What do you really feel? It's time to admit your true feelings to yourself.

How do you really feel? What would you like to say to someone that you're holding back on saying? Sometimes we don't allow ourselves to acknowledge what we truly feel about an event, a person or a relationship, we protect ourselves from getting hurt. So we avoid difficult conversations, we avoid saying what we really think, we block out our true feelings, all in the hope of protecting ourselves. But if we're brave we could reach out and say what we want to say, we could really feel the feelings we are trying to hide. Even if the conversation is difficult, it would be worth having. Instead of wondering and worrying you could come out and actually say what's on your mind. Even if you have missed the boat and you can't have whatever you want to have, it would be better than wasting your life in limbo, not knowing the truth. Who knows the other person might also be hiding their true feelings, scared of being rejected or hurt too.

The Beauty of Simplicity

Have you noticed how much choice we have these days? How even the simplest of tasks like buying a coffee, choosing a loaf of bread has become and endless array of choices. Sometimes I wish that we had less choice. That we had to choose between this or that. That someone else would source a couple of possible options rather than me being faced with twenty different flavours and sixteen different sizes, ten different brands and 40 different prices. Which one is the best value for money? Which is going to taste best? Which one should I choose?

Shopping at the bigger stores is a nightmare. Just standing near the mayonnaise shelf and being faced with making a choice. I always choose the same brand, and if that brand isn't available then I walk away. But there are so many different sizes, flavours, bottle types, it simply blows the mind. I find it far easier to choose in a smaller store where their is less choice. Only a couple of brands, two or three sizes and only one or two flavours.

I long for the old days when you had a choice of eating what you were given or starving. Of a much simpler life where you ate simple food, rather than worrying because you haven't been able to source smoked garlic or honey roasted partridge (and that's just for the kids packed lunch).

In future when faced with buying a big item, I am going to ask the assistant to show me two possible options given my requirements and price bracket. In fact I will probably do what I did when I was buying my last laptop. Fed up with being shown a vast array of different laptops I eventually said to the assistant ' Ok if you were going to spend £x on a laptop, which one would you buy yourself?' He grinned and walked away from the array of rubbishy laptops he had been showing us and said very confidently. 'This one!..do you want it in red or blue?'

Fortunately choosing between this colour or that colour wasn't a big deal, we picked the blue one and off we went.

The real reason why New Year's resolutions are doomed to fail.

Make just ONE change. The rest will fall into place.

The year begins and we all have good intentions. We're going to quit drinking, smoking, eating cake, lounging on the sofa, over spending, over eating and otherwise enjoying ourselves. We dive into the new year attempting to change all these things all at once! To go from a diet mainly consisting of chocolate and mince pies washed down with a particularly nice branded Irish cream liqueur, slobbing on the couch watching re runs of movies and only moving to go to the loo, we suddenly decide overnight to eat nothing but celery, drink nothing but water, and take ourselves off to the gym 4 times a week.

 It's a shock to the system, especially our sluggish, mince pie fueled systems and it's doomed for failure from the start. The reason it is doomed is because it is too big and complicated to imagine. There are too many elements to the change.

These things need taking slowly. We need to pick just one thing to focus on and get good at doing just that one new thing. We need to find time to fit it into our daily routine, we need to change the habits that have become hard wired over the years, to make new default settings. We need to reset our behaviour so we  instinctively know what to do in any given circumstance. Only then have we any real chance of making the changes we long to make.

10 ways to save money this new year (and still have fun!)

1. Look out for gift sets marked at half price or better. Think about who has a birthday coming up and who would like to receive a nice half price or better gift set (obviously avoid perishables, no one is going to love you for giving them a fruit basket in March even if it was a bargain in the January sales).

If you see a gift set containing full size products that you normally use, again marked down to half price, buy yourself a set. I favour a particular brand of moisturiser which helpfully was included in a gift set at the supermarket along with a number of other full size items for way less than I would expect to pay for the single item. Result!

2.Trade gift cards with a friend. If you've received a gift card for a store that you wouldn't be seen dead in let alone shop in, it's fine to swap them with a friend. Just remember which friend gave you the token in the first place. Do not attempt to do a swapsy with the friend who originally gifted the gift card to you.

3. Never leave the house without eating first. You might not feel hungry when you set off, but it's a dead cert that by the time you arrive at your destination you'll be starving and buying food whilst out is not only expensive, but also generally high in calories, fats sugar and salts (unless you're self-disciplined enough to avoid the tempting display of doughnuts and cupcakes and opt for a nice banana instead.) Remember to make sure your children (whatever age) are also fed and watered before you set off, otherwise you and they are going to end up fed up and hungry and no fun at all, buying lunch for the family can be an expensive business so avoid at all costs.

4. If you must eat out, it's cheaper to eat out at lunch time than dinner, so if possible fit in a crafty lunch to catch up with friends. If you are pressed for time having a lunch date can be very handy as you have the excuse of going back to work if it's a weekday lunch so it doesn't need to take up the whole day. If you would LIKE it to take up the whole day choose to meet at a weekend or on your day off. This works well with blind dates, as at least you're not left alone in the dark with them, and there are normally a hundred other things you need to do so you're never short of an excuse to leave if he is the most dull guy in the world. If he isn't he will end up wanting more, and that's a bonus.

5. Check out events in your local area. Your local free directory delivered to your door is a good place to look for free events (especially those with a free buffet or refreshments afterwards).

