Not giving can be a bigger gift. Buying presents can oblige friends to do the same, even if they can’t afford it.
Fight back against Christmas commercial pressures by agreeing to a No Unnecessary Presents Pact with friends and family.
Treat other people the way they like being treated. You make a great impression by focusing on their likes, not yours.
Having a box of batteries, fuses, screws, nuts, bolts, nails and fittings at home means you can fix things immediately when they break.
Hanging empty coathangers at the end of the rail when you get dressed each morning makes it easy to gather them after doing the ironing.
Useful things to keep in the car: torch, loose change, first aid kit, handtools, water, rug, spare ‘phone charger, high-visibility vest and de-icer/ice scraper. You can get many of these from a £1 shop.
When you move to a new area, it is important to register with the local doctor and dentist as soon as you can, and with the local electoral registration office so you can vote.
Some things need to be perfect, some things just need to be ‘good enough’. Knowing the difference can save vast amounts of time and effort.
Schedule outdoor activities to avoid the hours when the sun is at its strongest – when directly overhead. Doing this can help to minimise exposure. Where possible, rearrange your day’s schedule to spend time outdoors when the sun is lower in the sky – early mornings and late afternoons (11am-3pm).
If you do a job lazily, you will need to do it a second or more times to get it done properly. So being lazy about it makes more work for you than there was initially.