How to ... Budget For Happiness

Hello Friends !

How are you ? I hope you're happy because everybody deserves to be happy. Unfortunately from time to time when money gets tight it can be a lil bit difficult to budget in a way that allows you to pay for the things that help keep you smiling. Especially when you're a student struggling along on very little money and a lot of stress from studying which is NOT a good combination. However, recently I've been working with Earnest.com to learn about ways you can control your money. They have a new system that allows graduates to refinance their student loans to fit their post-college life, with the ability to skip or change your monthly payment. It got me thinking about ways I can break down all this complicated money malarkey into five key areas that I'm going to explain in simple, no fuss terms so that YOU can budget for the happiness you deserve.

I like to divide my monthly wages into four. This allows me to see what I have to spend each week and makes it harder for me to lose track of my budgeting and over spend. I then split the weeks money between five key areas for happiness.

Nutrition

Without the nutrients that your body needs then how will you be able to feel happy and healthy in the most important part of your body, your mind. Spend some time planning out healthy meals filled with plants and whole grains that won't cost the earth. A healthy diet can fit to any budget. Buying frozen vegetables is a great way to bulk up any meal and adds a delicious twist for a low price ! You can even reduce the price of your favourite meals by removing expensive meats. For example switching the mince beef in chili con carne for extra kidney beans and some quinoa ! Alternatively, you can switch your expensive super food smoothies for the fresh homemade kind or even the healthiest drink of all, water!

Fitness

Keeping with the theme of  Healthy Body = Healthy Mind and it's important to keep yourself fit ! There are lots of ways to do this. Some budgets will allow for gym memberships, if so then makes sure that you shop around for the best membership deals. Think about inclusive exercise classes, good equipment, Is it in walking distance ? I always look for a gym that I can walk to because that walk acts as a warm up for my session ! However if a gym is a little out of your price range there are lots of alternatives. How about taking up yoga. You could go to weekly classes or if that's not fee-sable then how about using YouTube videos to help you to learn, for example Yoga With Adriene.

Treating Yourself

Every now and then it's important that you treat yourself to a little present to remind yourself of how special you are. It doesn't need to be something big, perhaps a little nail varnish or a bar of chocolate for a little pick me up ! You could even save up your extra money over the month to buy yourself something bigger like some new hair straighteners or a nutri-bullet !

You Time

There is very little more important than spending time with yourself, it's essential for learning who you are, who you'd like to be and how you're going to get there. There are lots of ways to spend time with yourself. You can simply curl up with fairy lights and a good book or if you have a little more money, what about a spa day? There's no better way to relax than a lovely massage or a facial. It's the perfect reminder of how wonderful you are and how much you deserve happiness.

Time With Friends And Family

However important it is to spend time learning to be grateful to yourself, it is also important to spend time with your loved ones. Sometimes, especially as a student you can begin to feel very isolated when you feel that you don't have enough money to go out and socialize with your friends and family . But there's no need ! If you have a slightly higher income then how about a trip to the cinema with student discount and pre-bought snacks from the supermarket. If you have a lower income then don't despair, put together a picnic and take your family to the park to enjoy it ! It a lovely day out and think of all the fun the younger members of your family will have !

How do you budget for happiness ? I'd love to hear from you in the comments ! If you found this post helpful and would like some more ideas then head over to the Earnest Blog for lots of brilliant ways to take charge of your spending habits and continue to live a happy and fulfilled life

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) Stay In Budget

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

P.s. I wrote this post in collaboration with Earnest.com but all opinions are my own.

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How to ... Get Into The Revision Mindset

Hey there !

