The start of any year is always a time to reflect on the last, and goal set for the next – and on that theme, we hope you enjoyed our Resolutions blog to help you start thinking more broadly about your Secure Lifestyle. However, all of us are living in uncertain times and for many of us this year holds a great deal of anxiety about the future, from soaring energy bills, to anxiety about rising food costs.
At UMBRA HQ we believe in the power of feeling safe and feeling safe stems from being able to cover our basic needs. Security shouldn’t be the preserve of the few, it should be something we can all experience, so we’ve put together some tips to stay safe that are at zero or low cost, so you can kick-start your resolutions without it hitting your wallet.
10 steps to prepare you for the Cost of Living Secure Lifestyle journey:
- Recognise your emotions about feeling safe or unsafe in any aspect. Daily journaling can help you to start to see patterns.
- Do you feel empowered about your secure lifestyle decisions – where you go/travel to, how you live, and who is in your life? Or are you feeling like you are being held back or constrained in some way because of a fear for your or your family’s safety?
- Safety in Financial Security – review your budget (click here for budget tools) and look into details: where are you spending money?
- Check your savings– do you have enough to cover an emergency?
- Don’t judge yourself on where you are at – every journey has a start, even a Secure Lifestyle one.
- Try to ignore the noise, switch off the bad news and focus on your personal situation. Bad events have happened in the past, things will get better in the longer term.
- Be resourceful – make the most of the online resource help that is available to you – see our Secure Lifestyle Toolkits and Bodyguard in a Bag online resources.
- Plan ahead – if you can, don’t lose sight of the future and the importance of thinking ahead for you and your family’s safety.
- Start talking to your kids about safety, including digital safety, from a very young age.
- Always be learning – stay up to date with the best ways to stay on top of your personal security by following the UMBRA Instagram
During these hard times for so many, we thought we would give you some tips on zero-cost ways to stay safe. 5 things you can do today to keep safe at no cost.
Top 5 Cost of Living Secure Lifestyle Tips
- Community is the first line of defence: Set up your building/street/neighbourhood WhatsApp group.
- Stay in control of your digital life: Set up a Google Key Word Alert to see how your name is appearing in online searches.
- Enhance your mental well-being: Use the freemium resources on the mindfulness apps. Downloading Calm is a great first step.
- Use a VPN: Our favourite is 1.1.1.1.
- Take the UMBRA Secure Lifestyle Questionnaire by clicking here.
What to do with your Secure Lifestyle Questionnaire Results:
0-4 – Book in for our Secure Lifestyle Discovery Call
4-8 – You’re on your way, book in for a Secure Lifestyle Evaluation
8+ – All-Star Security – share this with your friends and family and help make the world a safer place and contact us to keep learning more
From all of UMBRA International, UMBRA Secure and the Secure Lifestyle Training Team
