Full strength DIY 'Dettol' spray for just 2c a bottle!

A little supermarket research led me to making a huge saving on keeping germs at bay! When my two young children had a gastro bug, I needed anti-bacterial spray to clean up and stop the spread of germs, which vinegar didn't touch. The cheapest anti-bacterial spray I could find was Dettol anti-bacterial spray which cost $4.20 for 500ml. On reading the active ingredients it said it contained Benzalkonium Chloride 0.095%. Then, I saw that a bottle of Coles brand disinfectant was $1.40 for two litres. I read the ingredients and saw Benzalkonium Chloride 1%. The instructions said to dilute it in a ratio of 1:20, or 30ml to 600ml water. So I bought that one, made up the solution and put it in an old spray bottle I already had. It worked just as well and cost just over 2c per spray bottle of prepared solution, compared to $4.20 for the Dettol spray! While Coles brand disinfectant says it can only be used on “floors, walls, bathroom and toilet areas”, not in kitchen areas like the Dettol spray, for me these were the only areas that I needed to disinfect and worked a treat!

Find the reason behind nail biting online

If you are spending money on solutions to put an end to nail biting, it could pay to instead get to the bottom of WHY you are doing it! Nail biting is associated with anxiety, because the act of chewing on nails reportedly relieves stress, tension, or boredom. People who habitually bite their nails often report that they do so when they feel nervous, bored, lonely, or even hungry. For more information, visit this link:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/onychophagia-nail-biting

Cheap Challenge snack

Here's a great way to save heaps of money on popcorn.
 
I buy a packet of 200 Home Brand paper bags for about $3.00 from Woolworths and a 500g bag of No Frills popcorn kernels for $1.16 from Franklins. I smear some butter in the bottom of a bag and pour in about 100g of kernels. I then seal off the top of the bag by folding it over twice.
 
I set the microwave to cook on High for about three minutes but I always listen closely because the time it takes the kernels to pop depends on how much I have placed in the bag. When the frequency of the 'pops' slows to about three to five per second, I stop the microwave and let the remaining kernels stop popping before removing the bag from the microwave and adding salt.
 
For a healthier version, I simply cut out the butter and salt. I sometimes add chilli flakes or chicken salt, however, there's lots of room to experiment with a variety of flavours. Each bag of popcorn works out to about $0.25c per serve, a huge saving on the ready-made variety at the supermarket.

$25,000 saved in three years

I was renting for nearly three years on a medium salary and really just living day by day. I decided that I wanted to get out of the renting cycle, so thought I would become educated financially. I started reading the 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' by Robert Kiyosaki series of books and immediately I saw there was no way out unless I changed my psychological views dramatically and acted on them.

I started a savings plan by setting up three bank accounts - one for daily spending (which gave me a small amount of easily accessed money), one for bills (which I used to pay credit cards and so on) and one for long term savings (through ING Direct) which was only to be touched for large goal purchases.

I requested my employer split my pay 30% in the daily and 70% in the bills accounts. Once the 30% ran out, I just sacrificed a bit more and went without the usual luxuries until the next pay. I soon found that I would spread the money out for longer until I hardly ever ran out. At the end of each month (or whenever the deadly credit cards had been paid), whatever balance was left in the bills account was transferred to my savings account.

I am happy to say that after three years, I have managed to save nearly $25,000 for a deposit for my new home, whilst accumulating 5.25% interest!