A sticky end to nail biting

We found a low cost and easy solution to helping our daughter stop her nail biting habit. We used good quality sticking plasters and stuck them to the ends of each finger, cutting to fit where needed. It's best to use a 'good' brand like Band Aid, which will stay on for a while. These days, Kinesiology tape would probably be my go-to, as I think it sticks best (when heat activated). Sometimes I would paint the bitter tasting polish over the top of the sticking plaster as a reminder if her fingers got to her mouth. She was motivated to stop, and we promised she could have nice nail polish on when her nails grew out, so there was a carrot as well!

Make your own nut butters for a fraction of shop prices

I save a fortune on buying nut butters by making my own. Almond butter, cashew butter and good quality peanut butter can be fairly expensive to buy so instead I buy roasted almonds for about $4 at a bulk supplier (Bin Inn if you're in NZ) and blend it in my Nutribullet with the addition of a smidgeon of olive oil. This gives me twice the quantity of a shop-bought jar which would cost at least $12! You can also add a little honey or chia seeds to add variety. I use the same method to make cashew butter. I simply buy 200g of cashews for $4.80 from an Indian grocer, roast them in the oven and blend them with the addition of a little olive oil to start the process. At around $15 a jar to buy at health food stores, this is a terrific saving!

Fill a treasure chest with gold!

One year a friend gave me a money tin and on the side of it was printed, 'If you fill this tin with only gold coins by the time it's full you will have at least $500'. It really didn't look big enough to hold that amount of money, but I love a challenge so I decided to find out if it could!

We started in March and any gold coins we had went into the tin. Our goal was to open the tin at Christmas and use it to pay off lay-bys plus have some spending money over the Christmas break.

November rolled around and the tin wasn't quite full. However, when we opened it up and counted our 'gold' we were very surprised and extremely happy to discover we had collected $700 in our little tin!

Because of that little treasure chest of gold we enjoyed a fantastic stress-free Christmas! I was able to pay for all the presents for our immediate and extended family as well as cater for a great Christmas day feast, AND we had spending money left over for the holidays.

Now it's a family tradition. My sceptical husband happily donates all his gold coins to the tin and my 12-year-old will go hunting for gold coins just to add them to the collection! I know that I don't have to worry about the financial strain of Christmas any more as my tin has got it covered.

I improved my rent to suit the budget

I moved to Perth a couple of years ago with very few possessions, two young children and a dog. I stayed with friends for a couple of weeks and really liked the area they lived in.

I set my rent limit to $150 (cheap for city living - but necessary for the budget) and put my name down on the huge waiting list for government housing. I looked at many places - most out of financial reach. The ones I could afford looked (and smelled) bad. I decided I could 'change' the appearance and the smells - but not the budget.

So, I rented the 'worst house in the best street'. I went through a real estate agent and asked if I could meet with the owner. When he came around (which most don't do regularly with managed properties), he was the first to admit the place needed work (mostly cosmetic).

I suggested to him that I would spruce the place up a bit and in return my rent would not go up while I lived there, plus we agreed that I would be entitled to two weeks rent free over Christmas!

I have painted the entire inside of the house for about $200 (including feature walls, and old laminated cupboards) by buying mis-tinted paints and laybying paint specials. I ripped up the old carpets and polished the floor boards (about $150 in equipment hire and food for my 'helpers') I also got second hand carpet for free from the local paper and replaced the old stuff in the kids bedrooms. I got curtains and blinds from the op-shop and sale tables (about $50 in total)

As for the outside - my place looks better than most of the privately owned homes now! A few boxes of lawn seed (about $3.00 from supermarkets), a bit of hand watering and weed pulling and I have a great front lawn.

I built flower beds with bulk seedlings ($0.45c per punnet from the local nursery - discontinued or 'sick' stock). People in the street are always telling me how great the house looks and they can't believe its the same place!

I work and go to university, as well as look after my children - so all this has been achieved over the last two years. My landlord is happy, we are happy and the money I save weekly in rent (between $50 - $60 per week) allows us to go on holidays once a year and have a few extras!