So we're a few months away from final exams ... and it's getting scary and you REAALLLY want to do well but the idea of sitting down to revise sounds about as fun as throwing yourself into a pit of snakes ! Well, that's how I've been feeling for the past few weeks but I've finally worked out how to get myself into the revision mindset ! So now I've worked it out I thought I'd share it with you :)

Step One : Create Your Revision Space 

We've all heard that saying " Tidy room, tidy mind " and it works ! Make a space in your room completely clear so that you have lots of space to work and decorate it with lots of things that inspire you or make you feel happy to put you in  a good mind set ! A few things I have are :

• Fairy lights 
• Crystals 
• A photo of me and my girlfriend 
• insense sticks 

Step Two : Be Prepared 

Make sure you have everything you need; pencil case, paper , text books. EVERYTHING ! If you get up to get a pencil we both know you're not coming back until you've watched the entirety of netflix ;) 

Step Three : Dress Up, Make Up, Hair Up... Whatever Makes You Feel Up ! 

You're not going to be in the right mindset to work when you're in a pair of trackies with bed head . Make yourself look good so you feel fresh and motivated to do well . 

Step Four : Water 

Keep a glass of water ( I like it with ice ) on your desk. Staying hydrated is key to keeping your focus. 

Step Five : Prioritise 

Make a list of everything you need to do and then colour code it for high priority, medium priority and low priority work in that order . 

Step Six : Find Out When You Work Best 

I spent weeks trying to work all day and I literally got nothing done ! I got distracted and bored and for a whole day of misery I barely had an hours work to show for it. And then I realised, I'm a morning person ! So now I'm getting up early in the morning, working 7am - 1pm and then doing what I want to do in the afternoon so I have something to look forward to while I'm working :) 

Step Seven : Meditation Music 

I used to listen to music or have a film on in the background while I worked and it just didn't work because I just ended up distracted. But no one wants to sit in silence for five hours. So now I have meditation music up on youtube and it's brilliant ! I even found some especially to help you study, I'll leave a link here. 

I really hope this helps and I know you're going to great in all your exams so just work hard and believe in yourself ! I'd love to hear what you do to get in the revision mindset in the comments ! 

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

P.s. I'm super sorry I've missed Mondays positivity diaries, I had my french speaking exam this week so was revising none stop! I promise there will be one this Monday :) 

How To ... Handle a Break Up

Break ups can be rubbishy. Whether you leave on good terms or bad. Whether you end it or they do. Whether you were together 2 months or 2 years. You're bound to feel at least a little sad and just not your best . After breaking up with my boyfriend of two and a half years recently, I've done my share of feeling sad. But there are definitely ways to make the experience easier and ensure a much more positive outcome in the long run.

Step One : Do what you need to do , but don't hurt anyone .

You're very likely to be upset, hurt or even angry and there is no point ignoring your emotions. Take the time to feel them fully . Give yourself the time you need because if you don't feel the pain now , it's going to drag out A LOT longer and we don't want that . But make sure you handle your emotion in a healthy way, for example if you're feeling angry , go for a swim or a run . If your sad, don't get drunk, cry and cuddle up in bed watching your favorite tv series :)

Step Two : Steer clear of social media 

It's probably best to steer clear of places like Facebook or Instagram because ,
a) If you're upset you don't want to post anything you'll regret or might hurt the other person in your break up
b) Your ex might not be being as considerate and may leave things on social media that could upset you , you've got enough to deal with right now . An argument over a drunk status isn't what you need

Step Three : Surround yourself with the people who love you 

The last thing you need at the minute is complete isolation. It's important to be around people who understand what's going on and make you feel good about yourself. No matter how rubbish you're feeling, there are people who still love you and they probably have a clearer head than you right now so listen to them when they tell you you're loved .

Step Four : Know when it's time to get up 

There comes a time when you need to pick yourself up, have a long shower , put some nice lipstick on, dress up and make yourself feel nice. You deserve better than being sad forever . Call a friend and ask if they want to go shopping or do something you enjoy. Let yourself feel good :)

Step Five : Self Date 

Take yourself out somewhere nice . Go to the local cafe for a hot chocolate and sit and read your book, Take yourself on a shopping trip, Go to the zoo ! I don't mind where you go , just spend some time getting to know yourself again and becoming more comfortable with who you are. You can lose bits of yourself when you're in a relationship for a long time and become reliant on somebody else to know you're beautiful . So this is a really good time to start practicing self-love . I'll link to a blog by Rainbow-Rose Blossom here , she's a brilliant woman with a lot of valuable things to say on self love !

