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June 15, 2019
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How to respond to the climate crisis (without getting overwhelmed)

by Suzie

If you’re anything like me, all the bad news about how terrible things are for the environment has you panicked and overwhelmed with despair. Unfortunately, despair is not a sensible response to the news. Rather, we need to respond to the climate crisis by taking focused and high-impact actions.

Otherwise the world will end.

Okay, okay, that wasn’t in keeping with the ‘without getting overwhelmed’ part of the title of this post, was it?

Let’s try again.

I’m not a scientist. But I listen to scientists, and they are currently telling us in no uncertain terms that if we don’t reduce carbon emissions the world will continue to warm up, with some fairly catastrophic consequences.

The good news is that because human behaviour is driving the increased carbon emissions, human behaviour can also curb them.

It’s easy to feel like there’s nothing you can do and we’re all doomed. But humans have responded to potential catastrophes before.

In the 1990s we were all stressing about the hole in the ozone layer, and now that’s pretty much healed thanks to international action in banning CFCs.

In the 1960s we were all stressing about the potential for nuclear war. But the iron curtain came down and whilst there are still atomic weapons, we’re at somewhat less risk of a general world-ending holocaust now.

What is the climate crisis?

Also known as ‘global warming’ or ‘climate change’, the climate crisis refers to the fact the world has warmed up by about 1°C in the last century or so.

Rising temperatures - graph of the climate crisis.
(Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Robert Simmon)

The rise in temperature has been linked to carbon emissions. Basically, a combination of burning fossil fuels and industrial farming releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In addition, we’re cutting down the trees that naturally absorb carbon dioxide.

The result is that there is extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This then ‘traps’ the heat of the sun, resulting in a warming planet.

Hotter climates disrupt habitats, lead to melting polar caps, and cause many animals and insects to go extinct. That, in turn, means less food and more extreme weather.

Not good!

We need to stop the climate crisis now

Unfortunately, there is a point of ‘no return’ with rising temperatures. Scientists have pegged this as a rise of about 2°c. Sadly, we’re currently racing towards that cliff-edge like we’re determined to hit it as quickly as possible.

So humans need to come together as a whole and do everything they can to:

  1. lower carbon emissions
  2. replace carbon sinks (forests)

Good news. That’s actually two really simple and obvious things!

What you can do to respond to the climate crisis

So what, specifically, can we do about it? Here’s my list of positive actions you can take to respond to the climate crisis.

Don’t feel like you have to do everything on this list. But whatever you can do will help.

1. Get political!

In order to respond to the climate crisis we need legislation to protect forests and we need legislation to stop companies burning fossil fuels. We need incentives for clean energy, investment in public transport and carbon taxes that fairly reflect the environmental cost of generating carbon dioxide.

The only way to get these things is through political action.

Write to your local politician

Tell them that you are extremely worried about the climate crisis and ask them what they are doing about it.

Go to a meeting with your local politician

You can also go to a meeting with a local politician – this really shows that you are serious in your concerns!

There are some great tips about preparing for a meeting with your MP at Campaign for Climate Change.

Be clear about how important you think this issue is.

Sign a petition

You can also sign petitions – there are a number being run by various charities, including:

Vote green

Whilst the Green candidate or party may not stand much chance in your area, a vote for them sends a signal to all the other parties about what side of the issue you are on.

If you don’t have a Green candidate, then vote for whoever has the most progressive environmental policies.

I am going to be totally upfront. Getting political is the most important thing you can do. The following actions will all reduce your personal impact on the world, but we need systemic change.

2. Get rid of your car

This is the most significant decision a single individual can make to reduce their carbon emissions (aside from not having children — but that decision is a little more complicated).

A car contributes about 1/4 of the average yearly carbon emissions for each person in an industrialised country (according to the OECD).

Yes, getting rid of your car is a big lifestyle change. It may well involve moving house! But if you are serious about making a difference, then your car is the best thing you could sacrifice.

Instead of driving, get around by walking, cycling, or public transport. This requires a safe network of footpaths, cycle paths and bus/train routes. Get back in touch with your local politicians and start demanding they invest in the infrastructure a modern city needs.

If you absolutely cannot do without your car, then you at least need to pay for the emissions. You can choose from various projects that reduce, avoid or remove greenhouse gas emissions.

But I want to be clear, carbon offsets are a limited counter-measures. The best thing you can do is stop driving.

Good news – giving up your car won’t just be good for the environment. It will also save you money, make you healthier and make you happier 🙂

I’ve been car-free for a little over a year. I do occasionally rent one to visit people that aren’t on public transport routes, but I always donate to counter the carbon emissions.

3. Avoid long haul flights

I hate this one, because I married someone whose family lives on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. I actually would have no problem going on holiday to local destinations, or taking a ferry or train rather than flying.

However, if you’re lucky enough to not have to travel long distances then this is another easy and highly effective choice.

We’re all used to seeing wonderful exotic destinations on social media. But there are plenty of beautiful places closer to us.

What is the purpose of travel? For many of us it has become a bucket-list exercise, an attempt to tick off as many cool and instagrammable locations as possible.

But it should be about immersing ourselves in something new, about slowing down and taking in the world. Why not try and practice living in the moment, rather than chasing another white sandy beach?

The general term for this kind of approach is slow travel. This is an excellent post about slow travel and its advantages.

Again, if you do have to fly, make sure you offset the carbon emissions.

4. Switch to green energy

Thankfully, there are lots of energy companies now offering 100% green electricity, and some that are also offering a certain amount of green gas.

I personally use Octopus Energy* as they offer 100% green electricity, and offset gas. They aren’t any more expensive that most other energy providers.

But you can find any number of other ‘Green’ energy companies if you look around.

5. Eat less meat (and dairy)

Red meat is responsible for a lot of carbon emissions.

Climate crisis - Total greenhouse emissions from food
Image from the BBC

A seasonal vegan diet is by far the best diet for reducing carbon emissions. But if you don’t want to make such a drastic change then just swapping red meat for chicken will make a substantial difference.

6. Protect forests

Forests are crucial to respond to the climate crisis. The more trees we cut down, the less resilient the planet becomes to rising carbon dioxide. But the more trees we plant, the more resilient the planet becomes.

According to CarbonBrief.org:

Increasingly, some scientists are arguing that “natural climate solutions”, such as “afforestation”, should take precedence in efforts to achieve negative emissions. Afforestation refers to the practice of planting new forests in areas that currently do not have trees.

CarbonBrief.org

There is some nuance here — there’s evidence that forests with a mix of trees are better than monocultures, for example. But in simple terms, more trees = good.

This is another good thing to badger your politicians about 😉

You can also:

  • Support charities that are protecting at-risk forests. For example, World Land Trust.
  • Volunteer with your local environmental organisation to conserve local habitats. The Wildlife Trusts and RSPB are often looking for people to join conservation work parties.
  • Look for the FSC symbol on products we buy to ensure they are being produced in a sustainable way

How to avoid getting overwhelmed

Look, the news that is coming out about the climate crisis isn’t good. And it’s natural to feel grief in the face of mass extinction.

