My uni studies STOPPED me biting my nails!

I've been enjoying long, beautiful nails for 30 years, thanks to a method called behaviour modification! I was required to do it as part of a psychology unit at university. It is a method which rewards good behaviour and punishes bad behaviour. This is the method:

1. You determine what you want to change: I want to stop biting my fingernails.
2. You determine what would be a good reward. I will give myself $1.00 coin.
3. You determine what would be a good punishment. I will give $2.00 to charity. Note: It is best that the punishment is worse than the reward, so you can obviously achieve your positive goal ASAP. The simpler your rewards and punishments are, the better. I used the money to purchase a scarf but you could do it for anything.
4. You work out what you need to motivate yourself to achieve that positive outcome. I used hand cream daily, I used oil to massage the cuticles daily, I painted my nails with nail hardener and once the nails grew past my fingers, I got manicures regularly.
5. Draw up a table as shown below, to keep track of your progress daily to get to your eventual goal:

Day 1 – Outcome: I put my fingers in my mouth So you put a cross in the negative box and take the punishment. Negative Positive Punishment Reward x $2.00 paid to charity

Day 2 – Outcome: I didn’t put my fingers in my mouth So you put a cross in the positive box and take the reward Negative Positive Punishment Reward x $1.00 paid to myself

From memory I stopped biting my nails after the second week and kept going until I grew my nails to the length I wanted them. I found that it took about 10 weeks to achieve the outcome I wanted. I didn’t think I would get long fingernails, but I did and continue to do so!

Put your nail biting habit to sleep for good

For most unconscious habits such as nail biting, hypnosis is often the best, cheapest and environmentally friendly cure for nail biting. No drugs, no chemicals and usable by any member of the family providing they are receptive to hypnosis. Some people cannot be hypnotised but they are very few and far between. A single personal session might be all that is needed, but there are some very good programs available in various formats for home use. Worth a go!

Underbed storage from old bookcase

If you have an old bookcase that you no longer need, or is a little too unsteady to use as a bookcase you can transform it into a super cheap underbed storage container! All you need is to buy some castors from your local hardware store. Just screw the castors onto the back of the bookcase, lay it down on its back and roll it under the bed. We have one of these in our boys' room for all their toys and it really reduces all the visible clutter. It's lovely to walk in and all you see are their beds!

EasiYo yoghurt without the sachets

I make home-made yoghurt in my EasiYo maker for as little as $0.50c per kilo. You don't need to buy the special sachets, all you need is milk powder and a couple of tablespoons of plain yoghurt. I just use 1 and 1/3 cups of milk powder and two heaped tablespoons of yoghurt (saved from the last batch). Easy, cheap and delicious!