Get a clean home, faster

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Let’s face it, there are better things to do with our time than clean our homes, but it is a necessary evil unless you want to live in a mess, or have the cash to pay someone to do it for you.

One of the biggest mistake people make when they are cleaning is to do it room by room (aka ‘zone cleaning’) which is slow and you can do it much faster, and better, if you take a different approach.

Focussing on just one area, may mean doing a great job on your counters which will sparkle and shine, but the cooker will still be dirty and as for the bathroom, well you won’t get time to go there if you are too busy folding the ironing for the next morning.

The reality is, if you put a system in place that is quick and efficient, you will have more time to do the things you really love.

Pick a Day
It can be any day, but pick a day when you can really get on top of your cleaning and this will automatically take some of the pressure off. We know this sounds daft, but doing this will make the rest of your week so much easier and you can get your partner, flatmate or kids doing jobs too! Maybe go for Sunday morning and then you can reward yourself with a roast dinner (wiping up gravy of course), or a Friday afternoon before you go out and then you can really let your hair down knowing it is done.

Start by Dusting
Dust each room, including the tops of all your furniture, the undersides of shelves and the books, as well as picture frames, TV screens and the bits and pieces we all collect that don’t really have a home. The best way to do this is to dust dry, when things are wet is so much harder. If you want to get rid of smudges and finger prints then use a clean microfibre cloth and good quality polish.

Clean Fabrics
Putting on the washing as you clean will make the most of your time and it will feel like everything is clean in your home, for a little while at least. Strip and remake the bed beds, tidy cushions and put throws back onto sofas neatly, vacuum your curtains and clean animal beds out too.

Clean Mirrors and Glass
Wipe down all the mirrors and windows in your home as they pick up a lot of dust and when the sun shines, it will show up and look like you haven’t cleaned for ages. One handy tip is to use one wet and one dry microfiber cloth as this will clean away dust and dirt but won’t leave behind lines and streaks.

Clean your Surfaces
Wipe down all the surfaces and counters in your home in one go. Move from room to room, disinfecting if necessary, and make sure you clean door handles, light switches, TV remotes, mobile devices and phones as these are full of nasty germs. If you have any illness or bugs in the home, make sure you do this at least once a day to stop anything spreading! Also leave cleaning items in bathrooms so you can wash during the week and prevent a massive build up of dirt to tackle on cleaning day. If you can, use environmentally sound protects, wear gloves to protect your hands, and always apply cream when you are done.

Get to Grips with the Bathroom and Kitchen
Walk through your bathroom and kitchen, spraying cleaner on your baths, sinks and toilets as you go – not on the carpets or floors of course. Then return and clean the bathroom and wash shower curtains and towels once the bedding is done. When it comes to the kitchen, wipe down the inside of the microwave, as well as cabinet and appliance doors before getting to work on the sink and table tops. Empty and bleach the bins so they are really clean and make sure everything sparkles, including the draining board.

Next to the Floors
Sweep, then mop or scrub the bathroom and kitchen floors, making sure you really get to those hard to clean areas as this is where nasties can hide and bacteria can hide.

Get the Vacuum Out
Last of all, vacuum the carpers in your bedrooms, down the stairs, through the living room and into the hallway, moving furniture so you get rid of the dust that can make you cough.

Now, put the kettle on and admire your hard work as you enjoy a cup of tea.

Team Pure-Beauty

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Get active the easy way

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a swim, active, app, bad moods, bike ride, body, boosts your cardiovascular fitness, breakfast, breath, burnout, burns calories, busy, chore, circuits, community, daily step count, email, energy, everyday schedule, exercise, fitness kit, gather your thoughts, get up, go shopping, gym, health, healthier, home, intense workout, internal mail, interval training, legs, letters, level head, life, lift, local pool, lunch, meetings, moving, online workout, Pilates class, post box, run in the park, shop, shower, sit, snooze button, sofa, stairs, stand, stress, stronger, surprised, talk, tennis, time, tone, trim and tone your legs, tube, veg out, walking, washing, water, yoga class

No time to get to the gym?

End up doing the washing rather than playing tennis?

Got a to do list that takes you away from your Pilates class week after week?

We get it, life is busy but if you want to avoid bad moods, stress and burnout, you need to make time for you and your health.

Exercise is a key part to keeping a level head so we have had a look at how you can fit it into your everyday schedule.

We aren’t saying do ALL of these, but simply pick one or two and you will soon find you are feeling stronger and healthier and will have more energy than ever.

Exercise before breakfast
If you get up just twenty minutes earlier than usual, you will have time to have a drink of water, do a 10-minute intense workout and shower before anyone else has even hit the snooze button. Simply find an online workout or app that incorporates interval training, circuits or a weights session, and if there is a community you can be part of too, even better.

Walk to work
Any extra walking during the day will contribute to your daily step count. Walking burns calories, boosts your cardiovascular fitness, and helps to tone your legs too, so even if you park a mile away from work or get off the tube a couple of stops early, it all adds up and you will see a difference.

