I took on the $21 Challenge, and won! However, my husband was a rather grumpy participant; he loved the savings but not the lifestyle during Challenge week. As he goes away regularly, I decided that every night he's not home for dinner would become a $21 Challenge night for the kids and I - all meals must be made from ingredients I already have at home, and I can only use ingredients that have not been allocated for other meals. This saves money and gives me a night off cooking, as my Challenge meals are usually simple affairs, sometimes as easy as pancakes or toasted sandwiches.

The true value of the $21 Challenge became apparent when a friend was recently diagnosed with a severe form of leukaemia. She is a married mother of four boys and is embarking on a long therapeutic journey that will hopefully lead to a full recovery. As a way of helping her family, the parents at our school have banded together to make all their meals for the next three to six months. As they are a large family, with an above average food requirement, I was unsure how I could afford to help feed them each week. Thankfully, my husband was away the week my friend was diagnosed, so the kids and I lived off the $21 Challenge that week and all leftover money was put into making meals to freeze for my friend's family.

We now do the same thing whenever my husband is away – it's a great gift over the Christmas break to know that I can afford to cook and freeze meals for my friend's family, and look after my family at the same time. Thank you.

As a new member, I have saved $150 in my first week, thanks to the $21 Challenge! I thought I was careful with money until I discovered this site and realised how I could further improve my spending habits. I decided to give the $21 Challenge a go and it is now Thursday and I haven't been to the shops yet!

I have become a problem solver due to the fact that I must use what is in the fridge/freezer and pantry. I nearly buckled when my four year old wanted 'pink milk' and I had run out of Nestle Quick but no problem in the end. I found some rose pink food colouring and with just one drop - presto, pink milk! It does take some preparation because you are cooking from scratch but it is all worth it when your family tells you that the dinner you made tonight was the best, and is there any more?

My other dilemma was to use the three zucchinis in the crisper, so I made them into a slice. It was so easy to make and I had every ingredient on hand without even trying!

Zucchini Slice (serves 4-6)

3 zucchini (grated)
1 onion (grated)
1 potato (grated)
4 slices of ham/bacon (chopped)
1 cup of cheese (grated)
6 tablespoons flour (plain)
3 eggs
salt/pepper

Put all ingredients into a big bowl and mix really well. Pour into a quiche dish and cook in the oven for one hour at 160C. If you are vegetarian, simply leave out the ham. Simple, delicious and super cheap!

If you have an old bookcase that you no longer need, or is a little too unsteady to use as a bookcase you can transform it into a super cheap underbed storage container! All you need is to buy some castors from your local hardware store. Just screw the castors onto the back of the bookcase, lay it down on its back and roll it under the bed. We have one of these in our boys' room for all their toys and it really reduces all the visible clutter. It's lovely to walk in and all you see are their beds!

I had never considered my lifestyle to be particularly excessive, but when I found myself facing large debts and unable to make headway, I had to take control. Using the methods below, I managed to reduce my debts by $30,000 in twelve months.

Bill paying and budgeting:
I began making regular monthly payments into a savings account - which I called my ‘debt reduction’ fund. At the same time, I started to put weekly amounts in labeled envelopes. These envelopes were to cover all of the regular bills; meaning I no longer came under stress when they were due, and I didn’t need to touch any of the savings in my debt reduction fund.

I began a Christmas tin, paying $20 per week into it. While it may not be ideal to keep large sums of money in the home, for me it was preferable to paying more fees to the bank for opening yet another account.

I clear out my wallet every night and put all my coins in a jar. This alone gives me an extra $50 a month to take to the bank.

Food and grocery shopping:
Instead of takeaway food, I began substituting with one of the following:

Spaghetti (five meals per pack for $1.50) with bolognese sauce (two meals per can - $2.50)
Rice (eight meals per pack - $1.50) and canned chilli-con-carne (two meals for $3.50)
Savings approximately $20 per week.

I make sure I eat either frozen broccoli, cauliflower or peas five nights a week, at a cost of $0.60c per meal. I buy all my steak and meat in bulk and freeze in portions.

I get a box of slightly over ripe tomatoes ($3.00 for 5 kg - on special from the local fruit shop) and boil them (skins on) with onion, salt and pepper and a dash of chilli sauce. This sauce makes even the cheapest steak taste delicious, and is great with chicken too. I freeze the sauce in single portions.

Chicken drumsticks are cheap and often on special. All you need to do is roll them in flour and cook on an oven tray until golden. A quick, moist and tasty meal (two drumsticks per person) for less than $1.00.

