A 'glovely' way to stop nail biting

If you're a nail biter and want to stop, get your gloves on and leave them on. Don't knock it until you've tried it! It's impossible to get past a fleecy woollen layer, no matter how hard you try. If you can leave them on long enough, (maybe get the kind with fingertips so you can still use your phone!) the habit is broken and before long, your nails will be strong and long (er). Give it a go!

From nail biter to nail care teacher - tips that work

I was a nail biter from a very young age. Now, I teach others how they can have beautiful nails, without spending a fortune. All you need is a little basic nail care. Soak your nails in oil for 10 minutes each day for one month. Whatever oil is in the kitchen pantry will do. Massage each nail in a circular motion (not back and forth) with the ball of the thumb. After the first month, this treatment is only needed once a month .

The next step is to treat nails weekly for the next six weeks . Cleanse them with a nail polish remover, again starting at the end of the nail bed and working down the nail to the tip. From here on, apply a simple protective barrier nail polish every day. In the beginning, the nail polish builds up as you are learning - do not worry or be concerned about that - just only do the nails once a week. Every week also file and buff the nails. Only do this once per week, as one can over process the nails (just as you can do with skin and so on).

I have ended up teaching nails care for 20 years and all of my clients who have followed handling correctly as well as the process are the proud owners of beautiful nails and hands!

Wasteful teenagers get a dose of reality!

I have two daughters who live at home with me who are both university students. They both work part-time and pay me $50 a week each for everything. (And I mean absolutely everything!) I had begun to get sick and tired of their wasteful habits! I would find half eaten muesli bars lying around, week-old uneaten fruit, discarded shampoo bottles and toothpaste tubes with enough in the base for three or four more uses, soap in the bin which still had plenty of use left in it and the list goes on! Quite frankly, I'd had enough! I told them to keep their $50 a week and instead they could buy everything for themselves (snacks, lunches, toiletries and so on). I would provide their one evening meal and that was it. I even made them buy their own toilet paper. Well after two weeks they have decided to mend their ways! They just did not realise the costs involved in running a household and admitted they had taken things for granted. I only wish I had done it much sooner, for their benefit and also mine! One daughter can only afford to give me $50 still and her older sister has increased her amount to $70. However, I think things around here are going to be very different from now on as my Sad Sallys strive to become more like Happy Hanna!

Cheap toddler food at the shops

I've found a really cheap and nutritious way of feeding my toddler when we are out shopping. Most of the shopping centres around us have a food hall and most of them have a roast carvery type place (that sells roast meat, chips, vegetables and so on).

At the carvery, I ask for a bowl of peas, beans and carrots for my baby. Some places have given it to me for free, commenting how nice it is to see children eating vegetables. Other places will charge $0.50c and the most I have ever paid is $1.00 for a 'big' baby sized bowl full. Don't forget to ask if you are buying a roast meal there yourself, because they may throw in a baby sized bowl free.

It's great when I run out of food at the shops, if he eats everything I have taken with us, or if I've taken longer shopping than planned - it's really healthy and cheaper than buying baby food in jars (which my toddler refuses to eat anyway). We have been doing this since he was eating finger foods from around 12 months old. When he was small he used to eat one pea at a time, which provided hours of entertainment too!

There are other vegetables available but we avoid any that have been fried or cooked in oils (like roast potato) and those that have sauces (like cauliflower cheese).