It’s my birthday!

So this week I turned 32 (though still people think I’m in my 20’s).

Every year feels like something I’m grateful for because of my health and disabilities. It also brings some sadness that I’m still in this situation with my health and I’m not out there doing the dream things I wish I’d rather be able to do. However I’m still so hugely grateful for many things though and this is what I try to focus on around the time of my birthday.

Making pancakes!

I try to make my birthday as special as possible with lots of little acts of self-care. Like when I had my bath I used my favourite skincare products and gave myself a mini facial. I also got out my favourite Lush Snow Fairy shower gel. I put on some makeup too which always makes me feel brighter. For my tea I decided I wanted pancakes as a treat. I wanted to be in on the action so I made the mixture myself and helped my PA make them. (Unfortunately I enjoyed them too much to take a photo of them!)

I received some lovely and very thoughtful cards gifts from family, friends and my PAs. This really made my day and filled me with love and gratitude to see people knowing me so well and just the kindness that went into choosing or making things for me. Knowing I love my garden, handmade gifts, my need for low-energy activities, that I love crafts Moomins and pjs,, a voucher towards a facial or something and lots of other lovely things. It’s lovely to look at my cards too that I’ve put up and know that people have wanted to send me a card to celebrate my birthday.

As well on another day I went to my Dad’s and stepmum’s and the three of us ate tea and played a game which is something we collectively enjoy doing together. I won the game which really surprised me as normally I don’t win at games.

So yes birthdays can bring difficult emotions for me. Difficult memories and thoughts of more illness ahead of me especially at the moment as I’m living with undiagnosed symptoms that I can’t get answers for that are really affecting me and not knowing the outcome. However on the bright side my 32rd year has so many positives. 

• I have my own home that is amazing both inside and outside; quite literally, as Dad has made my garden so lovely for me.
• I now have a wheelchair that meets my needs and my Batec that gives me freedom and independence. 
• I have some amazing friends and pen pals. 
• I have an amazing family. 
• I have a new amazing PA now so my care situation has really improved. Hopefully in my 32nd year I’ll get a full PA team - how amazing would that be! 
• I’m also now under a specialist M.E. team at UCLH (my first appointment is in October and I was only referred in February!) Maybe I’ll also from them start to get answers or referrals to get closer to working out my undiagnosed symptoms.
• I’m doing really well at my declutterring and organising of my home plus my no spend project I start this year. I also want to start a project pan too at some point too!

That’s quite a list of positives! There are so many reasons to be happy this year going forward despite the difficulties and everything. Focusing on the positives help get me through the difficult times. I’m not one of those people who lets my health beat me down no matter how bad things get. Yes sometimes I have a bit of a cry but don’t we all, illness or no illness. We all have things in our live that challenge us.

Birthday’s are a time of the year where we can look back on the year we’ve just had. We can see how far we’ve come, what we’ve accomplished and survived etc. and what we have to come in the year ahead both positive and challenging. Just deal with one day at a time and remember to breathe. Embrace every day as it’s a gift as we never know what is to come.

Using my bullet journey to organise my life

I’ve been bullet journaling for a couple of years now. I have various layouts to help me keep on top of everything. Since I’ve really gotten into bullet journaling and found how to use it in a way that works for me it’s really helped me organise my life and my health and stay on top of things and reduce my anxiety too. I also get a lot of enjoyment out of bullet journaling too coming up with different creative layout designs.

I had tried bullet journaling in the past but I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing and how to bullet journal so I didn’t stick with it. Then I watched a YouTube video and the person spoke about how they used their bullet journal to streamline their life and health. I saw some of their layouts and it looked helpful and something that would benefit me so I thought I’d give it another try. I looked on Pinterest for bullet journaling for chronic illness layouts but I don’t get much results so I made up what I thought would be helpful. My past few bullet journals have altered to reflect what I’ve needed plus how I’ve developed and learnt more about how to do and use a bullet journal.

About me

I loved doing the a creative ‘about me’ page on the first page of my bullet journal for this year.

I’ve used stickers and doodles to show my favourite things and some words as well. I’ve got things like my favourite animals, colours, tea and coffee, blogging, books/audiobooks and pen palling. Basically it was things I could find stickers for. I’m now just missing a Moomin character sticker, especially if I could get my favourite character Little My. I’ve also written my favourite quote on there as well.

How I use my bullet journal for my health

Year in Pixels 

Fatigue ‘Year in Pixels’

This year and last I’ve done a layout called ‘A Year in Pixels’. I got the idea from my Medical History Passport as one of the page inserts for it is this. This year I’m recording my pain and fatigue levels. Last year I tracked how many headaches and migraines I had over the year. I chose to track pain and fatigue as they are my two main symptoms overarching symptoms.

How this layout works is down the side you have the dates of the month (1-31) and across the top you have the first letter of each month. I have a colour key to score my pain and fatigue levels each day ranging from great to severe: green, yellow, orange or red. For each day’s square I mark the score of how my pain and fatigue levels have been that day.

Doing this for my pain and fatigue will help me notice correlations between my pain and fatigue. I can also notice trends like colours building up in severity and how long severe or great pain or fatigue periods last. It’s quite helpful information to have and might help to use in things like some of my medical appointments. I can also tie it in with the symptom diary I keep too.

Symptom diary

As part of each month’s layout I keep a symptom diary. Each day I keep a record of my symptoms that day and and factors that might affect my symptoms. Sometimes I highlight anything significant such as a particularly bad seizure, a migraine or an M.E. crash.

It’s also helpful for things like medical appointments as it’s a prompt for me to know what symptoms I’ve been experiencing. It’s also helpful for me to track my symptoms too and notice any patters, trends or changes.

Monthly tracking and goal setting and prompts 

On my monthly layout it will vary but in the past I’ve tracked particular symptoms that month. For example pain, fatigue and mood. 

I’ve also set daily reminders and goals. For example daily goals and reminders to rest, do a daily body scan exercise and also my physio exercises. Sometimes I have one daily goal/reminder to do other months I’ve tried to set myself more. I’m also really bad at not doing catheter maintenance so I’ve also tried some months to do a layout to remind me to do it.

Over time I’ve found what has and hasn’t been helpful to include and track on my monthly layout and I’m still adjusting to try and find what works best for me.

Layouts for organising my life

I love doing layouts I find them so fun to do. Every layout I do I always design it differently. I don’t have a go-to design style like some people.

