by Nicholas Sinclair

The cost of living continues to rise, with fuel prices interest rates and the general passing of the buck. But you can reduce the cost of living in today’s world by taking a closer look at where your money is being spent.

The first place to start looking is at your budget. What budget I hear you say? Well get out a pen and piece of paper, because I am going to give you a few tips on how to start tracking your finances.

Start your budget by simply writing down what you spend over the week or fortnight (going by your income cycle is easiest). Your budget is your own personal tool and you can choose how much detail you want to include. Saving money will become easier once you’ve got a budget to tell you where your money is being spent.

Put your spending into categories - such as groceries - rather than keeping tabs on individual items such as shampoo, breakfast cereal and pet food.
Sometimes its easier to use two groups of expenses such as:

1. Essentials - bills you must pay to keep your household and family running, such as utilities (electricity, gas and water), housing (rent or mortgage), groceries, health, transport (car or public transport to travel to work or school), education and so on.
2. Extras - the other expenses in your life such as entertainment, holidays and gifts.

There are no set rules for creating a budget. What is important is that it is easy for you to understand. Remember to keep the list of categories simple and helpful to you. And be flexible, you can change the categories you use if you find they don’t work for you.

Once you’ve got all your outgoing’s down on paper, measure this against your income. Is it more or less than your outgoings? If you income is less than your outgoings than look and see where you can cut back your spending. Do you really need to buy takeaway food three times a week? Or how about those cappuccino’s everyday? If your income is more than your outgoings than your on the right track.

Calculate how much you can afford to put away each week for savings and there you go, you’ve started your first savings plan. Congratulations!

Remember to keep your budget up to date. If your spending habits change or income changes make sure you up date your financial tracker. By doing this you will be able to adjust your budget if you have to and also see if you can increase your savings.

It’s a good idea to review your budget every six to 12 months to check whether you are on track. Set realistic and achievable financial goals and once you reach those you will be more motivated to create new, elevated goals and set out to achieving them.

If you need some more help with setting up your budget, the Australian Government has developed a great, easy to use website understandingmoney.gov.au. This website is full of useful hints and tips and contains helpful tools and calculators including budget planner.

Goodluck!

This advice may not be suitable to you because it contains general advice that has not been tailored to your personal circumstances.  Please seek personal financial advice prior to acting on this information.

Article written by Nicholas Sinclair at Wealthfarm Financial Planners www.wealthfarm.com.au

by Rosemary Marchese

Are you a busy mum struggling to find time to get to the gym? Can’t even find the time to get out for a walk? You’re not alone! The good news is that research is showing you don’t have to exercise for one hour straight to have some health benefits! As a busy working mum myself, even I (the self-confessed exercise-junkie) had to come to terms with the fact that since becoming a mum there just isn’t always time to get into a full gym program. Since my first child was born over three years ago I have had to re-learn ways to get regular exercise, and yes, get back into my pre-baby clothes, without getting to a gym.

So how? How in this busy world do mothers, and mums of young babies in particular, find the time. The answer is simple - break it down, and make physical activity a part of your day. Of course you should eat healthy as well and although I am not a dietitian, I do advocate a healthy balance between eating a wide variety of nutritious foods as well as the occasional treat. But in regards to physical activity I look at my day in two ways:

1.    The first way is that I try to make as much of my day as physically active as possible.

2.    The second way is that I try to find 10-minute bouts of time to perform physical activity on days when I can’t get 30-60 minutes straight. Ideally it would be great to find three to six of these ’10-minutes’ but if I don’t, I know that even one or two bouts of 10 minutes will count for something!

Let’s look at the first suggestion – make your day as physically active as possible. If you are running around looking after children there is the first step mostly taken care of…but there’s more. Are you already performing more physical activity than you realise? How many of the following activities do you manage?

-    walking kids to school

-    hanging clothes

-    ironing

-    washing

-    making beds

-    cleaning the house (vacuuming, sweeping and mopping to name a few)

-    getting the mail

-    cooking

-    shopping

-    carrying shopping upstairs

-    holding a baby or toddler

-    pushing a pram around

And that’s for those of you who didn’t make it to official ‘work’ that day. For those that did, did you:

-    walk to work or at least part of it?

-    Take the stairs not the lift?

-    Get out at lunchtime for some exercise?

-    Get up from your desk every hour?

All of these activities burn kilojoules…and that is the key…to burn kilojoules!

The second suggestion involves finding the time for some structured exercise, no matter how short the duration. Of course if you can find the time for a 30-60 minute session outdoors or at the gym, then go for it! You probably need the mental break too. But on those days where it is all just too hard, try combining some of these exercises whenever you get 10 minutes spare. Add up more than one session over the day and you have yourself a mini workout!

