I often think it would be better for comments to be ordered newest to oldest, rather than having to go the end to see newest comment. I always read from the bottom (beats eyes in the back of your head!) up until I get to the last comment from yesterday. By the way @Luke Buckle still waiting to know where that pool is????

Hi Angela, great idea to plant a tree! We lived in Alice Springs for 6 years and found that a couple of shade trees made such a huge difference to our enjoyment of being out in the garden, We loved being outside for breakfast and later in the day/early evening. We noticed that Chinese Elm trees grew well and relatively quickly and we had a fast growing Mullberry tree there too, (although the fruit do stain when you tread on them). Brazilian Peppercorn trees grow very fast there too, but become a huge bush if you don't keep pruning them to the shape you want as they grow. I love that you're planting natives too, as they attracted birds to our garden, along with the trees. Murrayas are a lush green 2-3 metre fast growing shrub which thrive in Alice too. We planted several after realizing they grow there in full sun and/or part shade. They have white flowers with a beautiful perfume.

Cleaning the bathroom is a breeze, I have a nylon scrubber that I buy from Coles or Woolies and the cheapest shampoo I can find, after my shower I put a couple of squirts of the shampoo on the scrubber, run it from top to bottom all round my shower ( I have a large double head shower ) and over the floor then spray clean warm water from the top of the wall and let it run down the walls and glass area till the soap has gone, the shower in our 2nd bathroom doesn't have a spray so I use an empty Peters 2 litre icecream container keep filling it up with warm water and run this down the walls, hop out of the shower walk away and let it dry by itself -- once it is dry I have a perfectly streak free shower, for the bath and the vanity basins I use the same method, wipe them over with the scrubber and shampoo, flush with the warm water and leave, wipe the vanity tops, the area around the bath and window area with a damp cloth and hey presto a beautiful clean bathroom, this all takes only a few minutes and I always have a clean bathroom.

I agree with many of the suggestions from georgi02 and have used Kerrie Langloy 7's idea. Here are a few more ideas that we live by: 1. Get rid of the credit card. We have a debit card - cannot spend what you don't have. 2. If you can't pay cash for it, then you don't really need it (except for a house and car). 3. Work out a menu for the week and then write up a weekly shopping list. This way you have less waste. 4. Never go shopping when you are hungry. 5. If you don't get the supermarket pamphlets in your letterbox - go on line for the specials. 5. Growing your own herbs is great but they are not all available all year round so you can buy tubes of herbs that you can keep in the fridge or freezer. 6. Yes, you should have an emergency fund. But don't leave it in the bank - hide it away at home. Why? If the power goes down, ATMs don't work or are empty and/or banks closed - you are in trouble. 7. The old adage about looking after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves is still true today. All that loose coin in your pocket at the end of the day adds up to a healthy amount if you put it in jars, money banks, etc.