Monthly and weekly layouts 

I love my monthly layout with things like who I need to write to that month, my to do list, birthdays etc. All things I need to remember that help organise my month. It’s a good go-to page. I usually have a tracker or goal setter of some kind too. I might have a few or I might have one; I’m still working on this element.

Last year’s journal was bigger so alongside my monthly layout I drew a month calendar layout to chart key dates, reminders etc. In my journal this year it’s smaller so I’ve struggled to know how to input key dates, daily to-do tasks and reminders. Recently however I saw on instagram a post from someone I know a weekly layout they’d done in their bullet journal. I slightly altered the layout and did it over two pages as well but I think it’s going to really work for me. (Plus more layouts equals more fun designing.)

So what I’m planning on doing now is having my monthly layout, weekly layouts covering the whole month and then a symptom diary for the month and then onto the next month and repeat.

Example of a monthly and a weekly layout

Utility bills 

I have a pay-as-you-go smart meter for my gas and electric. Every Monday morning I log the meter readings for my gas and electric. In my bullet journal I have a one layout for my gas meter and one for my electric meter. I put in the date, meter reading and how much gas and electric I’ve used that past week so I can check my usage and see if prices have increased/decreased. I also log when I top up my meters each month; with how much I’ve added and the new meter total.

I just find doing this helps me stay on top of having a meter for my gas and electric as I can see my weekly usage. It also helps me know better how much to add to the meters when I top them up especially when I’m living on a budget and a fixed income.

Spend free days

Being dyslexic I’m a very visual person. I created this page to motivate me to spend less this year.

How it works is bills and other essentials don’t count. On a day where I spend something non-essential the day gets crossed out. On a day where nothing is purchased the day day gets a coloured mark. For me the more colour I see the more motivated I am to have another spend free day and it’s really helping me think about my spending and buying less.

What I tend to do now though is if I do buy a non-essential making it a spend day I tend to group what I need to buy onto that day to reduce my number of spend days. I am still more mindful of what I’m buying more now though this year and I literally will only buy what I need.

Lists

Like with my memory and anxiety I find my lists help to organise my life. They just clarify everything for me. Like when I can see who to thank after Christmas or a plan to declutter my bungalow or to complete my stash of craft kits it all suddenly becomes clearer and unmuddled. The task whatsoever it is becomes organised and actually now looks doable. I also get a sense of achievement too when I see boxes getting ticked off or coloured in.

Countdowns

I loved doing a countdown for my wheelchair arriving. I started it in my old bullet journal from the day I bought it but it was easier to do the countdown from the start of this year in this year’s journal. Doing the countdown helped me get through the long wait for my chair and towards the excitement of receiving it.

Podcast recommendations

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

I really like Lucy Worsley’s historical documentaries on the BBC so when BBC Sounds released this podcast series I thought it would be interesting to listen to and something different to my usual listening. I love the feminist angle to this podcast series and Lucy Worsley is such a wonderful historian and so passionate and great to listen to. Each episode in the series features a different female killer in history and Lucy deep dives into the Lady Killer’s life, their crime and factors surrounding the story as well as interviews with special guests. It covers all periods in history and there are special episodes in the podcast series such as exploring topics such as ‘Women on Trial’ and ‘Is the law gender blind?’ In a follow on series Lucy presents a new podcast series called ‘Lady Swindlers’.

A Bit of A Stretch

This is presented by Chis Atkins who wrote a book under this title. In this podcast he explores different aspects of the British criminal justice system in particular prisons. Chris himself did a stretch in prison for tax which is what his book documents. In his podcast series he shares his own experience and also speaks with other men and women who have also spent time in prison and discusses their experiences with them. Each podcast episode explores a different subject that affects those whilst in prison such as children, relationships, mental health and rehabilitation among other topics. 

I’ve found it a very insightful and informative podcast series especially to hear directly from those who have spent time in prison and to hear they think the prison and probation system should be reformed to better meet their needs especially to potentially help reduce reoffending rates and issues within the prison system.

The Rise & Fall of Ruby Franke

You may or may not be familiar with the Ruby Franke story. She was a successful Mormon YouTube vlogger who is currently in prison for child cruelty charges against her own family. This podcast series by the Law and Crime Network looks behind the Ruby Franke story and what went on behind closed doors of her family’s YouTube channel ‘8 Passengers’, the crimes and abuse she and her business partner committed against her children, the criminal investigation and her prosecution and sentencing.

I’d already been following the story on the Law and Crime Network’s Sidebar channel (both on YouTube and the Sidebar podcast) but this podcast went into more detail about the Ruby Franke story and it was all collated into one podcast series making it easier to follow and understand the full story of the case. It was really well presented with inserts such a 911 calls and police recordings and from Ruby Franke’s vlogging for her YouTube channel to back the documentary series up.

Welcome to The Neighbourhood 

If I’m looking for something light and laughable then this is my go to podcast. Unfortunately only one series has been made so I’m soon running out of episodes. It’s hosted by Jade Adam’s (aka Dawn French) and each episode features a guest such as a comedian or radio DJ. 

In the podcast episodes they basically take a look at neighbourhood group chats from all over the UK and pull out the best conversations exchanged, the more laughable the better and Jade and the guest go over these neighbourhood conversations in the podcast. They put on the local accents for the area of the country for the neighbourhood and the guest will bring with them a conversation exchange from their local neighbourhood group chat too. It’s something very different to my usual listening as I’m not usually a comedy person but I do enjoy this podcast.

Hysterical

This podcast is another Wondery investigative documentary series following a mysterious illness that happened to a group of high school girls in LeRoy, New York. The podcast episodes investigates the case as to what happened to the girls and what might be the source of the sudden onset of the spread of the illness, was it in the water or the soil in town or was it all mass hysteria, what really happened and why did it suddenly stop as suddenly as it began? The podcast interviews some of the girls and others in LeRoy who were affiliated as well as experts to try and get to the bottom of what happened in the town.

Why Do You Hate Me?

This podcast is hosted by Marianna Spring who is the BBC’s Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent, I really like her work as a journalist. It’s one in a season of podcasts that she’s brought out through BBC Sounds. 

In ‘Why Do You Hate Me’ and the second season of this a USA season of the series Marianna meets with people hated online for various reasons including Marianna’s own experiences of online hate from social media trolls. She meets with people at the centre of conflicts and in some cases brings them together to see if there can be a resolution. Some of the people she meets include someone who publicly believed they were Madaline McCann, people who believed the assassination attempts on President Trump were staged, conspiracy theorists and online trolls asking them why they spread online hate to her inbox.

