The Retirement Newsletter: Ramping up for Christmas
Issue Number: -110 — Preparations for the holiday season
Welcome
Welcome to newsletter -110. This week, I am ramping up for Christmas.
Again, this week I had a little flurry of new subscribers. Welcome and thanks for joining us. If you are reading this and not a subscriber, you might like to think about subscribing? I publish once a week, usually on a Sunday.
You may have noticed that my retirement newsletters have a fairy set format. I use a consistent series of sections and headings, and the sections and headings also work for Christmas.
Planning
As you may have gathered from previous newsletters, I'm a bit of a planner.
I like lists. And Christmas is no exception. I have some lists. I have not done a SWOT analysis of the Christmas holidays — I often think I should — but I have lists. And I have a list of lists!
Health
Well, Christmas is never a great time of year for health — financial or personal.
There are all the winter colds flying around, meeting up with people, and general overindulgence in food and drink. So, here are my top 10 tips for a healthy festive period.
Don't try to eat more than your body weight in turkey, chocolate, or any food in general.
Don't try to drink more than your body volume in alcohol. It's not big, it's not clever, and it won't end well.
A very serious one – if you do drink, don't drive.
Make sure you correctly cook the turkey. Poorly cooked turkeys frequently cause food poisoning over the festive period.
Watch out, watch out, there is COVID-19 about! Yes, we've still got COVID-19, so think about taking a lateral flow test, wearing a mask, and opening a few windows when you have people in to visit, or you visit them. Better still, now that omicron is around, don't visit anyone!
Watch out, watch out, there are some nasty colds about! And I should know… I have been very ill with a bad cold in the last week — a real stinker.
Go for a walk. The Christmas break is a great time to go for a walk if the weather is nice. There is nothing better than a walk across frozen fields on a sunny winter's day. Lovely! Walking is good for your physical and mental health — get out there and enjoy things.
Don't try to make the turkey last too long. Even though it is cooked, it will start to spoil, and you will be eating an unhealthy mix of turkey and bacteria — best avoided, unless you enjoy food poisoning.
Don't spend all your time vegging in front of the television. Too much sitting down and relaxing can be bad for you. Avoid becoming a couch potato.
And finally — take some time off work. Put up your out-of-office message, turn off your computer and work-related notifications on your phone, and relax.
OK, so those are my top ten tips for a healthy Christmas. What are yours?
Money
Bonus tip:
Money is always a challenge over the Christmas period, and there is always the temptation to overspend on gifts and food. Don’t! Think about your pension pot.
Travel
Bonus tip:
Plan ahead. I don't know what it's like in the rest of the world, but travel in the UK around the Christmas period can be a nightmare due to weather or planned 'works' on the roads or railways. My advice? Plan ahead or don't travel.
Holidays
Do you stay at home or go away for Christmas? These days I stay at home, but I used to go away skiing at Christmas — and I loved it. There was something about getting up on Christmas morning, going to a ski area, strapping on the skis and spending the day whizzing up and down the slopes. A bonus was that the slopes were often quiet on Christmas Day – particularly in the mornings.
Then, in the evening, out for a Christmas dinner.
It felt good, it felt healthy, and it was fun.
Nostalgia corner
OK, nostalgia is a big part of Christmas, and it's funny the things we hang onto as Christmas traditions.
For me, and it may even seem odd to some people in the UK, and very strange to pretty much anyone else on the planet, is queueing for the Christmas meat. Yes, queueing up to buy meat for Christmas.
Now, I guess that to most people queueing up to buy your Christmas meat will mean nothing. But, where I grew up, there is a "Christmas tradition" of ordering your meat for Christmas from the local butcher and then queueing outside the shop on Christmas Eve to pick it up. And we are talking about some serious queueing. The queueing that only Brits can do. I have seen queues up to 50 years long, with people standing in line for hours.
The local butcher I go to opens at 7 am on Christmas Eve, and the queue will start to form outside his shop at around 6 am. I know this sounds nuts, but it's what happens. And, weirdly, it is something I look forward to doing – the Christmas meat queue.
Why do we have the meat queue? It is not because there is a shortage of meat; it is just something that happens. Everyone has a big order for meat on the same day.
Why is the Christmas meat queue such a biggie for me? Well, it symbolises continuity. I’ve seen the queues outside the local butcher shops on Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember, and it signifies the start of the holiday period. That is, once I've collected the Christmas meat, the holiday begins. If I have planned things correctly, there is nothing else is left to do.
Useful links
OK, so this week, some links that might be useful over the festive break.
To help you avoid poisoning yourself and your guests with a poorly cooked turkey:
And, if you do become ill with food poisoning, COVID-19 or the flu, you may find these health-related websites useful:
NHS COVID-19 website — numerous links to information on COVID-19
CDC COVID-19 website — many links to information on COVID-19
Next week
I'm not sure what I will write about next week!
Stay tuned.....
Thanks
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If you would like to say 'thanks' for the newsletter, why not buy me a cup of tea?
Until next time,
Nick
PS, If you have something you would like to contribute to the newsletter — a story, advice, anything — please get in touch.