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My mother's tricks to make ends meet is highly applicable sixteen years down the road. My mother had five to bring up while I have one. She had multiple jobs while I had one until recently when I gave my job up to have more time with my son.

These are our tricks:

Food and Drinks
Make friends with the sellers in the market and shopkeepers. They will always give you the best deal and sometimes slightly more for the same price! One kind old lady even gave me free tips to make the food taste better!

Buy food in bulk from reliable stores. I realize that the 'fresh' meat sold is actually thawed from the same frozen meat that is sold but it costs more. It does not make much of a difference buying the frozen version in bulk as it costs cheaper. You can keep it in the freezer. Just choose what you want with care and take note of the expiry date. It is safer to buy your frozen cuts in bulk from a more reliable store and spend a dollar or two more, than to risk contamination. You will end up paying more for medical bills if you are not healthy!

By cooking one dish meals such as healthy pasta you save on electrical and water bills. Let the dinner dishes soak overnight. When you make the final rinse, put the stopper in to collect the rinse water and use it to soak breakfast dishes.

While I cook in the kitchen, my son does his homework with me. We do save on electricity and I am able to save time as I could glance at his work while waiting for the water to boil.

My son is used to sharing aerated drinks with me when we have meals out of the house. We strike a compromise by having aerated drinks at home occasionally. Drinks cost much less from the stores than at restaurants. We have also started drinking water instead of sweetened drinks and are the healthier for that matter. Another good and healthy way to have the best of both worlds is to eat some bread or salad before you go to a restaurant with your friends. You will not order much when you are not that hungry! It is also healthier for children to have smaller portions and have more frequent meals!

Clothes and Shoes
Reject shops and sales are what you should look out for. As long as you choose clothes that do not go out of fashion and inspect them carefully before you buy them, you are likely to save tons for the same piece of clothing!

Recycle hand-me-downs. My aunts' clothes came to me as she was short and stumpy like me. Imagine a twelve year old wearing clothes that once belonged to a forty year old! Once, I had this long pair

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