Cheap MP3 download helped me quit nail biting for good!

I found the answer to quitting my lifelong nail biting habit in a $15 app! Over the years I had tried everything from bitter aloes to spending a fortune paying for regular manicures, thinking if I paid someone I would be too embarrassed to turn up with bitten nails. I do not like acrylic nails at all, so that was not an option for me. Now in my 50's, I shudder to think how much money I have spent on manicures over the years! The only thing that worked for me and worked immediately was hypnotherapy - but not the 'go-see-a-hypnotherapist-at-$300-an-hour-for-five-to-ten-sessions', no way! I simply purchased a downloadable MP3 for $15 USD. I listened to it each night as I went to sleep. Normally it takes about 21 days to change a habit, but I found that it worked for me completely after five days. I have no desire to bite my nails at all. I continue to listen to it from time to time as a "top-up" to maintain the cessation of nail biting. I bought my download online from www.stevegjones.com He has MP3 hypnosis programs for everything from weight loss to writer's block. They vary in price and often he has flash sales from as little as $1 per MP3 program. I am not affiliated with his company at all, but can highly recommend!

No more shopping lists with free app

We have eliminated paper shopping lists by using a free app called Our Groceries. You can link the app via entering one email address, so everyone who does the shopping at your house has the up to date grocery list at any time. The best thing is, you can customise the list to be very specific about what you want. There is a paid version of the app but we have been successfully using the free version and love it. No more wasted paper and no more forgetting things as the list is always with us!

Live like kings on an op shop budget

Our family is living proof that with a sensible outlook and good, honest hard work anything is possible. Our 'ugly duckling' house has gone from being the worst house to the best house in the street. Unfortunately the cost of renovating and extending it cut into our interior design budget. However we discovered that we could still furnish our dream home beautifully on a reduced budget by settling for second hand items.

For example, our curtains are fully lined and are gorgeous! One window was not a standard size and the quote for its curtains alone was $1500. Instead I found a perfect set at the op shop to fit our huge window for only $40! We have now finished the curtaining for a total cost of $250, saving us $5,000 on the original quotes. We have also bought stunning soft furnishings such as cushions, throws and floor rugs, again from op shops. Furniture we have picked up either second hand, from op shops or passed on from family. We have painted and scrubbed these pieces and now have a very up to date 'beach/country chic' look, all for little cost. The house is now finished and it looks stunning inside and out. We have Edwardian steamer chairs outside on the balcony bought for $2.00 each from the op shop. What a bargain! Our friends and family are amazed.

We now go to op shops first for all of our clothes. Our teenage kids really appreciate their 'brand name' bargains, such as polo shirts for $8 where the normal price would be $100 and many other items. I recently bought my husband a brand new dinner suit on "half price day" for $7.50! When you buy from op shops you pay cash - no credit card debt for us!

Every spare cent goes into paying off our mortgage and the house is almost paid off. We have worked hard doing a lot of building and landscaping work ourselves, as well as the interior, to save money. We live like kings but our outgoings are carefully calculated. We have taught our kids the benefits of hard work, and sensible spending. We are very proud of our lifestyle and the happiness it has brought us.

How to save $3000 a year on groceries

Here's how we saved $3160 on our food and grocery shopping in one year!

With two kids, it's difficult to find time to shop every week, so I now plan a month's meals in advance and do one big shop each month for basics and weekly shops for fruit, vegetables and meat.

We used to spend $150 a week ($7800 a year) shopping, then find we were throwing away fruit and vegetables because they had gone bad, and that we never had enough ingredients in the house for a full meal. We now spend a total of $170 a month grocery shopping, and $50 a week on fruit, vegetables and meat, if that. This equates to a yearly total of $4640 - a saving of at least $3160!

Planning the month's menu takes a maximum of 20 minutes, and each week we have two fish meals, two meat meals and three vegetarian. Recipes come from 'The Destitute Gourmet Cookbook', the Safeway magazine, magazines from the library and from friends. Each week has a mix of easy/quick recipes and more involved ones so that if I have a busy day, I can make something quick. I also plan the 'snacks' such as oat cake, date loaf and banana muffins.

I have a spreadsheet on the computer which helps me to plan how much pasta, rice, tinned tomatoes, and so on I need (four kilograms of rice, five packets of pasta, and so on).

After planning the menu, I write the shopping list and then hit NQR, Safeway and Coles while my husband looks after the kids. It takes only an hour if you're organised with a list and go at a quiet time of day! I prepare separate lists for the weekly fruit, vegetable and meat needs.

We are all now eating in a healthy way and always have cakes and biscuits on hand for guests - and we always use what we have before it goes off.

Other advantages are that other people can consult the menu to see what to cook if I'm not around. Because I'm only doing one big shop, I'm not buying as many impulse items - especially since the husband and kids stay at home! We're also finding that we have enough leftovers from one meal to last another, even after using some for lunches.
And we don't live on baked beans! Tonight we feasted on vegetarian sushi with pickled ginger and Asian dips. Last night was a Moroccan chicken casserole with couscous. Tomorrow night may be a tuna curry, home-made vegetable pizza or grilled balsamic lamb salad!

Doing this, we're saving more than $3000 a year for the family - and don't have the stress of shopping each week with two active children!