Potato chips at $3.50 per bag are both expensive and very unhealthy. A cheaper option is to cut a $1.50 loaf of Lavash bread into triangles, dust with paprika or lemon pepper (spraying with a little oil to coat) and cook in oven until golden and crunchy. Add the home-made tomato sauce as a dip and save another $2.00 - $3.00.

I am self employed and work a minimum of 70 hours per week. It would be so easy to succumb to fast food when I am tired, but to curb the temptation I make a large lasagna (without pasta) or a salmon and rice bake; both meals with plenty of vegetables and freeze in portions. All I need to do when I get home is zap in the microwave and eat, and have my own tasty, balanced fast food meal (15 minutes to defrost and cook). Each batch I make gives me eight meals for each recipe, and as they have some of the same ingredients, it is easy to make both at once.

My recipes are delicious and low fat and I am happy to share them if anyone would like them. They cost only around $2.00 per complete meal and all use fresh vegetables.

I make my own burgers by buying mince, making thin patties and grilling, then freeze cooked, in portions. They cook super fast from the freezer with two minutes in the microwave. A quick, low fat hamburger with lettuce tomato and beetroot - $1.50 a hamburger. You can add some zapped frozen home-made tomato sauce for a really tasty treat.

I have my entire shopping list saved on my computer as an Excel spreadsheet and have the prices for each item entered. When I want something, I just enter the quantity (the spreadsheet automatically adds the total each time I input an amount) and know beforehand how much the whole bill will cost. I then look at the total and question whether I really need an item, or just want it!

By doing this, I also know when the supermarket adds a few cents (far more regularly than many people realise - usually 20% - 50% of items weekly, from upwards of $0.03c to $0.40c). I buy regular goods on special (enough for three months supply) and choose generic brands for things like tissues and toilet paper (1,000 sheets of this is the same price as 250 sheets name brand)! I also know when a special is really a special and when it isn’t, which is quite often. I take a calculator shopping and work out the best buy in quantity. Bigger is not always cheaper, and it really is good advice to never shop hungry. I have my weekly grocery budget and any savings go into the account.

I used to buy my lunch and a drink for around $8.00 each day. Now I make my own lunch each day - sandwich, fruit and a large bottle of lemon cordial. Otherwise I take a bowl of Country Ladle soup and a roll. One can gives me two meals for just $1.25 each, with my $0.60c roll. It is healthy, fills me up and saves me $6.00 a day - another $30 a week in my savings account.

There are always two large bottles of lemon cordial made up in my fridge. I only keep fizzy drink for times when I am expecting guests. I put bottles or cans in an hour prior to their arrival. If it is not normally there, I don't drink it. It costs $0.10c for a glass of healthy water based drink, as compared to $1.00 for unhealthy sugar based drinks - what would you rather have?

I save $10 a month on washing powder by reducing the amount I use each load by half.
You know by now where that extra $10 saving goes!
I am always organized for birthday and Christmas gift wrapping - I buy one bolt of wide, colourful paper (from Cello paper) for between $50 - $100 every 15 years. Based on usually giving 40 presents each year, instead of having to buy 40 sheets of gift paper at around $2.50 each, my bulk buying gives me an extra $100 a year in my savings account.

Reducing phone bills:
I now save $70 per month on my previous average mobile phone bill, simply by not making calls on impulse, and calling on a land line wherever possible. That extra $70 a month goes in the savings account. I also reduced by home phone bill by $210 per month once I realized where all the charges were going - on checking my email every time I dialed up. Now I only connect to the Internet once a day and that $210 each month goes into the savings account.

Entertainment:
My entertainment habits have also changed. Instead of paying $50 a time on the pokies, whenever I get the urge now, I put $50 into a tin for my next visit to the bank - it saves $100 - $150 from being frittered away each month. To keep control of my alcohol consumption, I would line empty bottles on my kitchen window sill and clear weekly. Doing this, you see it daily and unconsciously count the value - plus, do you want the neighbours to see how much you drink?? This saves me another $50 a month for my account. Instead of opening a can, now when I get home I have a really large lemon cordial. Then if I still feel like a drink, at least I have taken the edge off the need to relax and I will only have one every few days.

One last golden rule - put away $50 per month for ‘mad money’ - just for you to use for something special.

I paid off $30 000 in one year by using these exact tips and many more. The relief is amazing and now I save the same way.

[Shane's recipes are in the cooking section of the Savings Vault.]