But it’s important to stay focused on what you can do and not worry about what you can’t. So remember to look after yourself.

  • Practice self-care. Turning into a sobbing ball of pessimism is of no help to anyone. And remember that even in the worst case scenario we still have a few years that we should try and make the best of.
  • Stop reading the news. The facts aren’t going to change. Plugging yourself into a daily cycle of apocalyptic articles isn’t going to help anything. Instead, focus on your local community and the actions you personally can take.
  • Talk to friends and family. There’s a sense that this is a big impending doomsday event that we can’t control and so we don’t talk about it. But talking about your frustration, fear and grief is important.

What action are you taking to respond to the climate crisis? And how do you avoid it sending you into a spiral of despair? Leave your thoughts below.

Wider world
     
June 2, 2019
2 comments

Weekly Reflections #1

by Suzie

In no particular order:

  • No matter how much I think I will enjoy doing nothing, as soon as I finish whatever time-sucking project I have going on, I start something else. I enjoy being busy and creative.
  • Walking 18 miles is no harder on the body than walking 14 miles, but psychologically it feels harder. (I completed an 18 mile walk on Saturday 2nd June. The hardest part was dealing with the heat. I’d rather walk in the rain than in 25°c weather.)
Me in my sun hat walking along the river. This was early in the walk, when I was still smiling!
  • I should read more books and spend less time on the computer. This is hard to do, and I don’t understand why.
  • The more I learn about pregnancy the weirder it gets. Today I learned that foetus cells live on in the mother for decades after birth, and contribute to anything from speedier wound healing to protecting against Alzheimers. The study is here.
  • The more my friends have babies, the more certain I am that I just don’t want one. Babies themselves are boring, although toddlers are awesome and fascinating. But the idea of going through pregnancy, childbirth, 18+ years of parenting…? It’s not for me. And I couldn’t even tell you why not. I like children, but I have no maternal instinct.
  • I now know someone who was roommates with someone who climbed Everest (and almost died). Given that there is a queue to get to the top of Everest now, I suppose that’s not that surprising. Another thing I have no desire to do.
Uncategorized
May 28, 2019
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Eat better, feel better: the best diet for depression

by Suzie

Let me start with the bad news. You can’t cure your depression by eating a stalk of broccoli.

Sorry.

And, as I talked about in my post about how clean eating fed my depression, trying to achieve a ‘perfect’ diet can make depression and anxiety worse, not better.

Now for the good news! There is a lot of research about the link between diet and depression. Eating a nourishing and anti-inflammatory diet can absolutely help us to improve our mood and manage our depression.

"What to eat when you're depressed" overlaid on a picture of fish and vegetables.

In this post I will cover the best things to eat to help with depression, but I’m going to start with some research.

Diet and depression

The link between inflammation and mood

An inflammatory diet is linked to a higher risk of being diagnosed with depression. A 2014 study looked at inflammatory dietary pattern and risk of depression among women and concluded that:

The inflammatory dietary pattern is associated with a higher depression risk. This finding suggests that chronic inflammation may underlie the association between diet and depression.

And a 2018 review of research looked at the role of an anti-inflammatory diet as a potential intervention for depressive disorders and noted that:

A significant association between a pro-inflammatory diet and increased risk of depression diagnosis or symptoms was evident, relative to those on an anti-inflammatory diet.

What is an anti-inflammatory diet? Well, some foods contribute to inflammation and some fight it. Not surprisingly, sugar, fried foods, refined carbs and processed meats contribute to inflammation. Meanwhile, olive oil, tomatoes, leafy greens, and fruit helps to reduce inflammation.

There are strong links between inflammation and depression, with chronic inflammation e.g. from infection a risk factor for major depression. (However, depression is a complex disease! It has a myriad of risk factors.)

Nutrients and depression

Specific nutrients are crucial in helping people achieve better mood. Note that scientific research involving food and diet is complex due to it being almost impossible to tweak one specific nutrient and see the results. However, we can find some broad patterns!

Omega-3 and depression

Omega-3 are fatty acids that you get from oily fish and some seeds and nuts. Several studies show that “Omega-3 fatty acids were shown to be more effective than placebo for depression in both adults and children”.

Good sources of omega-3 include:

  • Fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, herring, sardines
  • Nuts and seeds such as flaxseed, hemp, walnuts and chia seeds
  • Plant oils such as flaxseed oil and hemp oil
Salmon sashimi - source of omega 3
Salmon Sashimi by Naotake Murayama

Vitamin D and depression

Multiple studies have linked low levels of vitamin D to depression. The best source of Vitamin D is sunshine. However, in colder countries or in the winter you should take a supplement. Supplements have been shown to help symptoms of depression.

Good sources of vitamin D include:

  • Sitting out in the sun for an hour
  • Fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, herring, sardines
  • Liver
  • Egg yolks
  • Supplements

Folate, B12 and depression

Low levels of folate (one of the B vitamins) and B12 are linked to depression. One study recommended that people with depression take oral supplements of both folate and B12.

On the basis of current data, we suggest that oral doses of both folic acid (800 microg daily) and vitamin B12 (1 mg daily) should be tried to improve treatment outcome in depression.

Good sources of folate include:

  • Leafy green vegetables, including spinach, broccoli and lettuce
  • Beans, peas and lentils
  • Lemons, bananas, melons

Good sources of B12 include:

  • Meat
  • Salmon and cod
  • Dairy, including milk, cheese and eggs
  • Supplements
Green salad with lettuce - source of folate
Leafy green salads are great sources of folate!

The Gut Microbiome and Depression

Trillions of microorganisms live in your digestive system and make up your gut microbiome. These colonies of microorganisms differ from person to person, and can be influenced by many factors, including diet. The exciting part? There is a ton of research that shows that the gut can influence the brain through something called the gut-brain axis. That means that what (and how) we eat can influence our mood and our thoughts!

Probiotics and depression

Have you heard of probiotics? They are a hot new area of nutritional research, but people have been eating probiotic foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut for centuries. Probiotics feed the gut microbiome, and there seems to be a link between the health of the microbiome and the brain. For example, a scientific review concluded that probiotics “have a potential role to play in reducing the risk of depression”.

Good sources of probiotics include:

  • ‘Live’ yoghurt or kefir
  • Sauerkraut
  • Kimchi
  • Miso
  • Pickles
Sauerkraut is a great way to feed your gut microbiome.
Homemade sauerkraut – by Stephen Pearson

High fibre diets and depression

High fibre diets are associated with a lower risk of depression. Another study looked at the overall health of the gut and concluded that:

High-quality diets, prebiotics, and probiotics may beneficially affect mood. Habitual diets rich in dietary fiber and omega-3-polyunsaturated fatty acids may be linked to reduced risk of developing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.

