At this time of year money can often be a little tight for us all. The StairSteady team have come up with a few hints and tips on how you can save some money:

* Make a Menu for the Week – make a shopping list with the ingredients you will need for your menu. This will reduce waste and stop you buying items that will go off before you will eat them.

* Buy Own Brand – Supermarkets own brand goods are much cheaper than more well known brands. Buy it for two weeks and if you don’t notice the difference then keep it!

* Try a Local Market – If you buy in season vegetables and fruit from a market they are usually much better priced than the big stores that bring their produce many miles.

* Reduce Energy Costs – Shop around for energy providers, the internet or an independent magazine such as Which? (http://www.which.co.uk/) Will help you decide who will best meet your needs.

* Save Energy at Home – Don’t leave appliances on standby they can use up to 80% of the electricity as being on. Try to switch them off at the plug when not in use. Use energy saving light bulbs they use a fraction of the power. When replacing white goods go for the best energy rated one you can afford, it will save you money on your bills.

* Sell Unwanted Items - Everyone has items they no longer want, instead of throwing them away or letting them gather dust, sell or swap them! Local Car Boot sales or online auction sites are popular ways. There are also local newspaper sales sections and places such as gum tree http://www.gumtree.com/sheffield and free cycle http://uk.freecycle.org/ that sell or swap locally for free.

* Try Charity Shops – Charity shops have a wide range of things including clothes, household items, toys and games and books. There is often a bargain to be had!

* Use Vouchers – Many places have discount vouchers or reward schemes. Make sure you shop around for the one that fits in with your usual shopping habits. Check online for cheap day out vouchers or group buying sites. Look in papers for discount vouchers too.

* Use a Library - If you only ever read a book once then check them out at your local library rather than buying them, it saves on clutter too!

* Grow Your Own – It is possible to grow fruit and vegetables in very limited spaces. If you can turn over a section of your garden then you may well be able to grow enough for your families summer needs. Things can also be easily grown in tubs, hanging baskets and window boxes. They are fresh, chemical free and very cheap to do.

* Cook Your Own Meals and Cakes – Supermarket ready meals are often expensive and not very nutritionally balanced. If you cook your own meals from scratch but in bulk you can then freeze individual portions to use as your own ‘ready meal’. Cakes and biscuits are easy to make and cost a fraction of bought ones; children and grandchildren love to help too!

Home Safety Tips

The StairSteady team has done some research and come up with a long list of hints and tips to keep you and your property safe:

* Don’t walk around in socks or stockings on non carpeted floors. Try to wear rubber soled, low-heeled shoes when ever possible

* Get rid of small rugs as they are easy to trip up over.

* Make sure all of your carpets are properly fitted and all the edges are properly secured.

* Keep you home well lit using long life energy saving bulbs. Pay particular attention to stairs and walkways.

* Talk to your council, Social Services or local Independent Living Centre about having grab rails installed by steps, stairs, toilets and baths and showers.

* Get an anti slip mat for the bath and shower and replace it when it starts to loose its adherance.

* Avoid having any trailing wires. Try to group appliances next to power sockets if possible or consider having more sockets installed.

* Consider using a cordless phone or mobile to avoid having long telephone wires.

* Be tidy! Pick up anything that falls as soon as possible and think about putting small objects such as magazine racks and bins out of the way or beside large pieces of furniture.

* Wipe up any spills as soon as possible

* Never store heavy items or things you use often in high or hard to reach cupboards.

* Never keep anything on the stairs, keep stairs and walkways clear at all times.

* Take your time when getting up to answer the phone or door. Once you stand up take a second to make sure you don’t feel dizzy.

* Consider using nightlights for your bedroom and route to the bathroom or make sure you always switch the lights on before you walk across a room.

* If you need spectacles make sure you wear them at all times and get your eyes checked regularly.

* If you need a walking aid use it at all times and make sure you have one upstairs and downstairs so you don’t have to carry one on the stairs.

* Write out a plan if you fall so you know what to do as it is often difficult to think after the shock of a fall. You could also consider having a personal alarm system so you can get help if you need it.

* Install smoke detectors/fire alarms in your home. Some fire and rescue services in England offer free home fire risk checks. This involves firefighters visiting your home and offering fire safety advice for you and your household. They may be able to install your smoke alarm for free.

* Ensure your doors have adequate locks. Fit deadlocks to all outside doors and fit a security chain to the front door.

* Close and lock your doors and windows – even if you are only going out for a short time.

* Don’t leave valuables (handbags, keys, mobile phones, etc) in sight thought windows where burglars can see them.

* Remove keys from their locks and ensure they are put away, even if you are at home.

* Ensure that all ground and basement windows are fitted with locks.