Access All

This is another BBC Sounds podcast, it’s a disability focused podcast and each episode will feature different things such as a special guest to come and chat on the show or the shows hosts will discuss different disability related issues especially topics that a current.

It’s a very niche podcast but I think it’s important to have something for the disabled community to listen to. I remember way back during the pandemic I really enjoyed Kate’s one of the hosts at the time she recorded a diary of that was featured on the podcast as she shielded with her wife and toddler and what life was like for her and her family and also her and her wife as they both had the shield how they felt about things medically during the pandemic. It’s also nice to listen to disability related current topics that I might be made aware about or be able to relate to that might not be featured in the mainstream media.

Redhanded

This is a true crime/comedy in one podcast. I wanted to feature a true crime podcast in this post but I wasn’t sure which one to feature as there are a few I listen to. Redhanded is one I’m enjoying at the moment.

I like how Hannah a Suruthi go off script a lot talking about random things, sometimes to do with the case sometimes not but it can be a bit Marmite at times along with the amount of swearing they do too so there reviews on Apple Podcasts are mixed.

It would also be nice if they featured cases that aren’t always murder or serial killer cases - I like true crime podcasts that feature all types of true crime.

Every podcast has its pros and cons though and on the whole I do enjoy Redhanded and I would recommend it.

Uncanny

This is the BBC’s paranormal podcast hosted by Danny Robins. It’s lead to a book and even a TV program and spinoff podcast series such as the lasted Halloween special series, Christmas specials and live-streamed podcasts in front of an outdoor audience, and also a USA series.

It features both well known paranormal cases and cases brought in by listeners to the podcast. Danny analyses each case and has on to help him he brings on a ‘team skeptic’ and a ‘team believer’ paranormal psychologist to help him look at each case and rationalise what can and maybe what can’t be explained.

It’s not a dark paranormal podcast like some others out there on Apple Podcasts (or other platforms for podcasts). It does get a bit spooky depending on what horror level you’re used to. The podcast is also brought to life with sound effects which does make it a little more haunting but I’d say there’s more horrifying podcasts out there.

Books or Audiobooks?

I’m a big reader I love books and audiobooks but some people prefer one or the other so are books a hit or miss or are audiobooks, or do you like both?

Books

One of the things some people find with books are that they’re more tactile and visual. It can be nice to hold a book in your hands and feel the pages. They can also be a nice feature on a bookshelf; I know I like to order my bookshelf in order of colour.

You can either buy books, new or pre-loved. I think a good quality pre-loved book saves both me money and a little bit of the planet too. Alternatively you can borrow them for free from your local library, if you can get to your library, if not some libraries do offer a home library service run by volunteers and in rural areas a mobile library service both things to make getting books accessible to more people. I personally feel it’s important to keep libraries open.

Some of the downsides to books is they’re less portable, for example to take on your commute to work or when travelling. 

Books can also be difficult for some people such as the font could be too small, reading may be difficult if you have dyslexia or cognitive difficulties. Irlens Syndrome may also make reading difficult unless you use coloured lenses or overlays. I have dyslexia and Irlens myself and my M.E. can make it even harder to concentrate on the text and I get easily brain fogged and fatigued when reading at times. I love reading but sometimes I don’t have the cognitive ability to read.

e-books

A more tech version to books are e-readers like nook books and kindles. These are more portable than books and you can carry multiple books at once on them. The downside is the cost to buy an e-reader but e-books are often cheaper than the physical copy. You can also change the settings to make it more accessible such as to enlarge the text and change the font and line spacing. I use the kindle app on my iPad and I can even put a colour filter on my iPad settings for my Irlens. It still doesn’t feel like I’m reading a physical book though, I did enjoy my nook e-reader though.

Audiobooks 

One of the things with audiobooks is I find is I still find they offer me the visual imagination that books do.

Another thing with audiobooks is the cost. Sometimes you have to pay a subscription to access audiobook libraries such as Audible and Scribd. These are cheaper however than the cost it used to be to buy audiobooks on CD or Daisy Players. Some audiobook libraries are free to those who are eligible such as the RNIB Reading Service, and often local libraries offer free online audiobook libraries too, mine is on the Libby App which Listening Books also uses and this fee can be wavered also. Some libraries also use Borrow Box for free audiobooks.

Audiobooks are also a lot more portable than anything else as you can commute to work with your mobile phone and have your audiobooks downloaded on there, or you can travel and take your books with you which is much easier than trying to pack three books in your bag. It’s also easier to listen with noise cancelling headphones to an audiobook when going places than trying to read with noise and distractions around you.

One big downside to audiobooks is that not all books are made into audiobooks, this is really frustrating I find especially when audiobooks are your main source of books. There’s this trilogy of books that I really want to access but only the first book has be made into an audiobook so I haven’t yet been able to access the second and third books. I personally believe under the Equality Act 2010 which covers disability that all books should be made into audiobooks.

Another downside to some audiobooks is the narration is a bit hit and miss, sometimes you can have great narration like Steven Fry’s narration of the Harry Potter series or just general good narration then you have books with bad narration. Good narration is really important as it helps bring the book to life I find.

A big pro for audiobooks is that they are a lot easier and more accessible for people like myself with dyslexia, or Irlens syndrome and those with a chronic illness/disability that affects a person cognitively or from being able to hold a book or affecting their vision etc. It means they can still access the vast majority of books with a lot more ease and independence without hindrance.

So books or audiobooks?

So whether you go for a book, e-reader or audiobook it’s all down to personal choice and also what meets your needs best. For some physically holding a book is preferred, some a more high tech and go for 3-readers, others may struggle to read and therefore audiobooks are more suited. They all have their pro and cons.

A day in my life

Waking up 

9am: This is when my alarm goes off to wake me up, I find it helpful to keep to a routine and wake up the same time each morning. Sometimes I’m awake before 9am, usually because I’m in pain; if I do wake early I just take some pain relief if needed and lay in bed and listen to a podcast or audiobook until its time to start my morning routine. I have an Apple Watch and I monitor my sleep on the Apple Health app, my aim is to get 10 hours of sleep. If I sleep well it helps me to function a bit better during the day; if I don’t sleep well then it makes it harder to function and it has a negative impact on my symptoms.

Recently I’ve been waking up with a lot of neuropathic (nerve) pain in my left hand affecting its function too. I can also wake up with subluxed or dislocated joints as a result of my Ehlers-Danlos (EDS).

