1. New curtains
New curtains or blinds can make a huge difference to the look and feel of your kitchen. If you are feeling creative, try making your own. Experiment with layering curtains, different patterns, colours and textures to help lift the room and add some more personality and life.

2. Declutter
Kitchens often get filled with clutter. Take time out to declutter you kitchen and instantly improve it’s appearance. Throw out any gadgets you no longer use or need; throw out any food or drink which is past it’s best before date. It may be worth investing in storage boxes and plastic Tupperware tubs to help keep your kitchen organized.

3. Paint the Walls
A lick of paint can work wonders on a tired kitchen. Try lighter colours to keep the room feeling light and airy.

4. Plants & Flowers
Plants and flowers brighten and cheer up a kitchen. If you have a garden, cut some flowers and put them in a vase in the kitchen. If you do not have a garden, there are indoor plants such as orchids, or small potted plants, that can happily live in a kitchen. If you are not comfortable with live flowers, consider getting some fake flowers or dried flowers instead.

5. Artwork
If you have room on you walls, consider hanging a piece of art. Buying art can be expensive however you can make your own. You can purchase photographs cheaply, or have a photo of your own blown up and placed in a frame. Alternatively, consider paining something abstract in a coordinating colour and hanging it on your wall. If you are unsure about artwork, there are plenty of pretty calendars for sale which have beautiful photographs and pictures and can be used instead.

6. Accessorise
Accessories are hot in interior design at the moment and this idea can be carried through into the kitchen. Tablecloths, vases, storage pots, fridge magnets and ornaments can all be coordinated and used to add a colour accent to your kitchen.

7. Lighting
Changing the lighting in the kitchen can create a different ambience or feel. Think about changing the light fittings or coverings to change the mood of the kitchen.

8. Decorative Food
Food can make a stunning decoration for the kitchen and help a kitchen look alive and fresh. Experiment with different displays of food – from fresh fruit in a bowl to bottled, flavoured oils. 

9. Display Shelf
A display shelf can help stamp your own personality onto the kitchen by housing some of your favourite ornaments or items. A display shelf can also be a storage place for some of your kitchen gadgets. Make the most of the shelf by either making it blend in with the walls, or by making it stand out.

10. Cherished Items
Leading on from the display shelf, consider displaying some of your cherished items to further stamp your personality on the kitchen. Wedding china, silver sets or your favourite bowls and plates can be used to make beautiful displays.

1. Regular times
Studies show that regularly reading aloud to children produces significant gains in their reading comprehensions, vocabulary and decoding of words. Therefore, try and set aside some time every day to read together – spending time together should hopefully inspire them to read independently too.

2. Surround your children
Surround your children with reading materials. Usually, children who are immersed in a world of books score higher on standardized tests. Make sure there are plenty of books and magazines spread around the house that are at their reading level – in the car, bathroom, bedroom and by the TV. If they are passionate about a particular subject, encourage them by subscribing to a magazine on their passion.

3. Family Reading Time
Establish a daily or weekly time when everyone reads silently together. Seeing other people in the house reading will hopefully encourage your child to read independently. Reading just 15 minutes a day will help to increase their reading fluency.

4. Wide range of reading activities
Make reading a fun, and integral part of their daily lives. Read everything around you – if you have a pet and buy pet food from the supermarket, ask your child to read off all the labels on the tins and then decide what flavours they feel their pet would enjoy the most; Read menus, road signs, timetables. Also ensure that you always carry some material around with you so if you have to wait for an appointment, you can read together.

5. Libraries
Grab yourself a library card and ensure you go to the library once every few weeks to stock up on new material. Let the child choose their favourite books. Many libraries also offer reading programs or classes for children of different ages that might appeal to your child.

6. Be knowledgeable
It is important to know what sort of level your child has reached in their reading skills. Your school’s curriculum should give you an idea of what sort of reading level your child is expected to be at – you can use this as guidance to see how well your child is doing. Report cards will also give a good indicator of how well your child is progressing.

7. Look for problems
Schools often miss reading problems until they become serious. Ensure you keep an eye on how well your child is doing – can they sound out words? Do they know sight words? Can they use context to identify unknown words? Can they understand what they have just read? If you find a problem, you can help your child overcome it before it becomes a serious hindrance.

