Bye Bye Hygge, Hello Lagom

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As we navigate our way through the gray, cold days of winter, embracing the Danish concept of hygge, a new Scandi concept is making its way to our consciousness. This time it’s the Swedes who are sharing their wisdom and smart ways of living.

Instead of leaning into cozy firelight, warm woolen socks and mugs of hot chocolate, we say hello to lagom. Roughly translated lagom means ‘just the right amount’. i.e. Not too little and not too much. This applies to everything from treats, to cars and the weather. It equates to finding the right balance in our lives and achieving contentment. We leave excess and think about frugality and fairness. While hygge is about a fleeting sense of comfort and well-being, lagom is a way of life.

In Our Home

Embracing lagom in our homes means we can achieve a happy and balanced way of living. In order to do this, it isn’t necessary to be extravagant and spend lots of money. Neither do we need to scrimp and save. We can live a healthy and sustainable life without major upheaval and renovation.

It’s about prioritization and focusing on the areas that are important. For example, a beautiful garden needn’t be filled with expensive plants and exotic flowers. What is important is the time you spend there, making it homely for you and your family. So, a well-kept garden with a smart wood fence installation is in-keeping with lagom. Whereas, an immaculately groomed area full of expensive garden ornaments and water features is not.

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It’s possible to have a beautiful and functional home without having to dramatically renovate. For example, you can upgrade your kitchen without having to completely remodel it. A lick of paint, some new doors or handles, and a re-purposed storage unit are all deemed to be lagom.

Think along more minimal lines. Look for natural materials and strip back the clutter. This allows for easy living and form follows function.

Living

To live a balanced life, we must change our way of thinking. Instead of working around the clock for weeks on end to take time off for a one-week vacation, it’s about taking regular breaks and practicing self-care. Lagom is a healthy way of life and encourages sustainability, recycling, growing your own food, and sharing.

Grow herbs, tomatoes, and other veg which will keep your family well-fed. Reduce your waste by recycling and creating a compost bin. The soil can be used at a later stage to help grow new food.

Reuse and repurpose items that are no longer needed. For example, jars can be used for other foods or can become candle holders or plant pots. If clothes become worn, cut them up and create other items such as wash cloths, dusters, aprons, pot holders, etc. Replace light bulbs with energy-efficient versions to save energy and money.

So, if you’re an ‘all or nothing’ type of person, think about how this affects your life. Changing your mindset and living a more balanced existence can bring calm and contentment. So, remember. Not too little and not too much. Aim for just the right amount.

Build Your Savings Without Struggling

It's vital when you have a family to have a pot of savings that you can dip into in a time of crisis. You never know when something will come along that needs to be paid for. It could be a school trip, a new pair of shoes, or something more major like fixing the washing machine or a holiday? Having some savings to rely on in this situation is certainly going to make your life a lot less stressful. But how it is possible to get to the point where you have a healthy savings fund if you are already working on a tight budget? Read on to find out.

Earn a little extra on the side

A great way of having some extra money to squirrel away for a rainy day is to take on some low key extra work on the side. It's not about getting a taxing second job, as this can be pretty stressful. Instead look for things that you enjoy, or that aren't too much hassle and try and to monetize those.

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For example, you may love to draw or craft in your spare time. Then you could try making greeting cards and small gifts that you can sell at craft markets or on a handmade site like Etsy. Or, maybe you have a talent like playing a musical instrument or sport? Then teaching or coaching kids that want to learn will allow you to do what you love, and get paid for it. You can even join online money making sites like Swagbucks. There you can fill in a few surveys while watching your favorite TV show, or waiting in the supermarket queue and get paid for doing it!

Full Price Is For Fools

Another way you can build your savings is to avoid paying full price for anything. While this may sound a little penny pinching, what is the point of paying more than you have to for the very same items?

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Most people aren't aware that it is possible to negotiate a price on many items, especially high-value ones like cars, RVs, and rendering trailers.  At the very least you can often get them to throw in added extra for free like insurance.

Another way to you can avoid paying full price is to check voucher sites like DontPayFull.com. By doing this you can buy an item online at greatly discounted prices, and in some cases, get free shipping too. This means you will then have more cash to sink into your saving fund.

Bye Bye Clutter, Hello Profit

We always hear about how we should declutter our homes, but it can be a struggle to find the time and motivation to do so. But something that will get you motivated is knowing that you could make a little money from your clear-out.

