if you haven't mastered #emacs abbrev yet, do today.
6 months ago, i've been happily using
u → you
r → are
ur → your
ull → you'll
hv → have
haven't → haven't
n → and
dnt → don't
, 1 thousand others for elisp, #javascript, etc.
here's how to setup
http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_abbrev_mode.html