9.15am: This is when I take my morning medication. I use a Pivotell® medication carousel that sets off an alarm to help me to remember to take my medication; I also take my pink inhaler which has a lovely floral case from Inhaler Tailor - I like to accessorise medical devices as much as possible to make them look less clinical. I also find it easier to use a spacer with my inhaler. - I log all the medication I take, both regular and PRN (as and when needed) plus every time I use my inhaler on the Apple Health app to help me monitor and keep track of things especially as I get so forgetful, it also serves a great help for things such as medical appointments such as my asthma reviews or when I’m asked what medication I take.

I allow my meds to kick in and then I start to slowly sit myself up. I have to do this because of the problems I have with dysautonomia and orthostatic intolerance, basically if I sit up too quickly my blood pressure drops and my heart rate goes up and I get really dizzy and I’m at risk of passing out. I also have to spend a lot of my time laid or reclined during the day as my body can’t tolerate being upright for too long. This is one of the many reasons why having my profiling bed is so helpful as I can sit myself up in little increments or recline if it gets too much until I’m fully sat up and ready to get out of bed; I can also tilt my bed to raise my legs higher up which helps if my dysautonomia symptoms are playing up. Dealing with a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system (dysautonomia) can be really difficult as there are a multitude of symptoms and things that can go wrong in the body all of which are very unpredictable.

9.30am: Once I’m sat up I put on my CareLink around my wrist, I can press it if I need assistance in emergencies and someone will come through on the intercom box, it also detects falls so should I fall it immediately alerts CareLink. I allowed my body to adjust and I’m able to safely get out of bed - so if I get out of bed before my body is ready and I pass out my CareLink falls detector will be alerted. I then disconnect from my night bag. Next I’ll make myself a coffee and the return to rest in bed. I’ll usually listen to something on my iPad like my audiobook or a podcast and I’ll play a game like The Sims or do a jigsaw puzzle, some mornings if I’m not feeling great I prefer to just lay and listen. - I find my MERU Flexzi iPad stand really helpful, it’s attached to the bar on my bed and allows me to use my iPad more easily especially when I’m reclined or laid down in bed. 

If I can tolerate it I’ll open one of my blinds a bit to allow me to start adjusting to the light, later, once I’m dressed I’ll open the other blind a bit if it’s a day where I can tolerate a bit more light. On my bad days with M.E. or my migraines my hypersensitivity to light is worse and so I find the light painful so I’ll keep my blinds closed.

If it’s a day where I’ve got agency care I’ll get my breakfast around 10am which I usually make the night before to make it easier on my morning routine as all I have to do is simply get my breakfast out the fridge.

I’m not completely my best in the mornings; I usually wake up more tired than when I went to bed which is a feeling often felt by people with M.E., I’m also just generally not a morning person either.

When my PA arrives

I have a PA to support me in the day but once a fortnight I have three mornings when I have an agency carer instead as I’m struggling to recruit PAs. My PAs work for either 2½ or 4½ hours depending on what day it is, agency carers are here for 1½ hours. - I’ll write this as though it’s one of my PA’s shorter days to work so you can get an idea of what I enjoy doing in my free time and also what my symptoms are like during the rest of the day.

10am is the time my PAs Diane or Jo start. (My agency carer usually arrives around 11/11.30am)

My PA will make my breakfast for me, usually porridge along with a drink and we’ll have a chat. Sometimes at this point I’m still not feeling fully awake. After breakfast and chatting for a bit we’ll put the bath on to run (my bath is the slowest filling bath in the world!)

My bath lift

Whilst the bath is running we get my clothes out for the day along with my creams. I have a few creams that I apply which are different barrier creams to prevent me from developing pressure sores. Alongside my creams I also have a hybrid airflow mattress which one of my nurses provided me with and this also helps alleviate my risk of developing pressure sores. - I’m assessed as being a higher risk for pressure sores as my skin is more fragile and I have poor healing because of my EDS as well as this even though I’m not bed bound I still have to spend the majority of my day in bed so the creams and mattress help as a preventative and so far they’ve done their job.

With the support and enablement from PAs/carers I have a bath. I try to remain as independent as I can by doing as much as I can without exhausting myself out with Post Exertion Malaise (PEM) either now or later in the day. I usually what I can manage to do is wash my face and brush my teeth and I help to dry myself too. I can’t tolerate showers as with my hypersensitivity showers to me feel like a powerful painful jet wash. To get in an out of the bath I use a bath lift which is a seat that lowers and then reclines me into the bath and then it will do the reverse to get me out. I’ll get dressed on my bed, to protect my PA/carer or if I have a nurse visiting me I’ll raise up the height of my bed to protect their back so my profiling bed not only benefits me it also benefits those caring for me.

12pm: I’m usually dressed by this time. It’s important to pace everything I do to lessen my PEM, pain, fatigue and other symptoms. My PA will make my lunch along with another drink and they’ll also wash some pots and maybe do some other jobs like load the washing machine, make a hot water bottle, and put a drink in a thermal tumbler for me to drink later.

Afternoon

12.30pm: Is when my PA finishes work. After they leave I’m usually feeling exhausted so I take my hot drink and hot water bottle to bed and I put on a podcast or audiobook. Usually I’ll just lay and listen sometimes on my good days I’ll also do something like a jigsaw puzzle on my iPad or some other low-level activity.

1.30-2.30pm: Later I might have some energy for day’s main activity. Depending on what kind of a day I’m having will decide what activity I do, from a lower-energy activity to an activity that will require more energy for me that day, or spoons if you want to use Spoon Theory. Also depending on how much energy or spoons I have and the activity I can usually do an activity for about 20-60 minutes. I have to keep a check on how I’m feeling to ensure I’m not going to overdo it and bring on PEM which is very easy to do.

PEM can be very unpredictable and you never know how bad it will be or how long it will last for. PEM is one of the main symptoms of M.E.

Some of the activities I enjoy doing in an afternoon might include:

• Writing to a pen pal
• Crafting e.g. kits, card making, iris folding, diamond painting, crochet
• Assembling die cut sets onto cards (a nice low-level activity)
• Colouring
• Activity books like sticker-by-numbers 
• Blogging 
• Doing my nails
• Going out for a ride with my Batec on my wheelchair (if it’s a longer day I have with my PA or my Dad is visiting me)
• Put some makeup on

On a really really good day I’ll also do some of my to-do list such as medical admin and other admin tasks such as emails, telephone calls and form filling, I might also do some very basic jobs around my home that are doable for me and leave the more energy zapping or difficult jobs for my PAs or carers, just things like tidying my craft table or over bed table and cleaning it with and antibac wipe. It’s nice on my really really good days to feel like a home owner by doing simple house jobs it also makes me feel more productive and independent too.

