I use polar fleece squares for face washers as they foam up well and are very soft. Recently, the kids had just hopped out of the bath and I noticed that there was a lot of foam on the glass doors (we have a bath/shower combo) so I gave them a quick wipe and noticed that the window came away clean with no streaks. My mother has a shower screen that we have tried every product known to cleaning on over the past ten years with no great success. She tried this and was absolutely amazed at the result! Clean, clear and streak free.

Please try it - just polar fleece and warm water. You will save a fortune as polar fleece is only about $6.00 per metre (buy good quality as it will work better) and you will not need to use any more toxic chemicals. I also use polar fleece as nappy liners, general cleaning cloths, and dusting and dishwashing cloths. Great for cleaning and polishing stainless steel also!

Through my job working at one of the major supermarkets, I have learned all kinds of tips and tricks to save money! Next time you visit a supermarket, bear the following in mind:

• You can save up to 50% on Sara Lee products by buying our house brand bakery items instead - they are made by exactly the same company.

• The meat is no longer as good quality and has gone up slightly in price. I would suggest going to a butcher instead and paying less for better quality.

• In-store baked items are marked down from 40-80% two days before their use-by date (this does not include bread or donuts)

• Buy bulk and buy less often. For example, if you drink coffee, wait until the BIG tins are on special and buy three or four. This will last you for ages and save you $40 and upwards on coffee alone in the long run!

• If an item seems a bit sparse towards the end of the week, chances are there is actually heaps out the back and it is going on special on the Monday, so wait to make your purchase then if possible.

• For those living alone, take another look at those frozen meals. They may look expensive at first glance at between $4 and $6 but then go and price the meat and all the vegetables. Remember also to take into account how much you have to throw out after a few days through not using them!

• If you want to see who makes what, look at the back of the pack to see which company owns it. Visit the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) website and find out which other 'mini-companies' it has under its belt. They often compete with their own brands!

My grandson turned six on Boxing Day, and I came up with a new idea for a birthday present that will bring him lots of fun over the next six months. It's called a 'Promise Photo Frame'; here's how it works.
 
I bought a large photo frame with spaces for six different photos. I then downloaded ClipArt pictures of various activities and put them in the spaces with the following captions:
 
Trip to Beach with Grandma
Trip to Zoo with Grandma
Train ride with Grandma
Trip to playground with Grandma
Dinner out with Grandma
Movies with Grandma
 
My Grandson can choose one activity to do with me each month, and when we go out, we'll take a photo of the actual event to put in the space on the frame. This gift, and the activities, can be modified to suit all children, and even adults.

Three weeks ago we ended up without a cent to spend on groceries and the money situation for the following week was only slightly better. We had to eat, of course, so I raided the pantry and freezer and managed to get by on what we had. We were also running out of laundry powder and toilet paper so I rationed out these things to make sure we made it through until we could afford to stock up. It meant using less laundry powder per wash and a few less squares of toilet paper each visit, but we got through the week without having to buy anything, saving around $300.

The following week we had only $30 for food shopping. I still had things I could use up in the pantry and fridge/freezer, and the rationing of the laundry powder and toilet paper meant we wouldn't need to buy more until the next week. So I spent our $30 surplus for that week on milk, fruit and vegetables.

Last week we were back to normal but my two weeks of poverty made me realise just how much money I can save each week by using less of everything and trying to use up what I already have in the fridge and pantry. Over two weeks I had managed to NOT spend about $570 and I had also cleared out a stack of canned beans, canned tuna and sardines, frozen vegetables, frozen meat and frozen loaves of bread that were taking up space in my pantry and freezer.

A few simple lifestyle changes have helped me lose 26.5kg AND slash my food bill by $35 a week! Over the past six months I have developed my own healthy eating and exercise regime. I began by pushing my one-year-old for an hour a day to the park and around the shops at a brisk pace, using our $20 eBay running pram. I also invested in some second hand hand weights and after extensive research on the Internet, I started my own regime of weight training exercises.