6. Your local pub might have a pub quiz night. This can be a great way of having a relatively inexpensive night out, for a couple of quid you can meet friends have a drink and a laugh and then afterwards the pub is usually generous enough to serve food (often free) which is far cheaper than going out for dinner.

7. Invite your friends for supper. Another great way to have fun with friends is to invite them round for supper. Have an informal meal where everyone brings something with them, be it dessert, a starter, a main dish, salad, wine, chocolates etc. If you have enough people you can get away without having to spend a lot on food or wine, as the guests will bring it with them. It is a good idea to have some spare items on stand by in case anyone doesn't turn up or worse turns up without bringing the agreed item with them. Failing that having the numbers of the local takeaways that deliver would be a good back up plan.

8. Make good use of loyalty cards. Here in the UK most places seem to have a loyalty card scheme and offer a variety of benefits from free coffees to money off, free products, days out etc. If you usually shop in a store with a loyalty card scheme make sure you sign up to their scheme. If you forget your card, check whether they will add on your points afterwards.

9. 'Like' or 'Follow' your favourite companies on social media sites. This is a great way of finding out when the next sale is going to be on, what is on special offer, and when new products are released. They sometimes release competitions or special discount codes only available to people who have 'liked' or 'followed' them.

10. Fresh air is free! You don't necessarily have to buy a gym membership to get fit. You can get fit by taking a walk in the fresh air. You could build up to going for a jog, or a run when you get fitter. If you set a walking date with a friend you can have a catch up and get fit at the same time. Sometimes it's easier to talk to a friend when you're outdoors and no one can over hear you. If you like animals volunteer your services as a dog walker, this way you get paid for getting fresh air and keeping fit! Double result.

Following the moon phases

The new moon is a great time to start attracting things to you, starting new projects and getting organised. You may feel energized, or the urge to spring clean! This is due to the energies of the moon.

 The full moon is a great time for reflection and rest ~ some of you will notice that around the time of the full moon you feel sluggish and grumpy, that's normal, it's simply that time of the moon! Honour the way you feel, and work with your natural biorhythms. 

As the moon starts waning from the time of the full moon to the time of the new moon, this is a great time for de-cluttering, finishing off projects, making amends and finishing any relationships that are no longer working as they should. 

You can find the phases of the moon online or in your diary. If you want to work with the moon phases and see them as an ebbing and flowing cycle then you might like to put them into your online calendar so you can be reminded as they arise.

Ordering more abundance into your life!

Tomorrow (1st January 2014) is going to be a special day. It's where not only is it the first day of the new year it's also the new moon. Both of these on their own are great days to start new projects, wipe the slate clean, start afresh, and start attracting to you the things you want in your future. Combined, the power is going to be enormous.

How do you go about getting more abundance into your life? Some people write abundance cheques and for them this works well. However I am beginning to think that there might be a better system. Cheques for me have always had negative connotations, especially if I have been on the writing end rather than the receiving end. So this year I am going to try a new idea. Rather than writing a cheque, (which can be a bit limiting especially if what you want to attract into your life isn't actually money, but opportunities, things, people, experiences, breaks etc,) I am going to create an order form instead. Just like you would if you were going to order something over the internet.
This way you can list all the lovely things, people, experiences and opportunities you'd like to attract along the way!

Be specific, it is OK to ask for specific things, it's not rude no matter what your parent's told you!

Once you'd written down your order, put it away and forget about it. Don't keep placing it, worrying about it etc. I have a little jar that I put things in when I need to 'forget' about them.

During the next few weeks, look out for signs and for opportunities that might come your way that relate to your order. Follow up any leads you might have, look out for great sale bargains on items on your list, make a call to a prospective employer, take any opportunities that might arise.

Make your dreams come true!

Money needs to be money well spent!

If you're selling something be it a product or service, it needs to give your customers value for money.

They need to feel that the money they have invested in your product or services is going to give them more value than the amount they're spending on your product or services. If you have a bad back, not having a bad back is bound to be worth more than the £50-100 you would spend on visiting an osteopath/chiropractor to sort your back out. If you can't sleep, spending money on a new mattress will probably be worth the money you spend on it, if the end result is you get a good night's sleep. A dishwasher or washing machine is worth more than you will spend on it, because it offers you a time and energy saving solution to washing the pots by hand or visiting a launderette every week.

If you expect people to pay a premium price you have to offer them something vastly better than the cheaper option available on the high street, and you have to let them know that it is a vastly better product than they can get on the high street! No one wants to feel short changed so offering an inferior product or service, at an inflated price is only going to cause upset and hassle and make your customers or clients feel cheated. Annoy or upset your customers and they won't be back for more of your products or services and the comments they'll make to their friends won't lead them to come to you either.

Before fixing your pricing structure, find out what people would be willing to pay for such a product or service, and how often they are likely to buy it. A once in a lifetime purchase such as a wedding dress might have a greater ticket price than an every day jumper, but this is reflected in the sheer fact it is special and a once in a lifetime purchase. People need jumpers more frequently than wedding dresses, so are not going to pay huge amounts for jumpers, but would be happy to come and buy another jumper off you next week, should the one you buy off them this week be good value, hold it's shape, be washable, and fashionable.

If you are selling a premium product, make sure that your packaging and marketing materials also reflect this. Don't try fobbing off your customers with cheap bags, a website made by your neighbour, and marketing materials printed off on your pc! Make the whole thing look streamlined by choosing branding carefully to reflect your premium products and give your customer a premium experience. This way they will hopefully recommend you to their friends and come back to you next time they need a similar product or service.