Get away from your desk
Meetings and extra projects can hamper your best efforts to exercise more but we all need a lunch break so use yours wisely. Whether you go for a run in the park, a swim in the local pool or a bike ride make sure you move away from your desk and take time out for you.

Get on your feet at work
If you use every opportunity you can to be more active during your day, you will be surprised at how much better you will feel. Stand rather than sit, go and talk to someone rather than sending an email, go up the stairs rather than taking the lift, take letters to the post box rather than using the internal mail, basically do anything you can to get your body moving.

Go home via the gym
Once you get home and change out of your day clothes, going out again might seem a chore. Take the temptation to veg out on the sofa away, and hit the gym, pool or a yoga class on your way home and you will feel so much better for doing so.

Shop until you drop
Yes, you heard us, go shopping! Even if you don’t buy anything, a walk around town (minus visiting the burger bar) can be a good workout and it could tempt you to buy some new fitness kit and do even more exercise.

Mow the grass
You can either see mowing the grass as another job on your list or as a quick workout that will help trim and tone your legs! Put on your music, get a good rhythm going and you will soon be in the swing of things.

Walk after dinner
Rather than slumping front of the TV or checking your emails, go for a walk after dinner. You can use this time to chat with the kids or your partner, or if you are walking solo, simply gather your thoughts and breath as you let go of the stress of the day. Stretch the walk by one minute every evening and you will soon be going places.

Got a tip for easy ways to exercise, let us know, we would love to hear it.

Team Pure-Beauty

Your summer reading list is here

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America, another woman, Atlantic, bold, breathtaking book, clever, clothes, cocktail, commute, compelling story, crying, dreams, drift off to sleep, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, emotional, empowering and heartfelt, enchants and captives, end, England, Faking Friends by Jane Fallon, feel good novel, first novel, first page, flat, focus, free fall, fun, funny, Gail Honeyman, Gail O’Porter, glasses, great reads, hilarious, home, inspiring authors, Internet sensation, iPad, Julie Cohen, Kindle, laughing, limit, long-term relationship, love, lunch, marrying, meal deal, mission, modern day life, Monday to Friday, moving, murkey waters, pain, paperback, penny drops, poignant, powerful, raw, reader, relatable, resonate, secrets and lies, single mum, Sophie Kinsella, Special, story, success, suncream, Surprise Me, The Cows, tissues, twists and turns, vodka, weekend, work, world famous blogger

Whether it’s found in a paperback, Kindle or iPad, having a decent book to read can help take the pain out of the commute, give you a focus away from work or help you drift off to sleep at night.

There are some really great reads out there at the moment from some inspiring authors and thought we would share some of our favourites with you.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine might look like a simple read about a women who seems to lead a pretty normal life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, buys the same meal deal for lunch Monday to Friday and has a thing for vodka, but there’s nothing unusual about that. However, as a little bit of kindness and compassion comes into Eleanor’s life, a raw, emotional, compelling story unfolds and the twists and turns keep you turning every page of Gail Honeyman’s first novel, to the very end.

If you are looking for a book you will not want to put down, Gail O’Porter’s, The Cows is the one for you. This brilliant story captures and entwines the lives of three woman all navigating the murky waters of modern-day life in a fun, clever way that will resonate with readers on so many levels. A single mum who becomes an Internet sensation, a world-famous blogger and a grieving twin might not seem like a cocktail for success, but O’Porter has created something very special that must not be missed.

Julie Cohen is a gifted novelist and her latest book, Together, is a bold, breathtaking book that enchants and captives the reader from the first page to the last. Robbie and Emily have been together forever and have a love for one another that has no limit. The story crosses the Atlantic from America to England and Cohen goes back and forth and across the decades with ease and transparency to create a powerful, moving and truly beautiful tale. Be warned, tissues might be needed at the end as secrets and lies are uncovered.

If you are spending a day by the pool, pack your sun cream, glasses and Faking Friends by Jane Fallon and you are good to go. Amy was on the verge of marrying the man of her dreams but when she pays a surprise trip home to London from New York it becomes clear that another woman has been making herself at home in their flat. When the penny drops, and Amy realises her best has taken over her life but rather than go into free fall she sets out on a mission to get her own back and he journey is hilarious, empowering and heartfelt – don’t get sad, get better.

Sophie Kinsella is the goddess of good reads and her latest feel good novel, Surprise Me, will delight fans old and new. This is an emotionally charged, witty read about love and long-term relationship survival and questions just how well we know our nearest and dearest. Funny, poignant and relatable, this can’t put down read will have you laughing, crying and even questioning what you think is oh so safe in your life.

Got a summer read you want to share, let us know, we are all ears.

Team Pure Beauty

Eat well on a budget

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We all know how important it is to eat well and have a highly nutritious diet, but doing that a budget doesn’t always seem possible.

We have had a look at how you can eat well and save pounds on your waistline and shopping bill.

