Kerry Freud is a 50-year-old milliner and heritage craft communicator based in Belfast. After a house move last year revealed how much stuff she and her husband owned, she decided that 2026 was going to be a year of no spending. This includes any non-essential items, as well as spending money on treats like coffees. As a result she has saved time, money, and completely changed her perspective on shopping.
My husband and I moved at the end of last year from a four-bedroom house with a double garage to a three-bedroom bungalow with a single garage. Once we had taken everything out of the cupboards and drawers and put it into boxes, the amount of stuff that we’d accumulated in 12 years was obscene.
Lots of people put their money into their children; it turns out, we spent ours on stuff. We are not hoarders by any means but I was finding stuff that I truly didn’t know I had, or two of the same item, and the number of clothes I owned! I thought it was grotesque honestly. Because of my background in materials and heritage craft, I knew how much wasn’t recyclable and would just end up in landfill.
We tried to sell excess items – we didn’t have room in our new house for all the furniture – but it was hard to get anything sold. And there is the financial loss: if you buy something new for hundreds of pounds, you’re only selling it for £50 because nobody really wants it.
How to be more grateful for daily life in five easy steps
The world feels like a difficult place at the moment, and it can feel very hard sometimes to find things to be thankful for; when we are overwhelmed, we have less capacity to notice and reflect on the good things. Yet, ironically, proactively cultivating gratitude is one of the things that can actually help us feel less stressed.
NHS GP dR RADHA
The science
Research has shown that feeling or expressing thanks can actually alter our brain.
- The balance of neurotransmitters change; more serotonin and dopamine (feel good chemicals) are produced.
- This can be long lasting if we make gratitude a regular habit.
- We also get a decrease in our cortisol (stress hormone) levels which helps lower anxiety.
- Being grateful can strengthen the nerve pathways which triggers positive emotion.
How can we build gratitude?
Change your words
Instead of seeing something as a problem, try to see the opportunities within it.
Our brains are very receptive and what we read or write can alter our emotional system.
Express it
This will not only make you feel good, but you will also get a positive response from others.
How can we build gratitude?
Notice more
Throughout your day, try to notice all the things that are going well; has someone opened a door for you, or smiled?
The basics
By being thankful for the small things every day, we are far more likely to be and stay healthy so that we can enjoy them.
What to do
Gratitude can lead to feelings of optimism, lower our blood pressure, and improve sleep quality.
- Write down what potential good aspects there are to the things you don’t feel like doing, or even what could be worse about it.
- Spend a few minutes writing down three things that you are looking forward to that day, or the good things that have happened to you that day.
- Say thank you to yourself for the things you have achieved, or managed to get through and changed that day.
Sales of battery
electric vehicles hit a record high last year.
Starts at £22,995 for the smaller battery
Available with either a 40kWh battery or a larger 52kWh pack, that offers almost 255 miles, the latest, retro-inspired Renault 5 is both a joy to behold and a hoot to drive.
The interior has been lavished with a level of detail that’s typically reserved for more expensive cars.
4 min read
A champion of EV efficiency
It offers a remarkable 491 mile range on a single charge from the 85kWh battery.
It is a technological masterclass inside with the ability to option screens that span the entire width of the dashboard, including an optional display for the front passenger.
Priced from £37,400
2 min read
It’s a lot of money to part with, but this is arguably all the car you will ever need.
The £89,000 Macan is a premium SUV that somehow manages to blend Porsche’s reputation for dynamics and sporty driving with everyday practicality.
The 95kWh batteries can go from 10 to 80 per cent in as little as 21 minutes from the fastest public charging outlets.
With the business class-style six seat configuration costing a staggering £76,995, it is by far the most expensive Kia ever made, but it backs up its financial demands with a suite of genuinely useful and impressive onboard technology.
It’s fast, goes a long way between stops and charges relatively quickly but the interior is bland, the onboard technology is infuriating and the experience is devoid of emotion.
All of its gadgetry can’t disguise the fact that performance is weak, even for a typically zippy EV, the ride is fussy at slower speeds and it’s not in the least bit enjoyable to drive on a country road.
