Lifestyle
Pressure from TV ads plunging Brits into debt at Christmas
Pressure from family, friends and TV advertising is plunging Brits into debt at Christmas. The latest Disposable Income Index (DII) published today by ISA provider Scottish Friendly reveals that many British families feel pressure to create the perfect Christmas and are taking out loans or spending more on credit cards in order to buy gifts. Nearly six in ten households say they make sacrifices to buy Christmas presents and of those with children 31 per cent are relying on credit...
Understanding Fast Fashion
The fashion industry is one that is full of consumer demand, timeframes and seasonal shifts that can happen in a matter of weeks. As shoppers demand an influx of new trends and looks that they can get their hands on at the right price, the industry has forged its own way to release new clothes at exactly the time consumers want them. Fast fashion is a concept that is growing in popularity year after year, and it’s because consumers can...
Man Flu…is real after all, claims academic study
Like most men, any slight illness is immediately called man flu and gives us males the opportunity to act like we are inches away form death for a few days. Most of the time, I speak for myself, I might just be a combination of lazy and tired However, there is growing evidence that man flu is real. In a special Christmas issue of the BMJ, a Canadian academic set out to discover whether males really experience worse flu symptoms...
These are the Christmas traditions we miss the most
Carol singing, sending Christmas cards and kissing under the mistletoe are among the traditions we miss most, a study found. A poll of 2,000 adults found many of us also yearn to go back to the days when going for a post-Christmas walk, making homemade mince pies and going to pantomimes were the norm. Other festive rituals we’d like to see make a comeback include making our own Christmas cake, drinking eggnog and setting the Christmas pudding alight. Those polled...
Who looks down on who?
Ok, the title is weird, and the grammar is poor, but try this. Look at your friends who are in couples. Check out their heights (I’m talking hetro pairs here). How many gals are taller than the guys? That’s right! I thought so! As close to zero as you can get. The occasional one who isn’t, really stands out (think Mr Speaker in Parliament, the charming John Bercow, with his delightful missus, Sally). I’ve surreptitiously surveyed several chums that I...
Mum-of-two who ‘gained weight using FitBit’ lost eight stone after she stopped using it
A mum-of-two says she GAINED weight using a fitness tracker - but has now lost eight stone after ditching it. Fiona Benbow, 39, rewarded herself with huge sugary cakes and family-sized choc bars if the FitBit told her she had burned lots of calories. And in just a month her weight went up a stone to 19 and a half stone and her waistline expanded from a size 20 to 22. Fed-up Fiona stopped using the device and turned to...
A mum-of-three pretended to have CANCER to con her husband’s family out of almost £50,000
A mum-of-three pretended to have CANCER to con her husband's family out of almost £50,000, a court heard. Claire Bain, 36, even made relatives take her to fake chemotherapy appointments. She stole most of the money from her father-in-law over a four-year period after she 'cruelly abused' trust he had placed in her while he was grieving for his own wife, who had died from cancer. Bain even made her husband and father-in-law take her to the Christie cancer treatment...
This is no damp squid: It’s the 30 most commonly used “eggcorns”
‘To be pacific, ‘an escape goat’ and ‘damp squid’ are the most misused phrases or sayings, according to new research. Commonly known as ‘eggcorns’, the phrases often mean something different to the original yet make some kind of sense. Someone may claim to be ‘lack toast and tolerant’ when they are lactose intolerant - rather than breadless and open-minded. Passing mustard rather than muster might lead to some odd glances, while a doggie-dog world sounds like a much friendlier place...
Holiday happy: Here’s how you can maximise your annual leave in 2018
2017 has slipped through our fingers and you may be wondering where your annual leave went and wishing you had been a bit smarter with your breaks abroad now that winter is upon us and we are lacking in vitamin D. Here are our top tips as to how to get the most of your days off in 2018 and some job sectors which offer good packages when it comes to taking time off. Do you research One of...