And The New Year Begins.... 2016

Firstly, Happy New Year to all..

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So 2015 over and 2016 starts.

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Many New Year resolutions, a new beginning and a chance to put last year behind us and start a new etc etc.

What are your New Year resolutions? Do you actually have any New Year resolutions? And if you answered YES to these, will you stick it out and overcome the targets of which you aim for?

Having read quite a lot with regards to New Year resolutions, it has come to no surprise of the top 5 resolutions this year.

In no particular order;

• Stop Smoking
• Start Dieting
• Cut Down On Alcohol Consumption
• Eating More Healthy
• Sorting Finances

Are any of the above your New Year resolutions??

Apparently what's 'trending' at the moment is, dry January. But not just dry as in alcohol, No! People are not eating meat, not drinking alcohol and cutting out coffee altogether,

I am sorry to disappoint, but I for one will not be participating with regards to the whole 'dry January' thing.

Not because I oppose of it, but I believe that going all out over a specific time, all of a sudden, that your body won't thank you for it.

I could understand it if people done the above over a longer time scale. i.e. No alcohol during January, and then occasionally in the following months. And then in February, cut out meats, and then occasionally in the following months. But to do it all at once, could potentially be worse for you.

OK, so I am no doctor / nutritionist, but I think sometimes you just need common sense.

Here's my suggestion;

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Decide what you want to stop during the beginning of January. Make a list. Then decide what you want to cut down on or indeed cut out altogether and start with one thing.

Lets draft a simple plan below. - This is just an example, so it's up to you what you decide to stop doing etc. And the example isn't particularly my plan, but it is how I recommend cutting things out of your diet / lifestyle etc.

Things that we would like to change;

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Smoking, Alcohol, Cut out meats.

January;

Alcohol - Go dry during the month of January. If you can not go all month without a drop of wine, maybe you have a party or something to attend and fancy a drink, then have a drink just on that one night. Or you can slowly cut down the alcohol consumption with the target of only having a tipple once a month.... DONE.

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January;

Smoking - Stop smoking during the month of January. Some people have the will power to just stop... That's great. Others, however find it harder. So set the amount of cigarettes to around two less than what you smoke now, if you smoke a lot, cut it by five cigarettes per day. Then just keep cutting it down throughout the month of January until you find yourself on one or two cigarettes per day.

Remember, One or Two cigarettes per day is a lot better than 10 to 20 or even 40 in some cases.

Nearly DONE...... But February is waiting.

February;

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Cut Out Meats - Why a person who enjoys eating meat would like to cut out meats is baffling to me, but hey, if that's what they want, then good luck.

Start off the same as above... In moderation, Depending on how much meat you actually do eat per month, dictates how much to cut down per day / week. So as above, just cut down on the meats gradually and come March, you can come away from eating meats altogether and I believe this is the safest / healthiest way to do it. I personally think that if you enjoy eating meat, then eat it. Meat such as Chicken and Fish are so good for you, that they should be included in any diet. 'excluding vegetarians'. 

February;

This is the month where you can stub smoking out altogether. Now you have cut down from your 10 / 20 or 40 cigarettes per day to just One or Two, it's time to try and stop having those One or Two cigarettes and move on with your life. DONE....

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So there we have it. A really simple plan idea that I hope you find helpful.

Please remember that 'in moderation' and 'gradually' is your key to success!

Good luck and should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to get involved.

Moderation + Gradually = Success.

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Sending Our Thoughts To France.

France - You are not alone!

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I would like to send my thoughts to all those effected by the tragic events that has taken place in France.

As stated above. France you are not alone and the support of the rest of the world is clearly with you.

Although the thoughts are with all those lost, we unfortunately can't bring anyone back from what has happened, but what we can do as human beings, is stand up and stop the animals that crave this pathetic attention and radicalisation!

I for one, am really upset and angry that this is allowed to happen! We can not afford to keep losing innocent lives, to a bunch of low life scum. It's as simple as that!

I really hope the support doesn't stop for all those in France, and I hope that somehow Europe and the US can put an end to all this crap! - Not forgetting Russia of course.

From 911 to the London buses, to Belgium, to France, to airlines etc etc it has become a disaster throughout the world!

I send all my best wishes to all and wish everyone the best. Let's hope we can rid of the cancerous people out there! - Well people is too kind to be honest.

