End ant invasions pronto with Talon gel

I have found a truly fantastic product which gets rid of ants like no other pest treatment I've ever seen. Upon my recent invasion of ants, the faithful old borax and sugar mix was barely making a dent in their numbers. I couldn't use my own kitchen bench, guests were commenting and while I hate killing anything, it was driving the whole family crazy.  Thank goodness for Talon Ant killer gel! It works immediately (I saw ants leaving food and running to this gel), they swarmed it and as the product promises, they are gone in 48 hours. I can leave food out on the bench now and there are none to be seen. The gel works for 14 days, but at $8 for 5ml, it is totally worth it!

Different name, different attitude to saving!

A simple change of tactic can make the world of difference when it comes to getting the family on board with saving! Our family recently did a $21 Challenge. To begin with, I was talking with my daughter, when the children started carrying on about the challenge, (the eldest child in that household in 21!). The other adult in the house said nothing, but his expression said everything. What was I going to do to get them on board? I had a lightbulb moment and told them that I was playing SURVIVOR, with help from my fridge, my freezer and my garden. Did I get any more criticism? No way. What I got was discussions on which family member would be able to survive with what is available at home, and for how long. This discussion went on for a week or more. I heard no more complaints and we spent just $2.99 over a fortnight! Next goal is a $41.00 challenge for a whole month. I just need to set a date, and get my support team going again!

Eucalyptus oil for cleaning

I used to buy a large can of air freshener ($42 per year) plus a can of Glen 20 each month ($71.52 per year) for my home and bathroom. On top of that I would also buy a large spray bottle of Febreeze quarterly ($54 per year). That is a total of $167.52 just for freshening the house each year.

On top of that, there was the additional cost of $9.00 a week on floor washing cleaners and disinfectant ($468 per year). A grand total of $635.52 per year.

Now I buy two large bottles of eucalyptus oil ($22), plus I have bought two very sturdy two litre capacity spray bottles (at a once-off cost of $18).

One bottle is reserved for carpet, bathroom and fabric deoderising and freshening, which now has us enjoying the additional benefits of no fluorocarbons or chemicals being used in our home, and eucalyptus oil is twice as effective when it comes to fighting bacteria. I use two tablespoons of eucalyptus oil per two litres of boiled, spring or filtered water.

The second spray bottle is used as a floor sprayer. I now don't use a bucket and mop. I just sweep the floors, wet the mop, spray the floor as I go with the eucalyptus and, hey presto, clean, deoderised and disinfected floors in one easy go. I use four tablespoons of eucalyptus oil per two litres of boiled, spring or filtered water.

The total cost saving for an entire year has been $448, which is now being spent on music lessons for our children. The house always smells fresh, the floors are cleaner and we've had fewer colds than ever before.

'Bench-top notes' keep families on the same page

Here is a hint that has saved our family time, money and arguments, not to mention countless wasted scraps of paper. This year we purchased a large diary for family use, labelled it 'Bench-top Notes' and sat it on our bench. In this diary we write notes to each other that in the past, would have been on scrap pieces of paper that would often be missed or mislaid. Anything from appointment reminders, details of missed phone calls, housework or instructions for our teenage boys, or just simple but personal notes to each other such as 'Hi sweetie, have a great day, I love you, see you at 5.30!' and so on! It has tidied up our bench-top, kept us all organised and an added bonus is that we can look back on our entries for confirmation of bills being paid, appointments kept or cancelled with the reason why and smile at the little love notes to and from each other. This diary cost about $12 but it now contains the priceless and lifetime memories of our 'Bench-top Notes'.