8. Get Help
Reading problems will not magically disappear. The earlier a child receives help, the sooner they will catch up and become good readers. If you feel your child is struggling or is behind, do not be afraid to ask for help – teachers, tutors or learning centres can all help you out.

9. Use Aids
Use aids to help your child read – use computer programs and games, audio books and board games to help. Games are normally popular because they are fun and the child often won’t realise they are learning or practicing their reading skills.

10. Enthusiasm
Your feedback will be a massive influence on how hard your child will try to become a good reader. Make sure you give plenty of genuine praise for their efforts to motivate them to improve even further.

1. Food shopping
Get your child to add up or guess the amount that your shopping bill comes to. If they are within a particular percentage (perhaps 10%) of the actual total, award them a prize. If you are paying with cash, ask your child to work out how much change you should receive, and then get them to count the change you receive to verify it is the correct amount.

2. Eating Out
When eating out in a restaurant, ask your child to help you work out how much the total bill is going to be. For older children, get the practising how much the service charge will come to or how much you should tip your waiter.

3. Mileage
If you drive anywhere, get your children to estimate how far you have travelled. For an extra challenge, get them to estimate how much petrol has been used.

4. Surveys
This requires a few people – do some informal surveys on their favourite food, toys or films. Use this data to create simple pie charts and bar graphs.

5. Races
Have some races in your garden and use a stopwatch to time them. You can then follow their progress through a line graph, or get them to use simple equations to work out how fast they were running.

6. Cooking
Cooking is a great way to not only teach them to cook, but to help them with logic and maths. Reading the recipes helps with their reading skills; measuring all the ingredients out will help their maths skills; following the recipe requires logic skills. For an extra challenge, vary the amount that you cook, for example ask your child to work how much of each ingredient you need if you want to cook double the amount.

7. TV
If your child likes to watch TV, turn it into something more stimulating. Time the length of the ads versus the actual program. Compare the two using ratios. Monitor your child’s TV watching time by creating a bar chart and tracking their usage over a week or month.

8. Ball games
Help them learn to estimate distances with ball games. Have your child measure their foot or one stride length. Throw a ball and then estimate the distance. Together, use steps or strides to estimate the distance the ball travelled.

9. Mini Golf
Keep track of your achievements over the 18 holes. Calculate the average number of attempts you needed per hole, and the average time taken to play each hole.

10. Educational Games
Play educational maths games such as card games or Uno as these will help their maths out without them knowing!

Sleep

Sleep is an important factor in attention span. Many people fail to recognise the importance of sleep – it’s not just a time of rest; it’s a time which helps our body perform critical physiological functions. Everyone has different needs though, and this can make it hard to work out quite how much sleep you need. Experiment with different amounts of sleep and make a note of how energetic you feel the next day – soon you will be able to work out the optimum amount of sleep that you need.

Breakfast

The overnight fast leaves a lack of glucose in the body therefore it is imperative that you eat something healthy for breakfast to get your sugar levels up. Not eating until mid-morning or lunch leaves your body running on empty and this is really bad for your concentration. If possible, eat something which is fibre and protein rich to give your body the best possible start to the day.

Television

Ration the amount of TV you watch every day. Most TV is just a waste of time. If you have a channel with lots of ads, it breaks the continuity of the program, making you lose your concentration. You may also channel hop which helps makes you fidget and lose concentration.

The Internet

Limit your internet use (this one is easier said than done!) In reality, this depends on how much of your work life is reliant on the internet, but try and look for other ways to do your research and try to avoid sitting for hours on end, surfing in your spare time. The internet tends not to focus the mind, losing concentration.

Meditate

Meditation isn’t just for religious purposes – it is a fantastic way to train and focus the mind. Try to keep your mind as open and blank as possible to enable your mind to be still. You can use meditation as a time to concentrate on your body rhythm and breathing too.

Breaks

Take reward breaks away from your tasks. Breaks are usually distracting unless they are for a particular purpose, so give yourself something specific to do such as checking your e-mails or reading a book. This way, your break will be more fulfilling and keep your mind focused.

