Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Buying presents on a budget

I find it challenging to buy presents for my friends and family members. Firstly because I always want to find something unique, something that will let that person know I care about them, so I put extra thought into picking up a present. The second reason is that I am always short on money so expensive gifts are really not my style. 
I like something simple and meaningful, so over the years I stumbled across wonderful ideas that I would love to share with you. 
A jar of notes is the most personal and I’ve felt really good after giving it to one of my friends, especially because a month after I gave it to them, I was still getting text messages about how it made their day. 
So what is a jar of notes?
Simple. It’s a jar filled with notes for a person you are giving it to. I chose three different colours of paper I was writing them on; pink, blue and white. Pink paper had quotes written on them, blue had things I like about that person and white were random thoughts (for example what movie I recommend or a simple joke). I wrote about fifty of those things and put them into a jar. On the lid I pasted an envelope with a letter that explained what the jar contained and that they should take out one note per day. 
With that I managed to do something personal, original and made sure they got something out of my present for the next fifty days. 
Baking something is the ultimate winner for me. It shows that you put some effort into the present and it’s always nice to get something delicious for a present. Sometimes baking can be underrated but I promise you it is a lovely gift. 
Buying with a group is a very common thing and most of the presents I give are bought with a group of friends. This allows you to buy something that is more expensive, but it’s also great if your schedule is busy because you can just chip in money for the present. Presents that are bought like that are usually more memorable since you can afford to buy concert tickets for their favourite band or a ticket for an adrenaline park or three day holiday in a spa. So overall it’s always a good purchase when you are buying a present together with other people. 

I hope this gives you a few ideas on what you can get for your friend. Remember that a present doesn’t have to be expensive to be meaningful and personal!

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Sleeping tips

There is a bunch of things in life that I cherish and on the top of the list is sleeping, purely because I never get enough of it. In the last years I’ve had the worst sleeping habits. I am not able to fall asleep, I wake up in the middle of the night and the worst of all I have constant nightmares. 
Since I know how frustrating it can get I decided to share a few of my sleeping tips. Before starting I would like to remind you that I am no professional and that this may not help you with your sleeping problems. Everything in this article are just personal preferences, things that help me and it could be completely different for you, because your body may function differently from mine, so there is a possibility this won’t help you.
Use up your energy. For me this is one of the most important ones, because I figured if my body is absolutely exhausted I have more chances of falling asleep right away and not having any nightmares. So I would advise you to take up jogging, go to a gym or just meet with your friends to play soccer. Literally any sports activity helps!
Cut out sugar. Sugar tends to raise your energy level so try to cut out thing like chocolate and any sweets in general. If you are consuming energy drinks or caffeine make sure to stop drinking them because they could be the reason for your sleepless nights.  
Eating before bed time is probably the worst thing you can do, especially if you are having nightmares. If your stomach aches while you are sleeping the pain can transform into nightmares that will eventually wake you up.
Using electronic devices before going to bed is not advisable as well. I read that social networks such as Facebook and Tumblr use colour blue for their background because it’s the colour of sky and it tricks your brain into thinking it’s still daylight outside. So I would recommend you to grab a book instead of sitting behind the computer screen or watching a television.  

These are the things that help me and I hope that they will help you as well because not being able to sleep can really affect your body. If you are having serious sleeping problems then I would advise you to pay a visit to a doctor. Sleep tight!