The secondhand market is thriving thanks to auction sites like eBay, and it really does seem like one man's trash is another man's treasure. So try selling some of your higher value items before just sending them to the dump. You will be recycling, and making a profit, which you can use to add to your savings as well.

Have a lot of lower value items, and you can't be doing with the hassle of putting these on an auction site? Then it can be a better idea to have a garage sale. Rather than trying to get the best price for every item, make everything at $1-$2. Then you will be able to move things quickly, and you will have less to get rid of when it's all over.  

Packed Lunches

Also taking your own lunch for work, and for this kids when they go to school, is another fantastic way of saving some serious money. Most of us know that it is way cheaper to buy the ingredients and put together a lunch ourselves. But time pressure and convenience often get in the way, causing us to rely on prepared items, bought on the day instead.

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If you are really serious about building that savings fund, work out how much you are spending big on lunches as a family. Then see how much it will cost to make a packed lunch for everyone. By comparing these, you will be able to see how much extra you can put into the saving every month, for just a little more effort.

To make it easier, stick to pre-portioned items and sandwiches which can be made the night before and refrigerated. So it doesn't interfere with your morning routine too much. Remember you need to make it as simple as possible or you won't keep up with it, and that means you will end up loosing the savings you could have made.

Ditch the City and Go Natural

The diaspora of city dwellers to the natural world is a tantalizing prospect for those who have become tired and altogether disillusioned by the hustle and bustle of city life. To move into a place that is largely uninhabitable, though a great idea, does bring with it a whole host of danger, and precaution must be taken.

For instance, the rigors of mountain living must be considered for anybody planning on moving to one. To go from living in a country such as England that consists of low plains where elevations typically don’t rise about 1000 meters to living on the side of a mountain, you may want to consider a common condition known as altitude sickness that occurs when you climb to a high altitude too quickly. If you suffer from it merely by going there, imagine living there? But if you’re determined not be deterred, tips on how you can go about dealing with and preventing it include: moving around in a slower fashions in order to adapt to the lower oxygen level; climbing gradually; and more extremely the administration of acetazolamide, as and when directed by a professional health giver. Living in a house or cabin on a mountain range requires a lot of precaution and work too. Mountains are made mostly out of rock, and rock is prone to fall; rockfall protection should be sought before even moving into your dream mountain getaway, of which more information can be found here. Finally, the snow. Dependent on where you are, of course, each winter brings with it a healthy dosage of the snow. In England, it’s considered a disaster when only two feet’s worth of it fall, so imagine having to deal with 264 feet that needs to be moved out of the way and is constantly being repositioned by the wind? The rigors of dealing with mountain snowfall require a high level of fitness and muscles mass, which could make it especially difficult for those of an older generation.

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But living in the snowy utopia of a mountain side is not all doom and gloom and is in fact is sought out especially by some. Ski fanatics Fransesca and Steve quit their day jobs and moved to the slopes from London, even taking their baby girl Annabelle with them, in order to set up their own business Chalet Roches. This was brought about by their shared passion of skiing, cycling and hiking, so the French village of St-Gervais in Haute Savoie in the French Alps.

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So what’s stopping you from your very own natural diaspora? Yes, there are risks when you step into areas such as mountains or going to live in a waterfront property, because natural disasters can and will happen at any time. But there are dangers to living just about anywhere. What with the possibility of crime and adverse weather conditions, any property, any where, could be the subject of misfortune.

But if upping sticks completely in order to become at one with nature seems too far of a step, maybe try a camping vacation and just plant your poles there, for now. Baby steps.

Swag Slopes Team Challenge #swagbucks

Here's another fun team challenge to help you earn SB from Swagbucks! For those of you who don't know what Swagbucks is, it's a website where you can earn cash back on everyday tasks you do online, and I talk about it a lot here on The Kerrie Show.

Swagbucks wants you to join in the fun! Pack your warmest snow gear and pre-register today! The Swag Slopes Team Challenge begins Monday, January 23rd. 