- While good value (prices start at £17,935) for the 200-mile max range, there are more interesting options from Hyundai, Citroen and Renault for similar money.
- It attempts to wow with tech, much of which hinders, rather than helps.
- There’s no tangible benefit over mounting your phone to the dash.
- Simply an average driving experience, adequate range and slow charging speeds.
2 min read
The kitchen gadgets under £25
Victorinox paring knife
It’s comfortable to hold, with a point sharp enough for scoring pastry.
ProCook cast iron pan
For unbeatable searing and heat-retention, cast iron is the top choice.
Tesco chopping board
Priced at just £22, I’ve yet to find another board that matches it for sheer value and quality.
The kitchen gadgets under £25
Pyrex jug
It is the perfect vessel for blending smooth sauces, melting butter, or warming stock. It won’t stain like plastic and the red measurements never fade.
Salter scales
“I’ve had my slim little set of Salter Disc Scales for over a decade, and I’m delighted to see they are still made to exactly the same reliable design today.”
Microplane grater
It uses photo-etched stainless steel teeth that stay razor-sharp for a decade, something the lookalike copycats simply can’t match.
Braun hand-held blender
It’s an essential for everything from making velvety soup to getting the lumps out of white sauce.
Bodum cafetiere
As well as delivering great results, cafetieres are easy to clean and there’s no ongoing filter paper costs or pod recycling to deal with.
5 min read
The kitchen gadgets under £25
Oxo peeler
What truly sets it apart is the chunky, rubberised handle that absorbs pressure and stays completely non-slip, even if your hands are wet. It is inexpensive and incredibly durable.
Falcon pie dish
Made by fusing porcelain onto heavy-gauge steel for smooth durability, it is dishwasher, freezer, hob, air-fryer and oven-safe.
The golden rules for a happy, secure relationship
Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr Amir Levine, author of bestselling book , explains why we behave the way we do in love.
Golden rules for happy relationships
Start with your own behaviours
The foundation of a secure, connected life is being what I call CARRP: that means being consistent, available, responsive, reliable and predictable. All of these qualities can be enacted in small gestures every day.
Express your needs
People need consistency and connection to feel safe. This is not, ‘You hurt my feelings by never replying to me’, it’s more ‘this is the kind of contact that helps me feel secure’.
Golden rules for happy relationships
The appendix ‘inflammation’ rule
If a relationship repeatedly inflames your nervous system, you need to disengage and deprioritise it.
Lean on community
You don’t need hundreds of friends. You need people and places that regularly remind you that you belong.
Stop blaming childhood
Humans are much more complicated than: ‘this happened to you, therefore you are doomed to be anxious’.
Reach for a
secure script
When something unsettles you in a relationship, your first reaction is not always the most accurate one.
If you’re anxious, your brain may jump very quickly to: ‘this is the beginning of the end’. If you’re avoidant, your brain may say: ‘this person wants too much from me, I need to get away’. So one very practical thing you can always do is pause and ask: ‘What would a secure person do here?’
Loneliness elsewhere
When people talk about loneliness, they often assume it means you don’t have enough people in your life. But you can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely if those relationships leave you feeling excluded, ignored or disconnected.
What to do
- Build a community that works for your temperament and gives you regular, reliable moments of connection.
- You can still be kind to people while not treating them as someone who belongs in your inner circle.
- Explain what you need. Sometimes people simply don’t realise how you are experiencing them.
- Check in with people: does this person actually feel that I’m reliable? Do they experience me as predictable? That’s the only way that you can start to become more secure.
Do some foods leave
you feeling hungry rather than satiated? Experts say there are…
Foods that leave you hungrier
A bowl of cereal and glass of orange juice
More refined cereals are digested quickly, and fruit juice, whilst one of your five-a-day, contains less fibre than whole fruit. This might mean you find yourself hungry again within 1-2 hours of eating this breakfast.
Swap the orange juice for a whole orange, the cereal for oats and milk or serve it with Greek yoghurt or a boiled egg. This would increase the fibre and protein content; two nutrients strongly linked with fullness.
Foods that leave you hungrier
These pastries are made primarily from refined flour and butter, and are relatively low in protein and fibre.