Good sources of fibre include:

  • Bran
  • Whole grains
  • Oats and barley
  • Beans, lentil, chickpeas and other pulses

What to eat for depression?

How does that research translate into a real diet for depression?

Basically, you should be eating:

  • Turmeric, dark chocolate, cherries, broccoli, avocado, green tea (anti-inflammatories)
  • Oily fish, seeds and nuts (Omega-3)
  • Legumes, leafy greens, eggs, asparagus and beets (folate)
  • Liver, beef, oily fish, and chicken (b12 – if you are a vegetarian, you need a b12 supplement)
  • Kimchi, kombucha, sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir (probiotics)
  • Oats, legumes, whole grains, fruit and vegetables (fibre)

And, you should also be getting out into the sunshine every day, or supplementing with Vitamin D.

The good news is that this diet isn’t just good for depression – it’s a well-rounded diet that will help prevent a host of health problems.

An example 5 day ‘diet for depression’ meal plan

These are just ideas to act as inspiration, feel free to rearrange the meals or repeat them – there’s no harm in eating porridge every day for breakfast!

Day 1:

  • Breakfast – porridge with berries, green tea
  • Snack – probiotic yoghurt topped with seeds
  • Lunch – chicken and kale salad with an olive-oil and vinegar dressing and some fruit
  • Dinner – red lentil daal, brown rice and curried vegetables

Day 2:

  • Breakfast – berry and probiotic yoghurt smoothie with oats, green tea
  • Snack – Apple slices with almond butter
  • Lunch – minestrone soup and brown bread
  • Dinner – Salmon, spelt, and broccoli

Day 3:

  • Breakfast – scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and tomato, green tea
  • Snack – Banana
  • Lunch – Three bean salad and yoghurt
  • Dinner – Chicken and vegetable curry with brown rice

Day 4:

  • Breakfast – Yoghurt, berry, granola parfait, green tea
  • Snack – Celery with hummus
  • Lunch – Lentil and spinach soup and brown bread
  • Dinner – Jacket potato with beans and side salad

Day 5:

  • Breakfast – Beans on toast, green tea
  • Snack – Greek yoghurt
  • Lunch – Smoked salmon and avocado sandwich, fruit
  • Dinner – Liver and apple salad with blackberry dressing

The right diet for depression

As I said at the start of my post, you can’t eat a stalk of broccoli and expect your depression to go away. However, by making sensible food choices and improving the quality of what you eat you can influence your overall mood. Rebuilding your gut microbiome takes time and effort – but can be worth it.

Eating well is a big part of self-care. But it’s not the only part. Check out my self-care checklist for depression if you’re looking for other small and practical things you can do to feel better.

Pin this ‘Best Diet for Depression’ post for later!

Eating a nourishing and anti-inflammatory diet can help us to improve our mood and manage our depression. Discover the mental health benefits of changing your diet, the link between the gut and the brain and start making better food choices today.
Health
  
Self-Care Checklist for When You Are Sick
April 21, 2019
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Self-Care Checklist for when You Are Sick

by Suzie

I thought I would add a self-care checklist for when you’re sick to my library of self-care checklists! I’ve written a couple before: there’s my self-care checklist for depression and my quick self-care checklist which is more general.

However, the past couple of weeks I’ve had both a rotten cold that has gone to my chest (seriously, I cannot shake this irritating cough) and conjunctivitis. Feeling sick is such a complete PITA. It’s never convenient, it’s both exhausting and boring, and you pretty much just have to wait it out?

Self-Care for when you are sick (self-care checklist)

However, there are a handful of things which can help you both feel better and take care of yourself when you are sick. Here’s the checklist version:

Self-Care Checklist for When You Are Sick

Do these to help fight off those viruses!

1. Get as much sleep as you can (aka take a nap)

Our bodies are better at fighting viruses when we are asleep. Apparently you get a better fever response when you are asleep, plus you produce more antibodies!

Whilst I normally advocate keeping a strict sleep schedule, especially if you have issues with insomnia, being sick means you need more sleep. So take a nap, go to bed earlier, and get a lie in.

When I was sick, I had a really poor nights sleep due to coughing. Normally, I get up at 5.45am to get ready for work, but last Friday I got up, sent my boss an email that said ‘I need more sleep’, and then went back to bed. I slept until 11am and then I went to work. Honestly, I did more in that one afternoon of work than I would’ve done all day if I had dragged myself in.

Don’t be afraid to prioritise sleep! We are a generally over-stimulated, over-worked culture that tends to compromise on sleep. But lack of sleep makes us feel worse and keeps us sick for longer.

So go take a nap!

2. Drink hot honey-and-lemon

As a kid, whenever I had a cold or a sore-throat, my parents would make me a hot lemon-and-honey drink. As it happens, the science backs them up! The NICE guidelines for GPs were updated in August 2018 to encourage treating a cough with honey. Various studies demonstrated that people given honey coughed less often and less severely… which is pretty awesome, given that honey is much tastier than most medicines!

Put a dash of lemon juice (freshly squeezed or from a bottle) and a squeeze of honey in a cup, then add boiling water.

Super simple. Super effective.

3. Drink water

Fever, sweating, vomiting and diarrhoea can all make dehydration more likely. Plus, losing your sense of taste when you’re sick means you are less likely to eat and drink as much as you normally would.

To counter that, make sure you’re drinking plenty of fluids. Sugary beverages are inflammatory, so stick to plain water, or water with a slice of lemon.

4. Take vitamin C and zinc

Vitamin C and zinc both play a role in your immune system. Whilst the jury is still out, the general view at the moment seems to be that a combination of vitamin C and zinc taken together can shorten the duration of a cold.

You can buy a supplement* with both.

As an aside, Vitamin D also seems to play a role in helping prevent you from catching colds in the first place. So whilst it won’t help you feel better once you’ve got it, it’s worth taking it if you live in a country with relatively little sunshine!

5. Breathe in some steam

If you’re feeling particularly snotty, congested, pleghmy or coughing a lot, breathing in hot steam can help relieve your symptoms.

The traditional way is to fill a basin with boiling water and then drape a towel over your head and sit over it to breathe in the steam.

You can also take a nice hot bath or a hot shower, both of which produce steam that can help relieve congestion and warm you up if you have the shivers.

A hot bath has the added bonus of soothing sore muscles. Since colds can bring on aches and pains, and coughing can hurt your abs, a hot bath is definitely one to consider.

6. Eat some soup

Chicken soup has a long tradition of being the best thing for a sick person to eat. And there does seem to be some evidence for it! Chicken is rich in carnosine, which can reduce the feelings of congestion, and bone broth contains glucosamine which can protect the lining of our gut.

However, lots of the benefits come from the garlic, onions and vegetables that are also part of a traditional chicken soup. So if you are vegetarian or vegan, don’t worry! Here’s a recipe for an immune boosting vegetable soup, that contains a ton of benefits for when you’re struggling with a cold.

If you’re not a vegetarian, here’s a recipe for a more traditional healing chicken soup.

