Sock it to draughts with cheap 'door snakes'

With every winter, it's important to make our heating systems as efficient as possible. Draughts under doors (both to outside and to rooms not currently being used) let heat escape, driving heating costs up. Door snakes are often advertised at around $10 each. This means for a whole house you may be looking close to $100. Instead, you can use a pair of men's long, knee-high socks! These can be filled with rice (or sand if you have easy access to it). Either tie a knot or see the top to seal. You can purchase ind the socks at cheap shops or ok shops, use the cheapest rice you can buy and you can make a house-full for less than the price of one commercially produced door snake.

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!

Better food, less vet trips

We have found that changing our brand of dog food from a 'cheap' supermarket brand to a vet-only brand has effectively saved us $5,000.

We used to feed our pets a good quality but cheap brand of food, costing around $20 per week in two kilo bag lots. We decided to experiment and switched to an ultra premium brand that is only available from veterinary hospitals and some pet shops. At $35 for a two kilo bag, it was quite a shock and we thought this was a mistake! However, we stuck it out for a month as planned and came to the following conclusions:

1. They gained condition, coats were shinier, softer and thicker and whiskers grew longer and stronger.
2. They had more energy but lost their tendency to behave like children at a five year old's birthday party!
3. They 'pooped' less and the odour of their urine and faeces was reduced by at least 75%.

The biggest realisation was that they only ate their way through half a bag every week, meaning we were now saving $10 a month just on food alone. Plus, we no longer had to feed supplements and we saved money on litter and both time and money on litter tray cleaning.

In the long term, we have found that their odour has decreased so much that they only need a shampoo bath every six months, not every two weeks as previously.

We have also had less trips to the vet and some chronic conditions have disappeared or become easier to manage without medication. A saving of close to $5,000 per year for us. We love our local vet and so do our pets, so we still visit regularly - but only for a cuppa and a chat!

Inexpensive egg McMuffins

For a great-tasting, quick, healthy and inexpensive breakfast, make your own egg McMuffins.

Fry six eggs, using egg rings, (if you don't have any, check your local discount store), fry bacon if you wish, and toast your muffins. Once all ingredients are cooked, assemble egg McMuffins, including sliced cheese and bacon if you like.

Once assembled, wrap each muffin in alfoil and freeze. In the morning, simply take the muffin from the freezer and cook in a moderate oven for 20 minutes. For an even quicker breakfast, unwrap from alfoil and wrap in paper-towel. Place in microwave for at least one minute, depending on microwave.

My kids love these for breakfast, and they only cost around $0.60c each!

I buy Home Brand English Muffins which are around $1.60.