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!

Lock in fuel savings and make them last!

Our household has found a super easy way to make the most of cheap fuel prices. We watch the fuel cycles with the ACCC petrol price cycles website (https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/petrol-diesel-lpg/petrol-price-cycles). When it is getting to the lowest point of the cycle, as well as our vehicle, we also fill up five 20 litre fuel containers. If it is inconvenient to do so, we prepay and lock in the fuel price on both of our phones on the 7/11 app. This guarantees that locked price for seven days. We then use that fuel through the next 3-4 weeks (the length of the fuel cycle generally). It's like having our own petrol station at home!

Fuel containers cost around $20-$25 at BCF and the savings per cycle paid for each container. Now it's pure savings of $30 per cycle. Petrol works out around $520 per year less for us, for very little effort! At first, my husband was concerned that the fuel may not last (he is a qualified mechanic), but I showed him some tests BP had done on this matter, finding that six months later, the values were still the same. We notice zero difference in fuel consumption, km/L, or parts wearing out any faster.

Everyone we tell thinks this is an amazing idea, we find it strange that no one else seems to have thought of it!

Wasteful teenagers get a dose of reality!

I have two daughters who live at home with me who are both university students. They both work part-time and pay me $50 a week each for everything. (And I mean absolutely everything!) I had begun to get sick and tired of their wasteful habits! I would find half eaten muesli bars lying around, week-old uneaten fruit, discarded shampoo bottles and toothpaste tubes with enough in the base for three or four more uses, soap in the bin which still had plenty of use left in it and the list goes on! Quite frankly, I'd had enough! I told them to keep their $50 a week and instead they could buy everything for themselves (snacks, lunches, toiletries and so on). I would provide their one evening meal and that was it. I even made them buy their own toilet paper. Well after two weeks they have decided to mend their ways! They just did not realise the costs involved in running a household and admitted they had taken things for granted. I only wish I had done it much sooner, for their benefit and also mine! One daughter can only afford to give me $50 still and her older sister has increased her amount to $70. However, I think things around here are going to be very different from now on as my Sad Sallys strive to become more like Happy Hanna!

Green thumbs saved me $1000

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!