Books

Books are an excellent way to build up focus and concentration. Find books on topics that you enjoy – either fiction or non-fiction – but try to stay away from short stories or articles. As you read more, you will find that your concentration increases and you may soon be able to sit down for 4 or 5 hours reading without a break.

Adobe

Founder John Warnock named his company after the Adobe Creek which ran behind his house.

Apache

Apache’s founders started out by applying patches to NCSA’s httpd demon. They name it “A Patchy” server and Apache was born.

Apple

Apple was the favourite fruit of Steve Jobs. He was 3 months late in filing a name for his company and told his colleagues he would call his company Apple Computers if they did not come up with a better name before the end of the day.

Cisco

Cisco is actually ‘San Francisco’ in shortened format. Cisco’s logo is meant to be a stylized picture of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Google

Google’s name started out as a joke. A googol is the number 1 followed by 100 zeros and the founders jokingly boasted that this was the amount of information their new search engine would be able to search. When they were presented with a cheque from their business angel, the cheque was made out to ‘Google’ by accident, and the company name was born.

Hewlett-Packard

No prizes for guessing the origins of this company name given the co-founders were named Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. They flipped a coin at inception to decide whether to name the company Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.

Hotmail

Founder Jack Smith had a hard time coming up with a name for his business. He eventually settled on Hotmail partly because the name ended in ‘mail’ and partly because it included the letters ‘html’, the programming language of web pages. Initially, the product was referred to as HoTMaiL.

Intel

Co-founders Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore had intended to name their company ‘Moore Noyce’ however a hotel chain had already trademarked the name. Instead, the duo had to settle for an acronym – ‘INTegrated ELectronics’.

Lotus

Mitch Kapor was a teacher at the Transcendental Meditation of Mahesh Yogi. He got the idea for his company name from ‘padmasana’, better known as the lotus position.

Microsoft

This was originally an acronym – MICROcomputer SOFTware. The company was originally known as Micro-Soft, however the dash later got removed.

Motorola

The popular radio company around in Paul Galvin’s time was Victrola. Galvin took inspiration from this when his company started to manufacture radios for cars and named his company Motorola.

Red Hat

Marc Ewing was given the Cornell lacross team cap by his grandfather when he was at college. The cap was red with white stripes. He lost it and never found it again. If you find a copy of beta version manual, there is an appeal to users to return his Red Hat if they find it.

SAP

SAP was founded by four of IBM’s ex-employess who worked in the Systems/Applications/Projects group.

SONY

The latin word for sound is ’sonus’. ‘Sonny’ is a slang word used by Americans to denote a bright child. These two words were merged to form SONY.

SUN Microsystems

Sun was founded by four Stanford University friends. Sun is just the acronym for Stanford University Network.

Xerox

At the time, Chestor Carlson’s product for dry copying was markedly different from wet copying, which was the norm at the time. He took inspiration from the Greek prefix ‘xer’, meaning dry to come up with his company name.

Yahoo!

There are two stories surrounding Yahoo! The actual word was first used in the book, Gulliver’s Travels and was meant to describe a person who was repulsive in appearance, rude and uncouth. Jerry Yang and David Filo selected the name because they felt that they were Yahoos. Yahoo! is also said to be an acronym for Yet Another Hierarchcal Officious Oracle.

Information Overload
Most times when people are trying to learn something new, they go through the material slowly and logically often re-reading sections and highlighting phrases until they know the material inside and out. This approach does work well however boredom has a tendancy to strike.

Instead, you should aim to zip through the material as fast as you can. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand everything – just keep going. Don’t worry about taking all the information in or remembering it all; your aim is to finish the book as soon as you can. Don’t do any of the quizzes or exercises – just keep reading. The only time you should re-read anything at this stage is if there is one underlying principle which keeps getting repeated and you don’t understand it.

It’s advisable to read in chunks – read 30-40 pages and then give yourself a break for a few minutes. Assimilating information this fast is tough for the brain, particularly if it isn’t used to it, so you need to rest in between.

Key Concepts
Once you have finished the book, think about the key concepts of what you have just read. The details aren’t so important at this stage as the core ideas. Try to define the core concepts as simply as you can – make sure you write them up in your own words.

