14 Life Hacks Americans Over 50 Need To Know
Wisdom comes with age. But so do creaking joints, reduced hearing abilities, and body aches.
Regardless of where you fall on the 50+ age scale, it’s never too soon to learn about tricks that can help make your life easier as you age. Mindfully American researched life hacks for older folks that we believe are helpful and not (too) cheesy.
Don’t be surprised if your grownup kids end up wanting to implement some of these hacks!
1: Opening Jars
Opening jars can be tricky at any age. But since arthritis often starts between the ages of 40 and 60, it can get even more challenging as one gets older.
So, try keeping a pair of rubber gloves and a rubber band on hand. The next time you have trouble opening a jar, wrap a rubber band snugly around the lid and try opening it with your rubber gloves. The rubber band gives the gloves traction, offering you more leverage and less slippage.
2: No Childhood Caps
In 1970, legislation was passed requiring child-resistant packaging for products that could be dangerous to patients, including many medications. However, patients may ask their pharmacist for their prescription medication to be given to them without childproof caps. Doing so makes life easier for many older people to access it.
That said, if you choose to request no childproof caps, it’s vital that you store your medication in a place where children can’t reach it.
3: Amplified Alarm
If you find yourself having trouble hearing your cell phone’s alarm as you age, this trick is for you: Place your phone in a glass or cup. The next time your alarm goes off, it’ll ring louder.
How does this work, you ask? Instead of the sound from your phone going off in all directions, as what happens when you place your cell phone on your nightstand, the cup forces the sound to radiate up in one direction. The result is a louder alarm noise.
4: Velcro Remote Control
You don’t need to be 50+ to have experienced losing your remote or having to bend down to search for it to shut off your TV when you’re tired and want to go to bed. That’s where Velcro comes into play.
Place a strip of Velcro on the bottom of your remote control and another strip on the place where you want to store it. A table beside your couch or even the armrest of your favorite reclining chair are convenient choices.
5: Say Cheese
Just because you’re in your 50s, 60s, or beyond doesn’t mean you’re not young at heart. So, you can match how you feel on the inside with how you look on the outside by learning the golden rule of photo posing to reduce the visibility of sagging skin around your neck.
The trick is to stick out your neck while tucking your chin down. Give it a try to see the difference between what you look like in a regular photo and with this “anti-turkey neck” hack.
6: Belt Up First
Not only do many people deal with arthritis as they age, but aging also reduces mobility. So, while you may have been able to throw a belt around the pants you were wearing in your younger years without a second thought, it often becomes more difficult as you get older.
Here’s a solution if you find yourself in this position: Put your belt around your pants before putting them on. That way, you don’t have to fiddle with the back loops; you simply need to buckle your belt in the front.
7: No More Ironing
Ironing is time-consuming at any age. And the older one gets, the harder it can be to drag out the ironing board and meticulously iron every wrinkle out of clothes.
If you’re nodding your head in agreement, try throwing a few ice cubes in the dryer the next time you do a load of laundry. We won’t get too scientific on you, but the reason ice cubes prevent wrinkles is that the combination of heat from the dryer and moisture from the ice breaks hydrogen bonds in your clothes’s fabric.
Just don’t leave your clothes in the dryer for too long after they dry. Otherwise, wrinkles could start forming.
8: Sweeping Clean
You know that pesky line of dust that a dustpan always leaves behind when sweeping? As a person ages, the dust line often turns from pesky to downright painful to bend down and try to get every last particle in the pan.
A trick to getting around this issue is to tape your dust pan to the ground. To avoid bending over, place the tape on the dustpan first, then put it where you’d like and press the tape down with your foot. While this isn’t the most convenient option for large spaces, it works wonders for smaller areas.
9: Key Ring Trick
Zippers are another everyday item that young people take for granted. Pulling up and down zippers isn’t as easy as one gets older, but there’s a trick you can use to lessen your frustration over it.
Try attaching a key ring to zippers, such as your jeans and jackets. The key ring is easier to grab and offers more leverage when trying to pull up and down a zipper.
10: Lighting Candles
Matches are short and can be hard for slower, less steady fingers to light a candle quick enough before the fire gets too close to one’s skin. The good news? If you love lighting candles around your house, you can find an older person-friendly lighting tool in your kitchen cupboard: Uncooked spaghetti.
Simply light a match and hold a piece or two of uncooked spaghetti up to it. Once the spaghetti catches on fire, you can take more time lighting candles. This is an especially great trick if you have a candle in a deep jar.
11: Maintaining a Garden
Gardening can be an excellent way for people aged 65 years and older to get 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends. However, spending prolonged periods of bending over can do a number on an older person’s back.
So, give the double planter method a try. Let’s say you have daisies you want to plant. Instead of planting them directly in the ground, dig a hole that’s large enough for potted daisies to fit into. Then, double up the pots. Once the season ends, you can remove the first pot, leaving the second pot buried in the ground, ready for you to place another potted flower in it the following year.
Alternatively, if you live in a warmer climate, you can use this double potting method to switch up the style of your flowers around your garden throughout the year. While the first year of implementing this method takes extra work to dig holes, your gardening life will be easier after that.
12: Tape Your Rugs
None of us like thinking about this when we’re young, but the truth is that as we get older, the chances of us falling and breaking a bone increase. According to the National Council on Aging, over 25% of Americans 65+ years old fall each year. So, it’s wise to prepare your house for your golden years before you reach that point.
One way to do so is by placing two-sided tape on area rugs. Doing so reduces the chances of the rugs bunching up and catching your foot, causing a fall.
13: Finding Lost Items
Many of us know the feeling of realizing you’ve dropped a small, important item on the ground. While younger people can get down on their hands and knees to search for it, doing so isn’t as easy for older people.
So, if you find yourself in this predicament, try placing a nylon cloth over the mouth of your vacuum’s hose. When you turn your vacuum on and use it to search for your lost item, it’ll get caught in the nylon.
14: Transforming Your Shovel
Plenty of people aged 50+ are capable of doing physical work. Nevertheless, many welcome tricks to make that work a little less back-breaking.
If you live in a snowy climate, try this the next time you need to shovel your driveway: Rub car wax on the scooper part of your shovel. Doing so will make the snow slide off your shovel more easily, preventing you from having to do extra work to get the snow off.
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