Toast and jam
Shop-bought packs can contain a lot of white rice, which is digested quickly, and the protein content is often modest.
Foods that leave you hungrier
Vegetable soup
On its own, it is often very low in protein and calories, so hunger can return quickly.
Unless it’s loaded with veggies, it’s probably pretty low in fibre.
Liquids are generally less filling as they require little chewing which may not trigger satiety signals.
Foods that leave you hungrier
Snack bars
They are ideal for a quick pick-me-up, but if reducing hunger is what you’re after, it’d be better to swap it out.
Low-fat yoghurt
A full-fat plain Greek yoghurt with berries and seeds tends to be much more filling due to the protein, fat and fibre.
On an empty stomach, it can actually increase your appetite.
What to eat instead
Instead of thinking about avoiding foods, think about what you can add to them.
- Add beans, lentils or shredded chicken to your vegetable soup and pasta.
- Thicken your smoothies with Greek yoghurt, chia seeds and oats.
- Apple slices with peanut butter, yogurt with berries and hummus with oat biscuits are better snack options than a pre-made snack bar.
- Have alcohol alongside a balanced meal containing protein and fibre.
How to age well
without pain
Will Harlow, a physiotherapist
for the over-50s and author of Independence for Life, shares
the key signs you’re ageing
badly – and what to do about it.
How to know
Ageing well is maintaining the ability to do what you want you want for as long as you want without needing help. Everyone is talking about longevity but what’s the point in living longer if the last decade is painful and you’re [totally] reliant on people?”
The signs to look out for
- The most obvious early warning sign of bad ageing is pain says Harlow.
- Another is losing confidence in doing daily tasks, which can quickly lead to a lack of independence.
- One call Harlow often receives is people calling after having a fall and struggling to get up.
4 min read
How to age without pain
Not just stopping
When people retire, they often put their feet up and stop. Your body really is use it or lose it.
Throughout our entire lives, Harlow says we need between seven and nine hours of sleep.
Social isolation
The lack of connection can increase the risk of premature death by
as much as 29 per cent.
Strength training
It really is the proxy for
overall independence.
The more muscle mass you have, the less chance of heart disease, diabetes, falls and even anxiety, depression and dementia.
The brain can be linked to muscle mass too, Harlow says. It’s not just about being able to lift things. It gives you more energy, better sleep and you’ll look and feel better.
How to age without pain
Daily habits
Do short bursts of exercise, between 30 and 60 seconds, in otherwise dead time during the day.
Stretch in bed
Take joints through a full range of motion for five minutes to loosen it before getting up.
Don’t crash diet
How to age without pain
Harlow advises 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight to stop muscle loss alongside resistance training.
Don’t wait
Harlow finds that many patients put off making a change to their lifestyle until their lives are consumed by pain.
For most people, it’s about reducing the number of times per week you’re exercising, not reducing intensity.
The three ageing tests to do
- Lie completely flat on the floor and get back up to a standing position using any technique. This should take less than 10 seconds.
See how many times you can sit on the chair and stand back up again in 30 seconds. Men should be aiming for more than 14 times and women 12.
The single-leg stand, which involves standing on one leg and balancing for 10 seconds. Everyone should be able to do that and for those under 65, Harlow asks them to do it with their eyes closed.
Despite the job market hiring fewer entry-level roles, employers are still looking for grads…
But you should be prepared to keep an open mind.
We’ve compiled the sectors hiring graduate roles, what degree is required, and what they pay.
The degrees to choose for a career
Hiring in the UK could
finally be on the up
47%
of employers offered entry-level
positions from July.
That is up nearly 15 per cent from the same period last year.
700,000
But graduate unemployment rose to six per cent in 2025 and 700,000 jobless graduates were claiming benefits.
Finance and insurance
- Around 42 per cent of UK finance and insurance employers say they will be open to graduate roles this summer.
- Business loan company Portman Finance Group has taken on 50 graduates over the past four years.
Portman graduates start on £36,000 for the two-year programme and the education you need to apply is a minimum “ABB” of A-levels, and a 2:1 or above university degree. But not in a specific subject.