All members who participate and contribute at least 400 points to their team’s total will receive a SB bonus in the form of a SB Swag Up Rebate! Members of the 1st place team will receive a 40 SB Swag Up Rebate, members of the 2nd place team will receive a 20 SB Swag Up Rebate, members of the 3rd place team will receive a 10 SB Swag Up Rebate. Your SB Swag Up Rebate will be made available on Friday, January 27th and will expire on Sunday, February 12th at 7:59am GMT or 11:59pm PT

Ready To Start (Again): A New Career For A New You

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Do you feel like you are stuck in some kind of rut? Are you concerned about your finances? Are you just plain bored and getting up every morning, taking the train to work with the same people that you know nothing about, to sit at a desk job which you have no idea how to do, even though you've been doing it for 10 years?! Then maybe it's time for a shake up in your career! Because we live longer lives now, it is not uncommon for people to change careers. In fact, people are now likely to have three careers in their lifetime. So, if you are fed up of your first one, maybe it's time to move on to the second. And the benefit that you have over a 21-year-old, fresh out of college, is two simple words: life experience. So use it to your advantage. Here are a couple of career choices that you might want to think about.

Care Worker

If you are looking for a career that has a bit more meaning, then being a care worker for old age pensioners or people with learning difficulties is a very rewarding choice of career. If you want to work in this environment, it generally means long hours, and it does involve getting your hands dirty in many different ways. But if you relish the notion of helping someone with a learning difficulty to feed themselves, or to spend hours with an elderly lady playing relaxing board games or talking about old memories, this can be a very enjoyable career on top of all of the hard work.

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Financial Advisor

We've all had issues with money in the past. What would you tell your younger self if you had to do it all again? Would you tell them to squander their money, or would you make sure that they make smarter financial choices? The role of a financial advisor combines working with people and working with money (which are two lovely things). If you wanted to train as a financial advisor, it could take quite a bit of time, but you will also need to pass an exam. However, there are many tools that can help you with this such as http://crushthecpaexam.com and many other websites.

Starting Your Own Business

You may find that any choice of career may not fit. So maybe you should start your own career that suits your own specific set of skills! Have you got a hobby which is something you are very good at? Many people are now running a business by making small items or trinkets and selling them via websites like eBay. If you love looking after kids, then maybe starting your own play center, catering for all different ages, and giving adults an opportunity to have a break (as every parent needs to have some time off). Look for the one skill that you have which nobody does around you. This is the key to making any business stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Work for Yourself 

Maybe working for someone else just doesn’t suit you or the lifestyle you crave. Many people are now choosing to use the skills and interests they have to bring in an income, without any limitations that can happen as a result of being employed by somebody else. This could be a specific skill you have such as teaching guitar, or offering therapy or coaching if you are qualified in this area. Selling goods is another popular option for people who wish to work for themselves. Leelinesourcing can find you good suppliers to help you to sell the best imported products online. Be unique in what you offer to the market making sure to find ways to stand out from the crowd. 

Working From Home Harder Work Than You Expected? Make Sure You're Doing It Right!

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Working from home is a dream. Who doesn’t like the idea of not going to the office? Though home working is the ideal, it has its challengers. It’s important you keep a work space aside so you know when it’s time to work each day! The process of arriving at your desk is a mental signifier that it’s time to start work. We may all dream of keeping our pajamas on and stumbling to the computer. In reality, that would hinder your progress! Working from home doesn’t mean you should stop putting the effort in. In fact, you should put in more effort! All the responsibility falls on your shoulders. If you’re struggling to get the balance, you’ve come to the right place. Half the battle is getting a workspace that works for you, and we’ve got some top tips on how to achieve it!

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GET ON TOP OF ORGANIZATION

Get on top of organization as soon as possible. This is important for many reasons. For one, it allows you to keep track of everything. On a deeper level, it will help your productivity. If your desk is buried under a pile of papers, you won’t do your best work. Keep your office professional by investing in filing cabinets. Think, too, about a desk with drawers. That way, you can keep things close to hand if you need them. Working from home won’t work for you if you don’t turn your attention to these details.

MINIMIZE DISTRACTIONS

One of the major struggles to working from home is distraction. These distractions can come from yourself, or other people. Keep your office as free of distraction as possible. Though many of us keep books in our offices, that might not be the best idea! Try, too, to limit the time you spend browsing the internet. If you can get away with not using the internet, install a program that blocks your connection. Make sure, too, that other people understand not to distract you. There’s nothing worse than interruption when you're in the swing of things. People often fail to realize you have work to do, even though you’re home. Set clear limits! Put a ‘busy’ sign on the door if you must.

CONTROL TEMPERATURE

You wouldn’t expect to work in a boiling hot office, would you? No. You should do yourself the same courtesy! Make sure the temperature in your office stays at the right level. If you’re too hot or cold, you won’t be able to think straight! Use services from Advantage Air and other such companies to make sure your air-con is up and running at all times!