What are your tips for handling a break up ? I'd love to hear them in the comments :)

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

I thought I'd leave this funny song here by Carrie Hope Fletcher on " How NOT To Handle A Break Up " It's pretty much garenteed to at least make you giggle :)

How to ... Achieve your goals

So ... were four days in . How are we all doing ? As long as nobodies in prison for murdering the annoying woman who sat right next to you eating that chocolate bar while you tried desperately to love the fruit pot in front of you that you swore four days ago you'd eat for lunch everyday ... I think we're doing okay ;)

Picking the right new years resolutions for you is an important task, you have to evaluate what you want to improve in yourself or your life and then find a way to do it .. but that's all relatively easy compared to actually sticking to the goals as I'm sure most of you have realized ... every single year.. at least three times over ! But I'm feeling very enthusiastic for the new year and the fresh start that comes with it and am determined to make a lot of positive changes ! So I've put together a list of tips to help sticking to those new years resolutions just that lil bit easier :)

Tip #1

Grab a friend 

You're far more likely to stick to something if you're not doing it alone, whether you share how it's going with regular online updates for your followers ( I've seen a lot of great bloggers do monthly goal review posts ) or you force a mate to sign up to the gym with you . Don't do it alone ! If you feel like you're going to let someone else down as well then you're way less likely to back out .

Tip #2

Equipt yourself 

Its the January sales, you can afford to give yourself a post Christmas treat. So instead of heading to Thorntons for half price chocolate Santas, go and get yourself a healthy cook book or the yoga mat you need or even some nice skincare products in the sale ! Get whatever you need to get started with you goals, it will make you a lot more excited to start if you feel ready :) 

Tip #3

Make an action plan 

It's easy enough to say what you want but how are you ever expecting to achieve it if you don't actually make a plan of how you're going to get there and start doing it ! Sit down and write down each goal for the year and underneath write what you're going to do to achieve it ( I did this in my new years resolution post ). Breaking things down into little steps makes them much less intimidating because they seem more attainable ! Perhaps even set a treat to give yourself when you complete a mini step towards your goal . 

Tip #4 

Dust yourself off and go again  

Not everything turns out perfect the first few goes but having one sneaky piece of chocolate doesn't mean the whole world is over and you can't do anything about it until January 1st next year , everyday is a fresh start, this one is just more highlighted and a great opportunity. So use it but don't be afraid to pick yourself up and start again if it slips up :) 

I hope these are at least a little helpful in keeping on track ! I'd love to hear your tips and tricks for achieving your new years goals in the comments and let me know yours are going . 

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

How to ... Sleep

When you wake up and you've had 4 hours sleep because you just kept tossing and turning and getting more and more frustrated, getting up feels like the worst idea on earth. Then because you associate getting up with the day ahead, the whole day seems like the worst idea in the whole solar system. And having your day ruined with negative attitude and grumpy mumbling just because you had no sleep is the worst idea in the Universe !

So... I think I made my point. Sleep !

"But how Marianne ? I try but I just can't !!!! " I hear you cry. Well don't worry , I worked it out ;)

Sleeping is really important so that you have enough energy to make the day ahead of you feel worth doing. I really struggle getting enough sleep sometimes so I've spent quite a bit of time working out how to make sure I get enough sleep so that I can carry on bouncing around and most probably annoying the hell out of people the next day hehe :) So here are my top tips on " How to... Sleep ! "

Step One : Cleanse, tone and moisturise. It only takes a few minutes and it's so much nicer to wake up when your eyes aren't stuck together by yesterdays Mascara ! If you're feeling lazy keep a bottle of  Garnier Micellar Water next to your bed :)

Step Two : Get into a nice routine. You have to actually keep doing this one for it to work but it is worth it I promise. For me , I make sure I'm in bed with my make up off and everything sorted for the next day by ten o'clock. Then I turn my phone off and read or colour ( whatever relaxes you just try to avoid tv or using your laptop ) for half an hour . At half ten put  my book down and go to sleep ! Simple :)