If I do an activity I’m usually pretty exhausted with PEM especially if I’ve over done it and often my pain levels flare up too. I also especially get a lot of pain in my legs with my M.E. alongside hip pain due to my EDS. I also often experience headaches and migraines. When I get really exhausted my immune system can flare up too and I can experience flu-like symptoms as well - this is the Malaise which means generally feeling unwell and feeling in discomfort. All these symptoms often require additional pain relief and other medications to help relieve the symptoms as well as the use of other pain and symptom management techniques.

3pm: by about this point (sometimes it’s earlier) I’m in desperate need to just simply rest. I’ll usually close my blinds as the dimmed room helps as the light only adds to my pain. I put in my noise cancelling AirPods to block out background noise as this can exacerbate my symptoms. My profiling bed helps me get as comfortable as possible. I use the app Calm and I put on a soundscape and I just lay in bed and listen to this to rest. 

On my worst days I’m unable to tolerate any noise so I just put in my noise cancelling earbuds and lay in bed to rest. This can be difficult emotionally as I have no distraction from my symptoms and I just have to simply lay in bed. 

I’ve developed a good setup around my bed to have everything I need to hand for occasions when I’m unable to get out of bed.

Depending upon how I’m feeling and if I’m having a good or bad afternoon will determine how long I need to rest for. On a good day I’ll rest for 30-60 minutes on a bad afternoon I’ll rest until my evening carer arrives around 4-5pm

4pm: On a good afternoon afternoon after I’ve rested I’ll listen to something, a book or some podcast episodes and do a low-level activity, or I’ll watch something on my iPad so it’s still restful-ish until my evening PA/carer arrives. 

Evening care

My carers/PAs get to me around 4-5pm(ish)

On a really good day if I haven’t been out earlier I might go out for a ride with my PA on my Batec for about 20 minutes usually around the area where I live.

Once I’m back from my Batec ride or if I haven’t been out I’ll begin my evening care with getting a wash. Sometimes I’ll have a wash at the sink, on not-so-good days I just use Fresh Wipes to wash or Nilaqua waterless foam cleaner. On a bad day and I’m not up for a wash at all I’ll just get into my pjs. In an evening we reapply my barrier creams again. I like to wash as it helps with my sleep time routine; also washing is important when you have barrier creams on your skin as a build up of cream can cause the skin to break down so it’s very important to keep it washed off before reapplying it.

Afterwards my PA/carer will make my tea for me. On my good days I’ll join in and help where I can like if passing things out the fridge and freezer and deciding my portions. My PAs/carers will do other things for me like washing the pots, drying and putting them away, cleaning the kitchen space, preparing my night time and morning drinks, making me a hot water bottle, setting up my night bag, emptying the bins and recycling box, folding laundry or anything else that I need help with.

On my really bad days my carers will let themselves in as I’m unable to get out of bed. If I’m experiencing a crash (when my M.E. symptoms are worse) my carers will ensure they talk quietly and keep conversations to a minimum. They’ll also be careful not to bang my bed or make sudden noises and to be gentle when helping me into my pyjamas. They’ll keep the door shut and keep the noise down in the front room when preparing my tea and doing other jobs. Additional things they do is ensure my pain is managed and give me pain relief if I haven’t been able to take it myself. They’ll also ensure my Hydrant bottle is refilled for me - this is a litre water bottle with a long straw that clips to my pillow, it means I can sip on water and stay hydrated hands free when lifting a water bottle would be a challenge.

5pm: this is when I take my evening medication.

Evening and bedtime routine 

5-6pm(ish): is when my PA/carer leaves depending on when they arrive. I’m usually pretty exhausted afterwards and ready to settle down.

After they leave if I’m feeling up to it (on a good day) I’ll update my bullet journal for the day. Then I’ll brush my teeth. I keep water wipes and travel face products next to my bed so I usually do my evening skincare routine in bed.

On bad days when I can’t get out of bed or I’m already in bed I’ll just be resting washing or listening to something on my iPad. In terms of my personal care I’ll just skip brushing my teeth as much as I dislike it and I’ll also miss out my evening skincare routine too as I just don’t have the energy as I have to prioritise where the last of my my energy goes.

7pm: I’ll get into bed if I’m not already there. Depending on how I’m feeling I’ll maybe watch some easy watching TV show of for a short while. If not I might listen to a book or podcast I might do a jigsaw puzzle on my iPad at the same time or I might just lay and listen if I’m too tired. My symptoms usually gets worse the later it gets in the day.

8.10pm: is when I take my bedtime medication 

8.10pm-10.30pm(ish): I used to always go to bed at 9pm whether I was tired or not but a few months ago I did a sleep session for people with chronic pain and since then I’ve learnt to go to bed when I’m tired so when I go to sleep varies. Sometimes I’m nodding off at 7pm so I’ll go to bed as soon as I’ve taken my bedtime medication other times it’ll be later.

What I find hard to understand is despite really struggling during the day with chronic fatigue is at night I can sometimes struggle with insomnia. My way of trying to understand my sleeplessness is because my body doesn’t have the energy to sleep. I can also struggle to sleep sometimes due to high levels of pain.

9pm: I try to avoid screens before I sleep so I’ll lay and listen to my audiobook or a podcast. Sometimes I read a book but there are times like at the moment where I lose the cognitive function to do things like read a book, but I hope to get back reading soon.

I find it really helpful to have smart lighting so I can adjust to brightness of my lights with my voice or on my phone/iPad I can also turn plug sockets on and off too; I can also have settings such as ‘evening’ or if I say ‘good night’ to my HomePod all the lights and plug sockets turn off around my home - this makes it easier for me and my carers too. 

I sleep with a body pillow around me, it’s nice and comfortable but it also supports my joints as when you sleeps your muscles relax and that’s when my joints can sublux or even dislocate in my sleep.

I aim to get 10 hours of sleep at night and then when I wake I’ll repeat all of this the next day!

Making a routine for yourself

Due to my M.E. I’m mostly housebound but to manage my symptoms I have to spend most of my day in bed. This can bed hard especially when it comes to the structure of my day as days can often all blend into one. However I’ve found that giving my day routine and finding lots of different activities and doing a variety of activities that I can do in bed helps to give me the structure and stability I need to support my wellbeing. - I will do another blog post when I can on different activities that I’ve found can be be done in bed.

