Stressed--try these ideas

Count to 10

It is what your mother always told you to do when you got angry!

 

And it’s surprisingly effective.

The next time you get angry and feel your stress levels start to rise, slowly count to 10.

Out loud or under your breath – it doesn’t matter.

For some simple forms of stress, or when you catch yourself early enough, you may find this is all you need to.

Take some deep breaths

Take a nice, long, slow deep breath in.

Breathe in through your nose until your lungs are completely full.

Then hold your breath for a second or two, before slowly exhaling through your mouth

until your lungs are totally empty.

Repeat this sequence a few times.

As your breathing becomes slower, you’ll find yourself becoming more relaxed.

Like counting to ten, you’re likely to find that this simple exercise is often enough to get rid of your stress in just a few short minutes.

Get Up and Walk About

One of the best ways to help give yourself stress relief is with your feet. That is, if

something is causing you all sorts of stress, you need to simply stand up and walk away
from it. This will give your mind the break it needs to calm down and come to grips with the situation. Simply allowing it to stress you out more and more is just not a productive plan. So get up, walk away, and give yourself a break.

Once you have walked away, there are several things you can do for stress relief. One of the easiest things is simply cleaning the house. That's right, vacuuming, dusting, ironing, scrubbing the floors and cleaning the countertops will actually help you relieve stress.

Simply organizing messes and cleaning away dirt will help you immeasurably. This is

because you will be taking care of messes, much in the manner you want to clean up the

messes in your life. By sweeping away the dust and grime, you will be taking charge of

your own home and, in a way, removing the clutter from your life by removing the clutter from your home.

Or you could go for a walk. Ideally a walk in a park or somewhere else that you find

peaceful and tranquil. But even a walk around the local streets will work. As much as

anything, you’re giving your mind something else to think about. And chances are, it will leap at the chance to allow itself to be distracted and calm down.

Stressed out?

Stress can be a scary thing, especially at this time of year,  but it is also a self-creating thing. The more stress you feel, the less able you are to deal with the things that are stressing you, causing the stress to increase. This is a vicious cycle and the key to stress management is to not get into it in the first place. How do you do that?

Stress comes in many shapes and forms. You can get stressed while driving if – for
instance – someone cuts you up on the road.

You can become stressed for unhappy reasons – for instance if someone close to you falls ill or has a serious accident.

You can also become stressed for happy reasons – for instance, if you’ve just won the

lottery.

Work conditions can introduce stress into your life. Some people thrive on being always busy, whilst others can become stressed just by watching those people.

There are probably as many ways to become stressed as there are people on this planet.

So, once you recognize that you are stressed, what can you do about it? Fortunately, there are lots of different ways to counteract the everyday stress that crops up in life. Most of these techniques are simple, cheap and – best of all – they don’t involve potentially addictive drugs.

Vacation planning--Flexibility is the key

The first thing I suggest is that you start to plan early. Spontaneity works well for day trips, but is not as effective for longer jaunts. By planning early, you will find cheaper fares and accommodations that are more available. 

You can also have the opportunity to save any additional funds you might need, perhaps include extended invitations to other family members, and get together all the paperwork you might need if traveling abroad. 

While planning, it’s a good idea to stay flexible in your desires.  Flexibility equals maximum pleasure for everyone.  This is especially true if you have special needs due to a disability or are taking along teens and children who will want to do different things.

Get your children involved too.  This will not only make them much more enthusiastic about the trip, but they can provide their input into what types of activities they want to do and what types of activities they’d like to do as a family.  They’ll be much more excited when they are fully involved in deciding where the family will be vacationing, so be sure to get their opinions too.

You probably already have some kind of idea as to what you’ll be able to afford when taking a vacation.  If you do have a specific number in mind, this makes it much easier to pick out a destination.  You can research what’s available in your price range and choose the trip that will best fit your family.

If you don’t have a specific number in mind, make a list of your dream vacations.  Include those places you’ve always wanted to go as well as places you think would fit the personalities of your family.  See what these types of vacations will cost, and then pick the one you think you can save for or afford to take right away.

The Internet is an indispensable tool to do this.  There are many travel websites that offer vacation packages for specific destinations.  Here are some highly suggested by the experts:

www.expedia.com

www.orbitz.com

www.cheaptickets.com

www.travelocity.com

When you use these sites, they can give you best prices for various destinations, but they can also provide valuable suggestions for where you can go as well as activities that are available and ratings from other travelers who have taken the same vacations.

