Elevated Living: 11 Strategies for Streamlining Multi-Level Living

By

Andreas Jones

Hey! I’m Andreas Jones and I am the founder of KindaFrugal.com. I’m passionate about all things personal finance, side hustles, making extra money, and lifestyle businesses. I have been featured in major publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur On Fire, Lifehack.org, Influencive and Goalcast.

| Published on December 12, 2023

Woman with keys (Streamlining Multi-Level Living)

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If you live ( Streamlining Multi-Level Living) in an apartment or house with more than one floor, climbing up and down the stairs to retrieve items is an element of your daily life. Nothing is more annoying than being on one floor and realizing that you need an object from the other floor, but there’s a simple solution to this problem: keep a supply of the same items on each floor. Members of an online life hacks community revealed what they keep on each floor of their home, and their responses may inspire you to do the same.

1. A Handbasket

Handbasket
Image Credit: Shutterstock.

A few people in the thread offered this ingenious idea – keeping a handbasket on each floor of their house with things that belong on other floors, saving them multiple trips up and down the stairs. Some write their handbasket containing everything they take up and down when they’re home, like their phone, e-book reader, and glucose meter, to ensure they always have their essential items.

2. Bathroom Cleaning Supplies

Woman cleaning with rags
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If you live in a house with more than one bathroom, someone else endorses stocking each bathroom with cleaning supplies, such as cleaning wipes, window cleaner, toilet cleaner, and a microfiber cloth. They regularly give their bathroom quick cleans in between deep cleaning sessions, which extends the time between the bathrooms needing more thorough cleanings.

3. All-Purpose Cleaning Supplies

Cleaning floor
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To keep the rest of your apartment or house clean without dragging cleaning supplies between floors, keep the same cleaning supplies on each floor, a commenter advises. They keep a cleaning caddy, broom, dustpan, rolls of paper towels, and a vacuum cleaner on each floor. The lower floor has a heavier vacuum cleaner, and the upper floor has a lightweight model cleaner, saving a lot of unnecessary heavy lifting.

4. Office Supplies

Woman using pens and stapler in office
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Have you ever had to run up or down the stairs to retrieve one or more office supplies? It’s a lot of effort for something so small. Several contributors to the discussion say they keep basic office supplies on each floor of their home to avoid having to search for them on a different floor. Examples of duplicate items to buy for each floor include staplers, scissors, tape, sticky notes, pens, and writing pads.

5. Electronic Accessories

Phone charger with damaged cable
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Many households have at least one person with portable electronic devices, such as smartphones, tablets, or laptops. Each of these devices requires charging cords. If you keep your charging cords in one room or on one floor, you’re running between rooms and floors to recharge them. Some tech-leaning folks in the chat reveal they have a phone and tablet charger in almost every room and a laptop charger on each floor.

6. Health and Beauty Aids

First aid
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Keeping duplicates of health and beauty aid products on each floor of your home saves time and effort. You’ll refill those items less often because you’ll always have a second supply already in the house. Things to have on each floor include hairbrushes, extra toothbrushes, toothpaste, cotton swabs, tweezers, bandages, and first aid kits, somebody proposes.

7. Tools

Woman doing DIY at home with toolbox
Image Credit: Shutterstock.

Quite a few readers couldn’t say enough about how convenient it is to keep a set of tools on each floor of their home. You don’t have to keep a full-scale toolbox on each floor unless you want to, but having a main toolbox on one floor and a mini toolbox on the other is helpful. The smaller toolbox can hold precision screwdrivers, multi-bit screwdrivers, a flashlight, hammer, nails, screws, and caulk.

8. Fire Extinguishers 

Fire Extinguisher
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Home fire extinguishers are typically in the kitchen, where many fires start from cooking incidents. But what happens if the fire starts in another room on a different floor? Will you have the time and presence of mind to retrieve the fire extinguisher from the kitchen? Probably not. A commenter writes that keeping a fire extinguisher on each floor can give you the extra minute or two needed to escape a burning house.(Streamlining Multi-Level Living)

9. Kitchenette

Kitchenette
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For residences with the space to do this, a kitchenette is a real game changer, claims a participant in the online forum. Their main kitchen is on the house’s ground floor, with a refrigerator, stove, microwave, sink, etc. On the upper floor, they have a space for a small microwave and a mini refrigerator to hold water and snacks.

10. Reading Glasses need for Streamlining Multi-Level Living

Reading Glasses
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People who wear reading glasses usually have more than one pair. The problem comes when they have to search for where they keep them. To make it easier to find their readers, they keep a pair in every room of the house. The days of searching for readers are over with this approach.

11. Over-The-Counter Medications

Man taking pills from bottle
Image Credit: Shutterstock.

When you have a headache or don’t feel well, the last thing you want or need is to go on a hunt for a pain reliever or other medications like those for upset stomach and heartburn. Keeping an ample supply of over-the-counter drugs on each floor of your house will spare you additional suffering when you need it the most.

Source: Reddit.

Generational Shift: 18 Classic Cars Loved by Boomers, Snubbed by Millennials

Two forgotten stars, muscle cars, are on display in a museum.
Image Credit: Asset AssuranceTM / Shutterstock.

In the world of automobiles, some cars are timeless, forever etched in the minds and hearts of those who drove them. But generational shifts in taste and values can lead to once-beloved vehicles being relegated to the shadows. Let’s revisit 18 classic cars adored by Baby Boomers but often overlooked by Millennials.

Generational Shift: 18 Classic Cars Loved by Boomers, Snubbed by Millennials

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From Boom to Bust: 18 States on the Brink of Financial Ruin—What Went Wrong?

Avoid These 19 Pointless Expenses When Living Paycheck to Paycheck

Avoid These 19 Pointless Expenses When Living Paycheck to Paycheck
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Living from paycheck to paycheck puts one in a dangerous financial bind. It’s more prevalent than you can imagine. According to a survey by CNBC, more than half of all Americans (58%) live paycheck to paycheck. When money is tight, it’s crucial to pinpoint and cut out wasteful expenditures that eat away at your hard-earned savings.

Avoid These 19 Pointless Expenses When Living Paycheck to Paycheck

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