ONLY USE THE SPACE FOR WORKING

It’s important you only use your workspace during working hours. Using the space at other times could confuse your routine. Not to mention that it’ll make you feel like you’re at work all the time. You wouldn’t spend your evenings on the office computers, would you? No! So don’t do it in your home office, either!

More Than Meets The Eye; Incredible Abilities You Can Learn And Master

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If you can open your mind and forget about some of your previous conceptions, you might find that life has a wealth of possibilities and ways that you can better yourself. We’re not talking about the typical ways to improve who you are and what you can do either. These concepts are slightly more mystical and magical than learning a second language. Instead, let’s look at things like learning how to boost your psychic power, meditation, lucid dreaming and even OOBE. Believe it or not, these phenomenon can be learned and be better understood if you take the time to research. Let’s start off with the simple possibilities and move forward towards deeper mysteries of the mind.

Lucid Dreaming

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You might find that you have already managed to lucid dream at one point or another. But before we explain what it is let’s think about dreams and sleep. First, it’s important to realize that whenever you go to sleep, you dream. You just don’t always remember what you dreamt about when you wake up. Second, nightmares tend to become less common as we get older as do remembered dreams. This suggests that they are related to both our insecurities and our subconscious desires. Third, dreams often are said to mean the opposite because they take place in our subconscious thought. So, blood might mean passion or even love. This is why you shouldn’t start panicking that you’re a psychopath if you keep dreaming about murder.

The first step in lucid dreaming is to train your memory. You can only understand your dreams if you can remember them. To do this, when you wake up spend ten or twenty minutes trying to recall your dream. If you have a clear idea of what happened, write it down. Eventually, you will find you remember the dreams more regularly. The first thought you have in the day is probably due to what you dreamed about, even if you can’t remember. By exploring that though it might trigger a memory.

Lucid dreaming is about taking control of your dreams. You will then be able to decide what happens in them and what you do. The dream will also become clear and easy to understand. To lucid dream, you just have to know that you are asleep when you’re dreaming. Once you do this, you will suddenly be in control. You can change the dream, and you can change what you do. You can fly across the world with a little practice, and the best part is you’ll remember everything.

Psychic Power

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Psychic power can be about seeing the future, people’s auras or even knowing what someone is thinking. Some people will tell you that psychic power is something you're born with. However, there are many others who claim it’s art or skill that can be developed.

One of the ways to train your psychic power is through meditation. Meditation does seem to alter the brain in fascinating ways. In fact, researchers studied the MRIs of Tibetan Monks. They found that through meditation these monks changed their brain waves and the structure of their brain. It allowed them to create more powerful gamma waves which in turn has been linked to the idea of psychic ability. Belief is also important when thinking about how to develop psychic abilities. You need to make sure that you believe what you are seeing and stand by your beliefs. If you do this and learn to be more empathetic, believers claim you will see your psychic power increase.

OOBE

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Out of body experiences. Depending on what you believe, they are either a trick of the mind or your ‘soul’ leaving the body. People who believe in OOBE claim that the falling sensation some people get before waking up is their soul slipping back inside their body. If you have a look online, you’ll find quite a few groups who believe this is something you can train your body to do when you’re asleep. The advice is simple. You need to lie still in bed until your body goes to sleep while your mind stays awake. This may mean that your eyes remain open and it can cause hallucinations. As you pass through REM, the line between reality and a ‘dream state’ will be blurred. At this point, you need to relax, and as you do, you might find your soul slips free from your body. Many people claim there is a line that connects your soul to your body that you can see in this state. That line can not be broken and will always lead you back no matter how far you travel.

The sensation of OOBE is supposedly a lot like lucid dreaming. It had led some people to suggest they are the same thing. The difference, however, is that people claim you can prove OOBE. You can get someone to place something in a location in your house downstairs. When you are upstairs, try OOBE. Go downstairs and look for the object. Once you see it, return to your body and wake up. If you knew what object they placed and where it was, you would have successfully proved OOBE. Some people even believe an OOBE has been recorded.

Are you interested in trying to learn some of these abilities? You can find plenty more information online.

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Aging Is A Fact Of Life: No Turning Back The Clock, But You Can Slow It Down

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We all get older, and as we do we get used to the fact that our bodies are not as forgiving as they once might have been. For one reason or another, when we try to do things we easily could at eighteen, a body in its thirties struggles.