7. Wash your hands (and your towels)

Viruses are… well, virulent. They spread easily, living on our hands, our face, the surfaces we touch, our towels, our pillow cases and so on.

So whilst cleaning your house may be low on your list of priorities when you’re feeling sick, do try and chuck your clothes in the washing machine more regularly than you might normally. Throw away used tissues, wash handkerchiefs, and only use a towel once.

Avoid touching your face (I know, I struggle with this one) and wash your hands regularly throughout the day with soap.

And if you’re around someone who is sick, washing your hands regularly significantly reduces your chance of catching something.

8. Take some medicine

Whilst we still don’t have a cure for the common cold (maybe we will soon?) some medicines can help you feel better.

Achey, have the cold sweats, or a fever? Then NSAIDs (iboprufen) can help.

Cough? Try an expectorant (to make it easy to cough up mucus) or a cough suppressant (to help stop a dry and tickly cough).

Struggling to sleep? Night Nurse is a triple whammy that relieves pain, congestion and coughing, and helps you fall asleep.

9. Distract yourself

The only thing worse than having a cold is sitting around feeling sorry for yourself that you have a cold. Whilst you can and should take it easy, making sure you have some distractions on hand will help you focus on something other than how you feel.

Now is the time to catch up on that TV series you’ve been meaning to watch, or indulge yourself guilt-free in some escapist reading.

10. Take a shower and change into clean pyjamas

One of the things that usually happens when I feel sick is I wear pyjamas all day! They are comfortable and warm, and I can go take a nap without having to worry about getting changed.

However, it’s easy to start feeling gross if you wear the same clothes all night and all day. So my biggest tip is to take a hot shower, take your meds, and then change into clean pyjamas. You’ll feel fresher, lighter and happier. You’ll be less likely to spread your germs! But you’ll still be able to chill out comfortably in bed or on the couch.

Plus, changing into clean pyjamas sends yourself a signal – I am choosing to relax and take care of myself. That’s much better than just feeling too bad to do anything and feeling vaguely guilty about it.

What do you like to do when you feel sick?

Pin for Later

Self-Care for when you are Sick
Health
  
How to make a budget (and stick to it)
March 12, 2019
0 comment

How to make a budget (and stick to it)

by Suzie

Making a budget is fundamental to almost any financial goals you might have.

  • Want to get out of debt? Make a budget.
  • Want to retire early? Make a budget.
  • Want to reduce your work hours so you can spend more time with your family? Make a budget.

What is a budget?

A good budget is a plan for your money. If you feel like your spending is out of control, a budget is the best way to take back control. If you feel like you have no idea where your money goes, a budget allows you to see exactly what, when and why you spend (spoiler: you are spending more on food than you think). If you know you earn £1,500 a month, a budget lays out where every penny of that £1,500 will go.

A good budget allows you to forecast your spending and see if you actually can afford that holiday/more expensive car. It also allows you to work out when you might be able to retire, how long you could survive on your emergency fund, and when you can finally pay off the mortgage.

How to make a budget (and stick to it)

Should you keep a monthly or yearly budget?

Most people, when they first start budgeting, only look at their monthly expenses. They might include a few ‘sinking fund’ expenses, such as car insurance, taxes or annual holiday – but they rarely plan out a full year.

I actually think an annual budget – which is what a business typically uses – is more sensible. It allows you to actually see when large purchases are going to fall, and what that does to your bottom line.

I’m also somewhat unusual in that I would encourage you to look beyond the annual budget and see what major expenses you can plan for in the next few years. We often treat things like ‘my laptop died’ as an emergency. But in actuality, everything we own has a fairly predictable lifespan. Knowing that you are likely to replace a washing machine or need to re-do your roof in the next few years allows you to actually build a ‘true’ picture of your finances and budget the right amount of money each month towards maintenance and replacements.

What should be in my budget?

The following categories should all be account for in your budget.

Income

The best part of your budget – your income!

Typically this is wages from a job or self-employment, but can also include student loans, scholarships, benefit payments, alimony, interest on savings, gifts and inheritances.

Increasing your income is an often overlooked method for improving your budget. You can read my post about increasing your income by earning money on the side, pick up a part-time job, ask for a raise, or look for a better paying job.

Fixed monthly expenses

Typically includes things like:

  • Rent/Mortgage
  • Utilities
  • Internet
  • Streaming services (Netflix, Spotify et al)
  • Council tax

And more! The easiest way to figure out what these are is to go back through the last 3 months of statements from your bank/credit card companies and put them into your spreadsheet or app as you spot them.

Variable monthly expenses

Typically includes things like:

  • Groceries
  • Eating out
  • Travel expenses (bus/train fares and petrol)
  • Misc. purchases such as clothing, books, gadgets etc.

The best way to put an amount against these is to go back through the last 6 months of statements and average out how much you spend in each category.

You can also start to forecast some of the more expensive items. For example, I know I wear through a pair of shoes about every 12 months, so I can budget an extra £60 to spend on clothing in the month that comes due. Equally, you might give yourself a higher amount for eating out in months that include birthdays or anniversaries. This is where having an annual budget as opposed to a monthly budget really starts to shine.

Sinking funds/annual expenses

This is typically a one-off large expense that you save up for each month. Often includes things like:

  • MOT
  • Car insurance
  • Christmas gifts/travel
  • Annual vacation

You can probably predict a cost for these fairly accurately, and then divide by the months remaining before the fee is due to get the amount you should be putting away each month.

For example, let’s say your MOT is due in four months and is likely to cost £100 including repairs. You would need to save £25 a month in order to account for that upcoming expense.

Debt repayments

If you in high-interest debt (credit cards, overdraft or a loan) you should prioritise repaying it as quickly as possible. This means you should plan to make more than the minimum payments to avoid paying excessive amounts of interest.

In addition, paying off debt will free up a proportion of your monthly income for other things.

Include the payment in your budget as a variable expense – make the minimum payment, plus anything extra you can throw at it.

Emergency Fund

The rule of thumb for an emergency fund is £1000 if you are in high interest debt (credit card debt), and 3-6 months living expenses if you only have low interest debt (student loans, mortgage).

However, the size of your emergency fund should be dependent on your own situation. If you are a student with no dependents and low expenses, a 6 month emergency fund is overkill. If you are a freelancer with children to support, you may want a year of living expenses socked away.

You should include topping up your emergency fund as a fixed expense until you reach the number that you think is right for you.

Upcoming major expenses

This encompasses major foreseeable expenses such as:

  • Getting married
  • Buying a house
  • Having a child
  • College tuition for yourself or children
  • House repairs/renovations
  • Ambitious travel plans and life goals
  • Retirement

You can look up the average cost of all of these milestones. You may decide there’s no way that you’ll spend £30k on a wedding, but it will give you a sense of scale and what a ‘typical’ amount to aim for is.

The sooner you start saving for them, the lower the monthly amount you’ll have to put away is!