But what about before the routine starts to kick in and you just can't get to sleep ? Don't worry I have steps for that too ;)

Step Three : Make your bed as comfy as possible. Have as many pillows as you like and arrange a nice hot water bottle help you feel nice and cosy ! While we're on the subject of hot water bottles, am I the only one who hugs the hot water bottle rather than just putting it at the end of my bed to warm the bed up? Let me know in the comments aha :) To make my bed comfy I actually sleep with two duvets, one underneath me and one on top. One is a thin duvet and the other is thick so if I get too cold or hot I can just switch them around :)

Step Four : Your room should feel like a safe place so that you can relax completely to sleep. I get quite nervous at night and that can make it difficult to sleep so found a few things that helped me :)

• Background noise. When you're tired and a bit anxious it's easy to think your hearing noises around the house and because you're probably not at your most rational at 1 am .. it's easy to tell yourself that it's an axe murderer who's just killed off your entire family, is holding your cat hostage and is now coming for you .... alternatively it could just be someone in the house getting up to have a wee. I'm going to take a guess here and say that the someone having a wee situation is more likely so to avoid you charging out into the landing to rescue Mr Fluffykins and avenge your families deaths , I have a solution ;) My lovely best friend bought me a box set of The Big Bang Theory DVD's about 10 months ago and I genuinely have a disc on every night while I fall asleep and it really helps ! You can also buy apps that make white noise but I don't use them so if any of you do and can recommend a good one in the comment then I'm sure some people would find that helpful :)
• Invest in some fairy lights ! If you've not scared of the dark then they're pretty and will definitely make you happy. If you are scared of the dark then they will do all that and make enough light for you to be able to see your room but it won't be so bright that they keep you awake .
• If you're a quite an anxious person generally then pop some lavender oil on your pillow and it's amazing how to it helps you relax and fall asleep. You could also use Rescue Remedy Night and that will relax you and make you a bit drowsy so every once in a while when you're stressed out and can't sleep I would definitely recommend that !

Step Five :  Make sure you take a drink to bed with you. Some people find it calming to have a hot drink with them ( I've got a really yummy hot chocolate recipe up soon ) or milk is good for helping you sleep because it has an amino acid in called Tryptophan . But I just take up a glass of water with ice in because I often wake up feeling really dehydrated in the night . On that note also make sure you have a wee before you get into bed because it's really no fun to have to get up again once you're all comfy and cosy :)

Step Six : If all else fails and it's just not working then get up, walk around the house for five minutes, send a cute text for someone to wake up to and plan out the next day in your head . Then try again ! There's no point getting yourself wound up and frustrated :)

I hope this helps some of you :) It's very hard to be positive and looking forward to the day if you're tired so give a few of these a go and let me know what works for you ! Or if you have any more tips I'd love to hear them in the comments :)

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

The Hopeful Notes

Helloo there !

On my last blog, I talked endlessly about a wonderful woman called Carrie Hope Fletcher whom I absolutely adore .. and now you just the pleasure of another awe fuelled blog post on my idol! Arn't you lucky ;) Today I wanted to talk about Carries hopeful notes!

What are they ?

The hopeful notes are named after Carries' middle name, Hope. Quite a while ago, her fans began calling themselves the Hopefuls after her. So it only seemed fitting that Carries new idea to add a little extra kindness to the world was called the Hopeful Notes ! Hopeful notes are little positive messages left on post it notes to brighten up a strangers day when they find them :)

Why ?

Wouldn't it make you smile to know that a complete stranger cared enough to take time out of their day just to let you know it's all going to be okay ? You never know who will find the message that just took you a few seconds to write. It might find just the right person at just the right time when they need a little pick me up to get them through a rough day :) Plus a set of post it notes and pen isn't really going to set you back that much and it's definitely worth it , I pinkie promise ^.^

Where ? 