We stand UNITED!!!!

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My Dog Had 3 Adorable Puppies!!!

My Puppies Are So Cute!

Meet my three adorable puppies. Two Female and One Male.

My gorgeous dog Lola gave birth to three gorgeous puppies on 5th September 2015. Making them 5 weeks old.

Chips;

The male of the pups.

CHIPS

He isn't quite as forward as the two females but he is just adorable.

He loves snuggling up to his mum, and loves cuddles off my wife, children and I. He is definitely a lap dog bless him. When he walks, he looks like a guinea pig!

He does try to play fight with the females, but he hasn't developed as quick so in turn, he prefers to walk around being nosy, and attempts to get our attention by laying on our feet, so we can pick him up and snuggle him in under our chins.

He is smaller and fluffier than the two females and very loving.

Belle;

BELLE

One of the females.

Belle was the first pup to start walking, climbing in and out of the dog bed and now she takes a great interest in the food bowl! OK so she just licks the food but she runs over to the bowl and was the first to do so.

Very inquisitive and enjoys play fighting as she is the strongest pup.

Belle does love a cuddle and after she has played, ran around a bit she loves to snuggle into our lap where she falls asleep.

A gorgeous face and very clever for her age. We can see her keeping her owners on their toes but at the same time, loving her snuggles.

SPOTTY

Spotty;

The other female.

Spotty definitely plays the role of the 'middle sibling'. She is clever, inquisitive and very huggable.

Always a step behind Belle with regards to development but not far behind. However she loves snuggles on the sofa, and loves to lick our chins as we lay her on her back stroking her tummy!

Spotty has started to roll over on her back now for us to rub her tummy and when doing this she lays there with her tongue sticking out, if she isn't close enough to lick our chins that is....  So funny and cute!

They all seem very happy and they all huddle together with their mum, content, developing and their individual personalities really starting to show.

Leo - The father;

LEO

Leo has found it quite strange, but who wouldn't.

Being daft and a typical boy he has dealt with it well but he doesn't like to sleep with the puppies just yet.

At first we kept Leo separated for the first three weeks, for obvious reasons but we have gradually got Leo, Lola and the pups to interact with each other and it has gone really well.

Lola did warn Leo a few times when he was having a sniff and saying hello but this is completely normal and this should be the case! But as time has gone on and the puppies developing, all is well within the camp.

The puppies tend to approach Leo to play but Leo thinks it's best to jump out of the way and sit up on the chair.

Leo does occasionally sniff the pups and does generally like being around them, but when the puppies 'Belle & Spotty more so' want to play with him, that's when Leo jumps up out of the way.

Lola - The mother;

LOLA

Lola has done exceptionally well for a young / small dog.

She took to motherhood like a dog takes to a bone. We are all very proud of her and from day one she has cleaned, fed and kept the pups warm.

Lola as stated above, protected her pups. If she thought Leo was Near the kitchen 'where the pups & mum were'. I did put a gate on the door however, Lola still liked to let Leo know he wasn't wanted at first.

Now the puppies have grown, Lola does like an hour on her own. So we have been taking her out for a nice refreshing walk down the canal. Just so she can have her own time.

Overall we are very happy and we will all be sad especially the children, when the pups move on to their future homes.

I only wish I had a big enough house for them, as they are gorgeous and having their mum and dad since pups I know they will all have great temperaments.

PS; They are all starting to use the training pad for toilet already. Not always but they are getting there!

Has Modern Society Taken Our Family Time Away?

Should we enjoy our time with our children before it's too late?

After a great weekend with my beautiful family, I couldn't help but think, that we as parents are being robbed of our quality time with our children, by our lovely modern society.

Let me delve into this further so I can get my point across and hopefully you as parents see it too.

OK, so I work from home Monday to Friday, my wife works from Monday to Friday in an office and this leaves the weekend to spend sometime with each other and our children. 

Now even with the above work pattern a lot of people say 'we are quite lucky to have these working days / hours and have the weekends off'. Yes I agree to some degree, however it is with great sacrifice that we manage to have a weekend to spend together.

Our overall household income could be double... Yes double, if I was still working as a lorry driver, driving all over the UK and on occasions parts of Europe, however I would hardly see my wife and children, and we would also have to rely on childcare, as my wife starts work around 8 am and finishes work around 5:30 / 6 pm.

