Laundry liquid makes the best handwash soap!

I stumbled upon the best hand soap ever by accident! I had a bottle of laundry liquid I didn't like the smell of. The perfume smell was far too strong but I didn't want to throw it away. Instead, I refilled the liquid soap bottle in the laundry with it. To my surprise, I have found it is the best hand wash ever! In fact, once I finished the laundry liquid, I bought some more, to fill the hand soap bottle with!

Dishwashing liquid breaks down hard to remove stains

I have found a cheap and effective solution for tough laundry stain removal! Stains such as fats or body odours can be notoriously hard to remove. Normal washing powders may be made for getting out dirt and stains but not for breaking down fats and body fluids. To combat the problem, I simply add a squirt of dishwashing liquid to the wash, along with my normal powder and soaker and it works like a charm. After all, it breaks down grease and fatty food residue when doing dishes, it makes sense for it to work on clothes too!

Too broke to save big? Save small!

I have discovered that 'saving small' really works for me and leads to some big savings after all! Before I had my first son we planned to set aside about $100 every month for savings to build up an emergency fund. However, by the time I got pregnant we had still not managed to save anything. So instead of $100 a month we lowered our sights to $10 a week - but still it didn't happen. The sum just seemed huge and too much to manage with all the bills we had to pay. After my son was born I told myself I really had to make a start. I began saving $2.00 a day. It was a small amount and did not seem big enough to notice. My son is now two and a half and I have saved a total of $1800 in cash! Now we have our second child and I'm putting aside $4.00 each day. If I continue with this, by the time my children are old enough for school, the cash will really come in handy for their education expenses - or anything else for that matter!

20 kids' party gifts for $30

When my daughter started school last year, she had birthday after birthday to attend, which meant present after present. Last year, each present cost $25 to $35 and I couldn't afford to pay that much this year. So, I planned ahead!

Before every school year starts, Big W has a huge stationery sale, where I purchased the following:

• 100 writing books at just $0.01c each, total cost of $1.00
• 20 packs of 24 colouring pencils at $0.49c each, total cost of $9.80
• 10 twin packs of safety scissors at $0.49c each, total cost of $4.90
• Five eraser 4-packs at $0.99c each, total cost of $4.95
  - Five pencil sharpener 4-packs at $0.29c each, total cost of $1.45
  - Two 10-page sticker booklets with 150 stickers per page at $2.00 each, total cost of $4.00
  - Four sheets of contact paper in girl and boy themes at $0.99c each, total cost of $4.00.

Total for all this is just $30.10, and I'm able to make 20 presents! That's just over $1.50 per gift! At every birthday party, my daughter has presented the birthday girl or boy with the following gift:

• Three books covered in contact paper
• One pack of colouring pencils
• One pair of safety scissors
• One eraser
• One sharpener
• One page of stickers.

Both parents and children have loved this present because, unlike a toy they soon lose interest in, they can continue to use their imagination to create drawings.