You would not believe it but I have typed a wonderful addition to my blog only to lose the lot. So now I have to start again......

So what did I write about there was the fact that I had lost 10lbs or nearly 5 kilos since the beginning of the year. It may not seem a lot but I need to go slow and steady so my skin has time to adjust and besides it is not much fun to deprive yourself of everything you enjoy.

I came to realise that by putting on so much weight last year - and I must admit I did have a great time doing that - was not very financially responsible as I had to spend more money than necessary on shopping and not only on food but clothes as well. Extra weight means bigger sized clothes.

This year I decided to reduce my food intake and move over the diet softdrinks, cordials and diet sugars, which all don't taste any different.

I have implement three new ideas this year which I think are pretty terrific. The first is the use of teapots. We bought 2 stainless steel 4 cup teapots from garage sales and made teacosy's from old left over wool. The teapots are terrific value as we use use enough tea/coffee and sugar for three cups and fill it for 4 so basically we get another cup for free. There is no difference in taste and the teapots keep warm until the last drop which means that the kettle does not get turned on several times in the morning.

Right now it is summertime here and it has been stinking hot. I decided to help the kids sleep much better I turned their winter hotwater bottles into frozen iceblocks. I wrap up the rubber waterbottles in plastic to protect them from the sides of the freezer and have 2 for each kid so they have one whenever they need them.

Another is the realisation of how much water actually goes down our household drains. Think about it for a minute. We turn on the kitchen and shower taps waiting for the hot water to come through. We pour our cups and bowls down the sink when we are finished, we empty or drain away rice, pasta and boiled vegies when we are finished cooking them. How much water do you think you could save and use for other purposes such as potplants, vegie patches and fruit trees. I put a 5 litre bucket in the kitchen and need to empty it twice a day. So my vegie and herb garden is having a great time even in this drought and hot weather. The 2 gallon shower buckets are emptied 3 to 4 times a day onto outside potplants and fruit trees. My husband finally gave in to my nagging and hooked up our washing machine to hoses that pours all of our grey water on to the lawn.

This has a wonderful side benefit of bringing many different types of birds into our lush, green backyard and even a peacock turns up every morning.

So it may seem strange but it makes financial sense to use excess water than letting it all go to waste.

So I have been lean, green and mean over the last couple of weeks. There are plenty of other ideas I have been trying out that I would love to share but that has to be for another day. If you have ideas let me know. love to hear from you all.