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!

Many meals from one rolled roast

I have found a way to get maximum meals and value from one single rolled roast. I bought a rolled pork roast which was way too big for just the two of us. Not wanting to be living on leftovers all week, I decided to cut it in half before cooking it. As I was about to place the uncooked half in the freezer, I decided to cut it into thinner slices and use the meat as pork chops instead. This has worked well! I also plan to cut the rolled roast into chunks in future, to use for stir fry, sweet and sour pork and so on. Normally you could never get pork chops or stir fry for $7.99 a kilo! There's no reason why you couldn't use this method with other rolled roasts too.

$21 Challenge helps two families

I took on the $21 Challenge, and won! However, my husband was a rather grumpy participant; he loved the savings but not the lifestyle during Challenge week. As he goes away regularly, I decided that every night he's not home for dinner would become a $21 Challenge night for the kids and I - all meals must be made from ingredients I already have at home, and I can only use ingredients that have not been allocated for other meals. This saves money and gives me a night off cooking, as my Challenge meals are usually simple affairs, sometimes as easy as pancakes or toasted sandwiches.

The true value of the $21 Challenge became apparent when a friend was recently diagnosed with a severe form of leukaemia. She is a married mother of four boys and is embarking on a long therapeutic journey that will hopefully lead to a full recovery. As a way of helping her family, the parents at our school have banded together to make all their meals for the next three to six months. As they are a large family, with an above average food requirement, I was unsure how I could afford to help feed them each week. Thankfully, my husband was away the week my friend was diagnosed, so the kids and I lived off the $21 Challenge that week and all leftover money was put into making meals to freeze for my friend's family.

We now do the same thing whenever my husband is away – it's a great gift over the Christmas break to know that I can afford to cook and freeze meals for my friend's family, and look after my family at the same time. Thank you.

Dinner for two for under $25

Try this impressive five star dinner for any special occasion (perfect for Valentine's Day!) for under $25!

This Valentine's Day, instead of the obligatory card swapping and outrageously priced meals at restaurants, my husband and I decided to make a concerted effort and have dinner at home.

He wanted to suprise me by serving Chateaubriand (eye fillet steak with Bearnaise sauce), which he adores. I, in turn wanted to make him Tiramisu, which has always been his favourite.

While he was out shopping, I whipped up dessert and then locked myself in the study.

After searching the Internet for intimate dinner ideas, I found every possible candle in the house and arranged them throughout our dining & lounge area!

Church candles on candlesticks and on plain white saucers, a runway of 15 tealights on gold tulle ribbon along the middle of the dinner table and on various other side tables and shelves (from my '$6.95-for-100' pack I bought at the Warehouse three years ago and am still using)!

I set the table for two and found some Miles Davis jazz CDs, bought from the Sanity bargain boxes for $6.99 each.

I then went back to my PC and set about writing not a Valentine's card, but a Valentine letter, which I bordered with clipart from a free site. After two pages, I knew that my words were more personal than any Hallmark card, and also it saved me $5.95.

I lit the candles, put on the music and our room had transformed with all the ambience of a private dining suite at a five star restaurant. My husband was lost for words!

Dinner and conversation was wonderful and during the night, our discussion turned to the cost - and saving - of our meal and we both agreed that it was far better to have stayed in than gone out.

Chateaubriand normally costs between $60-$70 for two; ours cost a grand total of $20.45 for two, including vegetables. We could have easily served three from it.

Tiramisu can cost between $7.50 up to $15 each at a restaurant. I bought the ingredients for half the recipe I found and at a total of $7.34, I still made 4 serves ($1.84 each).

Our wine was chosen from our wine rack, saved from previous dinners and occasions, saving us up to $40 on a restaurant bottle.

Altogether, our 'restaurant' dinner cost us $24.12, as opposed to a potential bill of up to $120 if we had dined out. We further saved on fuel, parking and a babysitter as the baby was home with us (asleep).

With the time we saved on travelling, we continued to talk, dance and enjoy each others company without any interruption.

The letter I wrote my husband brought him to a tear, and us just a little closer. As I sat there I realised the effort and surprise we gave to one another was priceless!