[To view or download Shane's Excel Shopping spreadsheet follow the link below.]

http://www.simplesavings.com.au/resources/shopping_checklist.xls

Renovations need not cost the earth. We just bought our first home and it had a hideous old kitchen with brown contact, broken stove elements and musty cupboards that had seen better days. We wanted a new kitchen but it was going to cost $4000. It was money we didn't have, so I used my brain instead and renovated our entire kitchen for under $100.

I bought:
Two bottles of oven cleaner at $3.99.
One second hand element from the dump for FREE!
Two tins of paint from Kmart for $17.99 and $36.99
Curtains that were faulty and discounted to $20 for two pairs.

I stripped off all the contact, cleaned the cupboards and painted the inside with flat acrylic paint. They are now white and clean inside. Then I cleaned the oven and fitted the element from the dump. It looks great. Now the oven will do us until we get that mortgage out of the way! I then removed the cupboard doors and gave them a coat of enamel paint. I took the door handles off, cleaned them with oven cleaner and refitted them - they came up like brand new! Finally I hung my bargain curtains and my new fresh, white kitchen looks lovely.

My husband was very impressed. All it took me was two days work and $82.96 of supplies. Best of all,I saved $3900 on a new kitchen.

I am no longer wasting leftover avocado, thanks to this simple storage tip! I have always loved avocado but could never use a whole one in one go. I would use about a quarter for my lunch but by the time I went to use the rest it would have gone brown and didn't look very appetising! Avocados can be quite pricy so the expense of wasting so much was very annoying. Then my new partner, who is chef told me how to stop the browning! I didn't realise but the longevity of avocado is due to light. He advised me to wrap the avocado in aluminium foil and then wrap it in cling wrap and put it in the fridge. To my surprise it really works! Now I get to enjoy ALL my avocado and save heaps too!

Slash your washing powder costs by using a tablespoon of washing powder in your machine instead of a scoop. It works just as well! My sister was learning about budgeting and the speaker mentioned that you could get the same wash results by using one flat tablespoon of washing powder as you could if you used a whole scoop. I decided to test this theory and found that even with a full load of washing this proved to be true. I buy a top brand washing powder that costs around $10 per two kilo box and it contains around 148 tablespoons. I used to go through a two kilo box of powder every four to six weeks when I was using a scoop. Generally I do a load of washing every second day, so using one tablespoon per wash, my box of washing powder should now last me nearly 10 months! Just changing this small habit will save me $90 every 10 months on washing powder!

If you've just boiled up a pot full of spuds and are about to tip the water down the drain, stop right now! That water is full of nutrients and vitamins and can be used again.
 
Next time you have potato water, you may like to try using it for soups, gravies, stews, as a base for making stock, liquid in baking biscuits, breads or pancakes, or a broth drink! You can even leave it to cool and pour over your garden plants.
 
I have achieved fantastic results since I started to use the potato water in my home-made bread, rolls and buns. It's a great way to get additional nutrients from our foods and a big water saver.

This Christmas, I have saved myself over $1000 on buying gifts AND was able to afford a holiday for two to Queensland, just by using my green thumbs!

Instead of spending $50 on each Christmas present this year, I decided to use up some of my left over garden pots. I wrote a list of all who would receive presents this year and allocated a pot for each person (I also set aside five extra pots for those last minute gifts).

I thought about each person and what might compliment them, then I set to work! My garden is full of herbs, so I took cuttings from each herb and began growing them in their new pot for their new owner. I gave them plenty of time to settle in by Christmas.

When it comes time to give these lovely potted herbs as gifts, I also attach a recipe, so the recipient knows how they can incorporate their new plant into their cooking, or make up a lovely hand cream or bath bomb.

If you have herbs of your own and pots sitting around it's a great way to put them to good use. These lovely gifts didn't cost me a cent! I already had the herbs in my garden, the pots in my shed and instead of buying extra potting mix, I used soil from the garden that the plant was already used to growing in!

Saving $1.00 a day has helped me afford things I would have otherwise struggled to pay for. I started doing this when my sons started at a private school in the city. They would be invited to several birthday parties throughout the year, so to ease the financial burden of gift giving I used my money box. At the end of the year I would use whatever was left to buy school supplies for the following year.

My children have left school now but I still save my $1.00 a day which I use to treat myself to a pedicure, go to a movie or have coffee with friends. It's such a small amount each day that I find it doesn't really affect my household budget, but it always came to my rescue when I needed it, and now affords me my treats.