So a great sacrifice has been purposely made by ourselves as we believe, time with our children and each other is far more important than a salary.

And before people say 'you could afford to give your children things and set up a good future for them' etc etc.

My wife and I have covered this, as our salaries are enough for us to live, go on holidays, have two cars and save for our children's University education. (should they wish to further their education, but the savings are there for them)

I never seen myself as a person who works from home. I have always gone out to work, but we found that it just wasn't for us, where my wife and I were working and our children having to be dropped to school and picked up from school everyday by a childminder.

We have friends who regret their choice to work all the hours under the sun whilst their children were in childcare, as they missed out on so much with regards to their child's development. They missed out when their child started crawling for the first time, when their child started walking and the child minder knew much more about the child than they ever did... Surely this is wrong! They deeply regret it now.

Our view is; we decided to have children, we love our children and therefore should be able to watch them develop and take them to and from school etc.

So with the above in mind, we found that by me working from home and doing most of the house work and the school runs etc as my wife goes out to work Monday to Friday, we have more balance within our family home and our children do benefit from our current lifestyle choice.

Don't get me wrong it was hard at first to establish a work pattern for myself, as there were many people (friends and family) who thought they could keep asking me for favors. They didn't understand that when I get home from the school run in the morning, I am actually working. Nope a lot of people thought well he's only at home i'l give him a ring he wont mind giving me a hand with something....  Well I had to be assertive and say no. I work from 10 am until 2:30 pm Monday to Friday, so unfortunately i'm unavailable.

Would they be able to contact me and ask me for a favor if I was driving 500 miles through the UK in my truck? 

No, so It's exactly the same thing!

Anyway, moving on;

Many people work many hours throughout the week. Many people choose not to work any hours throughout the week, but our modern society is hellbent on making everyone of us work longer hours, more days and for a very sad hourly rate / salary.

Well I am really against people working 40 to 50 hours per week on minimum wage and barely affording to pay the bills!

Not only are families struggling to get by, they are also missing out on a lot of their children's childhood. And is it through choice???  NO.

I won't go into sums here but in general we work all week / month, get paid, pay the bills and we start all over again.

We go to work all week / month, see our children for about an hour / two hours in the morning and maybe 2/3 hours in the evening and then we start again.

It's one big cycle and before we know it our children are in their 20's, getting married and you have a little person calling you Nan / Granddad...

Look at it this way;

We spend around an hour or two with our children in the morning......   What are we actually doing with our children? 

We are getting everything ready for the day ahead i.e Showers, brushing teeth, eating breakfast, sorting packed lunch, getting dressed, brushing hair and out of the door before you run out of time.

Yes that's great quality time with our children isn't it? OK so it has to be done.... But what about after the busy day.

Some may be in a position to pick up their children from school but the way the government want it, is for us parents to work all day until 5 pm and for a childminder to pick our children up from school and take care of them until we pick them up. That's why when policies are being thrown around before every election in a bid to win votes, they promise increases in childcare etc...  No thank you politicians, we want family working hours!!!

I am not suggesting for one minute, that we should have a two hour working day and earn a hefty salary. No, I am suggesting more options for families, more flexibility and support for working families. (0 hour contracts must go for a start).

So lets have a look at this then shall we....

Say the average person finishes work at 5 pm. We won't actually be picking our children up until around 5:30 / 6 pm due to traffic etc. Then we have to get from the nursery / childminders to our home providing you don't have to pop to the shop for milk, bread etc So we can assume we will be home around 6:30 / 7 pm.

WOW..... We get through the door of our homes, get dinner on, get our children into their PJ's, read the book / homework  that came home from school with them, eat dinner, bush teeth, go through their hair with the nit comb and put them to bed (maybe a bedtime story) and by now we are look at the clock and it's around 9 pm!!!!

So, during the evening we have spent time with our children, but doing what exactly?

Well the above just shows that even though we pick our children up around 6 pm and put them to bed at 9 pm (which is a late bedtime for children under 10 years of age) we are actually spending 3 hours with our children, but most importantly the quality of that time isn't great. 

And let's not forget about our adult rest time! 