* Never leave door keys under a doormat or plant pot outside.

* Use a security marker pen to mark your postcode on your property – this will enable the police to return any stolen property to you. Make an inventory and keep the list in a safe place.

* Light up inside your home – ensure that you have appropriate lighting and set some internal lights on timer switches, it gives the impression that a home is occupied.

* Secure important documents and valuable items in a safe place within your home or deposit them in a bank.

* Check all callers I.D. cards – all official callers from gas, electric, council, repair men etc all have I.D. cards with photographs and with a telephone number on and they should be happy for you to verify their identity.

Stay safe!

Beat the January Blues

Christmas and all the excitement of December has gone any many people start to suffer from the January blues. I have been doing some research on how to beat these blues naturally and have come up with my top 7 tips.. Each of them alone can help you to feel better so why not try giving one or all of them a go and start 2012 off feeling good about yourself?

Tip 1 Eat Happy Foods!

Some foods can leave us feeling sluggish and down these tend to be fatty, sugary or processed foods so try avoiding these for a while and stocking up instead on some of these which actively promote feeling good and protecting the body:

Flax seeds or other foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids – These have been shown to reduce symptoms of low mood and aid sleep. Good sources of these include oily fish and nuts. Some products are now fortified with omega 3 too.
Bananas – Bananas contain tryptophan which the body uses to produce serotonin. They are also packed with potassium and vitamin B6. They also can help regulate blood sugars.
Complex Carbs – Complex carbs are found in things such as brown rice, oats and pulses. They give a sustained energy release and can help promote a feeling of wellbeing as they help produce tryptophan and serotonin.
Vitamin B, B6 and B5 – These are essential for the body’s conversion of food into energy and they aid mood elevation. They help support the adrenal glands which help support the body’s response to stress. B6 is essential for serotonin synthesis.
Immune strengthening foods – garlic, onions, beetroot, peppers, chillies, sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, nuts, seeds, honey and blueberries. There are many more and they tend to generally be the raw and colourful ingredients in our diets.

Tip 2 Find out what’s making you feel down.

Ask yourself what is making you feel down in the dumps and rather than trying to push these feeling aside allow yourself to acknowledge them and then resolve them. To help to do this you can use the wheel of life, a tool used by many life coaches. The wheel of life is a circle divided by 8 spokes. Each of these spokes represents an area of your life:

1 – Health 2 – Money 3 – Social life 4 – Partner/relationship 5 – Work/career

6 – Friends and family 7 – Physical environment and home 8 – Personal growth/spirituality

For each of the spokes give yourself a score out of 10. Where you score less than 5 this is an area that you need to focus on and write out any problems that you feel are in this area and then try to find solutions for. Set yourself goals for these areas and problems. Try to double at least one of your spoke scores within a set amount of time e.g. I will spend more time with my family by the end of the month etc.

Tip 3 Set short and long term goals

This helps you have a purpose in life and helps you to keep focused on this purpose rather than concentrating on the negative aspects of your life. The sense of achievement that reaching your goals gives you helps to raise your confidence and self esteem. Make sure that your goals are all SMART (see the New Year’s Resolution blog for more information on this).

Tip 4 Socialise and build or maintain relationships and friendships

When you feel depressed or down you can start to isolate yourself, this increases the feelings of depression. Mixing with people does help to left the spirits!
Close relationships affect how we feel, so nurture them and if there is problems try to resolve them. If you need some help try organisations such as RELATE http://www.relate.org.uk/home/index.html
Friendships also affect how we feel, just having a friend to listen and talk to can make a huge difference. Make sure you devote some time to maintaining or making new ones. Remember it is quality of friendship that matters not quantity!
If you are having trouble making new friendships why not try: Joining a health club or gym, Joining a class at a local centre, Joining a team or a club, Joining a book club, Volunteering at a local centre or charity, Learning a craft, Joining a local Women’s or Men’s group, Joining a local drama club, Attending reunions or Joining a church. These are just a few suggestions!

Tip 5 Exercise

The effects on mood of exercise can be instant. Whether it is a workout at the gym, a simple walk in the sun or as a member of a team, exercise can be uplifting. This effect is partly due to the body releasing its mood boosting and pain killing endorphins. These are a drug free way to feel better. Exercise also has many other benefits including a healthier body and increased self esteem from looking and feeling better. There is lots of research that shows exercise is depression beating.

Tip 6 Sleep

Sleeping well can have a big affect on how we feel, look and perform on a daily basis. Sleep directly impacts upon our overall quality of life. Good quality sleep leaves our mind and body ready for a new day by enabling muscle repair, memory consolidation and the release of hormones regulating growth and appetite. It helps concentration and allows us to better make decisions and participate fully in activities. To help you to get better sleep make sure that you give yourself a regular bedtime routine that includes a wind down period with no food, caffeine or alcohol. Having a hot bath or shower and a milky drink can help relax the muscles and allow you to drift off to sleep naturally.

