I have a family of five children and I like them to eat healthy food that is inexpensive. I often try healthy recipes, and have found one for muesli bars that the kids (and Dad) and their school friends love. It's quick, easy, healthy (you know exactly what's in it) and economical.

Muesli bars

1 1/2 cups toasted muesli

(we use the apricot and almond variety; it doesn't have to be an expensive type)

2 1/2 cups of Rice Bubbles

1/2 cup coconut

1/4 cup crushed nuts

125 g butter (salt-reduced butter is good)

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/2 cup choc chips

(I also add a tablespoon of linseed for extra fibre and omega-3 vitamins; they don't even taste this healthy addition.)

Mix the dry muesli, rice bubbles, coconut and nuts in a bowl. Place butter, honey, peanut butter and sugar into a small pan. Stir over low heat until melted. Allow to come to the boil then reduce the heat to simmer without stirring for five minutes. Pour this into the dry ingredients and stir well. Allow to cool to room temperature (about 20 minutes). Add choc chips and mix again. Line a scone tray with aluminium foil and press the mix into the tray until it is flat (you can use a glass to do this). Refrigerate until firm. Slice and serve. Store in the fridge for up to three weeks (if it lasts that long).

These save a fortune. This mix makes just over a kilo of muesli bars (I use a tray that is approx 28 cm x 36 cm and this will slice up to 30 standard size muesli bars). It costs around $3.50 to make (which can be less if you shop around and use generic or Aldi brands of butter, Rice Bubbles and muesli). Home Brand muesli bars are about $1.69 for six ($0.28c each) compared to around $0.11c each for these home-made ones. Uncle Toby's muesli bars cost between $0.40c and $0.49c per muesli bar.

At 12 years old, my daughter is already helping our family save money on snacks using her Simple Savings skills! With five children in the house, we do a big shop just once a month and are careful to make our food and treats last until the next shop. Recently we were nearing the end of the month and getting low on food. I arrived home one day to find my daughter baking biscuits. 'They're Doos!' she told me. 'You always said if there was nothing in the cupboard, we had to make do, so I made Doos!'

The name has stuck in our house and now whenever we have 'nothing' in the house for lunch boxes, snacks or afternoon tea, she just makes a batch of 'Doos' using whatever she can find in the pantry to 'make do' with. She is proving to be very inventive with her recipes and is turning out to be a real baker. She'll turn out simple but delicious treats such as honey joys, choc chip biscuits, Anzac biscuits, pikelets and pancakes in no time at all! She really has shown that you can make something from almost anything in the pantry and would be wonderful at the $21 Challenge! Here is the recipe for her latest creation, called 'Sort of Scones!'

1 cup oats
1 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup sugar
125g butter
1 egg
1/4 cup milk

Mix all ingredients together, then roll into balls and place on a greased baking tray. Bake in a moderate oven (around 180C) for 10 minutes.

I couldn't be prouder of my daughter's efforts to help us save money and keep everyone well fed. Whenever we think our parenting has a lot to be desired, it's moments like this which prove we have to be doing something right - good things do rub off too!

My kids love doing things on Saturdays but even a trip to the movies for our family costs $70. So I invented '$20 Saturday'. We could go anywhere and do anything as long as it didn't cost more than $20 for the whole day. One Saturday each month we would find a spot in the street directory that looked interesting and take a picnic, other times we visited free places such as museums or community festivals and the $20 bought a drink, small snack or ice cream. Not every place was terrific but we gave each place or activity a score to rate whether we would like to do it again. My boys talk fondly of things we did together and places we visited on $20 Saturdays and they learn that you don't have to spend up big to have fun.

My husband and I have set a goal to pay off our mortgage within five years. We have a way to go, but keeping this goal in mind has helped us to curb our spending.

I worked out that any amount I put on our mortgage is actually worth five times that amount due to the saving in interest. So when I am thinking about spending $20 on a top, I multiply this amount by five and realise that I do not want to spend $100 on a $20 top! That $20 would be much better invested if it was put into our mortgage.

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'.

I have read heaps about menu planning but found it all just so overwhelming. Choosing a menu for a whole month seemed like a lot of hard work but I have found a way to help even the most disorganised person.

