From nail biter to nail care teacher - tips that work

I was a nail biter from a very young age. Now, I teach others how they can have beautiful nails, without spending a fortune. All you need is a little basic nail care. Soak your nails in oil for 10 minutes each day for one month. Whatever oil is in the kitchen pantry will do. Massage each nail in a circular motion (not back and forth) with the ball of the thumb. After the first month, this treatment is only needed once a month .

The next step is to treat nails weekly for the next six weeks . Cleanse them with a nail polish remover, again starting at the end of the nail bed and working down the nail to the tip. From here on, apply a simple protective barrier nail polish every day. In the beginning, the nail polish builds up as you are learning - do not worry or be concerned about that - just only do the nails once a week. Every week also file and buff the nails. Only do this once per week, as one can over process the nails (just as you can do with skin and so on).

I have ended up teaching nails care for 20 years and all of my clients who have followed handling correctly as well as the process are the proud owners of beautiful nails and hands!

Many meals from one rolled roast

I have found a way to get maximum meals and value from one single rolled roast. I bought a rolled pork roast which was way too big for just the two of us. Not wanting to be living on leftovers all week, I decided to cut it in half before cooking it. As I was about to place the uncooked half in the freezer, I decided to cut it into thinner slices and use the meat as pork chops instead. This has worked well! I also plan to cut the rolled roast into chunks in future, to use for stir fry, sweet and sour pork and so on. Normally you could never get pork chops or stir fry for $7.99 a kilo! There's no reason why you couldn't use this method with other rolled roasts too.

Use it or lose it

As part of my $21 Challenge to use all the food in the pantry, I have set up a 'use up soon' basket containing items getting close to their use-by date. This way, I will remember to use things before I have to throw them out.

Naturally beautiful skin and hair

I am a 39 year old mum with five children. I love to have soft skin, but I'm not keen on all those chemicals in general moisturisers. I like natural skin care creams, but they come with a hefty price tag. Thankfully, my grandmother gave me a perfect, all natural solution.

She suggested I try coconut oil, as she had used it as a skin moisturiser and hair conditioner while she was growing up. I purchased a 400ml jar of organic coconut oil from my local health shop for $10.70. I now use it every evening on my face, and every morning as a body and face moisturiser. I also use it as a lip balm and once a fortnight, I melt 1/4 of a cup and apply to damp hair. I then pop on a shower cap, wrap my hair in a towel and experience a moisturising hair pack that smells divine.

My skin has never looked better and my normally dry, curly hair is now soft and shiny. The jar I purchased six weeks ago is still half full and I estimate I will save $380 a year on moisturisers, hair packs and lip balms. Best of all, it's chemical free.