No need for takeaways with home 'auto replen' system

I have finally found a grocery system that works for me! My husband calls it 'auto replen' grocery shopping. First, I buy discounted Woolworths e-gift cards from the Entertainment Book (saving 5%). Then, having downloaded the Woolworths app on to my phone, I purchase a delivery saver, $50 for three months of deliveries. This works out about $2 per delivery for us.

Whenever we run out of something, or it is getting low, I add it to my shopping list on my phone. Once we reach $100, I then purchase the groceries. Woolworths has the same prices in store as online and the same specials. I have found this reduces takeaway significantly, as we order 2-3 times per week (I have three adults and three children in my household, plus frequently two to four young children or teenage guests. If we want something in particular, we need only wait one day for it.

We liken it to the automatic replenishment system that the larger department stores have. It works for them and it works for us too!

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!

Grandmotherly skill finds new purpose

A novel idea to help my Mum save on new ceiling fans has led to some fantastic and unexpected long-term savings! After being quoted a whopping $160 per unit (pensioner rate) to get ceiling fans installed, we took matters into our own hands and placed an advertisement on local notice boards. It read: 'Experienced licensed electrician required to install three ceiling fans. I would like to trade the costs by doing your washing and ironing for one month.’

Within a few days, Mum had received several enquiries and selected a nice, young single guy who needed a 'mother's touch' to some of his clothes - a lot of stain removal and buttons re-sewn. He installed the fans and dropped and picked the clothes up from her place on a weekly basis. To our surprise we learned he also had connections to plumbers and gardeners and she was soon able to have her bathroom wall retiled in exchange for scrubbing out an oven and re-organising a food pantry for a couple that were having a baby soon.

It didn’t stop there! Before long she was taking up hems, sewing on buttons and doing basic mending in exchange for garden maintenance and mowing lawns. These guys are ripping up old items from homes every day with their trades so these days they even search around to find her the cheapest - or even free - items if she needs them, as well as providing an oven door and dials on her heater for free. They often come across things that others could use but end up in the tip instead.

As a pensioner, Mum has time on her hands and is very experienced in household chores but has a limited income. This trade of skills and services means she can now carry out tasks within her ability and has made some fantastic friends. Her place looks amazing and is she even happy to do babysitting for the families. In turn they really appreciate having a cuddly grandmother figure around. She has a new purpose and a whole new social network too - in fact she looks 10 years younger!

Garage sales changed my life

We are retirees. We eat well, dress well, and live in a modern house, with an interesting flower and vegetable garden. Our income would probably be classed as poverty level, but we live like kings, because we have one shared vice. We are garage sale fanatics. Little in the house has been bought new. Older furniture has been restored, as my husband has clever hands. Once a year he sells the surplus at a huge garage sale, and it usually pays for a holiday.

We buy books, linen, furniture, new clothing, garden plants, sewing material and cottons, timber for building toy boxes and hall stands at garage sales. Our kitchen TV cost $25. The little one in the bedroom is 25 years old, so I bought a video recorder for $5.00 and can now get all the channels through the video. My three telephones and the answering machine are all from garage sales, as are my kitchen crockery, blankets and the beautiful satin embroidered bedspread that cost $5.00.

I am like a centipede with shoes as I buy good brands that have been tried on in the shop and are as new. It is the only place I can find the good comfortable shoes I favour. Likewise, many of my clothes are top brands. I bought a $168 pant suit for $10 because the lady's husband didn't like the colour.

The deep freeze, the two coolers, bed lights, beautiful big mats are all from our Saturday morning treks. We list the sales and use a street map to plan a route to save petrol.

Sometimes tinned food or home-made sauces are available, and if the vendors have fruit trees they sometimes sell the fruit by the plastic bag - picked yourself.

Nothing is sacred at garage sales, and provided you need the items there are some real bargains.

How about our home security system for $2.00, because the seller couldn't work it? A little investigation on the Net yielded full instructions.

My computer came from a government auction at one-third of the price quoted for a second-hand model at our local shop. Needed a bit of study to set it up, but I love puzzles, and so had it running with the Windows 98 program I bought for $10. I also keep the grandkids in Playstation games, and my daughter has been married for 20 years and has never bought any linen as I have kept her supplied with good quality buys.

My hobby started after my divorce when I found myself with an old 50's house to renovate and little furniture. So I started to buy 50's vintage furniture as well as renovating materials - paint, wallpaper, timber, doors, curtains.

Along the way I met a widower with the same ideas, so garage sales have provided a lot of rewards - a good life, enough money to enjoy ourselves, and a multitude of associated hobbies and friends.