Note: These are just ideas and your starting point will vary depending on how fit you are to start with…consult your doctor before starting any exercise regime.

-    running up and down stairs at home, if you have them. Take it easy at first and give yourself regular breaks but decrease your rest-time as you get fitter.

-    Star jumps 3 x 20 repetitions

-    Push ups 3 x 10

-    Squats 3 x 20

-    Running on the spot (try one-minute running then 30 seconds to rest…repeat four to five times depending on fitness).

The other thing I recommend is getting into a sport once per week…tennis, netball, soccer…whatever you fancy. But that can contribute to your fitness as well as your ‘time out’ as a mum. For those of you who can continue your ‘pre-baby’ exercise routine, well-done (and I envy you!). But for those of you who can’t, due to lack of time, work commitments, money or whatever the reason, hopefully some of these ideas will help you kick-start back into a regular and healthy exercise routine. Good luck!

Rosemary is a registered physiotherapist who has combined her expertise in health with fitness. She has over 15 years of experience teaching and consulting in the fitness industry. She is the co-author of the best-selling text book ‘The Essential Guide to Fitness: For the Fitness Instructor’, which was specifically written for those people wanting to start a career in the fitness industry. She is also Editor for Ultra Fit Magazine, which presents the fitness industry (experts and participants) up-to-the minute fitness industry research and workouts. For more information on Ultra Fit Magazine or Rosemary’s book, visit www.ultrafit.com.au.

by Kate James

‘We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.’ Sam Keen

Given how much we change over the course of our adult lives, it seems only natural that we will occasionally experience difficult times within our long term relationships. Whether they be with friends, partner or family, charting a completely smooth course throughout the years isn’t always easy. I would actually go so far as to say that a long term relationship without the occasional glitch along the way is potentially not a completely open one.

I’m not suggesting that we need to seek out conflict or difficulty in order to enjoy a satisfying friendship or partnership but we do need to acknowledge that people have their differences and over the passage of time, we change. We need to be willing to address the issues that arise to allow our relationship to continue to grow. Sometimes working through such issues results in a degree of conflict.

In some relationships, conflict is viewed as completely unacceptable. Keeping the peace and maintaining harmony at all costs is a greater goal than speaking openly and honesty. In others, conflict is dealt with in an angry or hostile manner that evokes fear and insecurity. In a healthy relationship, differences of opinion are acknowledged and talked through - even when those conversations are difficult.

Sometimes our differences of opinion need to be accepted as an integral part of the fabric we weave with the people we love. It is these very differences that bring richness and colour to our lives as we allow ourselves to be open to new ways of seeing things.

If you’ve ever worked through a challenging patch and resolved or agreed to accept a difference in opinion, you know the experience of greater depth in your connection. There is nothing quite as validating as the sense that the person you love knows you deeply.

Too often we walk away from long term partners when the going gets tough. The culture we live in is partly to blame. Society often sends us the message that if it’s not perfect, it’s not good enough. Much of what we’ve learnt to expect from relationships has come from formulaic film scripts designed to make us feel good but that don’t offer a ‘real’ picture of love.

Real love is complex - it doesn’t necessarily feel great every day but the true measure is whether your life is richer with that person in it.

Creating a lasting relationship:

• Remember three things that attracted you to your partner (or friend) in the early days of your relationship and acknowledge that person for one of those things every day for a week

• Accept (and admit) your own imperfections and say sorry if you need to

• Avoid constantly criticising your partner - make sure your positive interactions significantly outweigh your negative interactions

• Make a commitment to spend time together doing something you both enjoy

• Keep your sense of humour

Kate James is a work life balance coach, writer and speaker. She works with professional people who want to enhance their quality of life by making the right career and life choices. You can find Kate at   www.totalbalance.com.au.

by M.J Ryan

The ins and outs of better breathing

Try this relaxation exercise from breathing guru Andrew Weil, MD, best-selling author and clinical professor of medicine at the University of Arizona. The payoff? “Blessed relief” from constant thinking, Weil says.

• Sit with your back straight.
• Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge just behind your front teeth.
• Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
• Inhale quietly through your nose with your mouth closed to a mental count of four. Hold your breath for a count of seven.
• Exhale completely through your mouth, this time whooshing to a count of eight.
• Inhale again and repeat the exercise three times for a total of four breaths.

TIP: If you have trouble holding your breath, speed up but stick to the four-seven-eight count. Practice twice a day, but don’t do more than four breaths at a time for the first month; later you can work up to eight breaths. You may feel a little light-headed, Weil says, but it will pass.

M.J. Ryan is a life coach and the author of many self-help books, including This Year I Will … and is a member of Health magazine’s Health Expert Network.

