Any shortcut tips on household chores?  

That does sound like a good tip, it works as a distraction.

Come live with me! lol

I pretty much do my dishes the same way you do. For the most part I'm organized when I clean my kitchen (at least I use to be). I always clean-up behind myself when I cook too.

It's getting all the other stuff done that has started to drag me down. I looked at your profile and you are only a few years older than me.

My one passion in life when I was first married, and pretty well through the years, was housekeeping. I loved to clean my house. Just putting everything in order and making sure everything was clean like it should be gave me a lot of joy.

Well something has definitely changed over the last few years or so. Now I resent cleaning up after people. I feel like they are inconsiderate and take to much for granted.

It's the little things they do that frosts my butt. Like after they see me clean-up the kitchen, instead of taking a second to open the dishwasher and put their dirty glass in it, they just throw it in the sink. I now make a point to let them know what I expect and why.

I don't want to spend my time cleaning when I could be doing other things, and when I do other things, I don't want these messes waiting on me.

Another thing I have done is get a dust mop, it has really helped in the place of sweeping the kitchen and bathrooms. I have a good vacuum, I just don't want to put all the attachments together.

Oh well, one day I can go live in the Old Folks Home and they can do all the cleaning up after me lolololol.

I figure it's a trade off. No people, no mess. I would rather have the people, but they better leave those filthy shoes at the door and why couldn't they just wiped them before they got in the house, I have two mats, or better yet go through the garage and take those dirty things off out there. Oh does it ever end.
The other day when I was soaking dishes and everyone was home, I get so tired of them adding dishes on top of the water just there floating around with no water in them. I came up with a great idea. I took all the dirty pans and piled them up another foot over the rim of the sink. I finally won, they didn't mess up my fresh dish water. Isn't that funny that I should care. I think it's time for the snow to melt and me to go for a walk. I did get a lot of puzzled looks as they passed by the sink. LOL

I looked at your profile. I had been married about three years when I was your age. I loved keeping house and all these chores didn't bother me. I took joy in housekeeping. Of course I didn't work outside the home during those years. I had two little ones, and tending to my babies, housework and yard gave me a lot of joy.

I'm 50 now and the novelty has worn off. I want everything clean with as little effort as possible lol

We have kids in and out of the house during the day not to mention five Boston Terrier dogs, so I get a bit of sand drug in. What works better for me is a dust-mop instead of a broom each time. I can just push it to the side until I get ready to get it up.

I hope you and your fiance have a wonderful life together.

I have been living with well water for the last 31 years and I have lived with all those dratted mineral deposits on my sinks and stuff.

Do you buy water in jugs for your spray bottle? That is an amazing tip.

We could get a water softener, but who can afford the upkeep? We can't.

Again, that is an ingenious tip.

WEll at one point we were buying the water for kinds of things and still do.But now every being so high,i either have my son bring water from town or i will boil a soup pot full with some salt in it then add a drop of vingar in it,let it cool and fill my bottles.

That's good, and we could do it too because my husbands hobby at the moment is chickens, we have so many eggs that we share them with family and friends.