Sunday 4 January 2015

A Guide to Beating the New Year's Blues

It's that time of year again where your timeline is filled with "new year, new me"-esque posts, Christmas and New Year's celebrations are nought but memories and your bank balance is lower than Paris Hilton's IQ. Never fear, here's a simple guide to getting you through the coming months with a smile.

1. Ignore the bullshit

At this time of year, people tend to get extremely self-righteous and disingenuously humble. Fortunately, this is often contained in the realms of social media. However, you will meet people that have got a New Year's resolution that cannot be questioned such as stopping talking about people behind their back. Very honourable. These people will then tend to force their new life-affirming lifestyle choice on everyone they meet. Not very honourable. Well done for making the amazing change in your life but remember you needed to make the change in the first place. Chances are these people won't stick to their resolution for more than a couple of weeks anyway. 

2. Enjoy saving a bit of money

We all love spending money to get new and exciting things that we want but, for most of us, that just can't continue after the binge-provoking Christmas season. As my Mumma taught me; if you make bargain-hunting a sport, your food shop will be much more exciting (you can also read my Guide to Food Shopping below for more tips). Go food shopping just before the supermarkets are due to close and get all the reduced things at an even lower price. You may think this is a well-known thing; maybe it is but more people still need to know! Try and appreciate the money you've saved when you've bought yummy food rather than a shiny new Apple product. Try out other websites such as everything5pounds.com - this is one of my absolute faves and their footwear is some of the most durable on the market for that price - amazing value! Use cashback websites, voucher codes, student deals - there are so many things out there to help save money and enjoy it! Just get searching. 

3. Look forward to the year ahead

If you're not a NY resolutions person, don't make one! Thinking about your year ahead and how you'd like it to turn out isn't making a resolution to "be a better person"; it's a pragmatic way to think about your life and a good way to make sure you achieve all you want to achieve. Maybe make a Bucket List and try and do some of the things on it. However, you can do this at any time of the year and New Year's shouldn't make you want to change as many advertising campaigns dictate!

4. Enjoy Winter and remember that Summer is coming!

Yes, it's cold. Yes, it's grim. Yes, it's winter clothes time. That means gorgeous coats, boots and as much knitwear as you can handle and we all love a comfy chunky knit! If you can't deal with Winter and are pining for the Summer sun and laissez-faire vibes, make some exciting Summer plans. 


















The moral of the story is not to let the time of year dictate how you feel. The above ways can help you combat it. GO AND HIT THIS YEAR IN THE FACE!