You can also use:

www.priceline.com
Price line often allows you to name a price you’re willing to pay for flights, hotels, etc., but you have to take what they offer you if they accept your price.  For example, you may be willing to pay $100 for a $200 airline flight, but they may accept your price only if you’re willing to take the redeye in the middle of the night.  If this is something you can live with, by all means, book it!  Just be flexible. 

Do you detect a theme here in the planning phase?  Flexibility is the key!

You’ll need to decide if you will be flying to your destination or driving.  There are many airlines that have cut-rate prices when you fly during certain times.  Again, you’ll need to be flexible on departure dates and times.

You’ll also need to decide on a time frame for your vacation.  Again, if you are flexible on departure dates, you’re more likely to get a better deal.  We realize, however, that work constraints might not allow you to change your vacation dates, but if possible, it’s best to just have a general idea instead of a rock solid date. 

Try to travel on days other than Friday, Saturday or Sunday which are the busiest travel days of the week.  You can firm up plans later if needed.

Once you’ve got your destination in mind, you’ll need to consider a couple of other things before booking your trip.

Vacation saving

SAVING FOR YOUR VACATION

Maybe it is too early to start thinking about saving for your vacation, but as we leave Xmas behind, many of us start to think about New Years Resolutions, and going on a vacation may be on that list. I know this is on our list, as we are planning to go down to Australia for my grandsons second birthday in Sept, so I am starting to consider how we can save up for the trip.

There are many effective ways to save for your family vacation. When you spend 40 hours a week slaving at your job, you deserve to have some time to get away from the rat race, relax, and enjoy your family.

Unless you’re independently wealthy, you’ll need a plan for saving up the money you need. While this may seem like a simple proposition, some people find it difficult to lay aside some money each pay period. The key here is discipline.

Open up a separate savings account specifically meant for your vacation money. If your employer offers direct deposit, you can usually specify a certain amount of money be put into this account. Some banks will schedule an automatic direct transfer to your savings account if you don’t have direct deposit or if you are not able to deposit money into two separate accounts.

Examine the amount of money your family spends weekly or monthly on family entertainment and fast food restaurants. Then reduce that amount, storing the remainder away for your trip. So that a pending vacation doesn't become a joy-buster, shop around for freebie and reduced-cost entertainment options to enjoy during the months before you depart.

Another good way to save up money is to save your change. When you use cash, resolve to use only paper money. Then take the change you receive and put it aside at the end of every day. You’ll be surprised at how quickly it can build up.

One family reported that they kept a “vacation jar” in a convenient place and each family member would deposit change and the occasional dollar bill into it. When they emptied the jar and had it counted, they had managed to save $5,000 – enough for them to enjoy a tropical getaway to Grand Cayman Island!

While you may not have that much in your change jar, emptying it at vacation time can mean extra spending money or that little boost you need to go on your dream vacation.

Be sure and involve your kids in the saving venture. This is a great time to teach the valuable lessons of saving and budgeting money.

Look for other ways to add extra cash to the vacation coffer. One family we know would save aluminum cans and take them into the recycling plant periodically for cash. Throughout the course of a year, they managed to accumulate an extra $1,000 for their vacation.

You could have a rummage sale to earn extra vacation cash as well. There are plenty of opportunities out there to add to your vacation savings. You just need to think outside of the box and resolve that any extra cash you get will go toward your family vacation.

You need to budget realistically. Vacations need not be expensive. Budget an amount and stick to it. If you're driving, set a fixed spending amount ($150 per day, for example). Include all of your expenses, gas, meals, admissions, special activities, etc.

Involve your children in the process. Share with them that conserving money on one day allows them to go to a water park on another day. Be creative.

To save money, you can eat only one meal in a restaurant per day. For the other two, prepare your own food and eat in the hotel room or have a picnic. Take turns letting the kids choose the type of food—and, if you are adventurous, the restaurant—each day. This way, the children feel important and it minimizes arguments.

A good point to keep in mind when determining how much you can afford to spend on a vacation is to be sure that you consider other periodic expenses that may be waiting for you when you return, such as back-to-school costs, holiday expenses, and next year’s taxes.