I'm a single mum-of-four - here's how I save money while dining out
Single mum-of-four, Charlene Woracker, has shared the secret to eating out with her children - with only a £10 budget.
TikToker mummybudgets, shared her life hack for eating at IKEA's famous cafe - where a kids meal deal will only set you back £1.50.
The kids meal includes a choice of main meal, including Ikea's well-loved Swedish meatballs, as well as a choice of fruit and drink.
Read more: Major budgeting app used by thousands set to close
Read more: Martin Lewis issues crucial advice for savers with £1,000 in the bank
Ms Woracker shared her love of dining at Ikea's cafe, as a day out which would not set her back a huge amount of money.
The budgeting influencer also shared her top secret for dining at the household-goods retailer's cafe.
She said: "Taking your kids out to eat doesn't have to cost a fortune."
The mother-of-four detailed the best day to visit the famous cafe was on a Friday.
Introduced in February last year, IKEA announced their "Swedish Fridays", for "IKEA family members" across the U.K.
Diners can enjoy selected meals including meatballs with mash, fish and chips and salmon fillet with vegetables which are slashed to half of their standard weekly price.
Shoppers can expect to spend between £2.45 and £3.95 to enjoy one of IKEA's meals on a Friday.
As well as bargain dishes for the adults, a children's pasta with tomato sauce comes in at an unbelievable 45p per portion.
Ms Woracker also commended Ikea's free playing area to keep her tots happy.
She also expressed her support for IKEA's free wood section, where shoppers can reuse Ikea wood panelling for their own use.
The TikToker said: "The only bad part of visiting IKEA is the exit route is through the shop, so I ended up getting a rug."
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Motor 1
2 days ago
- Motor 1
Volvo Superfan Explains Why They're 'One Of the Best Cars' Under $5K For Teens. He Might Be Onto Something
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Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Maximize Storage Space in Your College Dorm or Tiny Apartment: All the Tricks and Tips
All products featured on Teen Vogue are independently selected by Teen Vogue editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Condé Nast may earn an affiliate commission. Courtesy of IKEA Living on your own is a huge transition in any young person's life, and chasing big college or career dreams can translate into small square footage — and little storage space. After recently moving into my first apartment with no roommates, I realized that I severely underestimated the stress that can come with living alone. Solo financial responsibilities aside, I began to experience serious decision fatigue and my studio apartment started to daunt me. How could I utilize this space most efficiently? How could I get this to fit there? It can be difficult to make a new space feel like home when there's little space to store your belongings, and key essentials can quickly start to feel like clutter due to overcrowding; not to mention that clutter can negatively impact your mental health and productivity. I wanted my small apartment to feel like a space with limitless possibilities, a soft place to land for comfort or recharging. I wanted to make a home worthy of all the memories I planned to create there. Yet, I worried that in solving my space issues, I would have to compromise the aesthetic I had already filled a Pinterest board with. But finding affordable and chic solutions for uniquely sized spaces like college dorms and tiny apartments are only a challenge if you don't know where to look. Luckily, the internet is abundant in different options for trendy multi-use home decor, as well as clean, clever, and most importantly, customizable furniture that prioritizes space-saving — and your wallet. Still don't know where to start? We'll help you. Below, we tapped Shamika Lynch, the founder and principle designer of Maximizing Tiny Interiors for her expertise on how to win the functional storage game on a budget without sacrificing your style. One of the biggest fears I had when moving from my family home into a space all my own was that I would not be able to fit all of my clothes. Ready for my reality check? My fear came true: I could not bring all of my clothes with me. However, this was something I have come to accept, as I was forced to phase out and pare down my wardrobe, reshaping it based on what I cherished and what I wore consistently. According to Lynch, your wardrobe should only consist of your 'favorite items.' 'If you're tight on space, it might be time to phase out anything that you're not really wearing or excited to wear in the future,' she says. 'For seasonal clothing, vacuum sealing them or stowing them away with luggage pieces or in underbed bins until needed is best practice. This allows you to have space for what you are really wearing.' (And if it's time to donate or repurpose old clothes, here's how to do that in the most sustainable way.) It's important then to prioritize a bed that offers accessible underbed storage, as well as an underbed storage option that is flexible to fit any and everything. $259.00, IKEA $80.00, IKEA $1.99.00, IKEA $24.99.00, IKEA $34.99.00, IKEA One of the biggest tips Lynch shared is one that helps trick the eye into believing your small space is bigger than it is. This can be done with clear plastic or acrylic storage or furniture or by vertical styling. $17.99.00, IKEA 'Use your walls for decor and utilize tall storage to maximize floor space,' offers Lynch. 