I’ll cover off the best places to keep your money until you need it in a future blog post.

Budget app, budget spreadsheet or budget book?

There are a range of options for tracking your money and setting up a budget. Here are just a few options and my thoughts on them.

Budget / money tracking apps

Favourites include Pear Budget, You Need a Budget, and Mint. Your bank may also offer a budgeting solution.

The benefits of these budget tracking apps include:

  • Some apps can sync with your bank accounts, so you get automatic tracking and don’t have to enter transactions manually.
  • Phones are portable, so you can quickly categorise transactions on the go.
  • Automated notifications will let you know when you are going over budget.
  • Automatic back-up of your data to the cloud.

The cons of these budget tracking apps include:

  • Ability to sync with your bank accounts may present a security risk and may contravene your banks terms and conditions. This is particularly true if you live in the UK, in which case the auto tracking of something like Mint is no longer possible.
  • Rigid system may or may not work for you. Some people love budget apps. I personally find being locked into someone else’s system annoying, and there’s always something I want to know, or to work out that the system doesn’t let me.
  • Letting an app automatically track your transactions means you’re not having to think about them as hard.
  • They can be expensive or filled with adverts (adverts being exactly what you don’t want when trying to save money!).
  • They can be shut down. Don’t even get me started on the traumatic experience that was losing Wesabe way back when.

Budget spreadsheets

Templates for budget spreadsheets are numerous, with my favourites including an Excel Spending Plan and Monthly Cash Flow from It’s Your Money, or the Annual Budget from Google Spreadsheets.

You can also build your own budget spreadsheet, which has the massive benefit of forcing you to really think about what is included and why.

The benefits of of budget spreadsheets include:

  • They can be as simple or as complex as you want, and can be customised to fit your needs and goals.
  • You are in complete control of what appears and how it is tracked.
  • Spreadsheets can be saved to your own computer as well as backed up to the cloud. You own the data!
  • Manually entering each transaction means you really think about where your money is going.

The cons of budget spreadsheets include:

  • You don’t get automatic tracking, and you can miss transactions, or mistype amounts quite easily if you’re not filling it out regularly.
  • There’s a steep learning curve if you’re not comfortable with spreadsheets already.

Budget books

Budget books are pen and paper affairs that allow you to track your monthly expenditure. There are many beautifully designed budget books on Etsy*, or you can get something more straightforward* (Amazon link). And of course, you can find dozens of printables or bullet journal budget inspiration.

The benefits of budget books include:

  • Books are quite portable, so you can carry it with you.
  • Writing everything down forces you to really think about and process it.
  • Printables can be incorporated into any other planner you have.

I actually recommend doing it with pen and paper the first time. This forces you to really think about what categories you have, what you spend and why.

I personally prefer a spreadsheet for my won budget.

Help! I can’t balance my budget!

Don’t panic!

The first time I ran this exercise I was working an entry-level job, I had credit-card debt, my partner was underemployed, we were in the middle of a recession, and I was spending way too much on rent. No matter what I did I couldn’t make my budget work. It told me the truth: that I would keep getting further into debt.

We have a lot of shame and emotion around money. And it’s a shameful fact of life that we live in a society that has massive inequality in terms of wealth.

But the fact is, the maths doesn’t lie and it is much better to be aware of your situation and be able to deal with it than to be in denial until you dig yourself into a hole you can’t escape.

I’ve talked a bit about how to spend less than you earn before, and I will be adding to that with more of an ’emergency’ post for when you are in severe financial trouble soon.

But the most important thing to remember is that your budget is flexible and it will change over time. The way things are right now are not the way they will always be.

This too shall pass

Persian adage

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How to make a budget (and stick to it)
Money
  
What is a gratitude journal and why should you have one?
January 28, 2019
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What is a gratitude journal?And why should you start to keep one?

by Suzie

A gratitude journal is, at heart, very simple. It’s the act of taking a few minutes to write down things that you are grateful for.

In fact, in some ways, is is deceptively simple. The truth is that gratitude journaling carries a host of benefits, and that the act of ‘being thankful’ has been a part of philosophical and spiritual life for most of human history.

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.

Buddha
What is a gratitude journal and why should you have one?

Benefits of a gratitude journal

Keeping a gratitude journal gives you something to look back through when times are difficult. It’s a chronicle of all the good things and events in your life.

Gratitude improves mood and reduces anxiety.

…the brain can only focus on so many things at once, so when you’re thankful for the good things that might occur on the future, gratitude replaces those negative feelings and worry evaporates.

The Upward Spiral

Your gratitude journal helps you realise what things are actually important to your wellbeing. It gives you more self-awareness, and is a reminder to focus on the people and activities that truly bring you joy.

The truth is, our brain has a negativity bias. We are more likely to remember someone who insults us than someone who compliments us. And we are more likely to remember a bad day than a good one. This is good for survival, but less good for staying happy! A gratitude journal is a way of overcoming that negativity bias.

How to start a gratitude journal

Journal two to three times a week

To achieve the best benefits, you should try and write in your gratitude journal two to three times a week. It may seem counterintuitive, but this is a habit that actually has more benefit if it is done a couple of times a week rather than every day.

The theory is that the harder it is to think of things you’re grateful for, the more you’re inclined to feel worse instead of better. So, if you struggle to come up with things to feel grateful for, you’ll end up feeling worse about your life. But if things quickly jump to mind, you’ll feel happy and thankful. Trying to gratitude journal every day carries the danger of turning it into a rote activity with a risk of writer’s block.

Spend 10-15 minutes

It should take about 10-15 minutes at the end of the day, and can form part of your night-time routine or self-care checklist.

There should be a physical, written record. Whilst sitting quietly and reflecting on good things is a positive thing to do, the real benefits come from the act of writing. Translating our thoughts into written language maximises their impact and deepens the feelings that were already there.

Use a dedicated journal

You should ideally have a dedicated notebook for your gratitude journal. You may be someone who journals already. I would advise not mixing your gratitude journal up with more in-depth or less positively focused writing. This is because you want to look back through your gratitude journal later and see just the good parts of your life. There are some beautiful examples of dedicated gratitude journals on Etsy*, but any new notebook will work.

I would also suggest keeping your gratitude journal in an easy to reach place, such as on your nightstand. You should see it before you go to bed, and be reminded to write in it. As with all habits, the more you remember to do it, the more likely you are to keep doing it.

What should be in your gratitude journal?

The answer is ‘whatever you want, as long as it works for you’. However, I do have some tips for what to focus on.

Firstly, you should aim for 3-5 things for each day that you journal. An entry can be brief – you aren’t writing a diary here! Instead, you should look back over the day and effectively bullet point the highlights. However, do make sure you are putting in enough detail that you’ll remember it later. “I’m grateful for my children” is good, but “I’m grateful that my children put on a silly sock puppet show and made me laugh” is better.

