Tap into the answer to no nail biting

If you are a nail biter, you may find the solution to quitting the habit by working on the sub-conscious mind. 'Tapping' is also known as the Emotional Freedom Technique. More information is available at www.thetappingsolution.com They are the best I have found. They have some free videos you can watch and follow along online, as well as books which you may find at your local library. Worth checking out!

Replace nail biting with horsetail herbal capsules

A tried and true way to prevent nail biting is to take horsetail herb capsules. Nail biters seek silicone and this herb supplies it. I am a naughty nail biter from way back (and still do because I am hopeless at taking pills!). However I swear horsetail capsules work and my nails grow like wildfire whenever I remember to take them!

Take a break from paying the bills

This simple bill payment system lets you take a holiday from paying bills at Christmas time.

Every time I receive a bill, I pay $10 more than the amount required. For example, if the monthly phone bill is $50, I pay $60. This has worked really well for me, and come December I am able to stop the phone, internet, power and rates payments. I use this money for Christmas gifts, safe in the knowledge that my bills are covered.

Declare war on the mortgage

We decided to get rid of the $96,000 mortgage on our home within three years. The massive load of interest we would pay to the bank was over the top and we felt that the bank owned us. The entire family bought into the project one hundred percent.

1) We replaced the nice modern cars with older, less costly ones. The net difference and any savings we had and $700 from a garage sale were paid off the mortgage.

2) We agreed to budget as if we were in a life and death war and the war had to be won in three years. I developed an Excel budget spreadsheet and we tweaked the numbers until we had a 'do-able' weekly saving of $220 extra to pay off the mortgage. Clothes purchases would be done exclusively at 'Harrods', our Salvation Army shop, until the war was over.

We decided to run any item not budgeted for over three 'hurdles'.

The first hurdle was 'could it shorten the mortgage war?'

The second hurdle was 'is it a health issue?' and if so what was the least-cost workable solution?

The third hurdle was 'could it wait until the end of the three years?'

3) As time progressed we became pretty smart at reassigning money to reward ourselves for enduring the war. This meant we could have a low cost take away sometimes, or spend on an out of budget item we had set our hearts on.

It took nearly four years to knock off the mortgage. Yes, we won the war a little later than hoped, but we won. If it had taken eight or nine years to win, it would still have been worth it.

The legacy of our war against the mortgage is that we have developed great money saving skills for life. And life is great.