Typecast

People aged between 35 and 44 are more likely to be made bankrupt – or take any other form of individual insolvency – than any other age group in England and Wales, according to the Office of National Statistics . At an age where we are supposed to be most financially responsible and spending savvy, this age group is suffering from debt problems more than any other.Why is this? When you think about it, it’s perhaps not that surprising that bankruptcy rates are highest within the 35 to 44 age bracket. What’s the thing that many of us are busy with through this period of our lives?  Bringing up children , of course. And that’s a big financial responsibility, on top of any others you might already have, such as mortgages, loans, bills, cars: the list goes on. However, not all parents get into debt so what is it that makes one person more likely to become insolvent than another?  Obviously, people who habitually spend above their means will find themselves on the ...

Hands up who spends half of their Instagram time watching those calligraphy videos, almost drooling at the penmanship?  *raises hand* I've always been fascinated by calligraphy. It started when I realised that my Nana wrote all my birthday and Christmas cards in a special swirly script that I never saw any where else.  One day, I asked her how she did it and she showed me her special pen and ink pot and allowed me to practice a few strokes on a fresh piece of paper.  In fact, this is probably where my love for stationery started too.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brenna Jordan (@calligraphybybrenna) on Dec 4, 2017 at 4:54pm PST I wish she could have taught me how to write properly in the calligraphy style but we never got round to it so I recently got myself a practice pad and some pens and I'm going to give this a go!  And I'd like you to join in too.   ...

April and May weren't kind to me and my arthritic knees (read more about that in You've Lost That Running Feeling ) so I've been trying to mend myself by running less, using kinesiology tape to support the knee joint and staying within my comfort zone.  But I had planned to take part in a 6k trail race in Chorley so went out with a friend for a couple of 4-milers and did Hyndburn parkrun last Saturday . Pain was at a minimum, recovery was fine but my stamina is shot to bits.  I decided to give the trail run a go anyway.  I came last.  Finishing in last place I'm not a fast runner and, since moving from community running to club running and racing , I've become used to being one of the slowest runners.  It took a lot for me to get my head around that but I'm OK with it all now.  Coming last really didn't bother me .  I had thought about it a few times because this type of confidence-knocker can really mess with my head but I honestly ...

We all know that sleeping well is essential; sleeping affects both your mental and physical health, and in turn affects the quality of your life. Research has shown that  disrupted sleep may be associated with a higher risk of early signs of Alzheimer’s disease .    A good night’s sleep can offer an energetic, productive, and positive day ahead, whereas a bad night’s sleep can have a very opposite effect.  It can also help  Here are some general tips on how you can improve your sleep, leading to a good night’s sleep much more often than not. Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash Stick to a schedule Ensuring that you try and go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day will help in setting your body’s internal clock. Regulating your internal body clock is much more important than you may believe – and yes, this applies at weekends too! The easiest way to start sticking to a schedule is to begin by starting an evening routine.  This will i...

I was writing monthly running updates for a while and have been documenting this year's attempt at 1000k-in-a-year on Instagram but things started to fall apart at the seams and I was struggling to find the words (other than an Instagram caption) to share positive updates. I've recently hit a new low with my arthritic knees but I'm on the way back up again so here's a quick recap and a look forward.  Racing We all know that I use the word "race" loosely but it's what the organisers call it so we go with the flow.  It might be easier if I bullet point the next bit because there's been a few... (click the links to see my Instagram update and extra images) Stanley Park 10k (25th February): a difficult race because I struggled all the way through with my breathing plus it was unusually HOT for February.  Rowena really encouraged me round the course, made me stick with the 65min pacer and I pushed on to the finish line for a PB of 1h4m21s....

It's been a while since I published a Soundtrack To My Life but this is the perfect opportunity for me to introduce you to an author I have just discovered - David Richards. Here's a bit of the backstory... Just before I went on a recent trip abroad, I followed a book recommendation from my running pal, Karen. I duly download three books written by a friend of hers because they were on offer at 99p each to my Kindle and immersed myself in them on holiday. They. Were. Brilliant! So I passed on the recommendation to my followers (an off-the-wall, slightly bonkers, Northern humour style of writing), tagged the author and he was kind enough to send me a copy of his latest book with a very lovely handwritten note on the dedication page.  Fast forward a couple of days and I asked David if he'd like to guest post for me at some point but then I remembered my much-loved Soundtrack To My Life series, blew the dust off the instructions and got David to play along. ...

Sleep... it's a sore subject in this house. The cause? My husband's snoring! One pillow, two pillows, on his back, on his side, using an anti-snore pillow, whatever. And he sleeps so deeply that he has no idea that he's doing it either. He protests by saying that I snore too but I know I don't... I'm too ladylike to snore. Cute little piggy grunts, maybe, but not loud enough to wake someone from their slumber and prevent them from nodding back off again. You would think I would be used surviving with no sleep. When my youngest child was born (and before was diagnosed with ADHD) his sleep pattern was very erratic.  He had already transitioned into a "big boy bed" which was inline with the research conducted on this survey with Happy Beds so keeping him in his own bed was a challenge. This went on for approximately two-and-a-half years. In fact, I was so adept at surviving of little or no sleep that I laughed at the idea of the reality TV Show, ...