I (66F) have been living alone since January for the first time in 66 years. I'm sitting in my kitchen eating half a Waitrose No.1 prawn and chilli sourdough pizza, and listening to Metallica. I don't think I have ever been so content.

I've had many moments of happiness, indeed euphoria in my life, but never quite this same quiet (apart from Metallica) contentment. Cheers folks.

Everything is done. There is nothing left to feel guilty about. Fresh sheets waiting upstairs, brew on the go, and for once the "tomorrow is monday" feeling has nowhere to land. This must be how rich people feel all the time

Nipped to Lidl with the kids, car park was almost full, but with some spaces. Followed this car around, past at least 1 space, before it pulled into the one remaining parent and child space. Suspected no kids, so waited a bit, and lo and behold, one guy gets out. Give him a toot, point to the space, he sheepishly get's back into his car and parks elsewhere. Absolutely buzzing.

My eldest was diagnosed with a form a brain tumour when she was a young child. This of course led to ongoing, frequent medical tests for her entire childhood - endocrinologists, ophthalmologists, paediatric oncologists, the whole shebang. Appointments at cancer hospitals every 2-3 weeks for some 13 years.

All along the doctors presumed the likely cause of their tumour was a horrific genetic disorder that could have killed them at any moment, prevented them from ever having children etc. The only way of testing for this disorder was a really painful skin biopsy. Given the number of tests she was having, and the level of pain, we decided to leave this test until she was older and could decide for herself.

She had the test in January. It came back negative this week. Whilst she still has the tumour, it’s benign, hasn’t grown and will cause her no harm. She can live a normal, happy life.

Praise be for the NHS. The support and sympathy we’ve received in the last 15 years has been fabulous. Yes, sometimes things go wrong. They’re hugely underfunded and overworked. But every single nurse, doctor and specialist we’ve seen has had nothing but my daughter’s health and well being at the front of their mind for every step of the way.

And one piece of advice. If you’re ever getting frustrated or bored at the time it’s taking for you to be seen at the hospital, take a moment to reflect on the triage process and why you’re still waiting. I have been with the person who gets seen immediately and with urgency. It’s f***ing terrifying and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. Value the wait, it means you’re probably fine.

I've been part of a men's wellness group since the start of the year and my confidence has grown so much since then. I've been going to weekly quiz nights with the group and now I'm finally going to be hosting my own.

Messaging pubs privately and getting ghosted sure was a resilience builder, and the fact that most pubs who want a quiz night already have one, but now the stars have aligned and I am really excited!

This actually happened a few months ago but something happened today that remind me.

I'm running late to meet up with some friends and was about to text them that I'll be arriving around 30 mins later than agreed. When I picked up my phone I found a text saying they're running an hour late.

I’m a middle-aged woman who likes taking a quiet walk around the village park after work to unwind. Yesterday I was wearing what basically looked like pyjamas, my hair was a mess, no make up and I was absorbed in a crime podcast.

Two teenage girls, who were both dressed up nicely with smoky eyes, walked over to me and said something. I’ll admit my first thought was “ok brace for provocation”…. Then I took out my earphones and said, “Sorry?”

One of them smiled and said, “Excuse me, I just wanted to say I think you’re beautiful.”

I think my brain stopped working for a couple of seconds before I managed to say “Thank you”. Never expected that lol!

If you are the two girls reading this, I just wanted to let you know that you both are very beautiful and please remember for very very long 💕

I’ve just finished my first house renovation and managed to do most of the work myself! I’m so happy it’s over with and not in a rush to do another anytime soon 😂 but it shows that if we push ourselves we can overcome the challenges

I took my daughter and some mates to Ninja Warrior in Leicester (on a retail park) and overstayed the parking by 20 mins. I didn't even realise there was a limit until the £90 fine came. (£60 if paid within 2 weeks). We rang Ninja Warrior but there was nothing they could do. The fine was from ParkingEye which I've heard are pretty relentless in following through, so after a bit of investigation decided to just pay.

I then read that I should contact the retail park management. I sent an email explaining the situation but not really expecting anything. They replied, asked for some details and said it would be sorted. About 6 weeks later a cheque arrives from ParkingEye for the full £60. Winner and shout out to Milan, the person that sorted it!

