No need for takeaways with home 'auto replen' system

I have finally found a grocery system that works for me! My husband calls it 'auto replen' grocery shopping. First, I buy discounted Woolworths e-gift cards from the Entertainment Book (saving 5%). Then, having downloaded the Woolworths app on to my phone, I purchase a delivery saver, $50 for three months of deliveries. This works out about $2 per delivery for us.

Whenever we run out of something, or it is getting low, I add it to my shopping list on my phone. Once we reach $100, I then purchase the groceries. Woolworths has the same prices in store as online and the same specials. I have found this reduces takeaway significantly, as we order 2-3 times per week (I have three adults and three children in my household, plus frequently two to four young children or teenage guests. If we want something in particular, we need only wait one day for it.

We liken it to the automatic replenishment system that the larger department stores have. It works for them and it works for us too!

Treating nails in a positive way keeps biting at bay

I have found the trick to keeping nail biting and picking at bay is to 'fiddle' with them in a positive way. I am 67 and have bitten my nails since I was about three years old. My parents tried bribes, threats, nasty brown stuff painted on my nails - all sorts. I grew my nails when I got married, when my daughter got married - and indeed have grown them since for various special occasions - so determination can help! I now have nails on my fingers, but still bite/pick at my thumbs. My dad said my fingers would become misshapen, and he was right. What helps me is to 'fiddle' with my nails in a positive way - emery boards, manicure tools, nail polish, the nail treatments to stop biting - the taste does stop automatic, thoughtless nibbling. I am not a chewing gum lover, but that can also help. I crochet too, which keeps my hands too busy to nibble at!

Puzzling our way to a new house

My husband and I have finally found the key to successful saving! The two of us are dreadful savers; while we're good at putting spare change in a jar, we don't know what to do with it once the jar is full! We thought a saving thermometer would be helpful, but wanted something that wouldn't be so obvious when people came over to visit. So we came up with a more subtle brainwave - a jigsaw puzzle!

We bought a jigsaw of what we wanted (a house) and assigned a dollar amount to every piece. Now we 'buy' pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, the money goes in our jar and we bank the money once a month. We even set up challenges for ourselves, such as who 'buys' the most pieces in a month, and we never have to worry about what to buy each other for presents - we buy pieces of the puzzle of course! Once we've completed the puzzle we're going to hang it on the wall - of our new house!

Clean baths and basins with Sunlight soap

Think twice before you buy an expensive bathroom cleaner to clean your acrylic bath, vanity basin and laundry tub. Try Sunlight soap - it works wonders!

After recently having a dint repaired in my three-year-old acrylic bath (the kids were too rough with their bath toys!), I asked a man who repairs acrylic baths, basins, and so on what the best cleaning product was to use on this surface. I was amazed to hear that good old Sunlight soap was the best. He said most of the marketed products available eventually wear the surface and take off the shine, then people have to pay him hundreds of dollars to get that shine back again!

I decided to try it for myself. I purchased a pack of Sunlight soap (four in a pack) for $2.09 at Coles (with even cheaper generic brands available). One cake of soap lasted me for six months - that's just over $0.50c for six months of cleaning the bath, vanity basin and laundry tub. Best of all, it really works! Also, it leaves a wonderful shine; I was really impressed. I use an old sports sock over my hand and foam up the soap, then I clean away - all that soap scum and grime easily vanishes.