My routine is something I’m still working on since I’ve moved into my own home as I lost the routine I had when I was living at my Dad’s because my life looks quite a bit different now and I also need more support from PAs/carers (plus with them being here especially on PA days I have less free time in my day for doing the things I want to do on my own.)

I’ve developed a rough routine which my pain psychologist suggested I do and she suggested I create a good day and a bad day routine so I can switch between the two. Some days I can start off with the good day routine and end up using the bad day routine if my health takes a turn.

See at the bottom of this post for more about routines as like can’t always be a solid routine and sometimes we have to give ourselves and our routine a bit of flexibility.

Tips for creating a routine in bed

• Have a set morning routine. For me I wake up at 9am and give myself half an hour to wake up, take my morning meds and sit up. Then at 9.30am I have my morning routine to do so I’ll have a coffee, check my messages and emails etc. Or sometimes (usually - I need to get better at doing admin in the morning but I’m not a morning person) I’ll do a low-level activity to get me started.
• Pace yourself throughout your day. This is a useful blog post I wrote about pacing, activity management and rest with some different techniques.
• Work out when is best for you to do certain activities especially high energy activities like getting washed and dressed. For some people this is in the morning for others this is in the evening. It also depends on if you can get out of bed and to the bathroom to wash and whether you have the support from carers or caregivers such as family to do these activities. Aids can also help make these activities easier such as shower chairs/stools or a bath lift. You might want to bath or shower every other day and wash at the sink in between or another great alternative I find for washing are Fresh Wipes which are some really good wash wipes that I find really helpful. 
• I find with high energy and sometimes medium energy activities it can be helpful to limit how many of these activities you do in a day. - For me I have one ‘main’ activity a day (on my good days) that I do in the early afternoon when I have the most energy, what I do depends on how I’m feeling that day.
• After high energy activities and sometimes depending on what I’ve done for a medium energy activity I find it helpful to have periods of rest in my routine, usually for 30-60 minutes the latter especially after a high energy activity so my body and mind can stop and pause for a bit. I never regain energy but resting just helps my body to stop so it’s not on the go all the time. 
• Rest is different for everyone, for me I like to shut down and just lay and listen to mindfulness meditations and soundscapes. Other people prefer to do a restful activity. Here’s a blog post I wrote about rest. I find it helpful to have several rest periods a day, especially on a bad day just to help especially with my chronic fatigue.
• Alternatively after a medium energy activities you could put a low-level activity into your routine.
• Different people find different activities high energy, medium energy or low-level activity and it also depends upon how you’re feeling that day and how much energy you have for activities. One day an activity may be low-level activity another day it may be medium energy activity or vice versa.
• With high energy and medium energy activities work out your activity limit. This is different for everyone and also depends on the activities and how you’re feeling that day. Usually for me with a medium energy activity I can manage 20-30 minutes and I’d usually need a rest afterwards so I build this into my routine. It’s usually a case of trial-and error to work out your activity limit. With low-level activities I still have to remember not to overdo it and burn out so in my routine I usually schedule 30-60 minutes for a low-level activity. I find it helpful to put a timer on to ensure I don’t overdo it and go over my activity limit or I take regular breaks.
• Don’t forget to put meals and snacks into your routine too!
• It’s also good to have a set time to wind down for bed. Have a snack and a hot milky drink, do an activity that doesn’t involve screens such as reading, listening to an audiobook or podcasts, activity books etc. Then go to sleep once you’re feeling tired and ready for sleep.

Making your bedroom environment different between night and day can help with sleep as it can help your body feel like it’s in two different places even though you’re still in bed. This was a tip I was recently given during a sleep session for people with chronic pain.

Also from this session I got told that if you are able to try to get some daylight into your room during the day that will also help with sleep at night - I do know how hard this can be for those with light sensitivity and it’s something I’m personally trying working on and it’s tough going.

• If possible have a set daily routine so you’re roughly doing the same thing each day (if possible) - this helps to give your mind and body some structure.
• What I do is I have my daily routine in my bullet journal, but life changes like my agency care is at different times each day so I have my routine on my iCal so I can change it as well as colour code it.
• Another great alternative that I also have a use is the Stickman Communications pacing magnet set so I can create my day on a magnetic wipe board with different coloured magnets that I can write on. This gives me more flexibility as I can change it for how my day ahead will look as well as changing it around during the day should I find my energy levels drop and I need more rest and lower-level activities. Also some days I’ll use a green magnetic for a particular activity and other for the same activity I may use an orange or even a red one.

Link to buying the pacing routine magnet set - I personally have found buying fine liner coloured or if not just black wipe board pens great and glasses cleaning spray is great for cleaning wipe boards! You can easily buy a cheap wipe board from places like The Range, Amazon or Tesco and other similar places. (This magnet set does come with VAT exemption for those eligible.)

This is my magnetic routine for today:

Why letter writing is so important to me

Letter writing is a huge part of my life but it extends far beyond it just being a hobby. For me receiving a letter in the mail is my bit of connection to the outside world. I have severe M.E which means that I am housebound so I'm not able to go out and socialise like most people.

For me 'snail mail' is my socialising. I read about people's lives and hear what they've been up to they're likes and dislikes and everything in between and though my life isn't that exciting I get to share my life too. The audiobooks and podcasts I've been listening to, playlists of my favourite songs and lists of my favourite YouTubers and blogs, my current craft projects and other things I've been up to like doing my nails or blogging or doing something for my YouTube channel. Sometimes I do talk about my health but that's only one portion of me and I like to share all ten portions of me.

Sometimes I'll write a letter on letter writing paper; other times I'll write inside a handmade card other times I'll get creative especially when I've been inspired by a pen pal's mail or a YouTube video I've watched. I love making every letter/card I send out to my friends and pen pals utterly unique.

As well as writing to pen pals I like to write to friends, it's just nice and something different to a text or message on Instagram particularly when that friend is having a tough time or I just want to surprise them with some lovely mail especially if that friend has been really supportive.

Writing letters isn't easy for me with me M.E. I'm forever apologising for me delayed replies but thankfully everyone I write to is so understanding. It also takes me a while to complete replies and I have to write here and there when I'm able to so sometimes I end up rambling as I lose track of how much in total I've written!

Sometime when I'm not doing so well all I can manage are postcards or a single page reply but again everyone is lovely and understanding.

I have had pen pals in the past who haven't been understanding but I now have a lovely group of pen pals who I write to regularly or as often as we can and friends who we'll send mail to each other occasionally. Some of my pen pals and friends who I write to have chronic illnesses/disabilities too including M.E.