You can leave them anywhere and EVERYWHERE ! Just don't get caught ! My friend and me sometimes write out around twenty and get in a lift and cover the lift with little messages of hope, the challenge is to finish putting them up before the lift stops and someone else gets in ! If you're nervous about people noticing you and thinking your weird, just remember they probably wont even ask, and if they do then just say you're doing a little project to cheer people up :)

Here are a few ideas of where you could leave them :

• In changing rooms ( a cute "You're Beautiful " message on the mirror would be nice, don't you think ? ^.^ ) 
• On the stairways 
• Stuck on random pages of notebooks in stationary stores 
• Inside books at the library, especially self-help books ! 
• Behind food at the Supermarket 
• On your table after you leave a coffee shop :) I always leave a little note for the waitress/waiter 
• The Bathroom mirrors 
• Dotted around shops anywhere you can find a space that isn't too noticeable :) 

But What Do I Say ??? 

Whenever I've spoken to anyone about hopeful notes, people have said that they just don't know what to write ! I've worked out that it's easy to know what to write as long as you stick to one simple rule. Write what YOU need to hear, right now . Believe it or not, however rubbishy you're feeling, you're not alone and that means other people people are feeling like, they're not quite good enough or their nose is too big ( just an example, I'm sure you have a wonderful nose ) Give them the support you need. Whatever anyone tells me, you CAN ALWAYS give someone a hug with words . 

I also keep a little notebook where I jot down positive quotes for hopeful notes to keep for whenever I need one quick :) You could even use one of Carries quotes : 

" Things haven't always been this bad, therefore they wont always be this bad " 

If you're struggling to think of quotes then let me know in the comments and I'll do a Top Ten Quotes For Hopeful Notes post ...ooo that rhymed ! ... Wow, I'm easily amused aha :) 

Spread a Little Kindness ! 

So why not go for it ? You're a lovely human being, and there's lots of other lovely human beings on Earth , even if we all do silly things sometimes and upset people . We all deserve a little Kindness ! There's a quote that says, " Happiness is like jam you can spread some without getting a little on yourself " You will be amazed how good doing the odd random act of kindness will make you feel ! 

You can find the hopeful notes twitter page here. If you know any positive quotes then I'd love to hear about them in the comments ! Lets add a lil bit of sunshine to someone's world ! 

I hope you enjoyed this post, I've wanted to write it for a LONG time :) Have a lovely day ! 

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Love, Marianne xxx

How to...Revise

Anndddd... the build up to exam season has begun ! All the revision can be super stressful and it's easy to get absorbed in it. Add on the pressure to get good grades and it's easy to forget that you need a life now, as well as the fantastic one you're promised when you get good grades. Lets face it, if you're miserable and tired and feel like there's no escape from that mountain of revision books blocking you in the house, then your revision effects wont be as positive or affective as if you're calm and happy :) So Today I thought I'd share with you some tips on how to get the most out of your revision !

• Planning ! As boring as it sounds, it's really helpful and motivating to have a revision schedule . Knowing when you need to get up and actually start is a really good way to make sure you .. you know ? ACTUALLY get up and start ;) It's also good to know when you're going to finish partly for the motivation to keep going and partly so that you don't over work yourself ! Don't forget that you need breaks otherwise you're not going to take very much in and sitting staring at a text book for 5 hours doesn't teach you much... trust me I tried ;) I like to work by the 50/10 rule so doing 50 minutes of focused revision and then having a 10 minute break :)

• Don't try and force yourself to do all your revision, for all your subjects in one day. Spread it out ! I like to write the individual bits of revision I need to do on a post it note and I arrange them on my bedroom wall under the days of the week and the system is really simple. If I don't do it them that day,  the post it note moves onto the next day . I soon do the work once I can visually see it piling up :) 

•  Set up your space :) If you have a nice quiet, clean area where you can focus to revise in then it's bound to be more appealing ! It also helps to have lots of lovely new stationary ( Stationary is one of those things I get extremely over excited about ) . The one thing I can't revise without are my paper-mate revision pens. They're £4.99 a pack at W.H.Smiths but worth every penny and great for notes and mind-maps . 