This article was sources from http://living.health.com

by Dr Tim Sharp

This article is based on the following philosophy:
Happiness is the ultimate purpose in life
Happiness is achievable, for all of us
Happiness is determined more by our minds than by our circumstances

The disciplines that will lead to and enhance happiness (such as helpful thinking and good habits) can be learned and mastered, with practice.

Tip 1 - Make happiness a priority. If happiness is not at the top of your list then other things will take precedence. If other things take precedence, they may well interfere with your efforts to feel good.

Tip 2 - Make plans to be happy. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Just like in any other life domain, the successful pursuit of happiness requires planning.

Tip 3 - Set happy goals. Following on from Tip 2, planning requires effective goal setting. And don’t forget to make sure your goals are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timed).

Tip 4 - Do things that make you happy. Although this sounds obvious, many people simple forget to do things from which they gain pleasure. And do them as
often as possible.

Tip 5 - Set yourself tasks from which you’ll gain satisfaction. As well as pleasure and enjoyment, satisfaction is also an important part of happiness. So make sure that when you’re planning your tasks and activities you include things that might not be fun, but from which you’ll gain a sense of achievement.

Tip 6 - Play and have fun. Don’t take life too seriously. Although we all have responsibilities there’s no reason why we can’t approach much of our lives in a playful manner. In fact, those who do so will undoubtedly be happier.

Tip 7 - Identify where your strengths lie. Know where your faults and weaknesses are to avoid problems. Know where your strengths lie to be really happy and to succeed in life.

Tip 8 - Utilise your strengths. Although we all can and should endeavour to improve in areas in which we’re weak there’s just as much, if not more, to be gained from focusing on the maximal utilisation of your strengths (including all your positive qualities and attributes).

Tip 9 - Be curious. Constantly search for new ways to be happy. Keep a look out for new ways to approach life and to have fun.

Tip 10 - Be grateful and appreciate what you have. We all have many choices in life one of which is whether to focus on all the things we don’t have (of which there might be many), or to focus on all the things we do have. There’s no doubt, that gratitude and appreciation will significantly increase your chances of experiencing happiness.

Tip 11 - Learn to like and ideally to love yourself. We must love before we can be loved. To love others and to be loved by others is a key component of happiness.

Tip 12 - Invest time and energy in to your key relationships. Happy people spend more time working on and in their relationships. Happy people tend to be more supportive of other people in their life. Happy people are more generous and altruistic.

Tip 13 - Socialise and interact with others as much as possible. Happy people have both more and better quality relationships. So as well as working to improve the quality of your relationships (as noted in Tip 12) it’s also worthwhile working to improve the number of your relationships.

Tip 14 -Weed out unhelpful thoughts. The Dalai Lama has been quoted saying that “The central method for achieving a happier life is to train your mind in a daily practice that weakens negative attitudes and strengthens positive ones.” Learn first to identify your thoughts and then begin to challenge those that are negative and unhelpful.

Tip 15 - Plant happier, optimistic thoughts. As noted in Tip 14, there are two parts to developing helpful, optimistic thinking. The first is to weed out unhelpful negative thoughts and the second is to plant more positive, optimistic ones. This is essentially a skill, and like any other skill becomes easier and more effective with practice.

Tip 16 -Live a healthy life. Eat well and keep active. Exercise regularly. Although not impossible, it’s difficult to be happy if you’re constantly sick and not very healthy.

Tip 17 -Ensure you gain adequate sleep and rest. Consistent with Tip 16, it’s difficult to be happy if you’re constantly tired and struggling to find enough energy to get through the day. To assist with this, regularly practice relaxation and/or meditation strategies.

Tip 18 -Manage your time and priorities. Happy people tend to believe they’re more in control of their lives. In doing so, they’re more likely to take an active approach to solving problems. If something’s not quite right in your life, do something. And further, make sure that what you’re doing is important. Put first things first.

Tip 19 -Control what you can control. Accept what you can’t control. And learn to be wise enough to know the difference.

Tip 20 - Live in the present moment. The author, Henry Miller once said “Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognise it as such.” The only moment in which we can truly be happy is the present moment. The only moment over which we have control is the present moment. So be happy now! Because if not now, then when?

Tip 21 – an EXTRA tip to make you happy!

Make happiness an integral part of your life. Develop happiness routines and make them a part of your every day living. Remind yourself however you can to do what you need to do and reward yourself as often as possible for doing what you’ve done.

Dr. Sharp is one of Australia’s leaders in the exciting new science of positive psychology and happiness. In short, he is one of this country’s leading Executive Coaches, a highly qualified consultant on matters relating to human behaviour and psychology (particularly the application of positive psychology principles within organisations and teams) and a sought after public/corporate speaker. For more information please email info@thehappinessinstitute or visit The Happiness Institute