Total Wellbeing Blog

Free Family Budget Checklist

Find out some easy ways to manage your family finances with this free Family Budget Checklist - a quickguide to help you take control.

In today’s world of escalating prices, job security issues and growing lists of monthly expenses, it can be tough for families to make ends meet. We want to provide the best we can for our children, but sometimes the funds available seem to work against that. By taking the time to understand your financial situation and carefully putting together a family budget, you can help create the financial security your family needs.

Click here to download your free guide (PDF)

Blue Monday - Is it really the most depressing day in history?

This morning we woke up to the news that today January 19th 2009 was the most depessing day in history.  A report from The Daily Mail reads:

"Cold weather, fading Christmas memories and broken New Year resolutions mean this period is usually miserable, but the effects of the economic downturn makes this year worse than ever.

Millions will feel so glum they will decide to stay in bed and up to a quarter of workers are expected to call in sick, research suggests. Psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall has devised a mathematical formula that pinpoints today as Blue Monday.

He says there are six depressive factors which will come together including the winter weather, Christmas credit card bills and abandoned New Year's resolutions. Fears over job security, mounting debt and the house price collapse make this year the toughest yet"

As one of The Daily Mail web readers points out - wasn't life a lot more depressing during harder times of survival in the 30s and 40s?

Yes, the ecomony is making it a lot harder for people at the moment and I have no doubt that for some people it is a difficult time but this story does need a sense of perspective.  In fact, publishing this sort of news will actually encourage people to feel down!

The advice to overcome it was to have fun - well, that is something I won't ever disagree with but in my opinion, an even better way is to steer clear of the doom and gloom news at the moment and move your focus onto more positive things to brighten your day.  We get what we focus on so be careful what you choose!

Looking for positive news?  visit http://www.happynews.com/ - a news site dedicated to real, compelling and always positive things in life.  Now that's more like it!

Sanity & Satisfaction for the At Home Mom - Free Report

Being at home mom comes with all kinds of challenges. There's always plenty to do and everyone seems to expect even more from you because - after all - you're at home. But there is only so much one individual can do.

If you're feeling a little frazzled by all you have on your plate and it seems there is no time left for you to relax - or even breathe, download this quick guide. It has 15 ideas you can use right away to help reduce your stress and put a little fun back into things.

Click here to download your free printable guide (PDF Format)

5 Tips to Help You Stop Worrying and Start Living

From the 'Life is Too Short' Series

Are you guilty of being a constant worrier?  Do you worry all the time about things that haven't happened or things that are outside of your control?  Strike up a conversation with most people and they will start to tell you something that they are worrying about.  It seems that everyone has the worry bug and the busier our lives get the harder it can be to stop worrying.

The problems with being a constant worrier is twofold.  Firstly, you waste a lot of energy worrying about things that haven't happened yet and miss enjoying the present moment and secondly, most of what you worry about is either out of your control or will never happen.  Here are some tips to help reduce your worrying so that you can stop fretting and start enjoying life:

1. Keep a gratitude journal and write 5 things that you are grateful for right now.  Do this each day, in particular during periods of worry and try and find 5 new things each day if you can.  This helps you to focus on what is good about your life.
2. Aim to give your current task / conversation your 100% attention.  Most of us are so busy thinking about what we need to get done to enjoy the moment, whether it be someone's company or the satisfaction of completing an important task.
3. Keep a pad next to your bed.  If like me, you do most of your thinking when the lights go out and the room is silent, jot down any tasks for the following day that you worry about completing.  This helps you to let them go - half the time, we worry that we'll forget to do something so writing it down acts as a starter for the next day 'to do' list.
4. Establish if something is in your span of control.  Try the 'circle of influence' exercise.  Draw 2 circles, an inner circle and outer circle.  List your worries in the outer circle if they are outside of your control and the inner circle if they are inside your control.  This helps you put your worries in perspective - let go of the things you can't control and think about what actions you can take for those that you can control.
5. Get a support network.  If you don't feel comfortable confiding in close friends or family, consider joining an on-line forum for non-biased advice or support but remember that networks are two way - you should be prepared to support others in the same way.  Focusing on other people is also a great way to get life into perspective.

If you are a serial worrier, you can't eradicate all worrying overnight and it is human to worry to an extent.  You just want to make sure that it doesn't take over and hinder your enjoyment of all the good things that you have in your life now and stop you missing the great moments that happen when you focus on the present.

3 New Years Workout Mistakes

For more information, visit fityummymummy.com or join the support community at clubfym.com