Activities of Daily Living

Personal hygiene involves those practices performed by an individual to care for one's bodily health and well being, through cleanliness. Practices that are generally considered proper hygiene include bathing regularly, washing hands regularly and especially before handling food, washing scalp hair, wearing clean clothing, brushing teeth, cutting finger nails, covering one's mouth when coughing, disposal of soiled tissues appropriately, making sure toilets are clean, and making sure food handling areas are clean, besides other practices. People tend to develop a routine for attending to their personal hygiene needs.

Sleep hygiene recommendations include establishing a regular sleep schedule, using naps with care, not exercising physically or mentally too close to bedtime, limiting worry, limiting exposure to light in the hours before sleep, getting out of bed if sleep does not come, not using bed for anything but sleep and sex, avoiding alcohol as well as nicotine, caffeine, and other stimulants in the hours before bedtime, and having a peaceful, comfortable and dark sleep environment.

• How to Sleep - cutebridge

Housekeeping refers to the management of duties and chores involved in the running of a household, such as cleaning, cooking, home maintenance, shopping, laundry and bill payment.

Housecleaning includes activities such as disposing of rubbish, washing dishes, cleaning dirty surfaces, dusting and vacuuming. It may also involve some outdoor chores, such as removing leaves from rain gutters, washing windows and sweeping doormats.

Managing your personal finances can be a difficult task. On the most basic level, it is a good idea to keep track of your income and your expenses (i.e. the money you spend). It's useful to try and review this every month or even every week if possible. If your expenses are significantly higher than your income, then you will start to accumulate debt and get into serious financial difficulty.

It can be hard to find a bank, building society or credit union that aren't contributing to destroying the planet and it's inhabitants. Often it is the case of picking the least worst option. Here are some financial institutions that are probably better than your average evil megacorp bank:

• Unity Trust - UK - £6 per month fee - Slow to get setup - Ethical finance policy
• The Co-operative Bank - UK - Basically not a real co-op - Ethical finance policy
• Nationwide Building Society - UK - Elected board but not very democratic - Good online banking site
• Bristol Credit Union - UK (Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire) - Fees for Debit card and ATM withdrawals - Ethical finance policy

In order to help manage your finances, it may help to do some additional accounting. The easiest way to do this is using free and open source software. Double-entry bookkeeping system may seem a very complicated system at first but once you get set up, it can really help you make good financial decisions. For example, you can even financially plan for months and even year's in advance when you have enough data.

• LibreOffice Calc (it would be good to start with some sort of template spreadsheet)
• GNUcash
• Firefly III

Finding yourself in debt can be a really serious situation. It can mean you may end up homeless or make mental health problems worse or get you a visit from the state's courts or private bailiffs. The best thing you can do if you find yourself in financial difficulty is seek advice from friends, family and not for profit organisations. Sometimes declaring yourself bankrupt is a really good option in UK but wherever you are, you need to seek help from a reputable source.

• https://www.gov.uk/options-for-paying-off-your-debts - UK
• https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/help-with-debt/ - Public Body - UK
• https://www.nationaldebtline.org/ - Charity - UK

If you are entitled to state benefits, you shouldn't feel any shame in claiming them but also be aware that the state as an institution doesn't care about you. In general, the state seeks to keep the poor just out of destitution so that there is less chance of rebellion. Understand that you are entering into an arrangement where the state will be openly hostile to you and strategise accordingly.

In the UK, we have seem the erosion of the welfare system after 30 years of neo-liberal capitalism. Universal Credit is the latest system introduced by the centre-right Conservative government in 2013. It is a notoriously brutal system where claimants are treated as if guilty despite following all the rules. It is thought to be responsible for many deaths through various poverty related conditions.

If you are a new claimant you will automatically signed up for Universal Credit which can pay various types of benefits including unemployment and housing. Remember that when you give information online or in an interview, everything it will be recorded and used against you. Follow the rules and don't give them any more information than the bare minimum of what they ask for. Don't tell them anything about your personal life, share as little data with them as possible and always come in to the jobcentre with or post on the online portal any job applications you have done with evidence.

Remember that you are entitled to be accompanied to the jobcentre by at least one person (the advisors will sometimes complain if you bring more than one person). Bring a friend, family member, comrade or union rep with you (much intersection there) if you feel uneasy about anything or are worried you are in trouble. Keep all of the paperwork you get and make a log (with dates and times) of anything unusual or worrying about your case. Always let the job centre know as soon as possible if you miss an appointment.

https://www.food.gov.uk/food-safety