After the children are in bed, we still got washing up to do, ironing to do, a clothes wash to do. Before we know it it's 10:30 pm and only now we manage to sit down with a glass of wine / coffee and put our feet up.

Let's not over look families with a  family pet either. Even more duties.

Overlook / Outcome;

So we have established we spend a grand total of around FOUR hours a day with our children and these four hours are things we need to do. Eat, shower, dress, homework, etc etc.

Is our way of life good for anyone?

Well yes...  It's great for the tax man and that's about it to be honest. I do not see anyone else benefiting from all the above. OK so people may choose to work and live like the above mentioned, but 8 out of 10 people / families that I have asked, have too. So in turn are actually forced too!

This isn't a free country / world is it? What about human rights? Is it not our human right to want to be there for our children? Isn't it our human right to enjoy our life and have more quality time to ourselves? 

I believe things must change, not just for our sake, but for our children's sake as well.

If we are only around our children for four hours a day, Monday to Friday (many are forced to work weekends as well don't forget). How do we manage to build a strong relationship with our children? How do we show them all the love that we should show them, and how do we teach them right from wrong in such a short few hours per day? 

So it is really important that things change, as I for one really detest the way we are forced to live our life, and a change to the whole system with regards to work and family time would be beneficial for all.

My final word;

Try and make choices that will make your life a little easier, and remember that quality time with your children, wife, husband and yourself is more important than ANYTHING else.....

Family Budgeting

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Here I am going to cover a very important part of our lives.... Family Budgeting.

Why is it really important? Well it determines whether you will have enough money to eat, pay bills, travel and most importantly live well.

Too many people make the mistake of living in one big cycle. Pay in one hand and pay out of the other hand. A well known phrase 'in one hand and out of the other'.

Well it doesn't have to be this way. Whether you are unemployed, earning minimum wage, only have a part time job or in some cases earning a very good salary but still don't have enough money for a meal out come payday!

Living well is too expensive, many say. But it doesn't have to be if you budget well, get organised and take pride in what you do with your money.

I have been unemployed, worked minimum wage, worked part time and also earned a very generous salary. My past money issues / non issues have gave me the will and the know how, of how to manage money, whether its next to nothing or earning a really good salary.

Unfortunately I can't say I have had millions of pounds in the bank and I know how to budget with that amount of money, but maybe one day I will be able too. (figures crossed whilst typing) ha ha.

Right so lets move on and delve a little more into the subject at hand.

Let's look into the 'living within our means' shall we;

Throughout the world a lot of us try to live beyond our means, and by this I mean living in finance, debt above our heads, and wanting things that can or will financially cripple us.

In this case, the trick is not to go into a financing situation or a loan situation, try to stay debt free as possible. No brainer right?

Well it may sound simple and straight forward but in fact over 9 million people (UK alone) are in serious debt... YES, over 9 MILLION PEOPLE!!!

The link to this is here; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25108891

So as simple as it may sound 'try to stay debt free' in fact the statistics show that it isn't all that simple.

Via the above link, it states a lady only took a loan out for £2000, but she was unable to keep up the payment and before she knew it, she found herself struggling and under severe pressures to pay all her bills, and pay off the money she owed.

I am not going to advise you to never go into a finance / loan agreement etc. I am simply saying make sure you can afford it, and make sure it's something you really need!

But with finance / loans in mind, I will be covering how to avoid going into the cycle of 'pay in one hand, pay out the other' and also ways of avoiding finance / loans all together.

So where do we start? We start with the money you have now. Not potential money i.e. 'You should get a pay rise in a month or two', not 'I am guaranteed a job in a month' etc.

The money you live on now. Current salary, current benefits etc. Along with your current outgoings, yes the dreaded outgoings!

It's straight forward really and it will only take you around half an hour to an hour to do, but this half an hour or hour could be the best hours paid job you have ever done.

Below is a basic budget summery that anyone can do. You should however make it easy to read for yourself, as there's no point setting it all out and you cant understand it, or it becomes a chore to look at every month.

Also adjust the outgoings and your money in to your relative situation. I.e you may need to swap salary to income support, or you don't have Child tax credit etc. So adjust accordingly.