Food-wise, I began buying in bulk and made my own nutritious meals, rather than relying on 'ready to eat' microwave health meals. This way I knew exactly what was in each meal and there was never any waste. I started making my own meal plans and eating smaller portions, going from a 3000 calorie-a-day diet to 1500-1600 calories per day.

Under my new regime I soon began to lose the weight, but the real bonus for me has been in the savings I have made. Changing the way I ate and my portion size has resulted in me saving $35 a week over the past 26 weeks! A win-win situation all round. No personal trainers, fancy diet shakes, pills or supplements - I simply used what I had. I feel fantastic and have the energy levels of a teenager! If I can do it, anyone can!

I add a supermarket gift card to my weekly grocery list and use them all up to shop for Christmas! After doing some calculations I realised that the ready-made Christmas hampers that you pay for weekly cost three times their actual value, not to mention the fact that they can include many products you won't ever use. My new system for buying Christmas groceries lets me buy my own hamper full of items at the current price or on special.

This hint was a saviour during our last $21 Challenge.

The girls were looking for lunch and complained there was nothing to eat, so I found a large plastic platter and put the following treats on it:

A leftover BBQ sausage, thinly sliced

Two slices of leftover bread, buttered and cut into quarters

A diced kiwifruit

Four strawberries

A small piece of cheese, diced

1/4 tin corn kernels in a lettuce leaf

A muffin, cut in quarters

Four leftover chicken nuggets, cut in halves

A dob of cream cheese with a little corn relish mixed in

Four cucumber slices

Four cherry tomatoes

One Vita Wheat, halved

I gave the girls and myself a saucer each, plus a cocktail fork and everything was eaten and enjoyed. Now we often have 'platter parties' for meals and snacks. A novel way to serve up a meal when you have 'nothing' to eat!

Watching my 'non-Simple Savings' sister unpack her groceries this week made me realise how much my shopping habits have changed in the year since I discovered Simple Savings. I used to love supermarket shopping, wandering the aisles for hours, one of this, one of that.

Some products I just don't buy anymore include:

• Liquid handsoap - I now make my own (my first SS project from the Vault). Saves $40/year.

• Spray and cooking oil - I buy 4L of good olive oil on special for about $20 and use a refillable hand pumped spray container (from House, $15 - will last years). I used to buy cans of olive oil spray at about $3.50 each and by changing how I buy oil, I am saving $100 per year.

• Cleaning products - are now missing from my list - we use bi-carb and vinegar and other simple Vault tips.

• Dishwashing cleaner - has gone too. We use citric acid, which I normally keep for my yearly lemon cordial making.

• Soft drinks and cordials - are rarely bought now - we use juice as you would cordial, and have changed our habits in favour of water.

• Yoghurt - we make EasiYo using packets bought in bulk from GoldenGlow online. Saves about $150 a year.

• Eggs and vegies - in the back yard!

• Condensed milk, Yogo, cake and pancake mixes - we M.O.O. ('make our own') using Vault tips.

• Icypoles - M.O.O. using tinned fruit juice or other - search the Vault!

• Magazines - I never buy new, just pick up the free supermarket recipe brochures or occasionally buy some gardening ones from the op shop.

• Junk and pre-prepared foods - we buy a lot less in favour of having our own 'sausage roll make-athons' or other baking with the kids.

As well as noticing the presence of many of the above things in my sister's shopping, I also noticed she buys small quantities of lots of items I now buy in bulk. Each week she has to mentally or physically check if she 'needs another of...', where I buy large amounts from the supermarket and other cheaper sources - and then don't need to think about it again for at least six months. These types of products include:

Washing powder (I'll never buy less than 20kg, and with the Vault advice to reduce our amount per load, this is lasting ages!), teabags, coffee, shampoo, dog and chook food (from pet supplier every six months), ham and meats(buy large piece of ham and store in ham bag per Vault tip - saves at least $50 a year over my previous habit of buying little cute packets of 50g each), bacon (buy from ALDI and freeze), dishwashing powder (ALDI brand is MUCH cheaper than the Finish tablets we were using - saves us $150 a year at least. I buy 12 months supply on one of my ALDI runs), cheese (buy larger amounts less often and freeze if necessary), rice (10kg bag much cheaper), jelly crystals (I bought 5kg bag at IGA last week - makes 20 serves for same cost as three individual packets), tinned fruit, soup, tomatoes and other products (from SPC outlet), nappies, paper towel and toilet paper (I buy lots when on a fabulous special). Fruit and veg I buy from the greengrocer, the market or grow my own. Meat is from the butcher, chicken from the poultry shop and fish from the fishmonger once every three months.