It's nice to have pen pals with M.E as the 'get it' in terms of understanding and living with the condition and how it may affect us and we can write about the highs and lows of living with M.E.

Though I'm not bed bound with my M.E I do spend the fast majority of my day on my bed as this is where I find I am most comfortable with my profiling bed and air flow mattress and I have an over bed table where I can put my laptop or colouring things or letter writing things.

Next to my bed I have a giant cork notice board - like the size you'd find in a class room! There I put up all my mail and other bits and bobs like bracelets I've kindly been given through people who've set up their own thing to make and send out bracelets to people dealing with chronic illness. I also have my knitted angels up there too from the Action for M.E's Christmas Angel's project.

Especially on my bad days I love looking up at my notice board; at all the novelty push pins I've collected and seeing all the mail up there reminds me that no matter how isolated and alone my M.E makes me feel that I am loved by so many people. I also feel a lot of gratitude for the time people have taken to write to me, or to make me that card or paint me that quote or to colour me that image and so on.

So as you can tell by now (hopefully) from this post that letter writing means a lot to mean and it's more than a fun crafty hobby. It's almost a social lifeline to the outside world and how I hear about the outside world too. It's a challenging hobby having the energy to reply to pen pals and make cards including birthday cards but it's worth it. It's also something that I can do in parts on days when I have the energy. Like today I finished writing in a card that I started writing in the other day so it's defiantly manageable and for me I have just enough pen pals that I can keep up with being able to write to and now I've been writing to them all for so long that I now consider them all to be friends as well as pen pals. But yes back when I began writing letters I didn't realise how important for my social wellbeing letter writing would become. 

The view from my bed looking up at my notice board

10 things I can't live without

1. Coffee

I do like to drink tea and herbal tea too but I do like to start my day with a nice cup of coffee especially if has come from my coffee machine. It's my little treat to start the day before Diane my PA arrives and the day begins.

2. Nail polish

I have more nail polishes than a dare count! I love doing my nails and nail art.

Fun fact: I'm a CND qualified nail artist. I did a training course to learn how to apply Shellac. I would love to Shellac my nails more often but it takes time to set up, do the whole application process then tidy especially as I love if I can to do some sort of nail art.

Having colour on my nails always make me feel brighter.

I love looking on Pinterest for new nail art ideas and inspiration.

3. Hot baths

I do find baths easier and I love to have a good long relaxing soak in a hot bath especially paired with my favourite toiletries like Rituals wash products and Lush bubble bars.

4. Audiobooks

Audiobooks are like my lifeline. I am trying to get back into reading, especially poetry which often isn't put into audio format but I'd be lost without audiobooks. When I was recently in hospital all I did was listen to books as well as that when I'm having a bad day audiobooks are great to ease my boredom.

There's a YouTuber I love called Hannah Hodgson and I've discovered some great books from her reviews and Good Reads account and Hannah is the one that introduced me to poetry and has helped me try out books I wouldn't have considered.

5. My friends and pen pals

I'd say that now I'm in a really good place when it comes to the people in my life; I now have a small but positive and supportive group of people around me. I always look forward to my pen pals letters and cards and a lot of my friends will occasionally write to me too. I much prefer to send messages to people in the mail than via text, plus a card and envelope can be nicely decorative.

6. My giant notice board

When we first moved here I asked if I could get a notice board for my room, only my Dad didn't realised that I was buying a 2m long notice board like the size he has in his classrooms at work. However it's now obvious why I need such a big notice board to display all my mail. It's hung next to my bed and it never fails to make me smile and feel loved when I see what I've put up there and I've collected lots of novelty push pins to jazz it up.

7. My iPhone

I've just got myself a new iPhone 13 (in pink with a sparkly case of course!) and I love it. My old iPhone 7 was starting to get old and I also needed a good camera for filming for my YouTube channel so I thought I'd get the iPhone 13 so it would be a 2-in-1 phone and camera. I'm defiantly not addicted and glued to my phone, my average daily screen time is just a few hours each day but I would feel very lost without having my phone with me.

8. My headphones/ear buds

I'm very hypersensitive to noise because of my M.E but also I like to tune noises out around me like the hum of my air mattress or the sounds of the hoover or other people's music (accompanied with their humming and singing along to the music) and instead tune into whatever I'm listening to whether this be an audiobook, podcast or my own music.

9. Polly

Polly is my doll which I got for my first Christmas and she's still with me though now a little floppy. Polly would most likely be the first thing I would try to rescue if there was a fire. When I was a child wherever it was I was sleeping she would HAVE to come with me but now I can go away and leave her behind.

10. My craft supplies

Where do I start with what crafts I've got! Crochet, card making, decoupage, block printing, painting, macramé, origami, colouring (and probably other crafts too)! Crafting is my thing, it's my hobby and enjoyment and I love making pretty things to send and put in letters to friends and pen pals. I'm also always up for giving new crafts a go and there are some things on my list like I'd love to make some things with resin but I'm trying to use up some of what I already have first but what I have seems never ending!

Kintsugi 金継ぎ - Acceptance of physical & mental brokenness

I've been listening to a mindfulness meditation series on Headspace about self-compassion. In each meditation the narrator gets you to repeat to yourself the following affirmations:

"May I accept who I am", "May I love myself as I am" and "May be at ease with who I am"

At first I found this hard to really take in. I don't love, accept or feel at ease with myself. Part of this was about my disabilities as it's taken me a long time to accept my chronic health problems into my life. My disabilities have made it hard to love myself as I am now and equally to be at ease with myself and my disabilities and all that comes along with having disabilities and chronic health problems.

It can be hard to love a broken body and mind; especially one that can't be fixed. So in the absence of being able to fix my brokenness I must learn to love myself as I am and accept my brokenness and also be at ease living inside a broken body and mind.

Kintsugi, 金継ぎ, is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold — built on the idea that in embracing flaws and imperfections, you can create an even stronger, more beautiful piece of art.

The Kintsugi bowl I made

Something I did a while back with my therapist was to make a Kintsugi bowl. It was a kit my therapist had bought for me, which was such a lovely3 thing for her to do for me and was so kind of her. 

The small bowl was whole. I then had to break the bowl, which I tried to do artfully, ensuring that the bowl was broken in a particular way. With my own physical and mental brokenness there was no artful way in which I have become broken.

