My uni studies STOPPED me biting my nails!

I've been enjoying long, beautiful nails for 30 years, thanks to a method called behaviour modification! I was required to do it as part of a psychology unit at university. It is a method which rewards good behaviour and punishes bad behaviour. This is the method:

1. You determine what you want to change: I want to stop biting my fingernails.
2. You determine what would be a good reward. I will give myself $1.00 coin.
3. You determine what would be a good punishment. I will give $2.00 to charity. Note: It is best that the punishment is worse than the reward, so you can obviously achieve your positive goal ASAP. The simpler your rewards and punishments are, the better. I used the money to purchase a scarf but you could do it for anything.
4. You work out what you need to motivate yourself to achieve that positive outcome. I used hand cream daily, I used oil to massage the cuticles daily, I painted my nails with nail hardener and once the nails grew past my fingers, I got manicures regularly.
5. Draw up a table as shown below, to keep track of your progress daily to get to your eventual goal:

Day 1 – Outcome: I put my fingers in my mouth So you put a cross in the negative box and take the punishment. Negative Positive Punishment Reward x $2.00 paid to charity

Day 2 – Outcome: I didn’t put my fingers in my mouth So you put a cross in the positive box and take the reward Negative Positive Punishment Reward x $1.00 paid to myself

From memory I stopped biting my nails after the second week and kept going until I grew my nails to the length I wanted them. I found that it took about 10 weeks to achieve the outcome I wanted. I didn’t think I would get long fingernails, but I did and continue to do so!

Dishwashing liquid breaks down hard to remove stains

I have found a cheap and effective solution for tough laundry stain removal! Stains such as fats or body odours can be notoriously hard to remove. Normal washing powders may be made for getting out dirt and stains but not for breaking down fats and body fluids. To combat the problem, I simply add a squirt of dishwashing liquid to the wash, along with my normal powder and soaker and it works like a charm. After all, it breaks down grease and fatty food residue when doing dishes, it makes sense for it to work on clothes too!

Careful planning feeds large family for $115 a week

I feed my family of six on a little over $230 a fortnight with a bit of planning and a lot of baking! I buy a bulk 2kg pack of beef mince from Aldi ($11) and a 2kg pack of chicken ($20) as well as jars or packs of sauces. I separate the mince into four 500g lots and make rissoles with one lot (adding grated carrot and zucchini), then I put the rest away for spaghetti, pasta bake and burrito/taco night. This makes four main meals and we often have leftovers for lunch the next day.
I take three or four of the chicken breasts and slice them in half or into thirds, tenderise them with a mallet and cook them for sandwiches. I slice and dice the rest of the chicken for stir fries, casseroles, wraps and burritos. This gives me another four or five main meals plus leftovers. This way I spend around $230 on my main shop a fortnight, including nappies. I bake a lot which cuts back on the cost of expensive snacks for the children and I always have a pack of jelly on hand to 'treat' them when the cupboards are really bare
I also plan my meals around what fresh veggies I have in the fridge and leave the frozen ones until after I have run out of fresh ones, and I alternate rice and pasta with couscous and potatoes or cauliflower bake.
It just goes to show that frugal and planning don't have to mean boring!

Aussie Soap Supplies

For an outlay of $65 I purchased chemical-free ingredients to make shampoo, baby bubble bath, moisturiser, hand wash and washing liquid. I made 500ml shampoo, a litre of washing liquid, a litre of hand wash, a litre of beautiful light moisturiser and 500ml baby shampoo and bubble bath. All I added were essential oils and water to the ingredients and I still have enough ingredients to make several more litres of any product.

My next outlay for a further $50 was for packaging; containers and tubes to make shampoos, moisturisers and lip balms for Christmas gifts. I have saved myself a small fortune. There are several good websites offering these products, however, I found 'Aussie Soap Supplies' the best, which offers recipes as well. http://www.aussiesoapsupplies.com.au/