Starting on the first day of a new month, and using a calendar or diary, write down what you have for dinner each night of the month. You will soon see what meals you eat on a regular basis. You can then transfer this information to the next month in your calendar or diary, and there is your monthly menu plan!

Three weeks ago we ended up without a cent to spend on groceries and the money situation for the following week was only slightly better. We had to eat, of course, so I raided the pantry and freezer and managed to get by on what we had. We were also running out of laundry powder and toilet paper so I rationed out these things to make sure we made it through until we could afford to stock up. It meant using less laundry powder per wash and a few less squares of toilet paper each visit, but we got through the week without having to buy anything, saving around $300.

The following week we had only $30 for food shopping. I still had things I could use up in the pantry and fridge/freezer, and the rationing of the laundry powder and toilet paper meant we wouldn't need to buy more until the next week. So I spent our $30 surplus for that week on milk, fruit and vegetables.

Last week we were back to normal but my two weeks of poverty made me realise just how much money I can save each week by using less of everything and trying to use up what I already have in the fridge and pantry. Over two weeks I had managed to NOT spend about $570 and I had also cleared out a stack of canned beans, canned tuna and sardines, frozen vegetables, frozen meat and frozen loaves of bread that were taking up space in my pantry and freezer.

After reading every newsletter on this fantastic website, I decided to make changes to our household budget.

I started by rummaging through the cupboard, where I found an insulated plunger coffee mug that my husband and daughter had given me as a gift. The mug had never been used as I found it easier to grab a 'latte to go' on the way to work. I bought a tin of ground coffee beans for $6.65, figuring that this tin, with its plastic lid, could be refilled. I now keep this tin in the fridge at work. So, instead of buying three lattes a week at $3.50 each, I now allow myself one a week or sometimes just one a fortnight.

While buying my latte I would sometimes purchase an English muffin with bacon and egg. I now have muffins in the freezer, bacon rashers trimmed and have perfected the three minute poached egg. The bacon takes one minute in the microwave and the muffin is toasted in no time. If I am in a hurry, I wrap the bacon and egg muffin in a small piece of alfoil and take this to work. So instead of paying $14 per week, or $672 per year, I now buy the ingredients for the equivalent of $1.45 per week, saving just over $600 per year. Wow!

You have no idea of how proud I feel. I have saved so much money and it's thanks to your wonderful site.

I had moved into a home with an old kitchen and the stovetop needed a really good clean. I tried everything to shift the baked on grease from the rings that surrounded the coil hotplates but to no avail.

My friend suggested removing the rings and soaking them in Napisan and hot water. I actually used a generic brand nappy cleaner and it worked just as well. To my utter surprise, it removed what must have been 20 years of baked on grease. The stove looks brand new! I then did the same with the grill and oven racks, and they too came up sparkling and shiny.

For maintenance, some vinegar in a spray bottle cuts through any grease or grime left on a stovetop after cooking. But beware of vinegar on or near marble, as it eats right through it!

I thought this hint would be particularly useful for anyone moving into a rental property or having to clean their rental property before they move out. You'll save on cleaning products and get your bond back! And don't throw out pots and pans covered with grease or grime. Give them a Napisan treatment and save dollars.

A few simple lifestyle changes have helped me lose 26.5kg AND slash my food bill by $35 a week! Over the past six months I have developed my own healthy eating and exercise regime. I began by pushing my one-year-old for an hour a day to the park and around the shops at a brisk pace, using our $20 eBay running pram. I also invested in some second hand hand weights and after extensive research on the Internet, I started my own regime of weight training exercises.

Food-wise, I began buying in bulk and made my own nutritious meals, rather than relying on 'ready to eat' microwave health meals. This way I knew exactly what was in each meal and there was never any waste. I started making my own meal plans and eating smaller portions, going from a 3000 calorie-a-day diet to 1500-1600 calories per day.

Under my new regime I soon began to lose the weight, but the real bonus for me has been in the savings I have made. Changing the way I ate and my portion size has resulted in me saving $35 a week over the past 26 weeks! A win-win situation all round. No personal trainers, fancy diet shakes, pills or supplements - I simply used what I had. I feel fantastic and have the energy levels of a teenager! If I can do it, anyone can!