What must be memorized?
With any subject, there are some things that must be memorized however most data can be looked up. Don’t fill your head up with figures and statistics that can easily be looked up. Concentrate on the main concepts and data that are core to the subject.

Feedback
You need feedback to see how well you have understood your subject. If you can find one, do a mock exam – you may be able to find some quizzes online. Failing that, have a go at any exercises in your books.

You will probably find that you don’t do too well in the tests but don’t worry – start to look up what you got wrong. You may well be surprised how much knowledge you have gained already on the subject. At this stage, you should be aiming to have a good ‘framework’ of the subject – the details will get filled in later. As the concepts start to be joined up, the details should click fairly easily into place.

More Information
Now is the time for more information overload. This time, don’t go for books – try other sources. Hearing the same subject from a different viewpoint or in a different medium can really help understanding. Magazines and the internet are great ways to read about your subject from different points of view.

The Real World
Now, you need to test yourself in ‘the Real World’. If you have chosen to learn a language, see if you can find a fluent speaker and have a conversation with them, or maybe buy a magazine in that language and try to read it.

If you can find a forum or discussion group on the internet, jump in and start debating on your chosen subject. Debate is an excellent way to reinforce your knowledge and discover new things!

Of course, this concept is not recommended for every situation or for a subject that you need to learn really thoroughly, such as an undergraduate course. However, it is an excellent way to grasp the overall concepts within a subject quickly in situations where you are looking for secondary knowledge, or it’s a subject that interests you.

Flexibility
The frugal gardener must be flexible. Your master plan cannot be set in concrete. Sometimes, the greatest gardens come around through a series of happy accidents. Someone may gift you some flower cuttings or plants, and although they may not have been in your original plan, they may make fantastic additions.

Physical Fitness
This is a must for any gardener, frugal or not! There’s alwasy digging, bending and reaching to be done.

Patience
Small plants, cuttings and seeds are often cheaper than buying fully mature plants and flowers. Therefore, the frugal gardener must have an abundance of patience to nuture their cuttings and plants through to maturity instead of being able to plant their perfect garden straight off. It may take years to achieve your perfect vision, but it will be worth it in the end!

Confidence
Firstly, you must have confidence in your gardening skills. It is also important when buying plants – ask for free items or reductions in price. If you don’t ask, you don’t get! If someone says no, shrug your shoulders and move on – it was worth asking! Also get used to asking people for cuttings so that you can put them into your own garden.

Creativity
Use your imagination! Do you want a particular plant but it is too expensive/ Use your imagination and creativity to come up with an alternative. Sometimes walking into a garden centre with an open mind and no set shopping list can be great – you can choose the reduced plants and use your creativity to work them into your garden plans. It may also help to enhance your gardening prowess by introducing you to new plants and techniques that you otherwise wouldn’t have used.

1. Notebook & Pencil
If you can, keep an small notebook and pencil on you at all times. Ideas often hit at the most peculiar of times, so keep a notebook so you can write down those thoughts when they hit. Got a free five minutes when waiting for a meeting? Jot down some notes – the first things that come into your head. A blank page is an open invitation for a creative, curious mind. You don’t have to write – you can doodle or draw too.

Leonardo da Vinci is a well-known for keeping notebooks. They show his creative thought processes and are filled with the wonderous – from flying machines to parachutes to folding furniture. Not everything in his notebooks is feasible, however ideas should spawn other ideas and thoughts and before you know it, maybe you too will have a master idea just like Da Vinci.

2. Ask Questions
Question your surroundings; Open your mind to new ideas and experiences. Questions are the key to knowledge and creativity. By asking questions, you will fuel your inner creativity. Many inventions and insights have come from the simple question of “why?”, or “what if…?”

3. Read
Read everything and anything you can. Reading enhances your mental ability and opens you up to new perspectives. When you read fiction, you experience worlds through the eyes of a different person, enhancing and introducing you to new perspectives.

4. Change is Good
Seek out new experiences – learn a new skill, take a new route to work, learn a new language. The mind has often been compared to a muscle – to coin a phrase, use it or lose it. By learning or experiencing something new, your mind starts to work outside of it’s regular patterns and it expands your creativity.