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By minimizing the amount of furniture you have in a room with almost all furniture serving double duty, you achieve 'maximum utility.' 'Don't buy single purpose furniture. Multipurpose furniture that works well, for example, is an entry table with storage for shoes, or a console table that works as a litter box for your cat, or bunching tables that can be used as side tables or a coffee table,' recommends Lynch. 'Poufs double as seating and table space if you add a tray. [Choose] a sideboard instead of a media console. Sideboards are specified to be larger [in storage] than media consoles and they serve the same purpose. You can gain so much more storage by making this simple swap.' In my own tiny apartment, I've quadrupled the IKEA Kallax to serve as my TV console and my vinyl record storage, as well as storage for my candles, cameras, sunglasses, and other miscellaneous tech accessories. $79.99.00, IKEA 'Don't waste space with items you don't use or need,' says Lynch. But what exactly classifies as 'wasteful furniture'? Lynch rattles off a few examples that may seem functional at first glance, but are actually space-suckers: file cabinets, large dining tables, and bar carts. 'Instead of a file cabinet, dedicate a drawer in a sideboard [or desk] to files,' she says. 'There are plenty of file organizers that can fit in a drawer.' (Floating drawer units like the IKEA Alex are popular for being able to fit under many desks as an add-on.) $90.00, IKEA Lynch knows her bar cart opinion is a hot take, but she stands on it: 'If you're short on space, combine your bar with another piece of furniture!' Utility carts are perfect for this purpose, as they offer multiple levels of storage and are super-slim in width and compact in length. $39.9.00, IKEA And just because something isn't advertised as multi-use doesn't mean that it isn't — I use my wardrobe chest as a side table, a dresser, and a useful surface. (Right now, I have my jewelry box and vase of decorative flowers resting on it.) If you ever get stuck expanding your vision for your home, Lynch suggests you 'draw it out on paper to plan' and then 'tape out dimensions on the floor with blue tape.' (Or if you're into The Sims like me, mock up your tiny space for your Sim to enjoy.) And remember that every surface is usable! $119.99.00, IKEA Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue Want more great Culture stories from Teen Vogue? Check these out: Underneath Chappell Roan's Hannah Montana Wig? A Pop Star for the Ages Is Your New Favorite Song Real or AI? Bridgerton Showrunner Clarifies Benedict's Sexuality & Talks Francesca's Queer Plot Twist The Borders of Country Music Are Finally Crumbling
WIRED
2 days ago
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Why More Young People Are Becoming 'Relationship Anarchists'
Jun 5, 2025 3:51 AM A growing segment of millennials and Gen Z are forming 'anti-hierarchal' relationships with multiple partners and friends, according to a new study by the dating app Feeld. Photo-Illustration:'People are sick of the rules of society,' Lavvynder says over the phone from their home in Salt Lake City on a recent Monday afternoon. 'Monogamy has become the default. Straight cis gender patriarchy is the default. A lot of us want to do things our own way—not have a government or religion tell us what to do.' I had asked Lavvynder, 30, who is trans nonbinary and practices polyamory, why they think 'relationship anarchy'—an egalitarian philosophy and approach to dating—is getting more popular among young people. According to a new study conducted by the dating app Feeld and sex educator Ruby Rare, author of The Non-Monogamy Playbook , relationship anarchy is on the rise among millennials and Gen Z as a remedy to the loneliness epidemic. Relationship anarchy (RA) is a relationship philosophy built around clear values: it is anti-hierarchal, anti-capitalist, prioritizes mutual care, and is all about cultivating relationships based on consent. The term, according to Feeld, was coined in 2006 by Swedish writer and activist Andie Nordgren, who said in her manifesto, relationship anarchy 'questions the idea that love is a limited resource that can only be real if restricted to a couple.' Though the lifestyle has quietly emerged as a prevailing relationship framework among communes in San Francisco and across Europe in the last decade, it is again finding a wider audience in our current era of romantic upheaval, where young people are staying single for longer, and polyamory has become far more common. According to the Feeld study, one in five people practice it unknowingly, and 36 percent of 25 to 36 year olds have adopted the lifestyle, compared to 15 percent of Boomers. Lavvynder was in a vulnerable but curious space, separated from their partner of two years, when they stumbled on a friend's Instagram story about relationship anarchy in 2023. The software project manager had no previous experience with it but felt drawn to its possibilities. 