Take it seriously

Studies have shown1 that just ‘going through the motions’ of writing down things we think we should be grateful for doesn’t actually have any positive impact on us. This isn’t an exercise to write down three good things. It’s an exercise to feel gratitude, reframe the day, and focus on our own positive emotions.

Example of a gratitude journal

Make sure you aren’t writing things down that you think you should be grateful for. Maybe you got a promotion at work, and surely that’s a positive thing? But if that promotion is for a career you don’t really want, and carries a whole lot more stress and responsibility, you probably don’t feel that grateful. In this case, don’t write it down.

Take your time

This shouldn’t feel like a chore, or an item on your to-do list that you need to tick off before you can go to bed. Instead, it’s about cultivating a mind-set. It’s about choosing to see the gifts we all have in abundance. It’s about reframing our feelings about the day — maybe we were busy, maybe we had an argument, maybe we failed to get everything done that we should have done. But we can still appreciate a few minutes with a friend, the easy abundance of our favourite tea or snack, and the feeling of cool, clean sheets at bedtime.

As you write each item down, take a few moments to visualise what happened and how you felt. You are making a conscious effort to feel good about this moment or person.

Include mementos. By all means stick in concert tickets, photos, receipts, or souvenirs. Just make sure they are all things that will make you smile later!

Gratitude journaling is a simple, easy and effective way to improve your outlook. It will boost your mood and make you happier. What do you have to lose?

1 See this paper (PDF) on An Experimental Longitudinal Intervention To Boost Well-Being.

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What is a gratitude journal and why should you have one? Learn about the benefits of gratitude journaling and how best to approach it for maximum benefit.
Health
  
A review of Daylio: mood and activity tracker app
January 21, 2019
6 comments

Review of Daylio – a mood tracker and micro diary app

by Suzie

This post is not sponsored. It’s an honest review of Daylio. 

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that I have a tendency towards depression. I have found multiple ways of managing that, and for the most part now have solid routines in place.

One of the key things for me was to start tracking my moods. This helped me to figure out what activities led to a worsening mood, and make sure I was aware if my mood started to flatline so that I could run my self-care checklist. You can do this on paper – there are lots of beautiful bullet journal style ‘pixel trackers’ out there – but I wanted something really easy, that I would be able to do even when I wasn’t in my type-A, overachieving, perfectionist mindset.

A review of Daylio: a mood and activity tracker

I downloaded Daylio in June 2017, and have been using it consistently since then other than a three month break in 2018 (February, March and April).

Daylio is a daily activity and mood tracker. It bills itself as a way to capture your day ‘without writing a single line’. It’s available for both android and iOs. For my review of Daylio, I will be focusing on the Android version.

What is Daylio?

Daylio describes itself as a private micro-diary. You can record your mood and activities “without writing a line”.

Daylio mood tracking

Logging an entry is extremely easy. First you pick your mood, choosing from self-explanatory emojis. Then you choose from one or multiple activities that you set up. You can choose from a library of icons to give those activities something to help you easily identify them.

Daylio activity tracking

Over time you build up a picture of how you tend to feel and what you frequently do, and can use it to look for patterns. For example, if you want to see what activities are associated with feeling ‘bad’, you can do this very quickly once you’ve built up a few weeks of data.

Daylio reporting
(Apparently cleaning makes me feel rad. Don’t judge me.)

You can also use it for goal tracking. For example, if you want to do yoga every day, you can add ‘yoga’ as an activity. Then you can look back to see how often you did it.

Daylio goal tracking

Review of Daylio

The good

Daylio is incredibly easy to use. Logging your mood and activities takes almost no time, and it prompts you to log at least one entry a day.

You swiftly build up a reservoir of data and can decide if you want to look at specific relationships (e.g. the relationship between work and mood, or your mood at certain times of the month). It’s flexible, simple, and easy. This makes it perfect for people who might otherwise struggle to keep a system for mood tracking going.

Adding to the choice of moods and activities is easy, and there’s a large library of icons to pick from. There’s also a few colour schemes that you can choose from, for those of us that like to personalise!

Daylio customise colours

With the premium version you can back up your entries to Google Drive, which is a pretty pain-free process. This meant that when I changed my phone, I was quickly able to import all my past data back into the app.

The bad

The app allows for a short note for each day, if you want to record something, but it isn’t designed for long memories or journaling. Nor does it allow you to upload pictures, movies etc. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing! I have a paper journal I use for more in-depth recording, and I find the simplicity of Daylio one of its selling points. But if you’re looking for more of a ‘journal’ app then Daylio probably isn’t the right one for you.

Daylio Premium – worth it?

The app is free, but you can upgrade to a premium version for $4.99. The premium version turns off the adverts (worth it just for that, in my opinion), and I believe also allows you to back up your entries (important for those times you change phones for whatever reason).

For me, the price was low enough and the benefits high enough to make it worth the price.

Summary of my review of Daylio

  • Smart, simple mood and activity tracker
  • Flexible and customisable
  • A good price for the premium version
  • A little lacking on in-depth journalling features (if that’s what you’re looking for)

Decided to give Daylio a try? Download the app here.

Have you used Daylio? What did you think?

Monthly Challenge

If you’re interested in improving your life with small changes, please check out my FREE monthly challenge. Commit to taking focused action every month – and take your life to the next level.

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The 5-Step Plan to Financial Freedom.
August 19, 2018
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The five steps to financial freedom

by Suzie

I came up with the following five steps to financial freedom. This isn’t a new approach – most financial gurus will advise you follow the same steps, though the emphasis on each step might be different.

Why would you want to aim for financial freedom? Well, even if you love your job and enjoy going to work, financial freedom will remove a lot of stress from your life. You won’t have to worry about getting sick, about emergencies, or about recessions and being laid off.

Financial freedom allows you to escape from the rat race, and enjoy life on your own terms.

With that said! It’s important to balance your goal of financial freedom with your other goals, such as raising a family or travelling.

Luckily, there is a simple route to financial freedom. (Though as we will see, simple doesn’t always mean easy.)

The 5-Step Plan to Financial Freedom.

The five steps to financial freedom

  1. Increase the gap between what you earn and what you spend
  2. Pay off debt
  3. Save an emergency fund
  4. Increase your long-term savings
  5. Invest

Let’s look at each of these steps in a bit more detail!

The five steps to financial freedom
1: Increase the gap between what you earn and what you spend

If you currently spend more than you earn, congratulations – you’re moving ever further away from financial freedom.

(I accept that this is sometimes a necessary evil, and I have myself gone into debt at various points to obtain things that were more important than financial freedom. Nonetheless, if financial freedom is a goal of yours, then you should seek to minimise this as much as possible.)

If you currently earn more than you spend, congratulations – you’re making progress towards financial freedom.

There are two ways to increase the gap between what you earn and what you spend. One is to cut costs. This is the ‘frugal living’ approach. The other is to increase what you earn. This is the ‘high performers’ approach. A combination of the two works extra well.

The frugal living approach

Start by looking at your big expenses, because this is usually where you can make the most savings.