5. Use your imagination!
Albert Einstein once said, “You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it.” A great technique to learn is to talk to imaginary people. Pick some great historical figures who have strengths you admire. Imagine you are talking to these people – ask their advice on your problems or challenges and imagine what they would say to you in reponse.

This is a fantastic way of finding new perspectives and seeing your goals and challenges from a different angle.

Price
First, work out a budget – how much do you want to spend? At low prices, branded wines will probable dominate the shelves. Hardys, Jacobs Creek and Penfolds are wines which are accessible, tasty, consistent wines at the expense of being a little dull. Our top tip is that branded wines use promotions as a regular marketing strategy, so it can be worth waiting for these to crop up before you buy.

Cheap wine doesn’t have to be boring – there are plenty of interesting wines around that do not break the bank. If you are looking for a cheap, interesting wine, you are better off avoiding the well-known regions. A cheap bottle of Bordeaux is generally disappointing, so maybe go for something from Southen Italy or the lesser known regions of Spain.

Specialist Merchants
If you have a little more room in your budget, there are plenty of good wines to choose from. However, many of these wines are unable to produce their wines in large enough quantities to be able to supply supermarkets. Therefore, it is advisable to go to a smaller wine merchant who should have a good supply of mid-range wines for you to choose from.

If you have a local wine merchant near you, cultivate a relationship wth them. Hopefully, they will start to learn about what you and your palate likes and they will be able to make recommendations. As most local wine merchants are also passionate about their product, you may also learn some interesting facts from them!

Smaller is better?
Smaller is often better when it comes to win. Fine wine isn’t manufactured – it’s a slow, delicate process. Most wines are not scaleable because they are limited by the size of the vineyards, and it is often unfeasible to plant larger vineyards. Because of this, many fantastic wines are only produced in relatively small quantities, and are therefore only stocked by smaller shops. Leave the beaten track and you may be surprised!

Wine Critics
It is always interesting to see what wine critics have to say, but do not follow everything they say. Learn what critics have the same palate as you, and follow their recommendations. Remember that not everyone has the same palate so different people will enjoy different things. Wine is not a science, it’s an art!

Many newspaper critics will also only review wines which are readily available, which means that some of the smaller, more interesting wines will not get covered – it’s not that they don’t want to cover these wines, it’s a case of what the general public can get a hold of.

Stock up
If you are new to wine, do not stock up too much in the beginning. You will find that your palate and tastes will change over time and you do not want to be lumbered with lots of bottle of wine that you don’t like. You should also try out a variety of wines in the beginning to work out what your favourites are – it would be a shame to stock your cellar full of one wine and then find out later that your true passion is for something else!

Bins and Sales
There is no shame in plundering the bins for sale wines! Many merchants will try and sell their excess stock twice a year, normally January and August. This is an excellent time to pick up some bargain varieties of wine that you haven’t tried before. It’s also a good idea to keep an eye out for the new lines as decent wine tends to sell quickly. Get yourself on a wine merchant’s mailing list so that you are the first to hear about their new stock and their latest wine bargains.

Wedding entertainment during the food courses
- Have a disposable camera on each table so the guests can take a memento away, or you have informal photos to remember the occasion.
- Get a caricaturist to do pictures of the guests as a keepsake.
- A close-up magician.
- Use of a toastmaster to announce guests as they enter and introduce speeches.
- Some wedding entertainment for children such as a puppet show, balloon artist or clowns. This also means that parents can relax and enjoy the party, knowing their children are well looked after.
- Have a chocolate fountain with lots of dippable goodies such as dried and fresh fruits and nuts as a dessert. It helps people mingle and chat.

Wedding entertainment for the evening
- The perenial wedding entertainment favourite, the mobile disco or mobile nightclub.
- A live band for a more sophisticated feel
- Classical music such as a string quartet or harpist.

Other ideas
- Have a framed canvas instead of a guest book for your guests to sign.
- Leave spaces in the guest book to place pictures taken by your guests with the disposable cameras.
- Instead of a wedding cake, have tiers of different cakes or pies. It will be a talking point, and will ensure that everyone will like at least one tier of the cake (this is also a great cost-saving idea!).
- Have a family member taking polaroids of everyone as they enter the venue. These can be mailed out with the thank-you notes to give your guests a great way to remember your special day.