I could go on for every grocery item - nearly everything has changed in 12 months. This is even without noting the savings from changing products - for example, I used to think myself very clever if I bought my Uncle Toby's quick oats on super special for $2.00 per kg box - until I discovered I can buy Home Brand, which I cannot fault, for $1.00 a kilo all the time. Same for most basic products.

With changes like these to my grocery shop and to our home loan, insurance, shopping habits and so on, Simple Savings has saved us thousands of dollars in our first year of membership. Our lifestyle has actually been RICHER since SS. I didn't set out to change my shopping habits - I just started by making handsoap and buying Home Brand porridge oats - but suddenly I have realised how large this change has been. If I see you at the supermarket with your milk, bread, 8 large packets of toilet paper, 6kg of the super special meat, 10kg of rice and three-litre containers of vinegar, I'll know you caught the bug too!

I am richer than I've ever been thanks to my Simple Savings outlook. When I first joined SS I made a number of small but significant changes to my life and the savings and benefits immediately began to add up. Here are a few of them:

I almost halved my grocery bill in a month - it went from $815 in February to just $430 in March when I started shopping at Aldi and carefully tracked every cent. I discovered my 'inner baker' and instead of buying cakes and biscuits, I baked them from scratch at home. When my washing machine broke down, instead of having to pay out $700 for a new one my wonderful boss gave me an old spare machine they had and no longer used. I made two calls to my insurers, one for my car and one for my house, and found I could save $150 and $400 respectively on my yearly payments. I checked my mobile plan. Because I hardly use it, it was not working in my favour. I changed to a prepaid plan and now what I spend is what I use.

And, finally, I stopped looking for another job to earn extra money. Every dollar I save means time I don't have to work. I am now building my 'wealth' every day in more ways than one.

Many of my friends I used to envy have new cars, impressive houses, expensive clothes - and huge credit card bills. They holiday in Bali or Queensland but work 40 hour weeks in order to do so. They pick up tired and stressed children from after school programs and feed them take away foods because they're too short on time and energy to cook from scratch.

I have a 13-year-old car, a 1980's house, cheap clothes - and NO credit card debt. We holiday three times a year for a week at a time in our trusty 80's caravan and I work 20 hours a week, during school hours, for four days a week. I have one day just for me (or housework). My children walk to and from school and come home to baked goods, home-cooked meals and a happy relaxed household. I'm there to oversee and help with homework and I watch all their sports games.

Ask me again if I want another job to have the 'stuff' I once thought I wanted/needed and my answer will be a clear, precise, 'No way'. Thank you Simple Savings for helping me to step back and see what's really important in life.

Simple Savings has become a way of life. I don't have to think about saving or spending now - it just comes naturally. In the past five and a half years, we have managed to pay a whopping $150,000 (principal) plus interest off our mortgage and still live happily and comfortably. This is all due to Simple Savings.

My husband and I have three young children and our combined income is only average, ranging between $50,000 - $70,000 per year. Readers may think 'I could never do that, I would have to go without too much' or 'that's impossible', but this is not true. We don't go without; in fact we feel we do pretty well! I cannot name just one single thing that has helped us to achieve this and still be happy - it is a multitude of tips and hints, all of which can be found on your site. I have always been a Simple Saver, so for me this was not hard, but my husband found not being able to spend money willy-nilly difficult at first. These days, I am proud to say he thinks before he spends and at times even proudly tells me of his smart purchase or why he didn't purchase!

I could go on and on giving examples on how to do what we have done, where we saved money and how we used it more wisely, but that would make a book and to be honest all people have to do is log on to your site, it's all there. Focus on your goals, walk hand in hand with Simple Savings and your dreams can come true.