There are lots of blogs out there dedicated to frugal living. Here are two of my favourites!

The high performer approach

Salary – particularly in the private sector – is not fixed. I have a friend who went from around a $70k income to a $170k in the space of a year. I’m sure you can see how that would change the game in terms of saving and investing.

Your pay is dependent on a lot of factors, including your industry, your sector, your work history, your education and so on. However, if you can increase your income by even a small amount, that creates additional money for you to use towards your goals.

There are a few blogs out there dedicated to becoming a high performer. My favourite is I Will Teach You To Be Rich. His courses are not cheap, but get on his mailing list and you’ll get a lot of material for free.

Fantastic – now you have some spare money each month! But what should you do with it?

The five steps to financial freedom
2: Pay off debt

PREFACE: Whilst the next step is paying off debt, I want to note that at this point you should also join your employers pension scheme or 401K. Even small amounts invested early add up, and any employer matching is free money. 

High interest debt is a financial freedom killer. Credit cards, pay day loans, bank loans, buying a sofa on finance – pretty much all of these are ways of increasing the amount that you spend on any one thing.

Again: sometimes it is necessary. I’ve been in credit card debt, and I don’t regret it. You need to eat! However, as soon as you manage to start earning more than you spend, you need to tackle your debt.

  • Reduce your interest. Quite often credit card companies will let you transfer a balance from one credit card to their own card with an introductory rate offer of 0%. This means you’re not having to worry about interest increasing the amount you need to pay off. Here’s a good guide that explains the process and the best cards to use and here’s one for balance transfer cards in the USA.
  • Set up an automatic monthly payment. This is the most efficient way to pay off debt. Figure out an amount you can afford, and set up a bank transfer or direct debit for the day after pay day. There will be no temptation to spend the extra money and no will power or memory involved.
  • If you get any extra money, make an additional payment towards the debt.

There are loads of blog posts about paying off debt. Here’s one on the Debt Snowball method.

So now you’ve paid off all your debts and are wondering what’s next. Good news.

The five steps to financial freedom
3: Save an Emergency Fund

A typical emergency fund represents 3 months of expenses. It’s meant to stop you from having to go back into debt if you should lose your income or your expenses should suddenly increase for any reason. It’s to protect you from job loss, sickness, your house flooding… all of those scenarios that are made worse if you have to start stressing about money at the same time.

A few things to note about your emergency fund.

  • It should be in an easy access account with a reputable company. You don’t want to have to wait a month to withdraw your money if you need it straight away.
  • Typically, the easiest thing to do is to open a savings account with your current bank account company.
  • Set up an auto-transfer so you are paying in a set amount each month.
  • The interest rate is not completely unimportant, but ultimately the purpose of this money is not to earn you income but to protect you.

So you’ve socked away 3 months of living expenses (well done!) and are wondering… what’s next?

The five steps to financial freedom
4: Increase your long-term savings

Now it’s time to start thinking long term. Most people have some mid-range savings goals (e.g. putting a deposit down on a house, going on an exotic holiday to mark an anniversary, funding a lavish wedding, saving up to cover maternity leave etc.) and most people will also want to start thinking seriously about retirement.

For the mid-range savings goals, look for a high interest savings account. In the UK, a regular saving account often offers higher interest than a standard savings account, though the catch is usually that you need a current account with the same bank.

For savings goals, it helps if you have an idea of what you want and the time frame in which you want achieve it. For example, maybe you want to go on an around the world trip for your 40th birthday. You can calculate rough costs, and then work out how much you need to save towards it each month.

For retirement, you should try and increase the amount you put into your pension. The more you put into your pension, the more comfortable you will be when you stop working. In an ideal world you should be putting away 10-15% of your salary, but the older you are and the less you currently have in your pension will mean increasing that. However, if you can’t afford that then don’t panic. Put away what you can, and increase the amount later.

The five steps to financial freedom
5: Invest

If you’ve completed all the steps above you’re in pretty damn good shape. However, if you want financial freedom earlier than the average retirement age, you’ll need to start earning higher interest rates, which usually means investing. Note that investments are not protected and your capital is at risk.

Here are some options:

  • Try a peer-to-peer lender like Zopa*. Average return at the moment is between 4-5%.
  • Try an investment platform like Vanguard.

The five steps to financial freedom
The missing step: work less, donate, relax

All of the above will put you well on track to become rich. However, wealth is not everything.

Whilst we live in a capitalist economy you will need to pay at least some attention to your finances.

However, being rich is actually not a particular interesting goal. It will help make you safer, and it will potentially give you more freedom. But it doesn’t make the world a better place (on the contrary, it probably makes it a worse place). It doesn’t help your children grow up in a world where they are surrounded by skilled, educated, happy peers. It doesn’t lessen inequality. It doesn’t help you feel good about yourself. It doesn’t contribute anything back to the society that raised you.

So, at every point in this journey, it’s perfectly sensible to stop and ask yourself “is this enough?”.

‘Enough’ is different for everyone. If you’re an active risk taker, you’ll need more money. If you live in a country without socialised health care, you’ll need more money. You’ll want to make sure you’ve checked off those big savings goals, like saving up for your children’s education or making sure you’ll have enough in retirement.

But when you hit that point where you do have enough, when you’re getting by well and there’s enough in the bank to protect you, it’s time to start thinking bigger.

Can you donate that extra money to a cause you care about?

Can you cut back your hours so you have less income, but do have more time:

  • with your family and friends?
  • to exercise, travel, spend in nature?
  • for volunteering?
  • to spend in your community?

Where are you in the five step plan? What parts do you struggle with? 

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The 5 steps to Financial Freedom

Money
                 
July 10, 2018
2 comments

The lure of the blank slate

by Suzie

I am sitting at my small desk, looking out the window at a cloudless blue sky. The heat wave has faded a little around the edges, leaving a breezy 22° summer day behind. And I am musing on this blog, on writing, on money, on new beginnings.

Blogs have evolved over the past decade or so that I’ve been online. What began as a literal diary, handwritten in HTML files, has become a cottage industry. People write posts for Google, for Pinterest, for the roaming, dissatisfied masses of the internet to stumble across. It’s an art, and the best get paid for it. Adverts, affiliate links, books, courses. The real money, they say, is in your list.

(My list is the Weekly Challenge, which is on a short hiatus while I figured things out).

Cinnamon Sunrise is not niche enough or lifestyle enough to turn into a real success. I considered what I might do to narrow it. Write only about food: cheap, healthy, tasty recipes which underpin my life and flood my instagram. Or write only about money, a highly profitable niche with many desperate people willing to spend money they don’t have.

Or write about being happy, which is impossible to monetise. Because being happy is rooted in looking around yourself and saying I have enough.

Right now, I have enough. I don’t need more money.

Right now, I want to write about being happy, about food, about money, and about my day-to-day life. It’s a terrible blog strategy. It won’t fly well on Pinterest. And the only thing I can sell you is the notion that it’s better not to get caught up in niche product driven businesses.