Maybe it is because of the accumulation of stresses and strains through our younger years. In some ways, it definitely has to do with the body tapering off and stopping production of different hormones. Whatever the cause, we know that with age, we'll lose some things.

Which is why there is never any shortage of advertisements and articles talking about ways to "reverse the aging process." Just stop and think about that for a moment. If such a thing was possible, couldn't you take it at 21 and go back to being 18 - and then stay there?

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You can't reverse the aging process. That's not how cell biology works. But that doesn't mean that you abandon all idea of ever feeling better, healthier, dare I say younger than you do right now.

"Wait, But Didn't You Say...?"

Yes, you can't reverse the aging process. You can't BE younger than you are right now. You can feel it, though. As long as you do the right things, you can nourish the body in ways that it needs to feel fitter and stronger. And before too long, a 50-year-old can start to feel better than they have felt since they were about 40.

"What Happens To Us As We Age?"

The aging process as we know it happens when the body stops, or slows, production of vital hormones and proteins. Production of collagen and elastin is what allows our skin to look youthful. As we stop producing it, we start to look older.

Along with growth hormone, these are some of the products our body stops creating and, as a result, we lose our youthful looks and functions. If we can make our skin and bones healthier, then we can look and feel younger, up to a point. This is where it is beneficial to read AlgaeCal testimonials and find out more about supplements that can help.

"Oh. Will We Ever Be Able To Reverse The Process?"

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The key to answering that question is in defining what constitutes reversal. We will probably never be in a place to turn the clock back from old age to middle-age. We most likely wouldn't want to do that anyway. Imagine going through puberty again. Backwards.

What we may be able to do - and scientists estimate it may be possible by the middle of the next decade - is reverse some of the aspects of the process. Tests already carried out on mice show that we may be able to look younger, heal as fast as we used to, have straighter spines and more. Just bear in mind before you get too excited that you're definitely going to be about ten years older by the time it's possible. In the meantime, better habits will be your friends.

Refresh, Renew and Recycle Your Life

Your beautiful home is just that. All is pretty and comfortable bar the elephant in the room ... the elephant being the crusty old sofa and the room being the living area. So, what can you do to relieve yourself of this monstrosity? Calling a furniture removal truck to collect it and do away with it is one option. The super easy task of filling out a form or making a call could see you wave goodbye to your unwanted furniture, toys or shoes and more importantly, if it's usable, go to a new owner to someone who might need it more than you. Your old furniture could breathe new life into someone's house and an ease to their lives. Persons receiving such items are veterans, disabled and the underprivileged, etc.

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Companies that specialize in furniture removal or junk removal from your home are easy and convenient to use. They will pop round as soon as is convenient to you and deal with the unwanted pieces. More than likely you will want an honest person in your house. It is, therefore, prudent to ensure the company only employs those without criminal pasts and they will always drive company vehicles, carry ID and company apparel or uniform of the company you have booked.

It is impossible to count the items taken from homes in any given decade, but be sure it's in the millions across the country and if it is salvageable be sure it's well received and used. There are many items in your home that qualify as reusable. This process is both humanitarian and eco-friendly. Following are popular items that are needed nationwide, items like...

• Sofas
• Wardrobes
• Beds
• Dressers
• Tables
• Armchairs

Items that fall into junk would be...

• Mattresses
• Things broke beyond repair
• Heavily damaged goods

If these items are unusable they will be scrapped, but be rest assured they will be destroyed in professional and ecological ways, recycling or reducing it to such that it is not a blight on Mother Earth.

Clothing and toys are also popular things to relinquish from your life. If you have no need for the above then you are guaranteed that others will need it. Books that have sat in your attic collecting dust could be changed to books for children that gather information and enjoyment for those who otherwise may not the opportunity to read them.

If you are unsure what qualifies for removal then look below.

• Furniture
• Kitchen appliances
• Carpet
• TV's

The list continues with random items you may feel are not included but certainly are...

• Hot Tubs
• Tires
• Leaf & Yard Debris

• Pianos

The same companies will offer a removal service for construction waste, retail shelving, and even tree stumps and collected and heavy fauna.

The world of ownership is a constantly evolving entity and thus you will always be renewing and replacing. That's why companies that deal in your unwanted items are so great. Whether the item is reused or scrapped you can bet that the item has been dealt with properly and mindfully whatever the outcome.