Trade and logistics
What makes it particularly rewarding is that there’s always something to learn.
Nearly half (47 per cent) of trade and logistics companies will be giving graduates a go this year.
Salaries start at £30,000 with an uncapped bonus, rising to £50,000 plus a company car as a senior account partner.
Technology and IT
More than half (52 per cent) of UK tech and IT firms are actively looking for graduates.
Successful entry-level candidates can earn a basic salary of up to £35,000, with the opportunity to triple that within their first three years of working.
4 min read
Public sector, health
and social services
46 per cent of public sector, health and social services organisations are also ready to take graduates, according to a survey by Manpower.
- For example, Police Now runs a graduate programme into policing. They recruit graduates from any degree field, as long as they achieve a 2:2 or above. Starting salaries range from £31,164 to £42,210 depending on location and rising each year.
Can we treat guests without blowing our budget?
According to Waitrose, a dinner party revival is underway led by younger people trying to reduce the cost of getting together.
Always have bread
People will feast on the
ELLA RISBRIDGER, AUTHOR OF THE KITCHEN BOOK – GOOD FOOD FOR EVERY DAY
bread, and then need less fish/steak/expensive whatever. All small plates restaurants know this: this is why the first thing on the menu is always artisan bread and butter.
Use vegetables as centrepieces
Add pantry items
Graham’s recipes include a braised cabbage with a preserved lemon sauce, a roast cauliflower with saffron, and harrisa roast carrots with mango labneh.
How to host on a budget
Improve the everyday
Guests will always appreciate a stellar interpretation of the ordinary. Think lasagna or curry.
Cooking dinner for your guests is spoiling them – you’re being generous with your time, your effort, and your home. So don’t feel the need to go overboard elsewhere.
Ask for help
Ask friends to bring a contribution, be it a nibble or a pudding.
Big platter energy
[Presentation] can be the key to elevating something . Spaghetti and tomato sauce suddenly looks like a feast when tumbled on a lovely big plate, dressed with olive oil and parmesan and placed in the middle of the table.
Food writer and editor Eleanor Steafel
How to host on a budget
Taco party
Have one expensive filling, like shredded chicken, and two cheaper options, like refried beans, says Ella Risbridger.
Shop-bought ice cream is so easily zhuzhed up with the help of handy toppings, says Eleanor Steafel.
The process forced us to really question everything we owned. What did we want to keep and why? And we realised we wanted to keep the things we were emotionally attached to (my husband’s mother’s dining table, for example) rather than the “best” one (the new, more stylish table we’d bought).
By the time we moved into our new place in December, we knew that unlike with every other move, we weren’t going to renovate. We didn’t want to start pulling the kitchen out and putting a new £20,000 kitchen in for the sake of it. Instead, we bought paint to match the curtains and light fittings that were already there and that was it.
I then made the resolution in January to buy nothing in 2026 beyond essentials: food, utilities and fuel for my car. I also allowed myself to buy books, but I limited that to only two a month, ones that I actually read. We were giving all this stuff away that we couldn’t sell – so why would we want to go and buy more that we’ll just have to give away in the future?
At the beginning, it was hard because I was still in the habit of spending. I remember thinking to myself that I needed to get new curtains in: the ones in our new place didn’t quite with the room. But then I stood back and asked myself why? I needed to paint the room anyway, so why not pick the colour of the room to go with the existing curtains? And leave it at that?
The no spend year started to make me think about lots of small decisions: consciously thinking about what you’re doing and breaking that habit of assuming the first and best option is to buy something new. I’d find myself walking into a shop and thinking “ooh that’s lovely” before going over and looking at it more closely. I’d have to stop myself and ask: “Why do you want to buy that? Do you really need it? Do you have something else that does that job?”
Every time I would already have something that fulfilled that role and I’d set it back down. Over time, this becomes second nature. I don’t even look in the shops now and I don’t miss it either.
