Low cost fake nails stop me biting real ones

I have found fake nails are the best solution to stop me from biting my real ones. You don't have to spend a fortune on salon acrylics every four weeks either. There are DIY kits on AliExpress such as Belle Fille which look easy and are affordable. Making sure to use a cuticle oil or cream regularly during the day also helps to stop picking of said cuticles too!

DIY 'mixed vegie bags' makes meals faster and easier

This simple tip saves me money and time every day when preparing meals. Whenever I buy frozen vegetables, I bring them home and immediately divide them into portions, placing them into ziplock bags, then popping them in the freezer. I often divide up broccoli, peas, cabbage, sprouts, carrots into the same bag. This way, they take up less space in the freezer and I know exactly how many meals they will serve. None ever get wasted and they can be either stored together or placed with other food to make it instantly possible to grab a complete meal. The same method works well with fresh food in preparation for things such as school fruit or lunch breaks, when time is at a premium in the mornings!!

Use it or lose it

As part of my $21 Challenge to use all the food in the pantry, I have set up a 'use up soon' basket containing items getting close to their use-by date. This way, I will remember to use things before I have to throw them out.

Only cook once a month

My husband and I have become '30 Day Gourmets' and enjoy both the savings and the extra time we spend together as a result! We recently looked into 'Once a Month Cooking', which we were interested in because neither of us really enjoys cooking tea when all we really feel like doing is relaxing after being at work.

After gathering ideas of how the scheme works (literally - you cook once a month!), we thought we would try it by cooking for a fortnight first. We gathered recipes from the Internet and raided the recipe books (the recipe must be able to be frozen) and came up with such things as marinated chicken, curried sausages, spaghetti sauce, apricot chicken and all kinds of things.

We then picked a Sunday, turned up the stereo and did nothing but cook! It turned out to be a really enjoyable day. Once cooked and cooled, the food is put into freezer bags or takeaway containers (which cost almost nothing) and frozen. What we thought would last two weeks actually lasted three!

Each night, I would take out a container or bag for the next night and leave to defrost in the fridge. We then dragged out the steamer, threw in all the vegetables and once a week cooked up a big pot of rice. We would then have a small portion of meat (which also lowers fat-intake levels), have a pile of yummy steamed vegies and a little rice - the result being full bellies, smiling faces and very minimal washing up!

This not only saved us money but also time. Usually groceries cost us $150 for two weeks. With the cost of buying meat and grocery items needed for the cook-up ($100) and in-between buyings of vegetables once a week ($10), we spent a total of $130 when we would have spent over $150. (This is because at each shop we would grab things we liked, but didn't really need). Having a selection of meals already cooked for the weeks ahead feels great!

At first a big cook-up seems difficult if you aren't motivated, but you can start small and next time you are cooking something that would freeze well, cook double or triple the recipe and freeze excess. I also went to the local library and got out some books on freezer cooking which also had suitable recipes in them.

My husband and I honestly can't believe how we survived before our cook-ups and love the idea of actually doing things we want to each night, rather than being a slave to the kitchen!

NB - A book from the library which was a big help in planning recipes was 'The Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 Day Gourmet'. The '30 Day Gourmet' book is available on eBay and from most bookstores.