• Eat well and drink LOADS of water! It's pretty common knowledge that it's easier to learn when you're hydrated .... also .. hot chocolate helps ;) 

•  Get some exercise. Seriously I can not express help much it will help just to get out of the house and even just go for a ten minute walk especially if you can't manage to understand something, coming back to it 10 minutes later with a clear head can make that complicated maths equation just fall into place ! Or if you need a longer break then why not go to the gym for an hour or so ! 

• Sleep is your best friend :) There's no point panicking that you haven't done enough because a) you probably have and b) You're not going to learn very much at 2 am ! You'd be better off getting a good nights rest of about 9 hours so you can focus in the morning :)

• Get out of the house ! Find somewhere new to work, like the library or a quiet picnic bench in the park . A change of environment might do you good . 

• Find out what methods work for you :) Not everyone learns the same way so don't panic if your friend has 50 pages of notes because you might be amazing at learning from flashcards and those 50 pages of notes, however much they help your friend might be completely useless to you <3 My favourite methods for revision are condensing down all the information and putting them into mind-maps with all the key facts in :) 

Over all the most important thing is don't panic because that won't get you anywhere :) If you work well and with a positive attitude then I'm sure you'll do great :) Let me know your best revision tips or methods in the comments !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)
Love, Marianne xxx

How To ... Duvet Day

Happy Monday !

So I'm a week into the Easter holidays and unfortunately that week has been filled with more revision than sleep ... and probably more Pinterest than revision but lets not focus on that eh ;) Nevertheless, I'm determined to fit in a duvet day somewhere, and as I'm sure you deserve one for being the wonderful person that you are, you could probably do with a rest, because life can be tiring sometimes :) So to help you out here's a step by step guide on how to duvet day !


Step One : Get up ... okay I know a duvet day generally implies staying in bed and I really am ever so sorry ... but you've got to get out first . I promise you can get back in soon though. Okay ? Okay . (I couldn't resist a quick The Fault In Our Star Reference ... sorry aha :) )

Step Two : Okay so the quicker you do this the quicker you can get back in bed, which is a pretty tempting reward as far as I'm concerned aha . I find that if you get in the shower and wash your hair , use a nice body wash to make yourself feel all clean and fresh, that a duvet day is far more enjoyable :) I used lush vanilla dee-lite body lotion when I got out the shower, It's my favourite body lotion at the minute ! Like all things from lush it smells gorgeous and is great for your skin :)

Step Three: Now you're all freshened up, dry your hair into a lion like fluffball fashion ... if your hair doesn't turn into a mane of frizz when you dry it, I seriously envy you ;)

Step Four : Put on a nice clean pair of pyjamas so that you're all comfy :) I actually love ASDA's pyjamas ! They have some really cute designs and don't cost the Earth to buy, which is extremely lucky for my mum since I seem to find a new pair that I simply NEED every time she does the weekly shop !

Step Five : SNACKS !!! Personally I needed Sour Cream and Chive Pringles and Magic stars ... and I mean all the Magic stars in Asda .. ALL OF THEM !!!

Step Six : Pick out your favourite DVDs :) Whether you're binge watching The Big Bang Theory ( AKA The best sitcom EVER ) or fancy snuggling up to some Disney Magic . Or even a million romantic comedies and a good chick flick ! Just find whatever takes your fancy because for once you have time to watch it :)


Step Seven : If watching Seven series of Big Bang Theory back to back isn't your thing, then grab that new book and finish it in one go, doddle, plan in your new colour co-ordinated revision pens ... oh is that just me ? oh .. um okay then ..... ;) Just have a day to yourself , with limited energy use and unlimited food intake hehe :)

Step Eight : Finally cuddle up under the duvet and only move in the name of ice cream ... or a fire ... definitely move in a fire!!!  ;)

So that's everything ! Enjoy your duvet day, get some rest and I hope you're feeling smiley and ready to go tomorrow because you're worth it :) Let me know in the comments what's the one thing you HAVE to have or do on a perfect duvet day ?

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

Love, Marianne xxx