It’s made me very conscious of changing trends and how you actually fit in – I found my personal style is much clearer now because I’m wearing what I want to wear from what I have. The trends have nothing to do with it, I just wear what feels . We’re all human beings and we like novelty so we chase it as a bit of a dopamine fix. But I now get a dopamine fix from walking past something and thinking “I’m not going to buy that”. I feel a bit smug about myself, like I beat the addiction.
Not buying anything new has made me realise I actually have so many more clothes than I thought and none of them are wearing out. I’ve now been through all the seasons and there are quite a lot of clothes in my wardrobe that have not been on me this year, and shoes that are unworn. I’m now thinking about having a capsule wardrobe of items that you can wear all year round, but just layer up or down depending on the temperature.
With that in mind, if I do notice something I need, I try and challenge myself to make it instead of buying it. I’m not a knitter but I knit a jumper this year because I wanted to be able to layer my linen clothes in winter. I spent about £60 on pure wool and knit something which would have cost me around £250 if I paid for someone else to make it.
Yes, it still cost me some money for materials but I see that as a wise investment: it was slow fashion, something that’s going to be made and kept forever because I know the value in it.
And this has made resisting online shopping easier too. You might be on social media and something will flash past that is interesting and I’ll go and have a look at it. But instead of wanting to buy it I’ll think I could probably make that myself.
The no spend year also rippled out into socialising for me and my husband. We used to often go and spend £5 on a cup of coffee so that we could sit and stare at each other, listening to all the noise around us in a cafe. But, in January, we bought thermos cups and started making our own coffees at home, buying a packet of biscuits, and like two geriatrics we’d drive to the beach and sit there with our coffee and biscuits. We talk to each other, we drink our coffee and we save money.
It’s now become this habit that my friends have all joined in with and really enjoy: we bring coffee with us and take turns bringing biscuits or buns from Lidl instead. It’s no different really, we’re just not paying somebody for the privilege of sitting in their premises.
It’s particularly good for my friends with kids as they can let them tear about in the outside space while they sit there rather than trying to get them to sit still for half an hour in a cafe. It’s more pleasurable and less stressful for all of us. Everybody has embraced it when I suggest it to them.
Not spending adds value to your life: you’re not thinking about buying things all the time and it frees up your brain for other stuff. We have just been conditioned that this is how we should live our lives. The result is that I really think about what role any one thing plays in my life: does it bring me true joy, or have an emotional attachment to it? Does it fulfil a specific role you don’t otherwise deal with? That is how I ended up with my first non-essential purchase of the year.
After I finished my Masters degree, my friend bought me a leather-bound journal and so I decided to buy a Lamy refillable fountain pen. This is now something that I’m emotionally attached to because it’s from a memorable milestone moment in my life. I can just keep refilling the pen and if the nib bends or breaks I can buy replacement nib. Anything I buy now I want it to be something that could be mended or can age well.
I feel lighter and less cluttered because of this experience, and it’s not that there’s anything less in the house – I just feel that I don’t own stuff for the sake of it.
And we have absolutely saved thousands, especially with the house move. Normally we would have had the whole house decorated from top to bottom: new curtains, furniture, a new sofa. Instead we just spend £200-£300 on paint and a bit of wallpaper for the living room. Then there’s the clothes and shoes. Even if you spend £100 every month and bought a couple of items, that’s £1,200 a year.
If you include what we didn’t spend on the house, all the clothes I didn’t buy, and coffees I didn’t drink in a cafe, I would say we’ve saved tens of thousands. We were more creative about things like the house rather than just throwing money at it. And the kitchen’s fine! It looked a bit dated because of the colour but once it was painted there was nothing wrong with it.
I’m planning on doing this forever now, I think that it’s just in my psyche. With Christmas coming up, I think I’m going to try and make things as gifts for people. I like to bake so I will bake Christmas cakes and things like that. People tend to appreciate that, especially older relatives. People greatly appreciate being given something you’ve put effort into rather than another object they’ll never look at.
With all the money we’ve saved we’re planning what we can do in the future. There are a few holidays we’re considering, or maybe buying a motorhome. That’s actually possible now and we can enjoy ourselves rather than working to pay for a kitchen. We’re putting our money into investing in time and joy and experiences and each other and our friends, instead of just buying stuff we don’t even need.