Recent Hints
Keep nail biting (and vampires!) away with garlic
My mother put an end to my nail biting using this inexpensive trick. She simply rubbed a freshly cut piece of garlic onto my nail tips. Whenever I would be tempted to nibble my nails I would get a raw garlic taste in my mouth. Gross! It didn't take me long to be cured!
By: RosyDairy-free oat milk for 26c per litre
I make dairy-free milk for my allergic daughter for just 26c per litre! I make oat milk at home, and it tastes just like the shop-bought version that we used to buy on special for $2 per litre. I also use it in desserts, baking and cereal, even though I’m not dairy-free. It’s even cheaper than prepared powdered cow’s milk, which I recently priced at 80c per litre!
Here is the recipe (costed out using Coles home brand ingredients) -
Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats 120g (22c)
4 cups water
1 tsp brown sugar (2c) - optional
1 tsp sunflower oil (2c)
Method:
Blend all the ingredients in a blender for one minute
Strain through a muslin or a nut milk bag (I use old muslin baby swaddles).
Store in the fridge for up to five days.
My husband and I eat other dairy products and my daughter still has two cups of calcium-fortified, shop-bought, non-dairy milk per day as a drink, but we now use at least three litres less of shop-bought milk per week, working out to a saving of over $300 per year!
By: Freedom from the machine 8 responses in the members' forumHottest Hints
'Purse system' helps me budget
To help me stick to my budget, I use the 'purse system', where I allocate a certain amount of money each payday to pay for different things, for example, petrol or groceries.
I found the envelope system aesthetically unappealing and difficult to operate, so I purchased a number of small pencil cases from Office Works; they're the perfect size to fit dollar notes into and any receipts for that particular 'budget purse'. I have a red case containing money for my groceries, a black case for my petrol and so on. They are also attractive enough that I use them as my wallets for these purposes; unlike envelopes, I am never too embarrassed to pull a case out and carry it into a shop. The cases cost $8.00 each but they motivate me to stick to a budget - a huge long-term saving!
By: Tynte 54 responses in the members' forumFluffy towels from cheap conditioner
My washing requires a fabric softener as my laundry gets hard and coarse if they're washed and dried without it, but I hate spending up to $4.00 per bottle, so came up with this cheap solution.
It works brilliantly. I now buy a home brand or extremely cheap hair conditioner (no, NOT a shampoo!) This costs $0.80c to $1.90, per 500 mls or one litre.
All you do is squirt a tiny 10 cent size dollop into your fabric softener holder, then fill up the remainder with very hot water.
I now have fluffy towels all the time, and the cheap conditioner option has worked out to be a bottle every six months or so, instead of spending lots of money per week on commercial 'fabric softeners'.
By: Lisa De lace 16 responses in the members' forumReceive a Free Newsletter