Tip 7 Ask for help.

If you still are feeling down and can’t seem to shake the negative thoughts and feelings then ask for help. There is no shame in admitting that you need some help and turning to others to get it. Try your doctor or organisations such as MIND http://www.mind.org.uk/

I hope that this January and the rest of 2012 is a happy and healthy one for you.

New Year’s Resolutions

Every year many people set themselves New Year’s resolutions that begin on the first of January and if they are lucky carry on till mid March! I am just as guilty as most, so how can you make sure that the resolutions you set are ones that can be kept for the whole year?

The top ten resolutions set each year are:

Spend more time with family and friends
Increase fitness,
Lose weight,
Quit smoking,
Enjoy life more/reduce stress,
Quit drinking,
Get out of debt,
Learn something new,
Help others
Get more organised.

The reason so many of these resolutions fail seems to be that there are life changing and it is incredibly difficult to go either cold turkey or break long ingrained habits. So how could they be changes to make them achievable?

By breaking each resolution down into manageable and observable goals rather than rigid resolutions they become far easier to tackle. Goals can begin by being small steps that build into increasingly difficult ones as you become accustomed to the change. By breaking the resolution down you get the feeling of achievement and accomplishment as each small step is met. Rather than seeing any setbacks as huge failures new strategies can be found to meet that small part of the goal.

If you take one of your resolutions and then break it down into a series of goals that are to be met in a specific amount of time such as: a daily to do list, this week I will.. by the end of the month I will.. in 3 months I will.. in 6 months I will... By the end of the Year I will.. This allows you to regularly see if you are still on track to meet your final goal and re adjust your plans if not.

Goals should be SMART, that is:

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Relevant/Rewarding/Realistic
T – Time bound

Specific is the What, Why and How of the goal. Ensure the goals you set are very specific, clear and easy. Instead of setting a goal to lose weight or be healthier, set a specific goal to lose X cm off your waistline or to drop a dress size or to run X miles in X amount of time. Then review the goals and make sure they are still manageable steps towards your main resolution.

Measureable - Choose a goal with measurable progress, so you can see the change occur. How will you see when you reach your goal? Be specific: “I want to lose 1kg before the end of the month, 5kg in 6 months and 7kg in a year” shows the specific target to be measured. “I want to lose weight” is not as measurable. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that motivates you to continue the effort required to reach your goals.

Attainable – Goals you set which are too far out of your reach, you probably won’t commit to doing. A goal needs to stretch you slightly so you feel you can do it and it will need a real commitment from you. For instance, if you aim to lose 5kg in one week, we all know that isn’t achievable. But setting a goal to lose 1kg and when you’ve achieved that, aiming to lose a further 1kg, will keep it achievable for you. The feeling of success which this brings helps you to remain motivated. Be sure to set goals that you can attain with some effort! Too difficult and you set the stage for failure, but too low sends the message that you aren’t very capable. Set the bar high enough for a satisfying achievement!

Rewarding – When your goals are rewarding for you, it is much more likely that you will stay focused and motivated. By making the goals and resolutions personal to you rather than what other people ask of you it is far more likely that you will stay on track. When you achieve each goal towards the main resolution take the time to enjoy the satisfaction of having done so. Take time to see how the goal has taken you closer to meeting the resolution and look at the progress you have made. Reward yourself appropriately for having met your goal and it will help build your confidence and motivation towards meeting the next goal in your plan.

Time bound - Set a timeframe for the goal: for next week, in three months, by the end of the year etc. Putting an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards. If you don’t set a time, the commitment is too vague. It tends not to happen because you feel you can start at any time. Without a time limit, there’s no urgency to start taking action now. Time must be measurable, attainable and realistic.

Some other Hints and Tips for meeting your resolutions and goals are:

State each goal as a positive statement rather than as a negative eg I will, can, regularly, rather than I won’t, can’t or never

Set priorities – if you have more than one resolution then decide which one is most important to you and work on that one first it is easier too easy to feel overwhelmed by having too many goals to reach at once.

Write goals down – if you have no record of your goals it is much easier to give up on them.

Make sure your goals are small and achievable if things seem too large and difficult it is far harder to stay motivated.

Set goals over which you have as much control as possible. If you set goals based on personal performance rather than outcome you can keep control over your achievements rather than being dispirited by external reasons beyond your control.

Keep re assessing your goals to make sure you are still working towards your over all resolution and if not alter your goals to make sure you can still achieve what you set out to do!


Good luck!

Quote of the Week

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. – Ralph Waldo Emerson