Treating nails in a positive way keeps biting at bay

I have found the trick to keeping nail biting and picking at bay is to 'fiddle' with them in a positive way. I am 67 and have bitten my nails since I was about three years old. My parents tried bribes, threats, nasty brown stuff painted on my nails - all sorts. I grew my nails when I got married, when my daughter got married - and indeed have grown them since for various special occasions - so determination can help! I now have nails on my fingers, but still bite/pick at my thumbs. My dad said my fingers would become misshapen, and he was right. What helps me is to 'fiddle' with my nails in a positive way - emery boards, manicure tools, nail polish, the nail treatments to stop biting - the taste does stop automatic, thoughtless nibbling. I am not a chewing gum lover, but that can also help. I crochet too, which keeps my hands too busy to nibble at!

Priceless personalised gift for teachers

Our end of year teachers' gifts cost nothing and mean more to them than any expensive chocolates or mugs! For each of my young kids' teachers, we print a sheet each year titled "Tell Me About (Teacher's Name)..." It has 8-10 questions on it, with space for the kids' answers to be written in, either by them or dictated to an adult. Questions can be anything. We include things like:

How old is Mr X? What is Mr D's favourite food? Something Miss B always says is.... What does Miss J like to do for fun? Ms P loves it when.... If I had $1000 I would buy Mr H a .... Miss V is a great teacher because.... Mr K gets cranky when... And finish with: A Special Message for Ms A...

Every year it is a massive hit. Teachers love it and when there are multiple teachers, they love to get together and compare answers!

Cheap Challenge snack

Here's a great way to save heaps of money on popcorn.
 
I buy a packet of 200 Home Brand paper bags for about $3.00 from Woolworths and a 500g bag of No Frills popcorn kernels for $1.16 from Franklins. I smear some butter in the bottom of a bag and pour in about 100g of kernels. I then seal off the top of the bag by folding it over twice.
 
I set the microwave to cook on High for about three minutes but I always listen closely because the time it takes the kernels to pop depends on how much I have placed in the bag. When the frequency of the 'pops' slows to about three to five per second, I stop the microwave and let the remaining kernels stop popping before removing the bag from the microwave and adding salt.
 
For a healthier version, I simply cut out the butter and salt. I sometimes add chilli flakes or chicken salt, however, there's lots of room to experiment with a variety of flavours. Each bag of popcorn works out to about $0.25c per serve, a huge saving on the ready-made variety at the supermarket.

Professional rug cleaning - at the carwash!

I save over $300 every time I clean my rugs with this ingenious tip! About 12 months ago I bought three large rugs at a garage sale. They were marked, but mainly from day to day use. I figured even if I had to pay for them to be cleaned, it would still work out much cheaper than buying them new. Was I in for a shock when I rung around to get prices! To get just ONE of my average room sized carpets cleaned it was going to cost me around $100. Apparently they are harder to clean than a regular carpet, hence the hefty price. I was very disappointed and felt like I had just wasted the $110 I had spent on my 'bargain' rugs. I thought surely there had to be a better way - and there was! I rolled up one of the rugs and went down to the local do-it-yourself car wash. I hosed the dirt off the ground and then laid the rug down. Using the pressure spray on the soap cycle, I sprayed the rug, then used the rinse cycle to clean it all off! It was so easy; the high pressure made very light work of all the marks and left no soap behind. Best of all, it cost me less then $10 - a saving of $270 for all three rugs! The rugs dried in a day in the sun and they came up like new. My friends have all started doing this too and one of them swears that her rugs come up better then they did when she was paying to have them done professionally. It gets rid of all smells and marks right down to the backing. I wash my rugs every couple of months as I have three dogs and two young kids and this has saved me a whopping $1620 to date!