Once I felt happy with my artfully broken bowl I set out to fix it, but to fix it in a way that would make the bowl more beautiful for having been broken. I mixed up a combination of glue and gold powder to make a golden glue to piece back together my now broken bowl. When I reflected with my therapist about how I glued to bowl back together my therapist pointed out to me about how I glued the bowl back together (therapists have to analyse everything (!) but it can be helpful at times and even I'm analysing in this post!). I didn't rush putting my broken bowl back together I carefully applied the glue, like how I care for my own broken pieces. I applied the amount of glue that I wanted. Remembering back to this therapy session I remember how I wanted enough glue so that it was visible and showed through the cracks of the differs ceramic shards. It was a carefully chosen process. With my own brokenness some of my cracks are invisible; my pain and exhaustion and struggles with mental illness cannot be seen but at the same time I also have scars on my body that are visible but I choose to hide.

The whole process of braking the bowl and then putting it back together made me think of my own body and mind's brokenness. I feel like throughout my whole life I've been broken in one way or another and smashed apart as I've gone through my life both by other people around me but also due to physical and mental illness.

In therapy over the years I've often stated how I feel that I'm broken into a million pieces and 'too broken to be fixed'. Unlike how I artfully broke the bowl I've never had any control over how my mind and body has broken and because of this it's been difficult to piece myself back together. Therapy I would say is the thing that's held my brokenness the most over the years. Sure inpatient and day patient treatment (both psychiatric units and medical admissions) has kept me safe and in all honesty alive, but even my times in hospital have added to my brokenness from so of the things I experienced as a patient. Then there is the medication I take both for my physical symptoms and also my two psychiatric medications. Medication just enables me to manage my physical and mental health symptoms to allow me to just get through the day. 

Therapy isn't for everyone but for me over the years therapy (most of the time) has been what has held me together the most to stop my broken pieces being blown away in the wind.

Going back to the kintsugi bowl I did with my therapist a few months ago massively helped me. It was such a simple thing that me and my therapist did together but it really helped me to accept my physical and mental brokenness but how in time I can piece my life back together. I will never be whole and unbroken again; I will always have to deal with being physically and mentally unwell. However out my brokenness and with time my broken pieces will come together and what I've learnt over that time in life and in therapy I can turn my brokenness into some better and create something positive. I can use my brokenness for example to help others, like I hope I do through my blog and what I share over on my YouTube channel and also through things like voluntary work and the support I give to my friends and others around me and hopefully in the future when/if I'm able to work. I can use my lived experience to my advantage and turn negatives into positives which I feel I already have done.

As well as helping others inwardly I can turn my brokenness into something beautiful. There is no cure for my physical and mental illnesses but as I was putting my kintsugi bowl together I realised that in my own self I can develop a better attitude and learn to accept my brokenness and learn to love myself including the broken parts and also to live and be a ease with my brokenness. By doing this I can start to feel whole, glued back together with gold.

I keep my kintsugi bowl next to my bed and put random bits on bobs in it but every time I see the bowl it reminds me that in time my body and mind can become like that bowl, broken but whole held together with something beautiful.

5 Money saving tips

I'll be the first to admit that I used to be rubbish with money like many people but now I feel like I'm fairly savvy when it comes to money and here are some of the things that I find helps me to save money as well as spend more wisely.

1. Use an app for monitoring your money

I personally use an app called Pocket Expense for keeping an eye on my money and I've found it really helpful. Before I used a spreadsheet that I created myself and there I'd put what I'd spend where or what income I had coming in such as my PIP disability allowance or a refund. This app now does the same thing but it's a lot easier and I like to colour code everything so have thins on the app and the icons for different spending categories such as a purple telephone icon for my monthly mobile expense. I'm sure however that there are many other similar apps out there for you to use too.

Other recommended apps can be found here.

2. Set a no-spend goal

To help me save money I put myself on a no spending goal on purchasing craft things and stationary (except the obvious essentials like glue). I did this as I already had plenty of craft supplies and stationary and I didn't need more so I set myself a goal to use up what I already had to try and save money. I've been on this ban for a while an I still have a lot of craft and stationary supplies (so I think I'll be on this no spend goal for a while). Plus also doing this has helped me to feel good about how much money I have been saving and showing myself my resilience to not buy anything new and using up what I have.

Maybe you could do something like cutting down on buying something like take-out coffee, sweet treats, alcohol, eating out or take aways? Think where you spend your money and how you may cut back such as making coffee at home and putting it in a thermal mug to take out or making your lunch at home rather than buying it etc?

Apps like the one I talked about above can help you work out where your money goes so you can see places where you can implement a no-spending goal.

3. Stick to a budget

Sticking to a budget can also help you save money. It might be something like how much you spend on your weekly food shop, when you go shopping for clothes or at theis time of year how much you spend on Christmas gifts.

With the latter I made a list of all the people I'm sending gifts to and then I set a budget on how much I was going spend on each person. I also put some money aside earlier in the year to hep me with my Christmas budget.

When you stick to a budget is can help bring a sense of achievement as the money you've saved you can put aside for something else to to put into your savings.

4. Be savvy with shop membership offer and deals

Joining up with shop membership scheme or advantage cards or other similar scheme can bring a lot of benefits. You can get discounts or you can earn points as you shop which may hold monetary value or you may get special member discounts or offers.

With my memberships I'm always looking at what offers they have for me and some places target you with certain deals based on your past shopping history. 

I think my biggest success has been with a particular store which I shop from a lot for toiletries and makeup and gifts. For each pound (£ GBP) I spend I get 4 points (4p) but if I look out for deals I might get triple points or an extra 200 points if I spend a certain amount or 150 extra points on selected brands or 3 for 2 deals etc.  With this store I save up what I need to buy and look out for their offers and then I do a big shop so I claim the additional 200 or 500 points or free products or on a couple of occasions a free mystery box worth £30.

The points I saved with this membership has really helped me with my Christmas budget as the money I had on my account I was able to use on Christmas gifts (and to treat myself too).

5. Open a savings account

Savings accounts accounts with banks can help you save money. You might want to do something like transfer a little money aside each month from your current account each month to help it grow or just save up and transfer a little aside when you have a little spare amount.

You can search around online for which banks have the highest interest rate on saving accounts or offers for opening a new account. A couple of good comparison websites are Money Saving Expert and Money Supermarket.

An alternative to a bank savings accounts are stocks and shares savings accounts. The interest rate on these accounts are much higher than what banks can offer and though they depend on the stocks and shares market it is something that I would say is something to defiantly look into if it is something you are able to commit to [more than a bank's savings account]. On company I can personally recommend is Foresters.