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!

For an outlay of $65 I purchased chemical-free ingredients to make shampoo, baby bubble bath, moisturiser, hand wash and washing liquid. I made 500ml shampoo, a litre of washing liquid, a litre of hand wash, a litre of beautiful light moisturiser and 500ml baby shampoo and bubble bath. All I added were essential oils and water to the ingredients and I still have enough ingredients to make several more litres of any product.

My next outlay for a further $50 was for packaging; containers and tubes to make shampoos, moisturisers and lip balms for Christmas gifts. I have saved myself a small fortune. There are several good websites offering these products, however, I found 'Aussie Soap Supplies' the best, which offers recipes as well. http://www.aussiesoapsupplies.com.au/

I have saved heaps by no longer buying expensive cleaning products. To clean my toilet, bath or shower, I quickly wet the area and let most of the water drain away. I then sprinkle the whole area with bicarbonate soda, using a small shaker (you can get them at Kmart for a few dollars). I then spray it with cheap white vinegar in a spray bottle. There is a slight chemical reaction that dissolves all the mould and dirt. Leave it for a few minutes to work. You still have to scrub a little and you may need to re-do any heavily soiled areas. It also works for benchtops and sinks, it's a cheap alternative to chemicals and good for the environment too.

We had the chance to travel overseas several years ago but had to save $1000 to make it happen. On one income with two small children it seemed impossible. Then I had the brainwave - I didn't have to save $1000, I had to save $1.00 a thousand times! This was so much easier - a generic brand product at the grocery store, a chocolate bar at the petrol station and so on, soon added up and the savings contributed to a great family holiday.

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.

When you are going out for a picnic or taking lunch to work or school, use cloth to wrap the sandwiches. This is much better than cling wrap or foil because it's cheap and reusable. I use tea towels, napkins and chopped up table cloths to wrap my sandwiches. The sandwiches stay fresh and when I've finished, I just shake off the crumbs and take the cloth home to be washed and used again.

There is something pleasantly old-fashioned about this method - and just think of all that plastic not going into landfill.

We have saved over $150 in seeds alone this past year. Instead of paying up to $5.00 for packets of seeds which may or may not sprout, we have started grabbing packets of seeds from the herb sections of Woolworths, Coles and IGA. Most mustard, coriander, fennel, cardamom or celery whole seeds that you get as a spice for cooking will sprout for you in your garden. These normally cost around $1.05 per packet and you will get a lot more seeds than if you bought them from a gardening shop. We also get the full dried peas (not freeze dried) from the soup section and have planted these successfully for three years now. They give us the sweetest sugar snap peas ever! A packet normally costs $1.53 and you get close to 100 seeds. In comparison to buy 'packet' seeds it would cost you over $12.

We also cut the ends off shallots and replant them, it takes about three weeks before they start to recover, but then you have an endless harvest of shallot leaves to use in salads. We do the same with old onions that have hidden themselves away in our cupboards and have sprouted. Plant them in your garden, let them go to seed and you will have a great seed stock for the next few years. No need to buy more!

Garlic can be done in the same way. Grab a clove and plant it flat end into the ground. After about four months you will get a great bulb of garlic from your original clove. Be aware that garlic from China or Mexico has been treated with Bromide (cancer causing agent) so only use Australian grown garlic.

Old potatoes and sweet potatoes that start sprouting can be replanted and will give a good yield. Just cut a 3cm piece around the sprouting part of the potato and plant it, from one potato alone you could get up to seven new plants.

Pumpkin, cucumber, capsicum and other vegetable seeds can be cleaned, dried and then planted out to give you more seed stock to play with. Try planting two different types of pumpkins near each other and you might get a hybrid created which tastes great. Our family had a butternut mix with a jap pumpkin and it was the sweetest tasting pumpkin we'd ever tried. We also let one or two of each vegetable go to seed so that next years planting will cost us even less. Our goal is to go totally self sufficient in the garden. So far we have an abundance of butter lettuce, silverbeet, rocket, mint, corn, tomatoes and sugar snap peas all from previously saved seeds.

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.

Watching my 'non-Simple Savings' sister unpack her groceries this week made me realise how much my shopping habits have changed in the year since I discovered Simple Savings. I used to love supermarket shopping, wandering the aisles for hours, one of this, one of that.

Some products I just don't buy anymore include:

• Liquid handsoap - I now make my own (my first SS project from the Vault). Saves $40/year.