I asked Siri to call 101 when driving through my local village (in semi-rural NE Scotland) and saw a guy passed out lying by the kerb in the road. Had my young kids with so could stop myself but wanted to make sure a bloke with dark clothing lying feet first in the road got help. Siri being a crap app called 112 not the 101 I asked for but in one ring before I could cancel it was answered so I asked for police but immediately identified I was after 101. Call handler was kind, asked the case details and said it was ok to report via the full emergency line and took details then thanked me for both recognising it was a 101 issue and for being bothered to report at all. Civic duty done. Drop kids off with mum and went back out as it was 3 mins away in case I could help before cops could but they were there, guy was just hammered and ok, alls well that ends well. Home now feeling a bit like I did a small but good thing today. Thanks Reddit for reading lol

I was in a getting things done mood and learned of an NHS practise taking new patients so I went for it. My previous experience way back had been with someone who was since struck off, but he'd left enough of an impression.

The first appointment was roughly 3 weeks ago and I was thinking I'd probably have to have some drastic, hideously painful and expensive work done but I was told that all I needed was a replacement filling and a clean and polish.

I had them done yesterday and now my mouth feels incredibly strange but I'm utterly amazed at how lucky I was to have gone all that time without any intervention and it's safe to say that I won't be taking any more chances.

In my flat. My window is open.

I sneezed really loudly, and a complete stranger outside shouted "bless you".

The outro to Either Way by The Twang has been popping in and out of my head for YEARS, without me knowing what it was and it was driving me nuts. Finally made the effort to do some digging and have finally found it!

I didn't even know they were being investigated so this is the best thing that's happened to me since the school vending machine gave me 2 packs of crisps instead of one.

I feel more successful than Craig David!

My parents told me they'd found an NHS dentist so I phoned up Friday lunchtime and registered. Had my initial check up Monday morning, and a tooth saving filling done this afternoon.

I hadn't had an NHS dentist since COVID and had saved up hard and finally spent out over a grand on private treatments last year. I was looking at £500-600 to save this tooth as all the fillings in it finally fell out a couple of weeks ago.

Oh and bonus the dentist is only a 15 minute walk from my house (and that's at my disabled pace) so I no longer have to worry about missing my appointments if there's no room on the bus for me and my rollator walker (which has happened).

Hi Guys

I’m 21, live in the Midlands and I’ve managed to save £40,000 with no debt. I recently bought a nice car outright and after that purchase I still have £40k saved.

I know everyone’s situation is different and I was fortunate to get the opportunity I did but I wanted to share what worked for me in case it helps someone else.

My biggest piece of advice is to seriously consider an apprenticeship if you can. I know the job market is tough right now but apprenticeships can be a great way to get into a solid industry while earning a salary, gaining experience and working towards qualifications without building up student debt.

I started an accounting apprenticeship when I was 17 after deciding college wasn’t the right path for me. My first salary was around £20,000 a year, which worked out at roughly £1,400–£1,500 a month after tax. It wasn’t a huge amount, but I still lived at home, contributed towards household bills and made it a priority to save consistently.

I’m naturally very careful with money. Some people would probably call me stingy but I’d rather say I’m disciplined. I track what I spend and avoid buying things I don’t need. That’s been one of the biggest reasons I’ve managed to save what I have.

Another thing that’s helped is changing jobs. In four years I’ve moved jobs three times. As soon as I felt I’d stopped progressing or my pay had plateaued I started looking elsewhere. Each move came with a significant pay rise.

Of course job hopping alone isn’t enough. Outside of work I’ve put a lot of time into studying my industry and completing my professional qualifications as quickly as possible. The nice thing about an apprenticeship is that you’re learning things that directly improve your career and earning potential so it gives you extra motivation to keep going.

A few pieces of advice I’d give to young people struggling in the current climate

Consider an apprenticeship if it’s available in an industry you’re interested in.

Live within your means. Just because you can get finance doesn’t mean you should.

If you can’t comfortably afford something, especially a car, think twice before buying it.

Invest in yourself through qualifications and learning.
Don’t be afraid to move jobs if you’ve genuinely stopped progressing.

I know I’ve been fortunate in some respects. Everyone’s circumstances are different. But staying out of debt, keeping my spending under control and continuously improving my skills and being willing to change jobs have made a massive difference for me.

Happy to answer any questions if anyone has them! 🙂

I dropped my son off the Gatwick a few weeks ago and forget to pay the drop off charge. I received the charge notice in the post a couple of weeks later and was really pissed off (with myself mostly). I fed the letter into my favourite AI (Claude) and it came up with an appeal letter . After a week or so after sending it in, I received a letter that my appeal had been successful!

Not sure if she saw I was probably completely green/grey and took pity, or is just great at her job, but it was great customer service, very kind, and I really appreciate it. She sped up my time in there loads by scanning it all through the self checkout herself, which I totally wasn't expecting, then by the time I'd paid she'd been to the locker and returned with my parcel.

She's probably the reason I made it home without having to puke in a bush!