Priceless personalised gift for teachers

Our end of year teachers' gifts cost nothing and mean more to them than any expensive chocolates or mugs! For each of my young kids' teachers, we print a sheet each year titled "Tell Me About (Teacher's Name)..." It has 8-10 questions on it, with space for the kids' answers to be written in, either by them or dictated to an adult. Questions can be anything. We include things like:

How old is Mr X? What is Mr D's favourite food? Something Miss B always says is.... What does Miss J like to do for fun? Ms P loves it when.... If I had $1000 I would buy Mr H a .... Miss V is a great teacher because.... Mr K gets cranky when... And finish with: A Special Message for Ms A...

Every year it is a massive hit. Teachers love it and when there are multiple teachers, they love to get together and compare answers!

Going vegetarian has saved all round

Going vegetarian has been a great move for me in every way. For me, it was an ethical decision as I no longer wanted to eat animals but as an added bonus I have found it saves a lot of money. Pasta sauces don't need meat; beans and lentils are just as tasty and filling and cost a fraction of the price of meat. These days I make all kinds of delicious vegetarian dishes such as pasta bakes quickly and easily, for less than $1!

Save a fortune with gift hampers

I came up with a great gift idea last year, which looked sensational without breaking the bank. I wanted to give families items that they really would use and enjoy, and that would not send my spending into overdrive! I created personalised gift baskets.

Each family member has their own personal likes so I decided to work with them. Most of the items were found in the supermarket, so I added them to my weekly shopping. A few dollars extra each week made little difference to my budget but provided excellent gifts for family and friends. For example, my brother likes hot and spicy food so I purchased minced chilli, hot salsa, oil infused with chilli and hot spices and presented them in a basket wrapped in red Cellophane. Two of my sisters-in-law love fragrance and candles so I made up baskets with different candles, incense, drawer liners, pot-pourri and sachets.

Others included:

• Garlic hamper - fresh garlic, minced garlic, garlic salt, garlic oil and a garlic mincer.

• Chocolate hamper - Jarrah chocolate, Cadbury, chocolate sauce, chocolate ice cream topping and chocolate curls.

• A herb bowl with 'boutique' herbs such as bouquet garni, cinammon sticks, oils infused with herbs and herb cook books.

• DVD hamper - a DVD, microwave popcorn, salsa, corn chips and jaffas.

• Gardening hamper - gloves, secateurs, Osmocote, plastic pot, hedge trimmers and Zero.

• Tea lover's hamper - a trivet, tea cup and saucer, UHT mini milks, tea bags, tea leaves and biscuits.

It is easy to pick a loved one's interest and tailor make a hamper/basket to match. Crazy Clints, $2 Shop and The Reject Shop have heaps of baskets and boxes to present your gifts in. Bowls, platters, saucepans and the like are ideal and useful containers for presentation. All it takes is some Cellophane and ribbon and you have a lovely (useful) hamper as a gift. It also works well for new baby gifts. Fill a box/basket with newborn necessities such as baby wipes, powder, nappy sacks, bibs, bottles, bootees, mittens, singlets, bath items and so on and wrap in Cellophane for that professional look. I saved a fortune last Christmas, yet everyone loved and used the gifts they received.

Pie apples for baby food

Instead of buying pureed fruit in jars or tins, which according to the latest stories contain a lot of water, buy a large tin of pie apples (no added sugar) and a large tin of any other fruit in natural juice, puree them together and put in single serve containers. Two large tins make about 15 single serves (a much bigger serve than the baby food tins) and cost about $4.50 less than the equivalent of baby food in tins. The pie apples don't contain liquid so this means that your home-made baby food is not too sloppy. You can vary the taste by changing the second fruit to apricots, pears, fruit salad, peaches, two fruits and so on.