Millennials, money and beating the January blues

January can be a month for reflection. It can prompt new beginnings. The new year often inspires resolutions and change. It can be a month of hope.

But it can also be a difficult month. The excitement and seasonal joy of December and Christmas is gone. Without Christmas cheer the temperamental, harsh winter weather can dampen spirits. With many people having being paid before Christmas - a week earlier than normal - the month is a long one financially.

Not only does the extra time between paychecks put a strain on our bank balances but the expense of Christmas can also have a negative impact on finances. Many people are left struggling with debt that they have built up over Christmas and festivities surrounding the holiday season.

Social Media and Marketing for Bloggers survey

Over the past few years social media has become integrated into my daily life. My first dalliance with social media was way back when MySpace and MSN messenger was all the rage.

Then Facebook entered my life. At first it was all about catching up with old school friends then when I became a pregnant and then a mum it was a gateway to a group of fellow mums who I could chat with who were friendly and supportive. Living away from family it was also a way to share with loved ones pictures and stories of our family.

My app usage - how does it compare to the App Map of Britain?

Like the majority of the UK my smartphone is filled with my apps that I use as part of my daily life. Thanks to storage issues juggling my favourite and most needed apps is a fine art. Moving some apps to my SD card gives me a little more room to have an extra app or two but thanks to a number of apps being programmed not to be suitable to move to external SD storage storage is extremely precious and as such app choices is a carefully considered matter.

Whilst I would love to download any and every app of use to me from the whopping 2.2million apps available to download on android, storage stops that from happening. When a new app enters my life if I cannot move it to external storage I have to decide what app to remove so the shiny new app can be downloaded. Choosing between favourite apps can be a difficult predicament.

What parents do to unwind around the home?

Family life can be very hectic. There is always something to do and the list of chores and family events is never ending. Since becoming parents for the first time over 5 years ago life has been busy and crammed full with things to do and adventures with our little ones.

Now that we are a family of four, my time to get things done around the house when Bug is in school is gone with my time now occupied by a busy baby toddler. As I don’t seem to manage to get through the long list of household chores in the day anymore thanks to a busy, inquisitive and playful Jelly Bean even once the kids are in bed and fast asleep my day is not done as I try to catch up on some chores. Life as a parent is tiring, endless and busy…..but thanks to the joy and love the kids bring it is all worth it!

With life being so busy and tiring I cherish any time I get to relax and unwind. For me the best relaxing time is when I get to enjoy a long, hot soak in the bath or when I get rare time to snuggle up and watch a film (even better if I can last through the whole film without falling asleep!).

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Gorgeous Grandma Day.

Yesterday, the 23rd July 2015 was Gorgeous Grandma Day.

Gorgeous Grandma Day – a day to celebrate and thank Grandma’s.

Whilst I do not fully embrace unofficial celebration days such as this by spending a fortune on grandma themed gifts, it does give me an excuse to remember my late Mamgu (Grandmother in Welsh) and be thankful to my mum for being the best Mamgu to my children that I could ever ask for.

Underage drinking survey - Six out of seven parents are unaware that underage drinking is becoming less of a problem.

A recent poll illustrated that parents are misinformed when it comes to predicting the attitudes and behaviours of young people with regards to alcohol.

Although only 5% of 11 – 15 year olds drink alcohol on one or more occasion every week, parents in a recent survey consider this number to be higher than 30%.

When asked to guess the percentage of young teens who had tried alcohol at least once, parents put this figure at 57%. The official number was 39%.

The data reveals that several parents are getting it wrong when it comes to trends of underage drinking.

Although fewer teens are indulging in alcohol than in the last 5 years, many parents predicted that the opposite was true.

The survey, which was conducted at the same time as Global Be(er) Responsible Day, was organised by AB InBev UK, the brewers of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck’s.

The Alcohol Education Trust has been working in close partnership with AB InBev UK since 2013 to better prepare parents to talk openly and honestly with their children about the dangers of alcohol and responsible drinking.

The results of the survey only show that there is still much work to be done as the majority of parents believe that 11 – 15 year olds drinking alcohol is the norm.

Loneliness and the elderly - Stannah Stairlift survey.

Having grown up in a rural Welsh community where there is a strong ethos of looking after each other I grew up with the belief that helping others is important.  Thanks to my belief in helping others and a respect for others especially the elderly, since I was a child I have thought it is very important to care for the elderly.

Not only do I regularly spend time with and do my best to care for and help my elderly relatives, I also make sure to keep in regular touch with my elderly neighbours. For me personally I love spending time with elderly people; they have a lifetime’s worth of wealth to impart through their stories, are inspirational and are friendly company.

As I believe the British pensioners are valuable members of society I found the results of a recent YouGov poll conducted by lift manufacturer Stannah Stairlift to be a sad insight into how British pensioners feel.