01/01/15	01/02/15
MONEY IN;			MONEY OUT;		YEARLY COSTS;
Salary;	£1,200.00		Mortgage £550		Car MOT £200
Child Tax	£200.00		Car Insurance £60		Car Tax £140
Family Tax	£40.00		Food Shop £300		Christmas £600
Working Tax	£200.00		Council Tax £100		Birthdays £200
			Gas/Electric £160
			Fuel £50
TOTAL IN;	£1,640.00		TOTAL OUT;	£1,220.00	TOTAL; £1140.00
£1,140.00	Divided By		12 Months	Equals	£95.00 Per month
£95+£1140	Equals		£1235.00 Per month
TOTAL IN;	£1,640.00		TOTAL OUT;	£1,235.00	LEAVES; £405.00 Per month

Above please take notice of the yearly costs that we all encounter. Christmas, birthdays etc. as they can disrupt your budget for the whole year if forgot about. Many people forget the yearly costs and then wonder why they had to take a loan out to cover the costs.

The method I use is shown above. Let's use the Christmas cost for example.

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If you plan spending £500 for Christmas, budget for £600 and then divide it by 12 months and this will give you the figure you need to put away each month.

Many people use 11 months but I still count the full 12 personally, as if you budget the right way, come December you will have your yearly savings for Christmas and still be able to put away your monthly budget cost.

Above are all estimates and are used for illustration purposes only, so as mentioned previously, adjust accordingly to suit your personal circumstances.

Please note that should you wish to go on holiday, remember to put it in the budget, and also add spending money!

Above shows that we are left with £405.00 every month after ALL costs / outgoings. It is important that you stay within this limit each month, no matter how much you want that new sofa, car etc.

Should you wish to buy a new sofa, a whole new wardrobe, a new car etc. Remember to budget for it. Save what you can from your disposable funds of £405.00 per month until you can buy the item / product outright with cash.

With the basic budget drawn out, lets have a look at staying out of 'loans / finance' etc.



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Within this topic we will use the budgeting table as our guide / reference to simplify things.

So you have had enough of sitting on the old sofa that has done you service for the past five / ten years and would love a new sofa?

It would be so easy to walk into a shop and get a brand new sofa on finance wouldn't it? With free delivery as well and a guarantee etc. etc. DON'T DO IT!

The sofa that you like is right in front of you for £1000, but you don't have to pay anything upfront and the monthly repayments are only 'X' amount per month....

OK, well that sofa is only 'X' amount a month, with nothing to pay upfront can financially cripple you.

A sofa that is worth £1000 'CASH' will cost you around £1800 just for the 'FINANCE' option. Nearly double the 'CASH PRICE'. Forget it.

Look at your budget and think, I have £405.00 per month left after all my costs. Well if I save £200 per month I can have it within five months.

OK so it's 5 months, but there are many ways to look at this.

Firstly; it may take you five months or even more to get the sofa but when you walk in to purchase the sofa, it is then yours. No one else's, YOURS!

Secondly; It may take you five months, but it will take you even longer to pay the finance off, and you will have the debt of the sofa hanging over you like a dark cloud that's ready to empty on you. Putting it nicely.

Thirdly; It may look dated by 5 months. Well who changes their sofa every 5 months? If you do, then your budget will be considerably more desirable and therefore you wont need to only budget for £200 per month.

Fourthly; Think ahead. Think to yourself 'would I like a new sofa come autumn / summer' etc.

Then you can budget for your new sofa before you even go shopping around for one. Also by then you will have enough money to pay for the sofa with cash and own the sofa outright.

So, with all the above mentioned you will now be saving £800 just for avoiding 'the privilege of finance' along with saving yourself the dark cloud that could of hung over you for a considerable amount of time.

This example is again just an example, but the above thought process can be adopted to buying a newer car, a new computer etc. etc.

I hope the above helps and is understood as I believe a happy budget is a happy life, even if you are left with only £20 per month left. At least we all know where our money is spent, and if you require something new, that by budgeting for things we 'DO SAVE MONEY' overall.

I will also be covering how to cut costs, how to budget for our monthly food shop, investing your money and much more.

Please feel free to comment / get involved and I am always happy to receive an e-mail, message, tweet etc. etc.

Have fun people!!!! Remember 'Saving money should be fun, not a chore'.

The above topic will also be covered within my audio and eBook series 'JLlewellyn's Family Life' which will be available from December 2015 onwards.