Have a plan
Boring, maybe. Effective, definitely. Having a weekly meal plan means no last-minute microwave meals or takeaways because there is nothing in the cupboard. You can cover breakfast, lunch and dinner for each day of the week and will find that in no time at all you will no longer reach for the crisps when you come home from a hard day at work because you don’t know what to eat.

Buy what you need
Doing a ‘big shop’ might not be helping your quest to be healthy or to save money. Buy what you need for the next few days, then that is what you have to eat meaning you will have less waste. You might also find shopping online, using the cheaper and free delivery slots, helps you stop going buying the BOGOF offers you don ‘t need instead stock up on cans and other non perishable items that can be cheaper when bought in bulk.

Shop late in the day
You will be amazed at the fresh produce that is reduced at the end of the day to ensure it sells. Bananas, fish, meat, yogurt and bread are all up for grabs at a knock down price so be savvy and save money.

Freezer happy
Freeze any unused food, batch make curries and pasta sauces and if you aren’t going to eat something before (see above) the ‘best before’ – freeze it.

Buy frozen
Speaking of frozen food, you will find you waste less if you go for these options in the supermarket. Frozen fruit and vegetables are just as good for you than the fresh varieties as they are picked at the peak of freshness and frozen to seal in their nutrients. You will find many frozen fruit and vegetables come pre-chopped, ready to use and in handy portion sizes which not only help you eat sensibly but also save waste.

Don’t be a brand snob
Yes, the big brands have a good reputation but things like tinned tomatoes and sweetcorn, cereals and nuts will taste just as good whether they are the supermarket’s own option or the shiny famous choice. Go on, give it a go.

Be pulse happy
Beans, lentils and chickpeas are some super cheap but also packed with fibre, vitamins and are low-fat too. Using them to replace mince or chicken in meals like chilli con carne or chicken curry and you instantly have a cheaper, healthier and even tastier option.

Buy meat for less
If you spend longer cooking your meat, you can go for cheaper cuts like braising steak, shin or shoulder. Putting these in a slow cooker with hearty vegetables and stock is a great tasting meal at a good cost and if there are leftovers, have them for lunch the next day.

Cook from scratch
Forget creamy sauces and salt rich dressings and instead prepare your food from scratch. Social media has a wealth of great recipes that are easy to follow and as you tuck in you know exactly what you are eating.

Think about what you drink
With the new sugar tax now launched, there is one more reason to cut out the nutritious poor fizzy drinks from your diet. Water with lemon and cucumber is a great hydrator, smoothies offer a fruity punch and green tea is a sensible coffee swap.

Eating the healthy way doesn’t have to cost the earth but it certainly can help save some money.

Team Pure-Beauty

Spring clean your finances

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You think nothing of spring cleaning your home, garden or garage, but how often do you take stock of your finances?

Make April the month to clear away those cash cobwebs and let the pennies take care of the pounds.

Sort out the admin
It is well worth spending an hour or two getting your paperwork together so you can see what your financial position is at this current moment. If you don’t know where you are, it’s hard to get a plan in place for the future. Sit down with a cuppa and your bank statements, insurance policies, energy costs, mobile phone and internet bills and anything else you pay out on. Make a list of how much things are costing each month and this will give you a good starting point.

Chuck out what you don’t use
This might sound silly but check your bank statement carefully as it could be you are paying for gym memberships, online services and magazine subscriptions you no longer use and if that’s the case, look at stopping these so money can be better spent elsewhere.

Swap things around
We know that changing suppliers can be a pain but it is worth shopping around and seeing where savings can be made.

Look for balance transfers on credit cards
If you’re paying full interest rates on your credit cards, see if you can move to another provider so you can clear your balance quickly and for less.

Make the most of your savings
If you do have savings accounts or an ISA, pop into your bank or building society and make sure you are getting the best return on your investments. Also, make sure you use your IAS allowance because you either “use it or lose it”.

Ask for a pay rise
If you work hard and give 100% to your employer, at your next review why not ask for a pay rise? Write a list of all your achievements over the past year and when you sit down with your manager highlight these and your ambition to move up the career ladder. Put your best points forward and you never know, you might get a rise and a promotion! If you don’t ask, you don’t get!

PPI
You have seen the adverts but if you think you have something to claim when it comes to PPI, or are just interested, the window closes on 29 August 2019. Try to steer away from the claims guys and instead look at www.which.co.uk to find out how to do it yourself.

Collect points
Using loyalty schemes might feel uncomfortable for some, but they can really make a difference. Points can equal cash, vouchers and free coffee, so read the small print to make sure you aren’t signing your life away, but if it’s going to help, take advantage of what’s on offer.

Recycle
If you want to make some cash, as you spring clean the house look at what you can sell on local sites or at carboot sales and give away anything else to charity to keep the clutter at bay.

Once you have got your affairs in order, create a budget, including saving for a rainy day, and stick to it. You will find that if you are in control of your cash, it will not longer control you and you won’t feel sick each time a bill lands in your inbox.

Team Pure Beauty