• Spray and cooking oil - I buy 4L of good olive oil on special for about $20 and use a refillable hand pumped spray container (from House, $15 - will last years). I used to buy cans of olive oil spray at about $3.50 each and by changing how I buy oil, I am saving $100 per year.

• Cleaning products - are now missing from my list - we use bi-carb and vinegar and other simple Vault tips.

• Dishwashing cleaner - has gone too. We use citric acid, which I normally keep for my yearly lemon cordial making.

• Soft drinks and cordials - are rarely bought now - we use juice as you would cordial, and have changed our habits in favour of water.

• Yoghurt - we make EasiYo using packets bought in bulk from GoldenGlow online. Saves about $150 a year.

• Eggs and vegies - in the back yard!

• Condensed milk, Yogo, cake and pancake mixes - we M.O.O. ('make our own') using Vault tips.

• Icypoles - M.O.O. using tinned fruit juice or other - search the Vault!

• Magazines - I never buy new, just pick up the free supermarket recipe brochures or occasionally buy some gardening ones from the op shop.

• Junk and pre-prepared foods - we buy a lot less in favour of having our own 'sausage roll make-athons' or other baking with the kids.

As well as noticing the presence of many of the above things in my sister's shopping, I also noticed she buys small quantities of lots of items I now buy in bulk. Each week she has to mentally or physically check if she 'needs another of...', where I buy large amounts from the supermarket and other cheaper sources - and then don't need to think about it again for at least six months. These types of products include:

Washing powder (I'll never buy less than 20kg, and with the Vault advice to reduce our amount per load, this is lasting ages!), teabags, coffee, shampoo, dog and chook food (from pet supplier every six months), ham and meats(buy large piece of ham and store in ham bag per Vault tip - saves at least $50 a year over my previous habit of buying little cute packets of 50g each), bacon (buy from ALDI and freeze), dishwashing powder (ALDI brand is MUCH cheaper than the Finish tablets we were using - saves us $150 a year at least. I buy 12 months supply on one of my ALDI runs), cheese (buy larger amounts less often and freeze if necessary), rice (10kg bag much cheaper), jelly crystals (I bought 5kg bag at IGA last week - makes 20 serves for same cost as three individual packets), tinned fruit, soup, tomatoes and other products (from SPC outlet), nappies, paper towel and toilet paper (I buy lots when on a fabulous special). Fruit and veg I buy from the greengrocer, the market or grow my own. Meat is from the butcher, chicken from the poultry shop and fish from the fishmonger once every three months.

I could go on for every grocery item - nearly everything has changed in 12 months. This is even without noting the savings from changing products - for example, I used to think myself very clever if I bought my Uncle Toby's quick oats on super special for $2.00 per kg box - until I discovered I can buy Home Brand, which I cannot fault, for $1.00 a kilo all the time. Same for most basic products.

With changes like these to my grocery shop and to our home loan, insurance, shopping habits and so on, Simple Savings has saved us thousands of dollars in our first year of membership. Our lifestyle has actually been RICHER since SS. I didn't set out to change my shopping habits - I just started by making handsoap and buying Home Brand porridge oats - but suddenly I have realised how large this change has been. If I see you at the supermarket with your milk, bread, 8 large packets of toilet paper, 6kg of the super special meat, 10kg of rice and three-litre containers of vinegar, I'll know you caught the bug too!

For just $10 I've finally discovered soft skin. I had always suffered from dry skin and, over the years, had spent a fortune on moisturisers in every price range. I never really found anything that I could put on at night which left my skin soft and moist in the morning. It seemed my skin was always thirsty. Then I read in Vogue magazine, about a woman who used Neutrogena Norwegian Hand Cream as a facial mask. She also suffered from dry skin and her dermatologist had advised her to do this. Having nothing to lose, I decided to give it a go myself. It costs well under $10 and is available at Priceline and in most supermarkets. I chose the fragrance-free one and can honestly say it is the best moisturiser I have ever used. I use it every day under make-up and my skin looks 'dewy' all day long. I apply more in the evening before bed and my skin feels lovely in the morning. I even apply it thickly as a mask sometimes, with great results - and it beats a facial in terms of how my skin feels the next day. So if you have dry or mature skin - give it a try. It is also amazing on dry feet - it really is a miracle! It's amazing to think of how many dollars I will save from now on on my new, simple skincare product!