But. It’s what I want to do. Because I’m old fashioned, and I remember blog hops and the weird window a blog opened onto the life of someone else. I followed Fitnessista through deployments, two pregnancies, surgery, a thousand daily posts over the years. I’ll never know her, and it’s a bit weird, and yet I’m committed now – I’ll be reading for a long time yet.

So this is my old-fashioned blog about anything and everything. But mostly about trying to be happy. Trying to be content. Trying to be a better person without it driving me crazy.

Maybe you’ll stick around. Probably you won’t. But I think I’ll enjoy it a whole lot more than writing a thousand posts about Keto Vegan Recipes for Summer Picnics or whatever other keyword stuffed opportunistic niche I could come up with.

Blogging    Suzie
text over image of bento lunches: 15 of the best packed lunches to take to work
May 19, 2018
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15 of the best packed lunches to take to work

by Suzie

There are two great reasons to take a packed lunch to work.

The first is that it will save you money. Whilst the actual amount it will save you depends on what you pack in your lunch box versus what you used to spend on eating out or buying prepackaged sandwiches and salads I can guarantee that it will pretty much always work out cheaper. (I mean, unless you regularly put caviar and truffles in your lunchbox).

The second is that it can help you eat healthier.  Eating out is generally higher in fat and salt, and packaged sandwiches are often lacking in vegetables. A packed lunch creates a great opportunity for additional vegetables – essential if you are aiming for the recommended 10 portions of fruit and veg a day.

But if you pack the same old peanut butter sandwich everyday, a packed lunch can get monotonous. So here are 15 of the best packed lunch ideas to help you break your rut! 🙂

text over image of bento lunches: 15 of the best packed lunches to take to work

5 Quick and Easy Packed Lunches

You’ve got fifteen minutes to pack your lunch and get out the door. Quick! What do you grab?

1. Leftovers
Pretty much any leftovers can be repurposed into a lunchbox. Use a thermos to take leftover soup*, throw leftover grains or rice together with some salad, or chuck some leftover meat and leafy greens into a box and head out.

2. Couscous + salad veg
Couscous takes five minutes to cook. Add a cup into a heatproof bowl, pour over a kettle of boiling water, cover. (Note: you want a 1 to 1.5 ratio of couscous to liquid.)

Chop some salad veg while it cooks, then pack them into Tupperware and head out. If you have glass Tupperware you can make your couscous straight into it, chop your veg into a second and mix them together at work. I have this VonChef set* and they work great for lunches.

3. Sandwich
A sandwich does only take five minutes to make. Bread + filling. Away you go. Some classic combos include: peanut butter + jelly/jam, ham and cheese, smoked salmon and cream cheese, cucumber and avocado, ham and coleslaw, fishpaste, marmite, or, indeed, whatever you have in your fridge.

4. Chickpea Kettle Soup
You can bung the ingredients for this in a heatproof jar and then cook it with hot water when you get to work. Recipe for chickpea kettle soup.

5. Tinned fish + salad veg
Tinned fish like mackerel or sardines make a protein packed and tasty topping for a bag of salad veg. I like to keep a tin of fish in my cupboard at all times for fast meals. If you get one packed in olive oil you don’t even need to worry about salad dressing.

 

5 Packed Lunches to Prep the Night Before

The best time to plan your lunch is the evening before. Having an evening routine that includes preparing for the next day will always make your life run more smoothly. Here are five ideas for packed lunches to prep in advance.

1. Pasta Salad
We’ve all bought those gloppy and disappointing pasta salads from supermarkets to eat on the go. Well, you can make a far tastier one for yourself. There are, literally, hundreds of variations on pasta salad. But it’s a lunchbox classic for good reason, it stands up to travel well, it’s filling, and you can pack it high with vegetables.

2.Roasted cauli-broc bowl with tahini hummus
You can make it in 10 minutes, it keeps well, and it’s perfect for a lunchbox. Vegan and gluten-free. Get the recipe.

3. Frittata plus crunchy carrot salad
This meal was actually designed to take on a plane, so you can be confident that it travels well. Frittata’s are great because you can put almost anything you have in them. A few straggly bits of mushrooms in the back of the fridge? In they go. A handful of tomatoes without a plan? In they go. A bit of leftover roast from the weekend? In it goes. Get the recipe for the frittata and carrot salad.

4. Pita bread pockets
Take some pita breads. Stuff with your favourite salad combo. Enjoy. If that’s not enough guidance and you prefer a recipe, try this greek salad pita pocket with chicken.

5. Taco salad lunch bowl
We eat tacos pretty regularly, and the leftovers make for great lunchboxes. Here’s a description of the process. You can switch out the ground beef for mushrooms or refried beans or whatever your preferred taco protein is.

 

5 Packed Lunches to Lovingly Prepare in Advance

Sometimes, on a Sunday afternoon, I have a bit of spare time and decide to put it towards making myself some really exciting lunches. The kind I will look forward to all day.

Truthfully, food and love are concepts that are inextricably intertwined… and making yourself delicious, nutritious and exciting meals is an act of self-love. So with this in mind, here are five packed lunches to prepare in advance – with love to your future self. <3

1. Curry
Curry is amazing. It’s full of vibrant and complex flavours, it can take highly varied combinations of meat, pulses, and/or vegetables, and it is one of those things that often tastes even better the day after it’s been made. So dig out your favourite curry recipe and get simmering. Not sure where to start? Try this vegetable korma.

2. Soup
Soup freezes well, transports well and reheats well. It’s perfect for a packed lunch. I recently made this chicken and wild rice soup and it was gorgeous. Alternatives include broccoli and stilton, or lentil soup.

3. Homemade bread
Look, so many packed lunches revolve around bread. Sandwiches obviously include bread, but even soups and curries are better when paired with a delicious loaf or flatbread. So if you want to boost your lunches, why not develop some baking skills? Homemade bread is just better than even the most artisan of artisan loaves that you buy.

Start with the no knead crusty white loaf, and then experiment with focaccia, sourdough and flatbread. Good bread will take your lunch from meh to marvellous. Add hummus, olives and some salad and you’re sorted.

4. Takeout style sesame noodles with cucumber
What about when you really crave eating out at lunch? Well, something like this will meet those cravings and then some. This recipe from Smitten Kitchen will keep to whenever you’re ready to eat it, making it perfect to prep in advance for a packed lunch.

5. Bento box
Bento boxes have long been a staple of Japanese lunches, but they have more recently become popular everywhere. Bentos elevate simple ingredients into show stopping lunches through careful prep. They are designed to travel well, and you can stick to traditional items like onigiri rice balls or put your own twist on it. Check out the below infographic from Quill to find out more about bento box lunches! And don’t forget that bento boxes come in all shapes and styles*!

Simple, healthy bento box lunches perfect for the office

Simple, healthy bento box lunches perfect for the office
Infographic by Quill

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