'I also familiarized myself with the Relationship Anarchy Smorgasbord,' a worksheet that helps people set terms for how to define an anarchist relationship unique to their circumstance,' Lavvynder says. 'It's about asking, 'What are the things that we want to be involved in this relationship and what are we gonna agree is part of this relationship? Are we interested in being creative partners? Are we interested in being sexual partners?'' Since then they have fully embraced the lifestyle. We can all agree: dating sucks and has only gotten harder. Forty-seven percent of US adults say dating is more difficult today than it was a decade ago. That has led to a growing interest in alternative lifestyles. According to the Journal of Sex and Martial Therapy , one in five people surveyed in the US and Canada have had experience with non-monogamy. Nontraditional relationships are especially popular among millennials and Gen Z; over 70 percent say they are open to less conventional approaches to partnership, including polyamory and open relationships, according to a study by R29 Intelligence. For relationship anarchists, there is no pecking order among their connections—partners, friends, neighbors, colleagues—are all regarded the same. They treat all their relationships equally, be they romantic or platonic, and believe each relationship possesses 'similar or identical potential for emotional, physical, or mental intimacy, love, and satisfaction,' Rare noted in the study. No one person is given preference over the other. It may seem like relationship anarchy mirrors polyamory but there are fundamental distinctions. Some poly people apply hierarchies to their relationships—'veto power,' as Lavvynder calls it. Relationship anarchists, who can be poly, do not put romantic partners above anyone. 'We're not making rules about other people's relationships. We're just focusing on the connection that we have with that other person.' One misconception about relationship anarchists is that they have perfected relationship dynamics, but that couldn't be further from the truth, Lavvynder adds. 'A lot of people will tell me, 'oh, I wish I could be polyamorous or a relationship anarchist, but I just get too jealous.' And it's like, well, I get jealous too. I'm not void of that emotion. I also experience jealousy. If my partner is talking to somebody new, I feel threatened by that. But the way to deal with that is not to make some rule about how your partner is engaging with other people. It's to figure out what you need to do for yourself,' they say. 'It's really fucking hard, actually.' It's all about shared values, not sexual exclusivity, says Sam, a 33-year-old music licensing administrator in Los Angeles who identifies as gender fluid. Relationship anarchy pushed her to rethink how she defined connection. 'Everyone is taught the rules at a young age: one person in your life is meant to be your everything,' she says, likening it to 'a Disney fairytale romance.' And 'any deviation from that is an offense beyond repair.' People, she says, would feel more fulfilled in their relationships 'if they were able to prioritize others based on what they actually wanted versus what they believe is expected of them.' Sam came to the realization following a breakup. She was 'freshly out as a queer person,' new to nonmonogamy, and in a relationship that encouraged the exploration of her sexual identity. She and her ex were 'swingers ' but Sam says she was 'deeply uncomfortable and unfulfilled' by all the 'casual and often unsatisfying' sexual experiences. When the relationship ended, she dove into the polyamory scene in Los Angeles, where she later learned about relationship anarchy. José Esteban Muñoz, in Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity , has suggested that 'queerness is a structuring and educated mode of desiring that allows us to see and feel beyond the quagmire of the present.' It comes as no surprise, then, that young people who identify as LGBTQIA+ and also practice ethical nonmonogamy are finding that relationship anarchy is for them. 'We've pushed so many societal norms already and we're in this place where it's like, well, how else can we push this even more?' Lavvynder says. 'It's a function of more and more people coming out as queer and being in queer relationships. They are realizing that there are alternatives to the norm of what love can be,' Jack says. Jack is a 30-year-old physician who identifies as nonbinary. They discovered relationship anarchy during the pandemic. Freed from 'a cycle of serial monogamy,' they say they were introduced to the lifestyle by their current partner, who they live with in Brooklyn, New York. 'We all had so much time to sit and think, and really self-examine. I had time to expose myself to these new ideas. For a lot of people you just don't know what else you can do—until you do. That was certainly the case for me.' Jack and his partner have been together five years. Jack also has three other romantic partners currently—one in San Francisco, another in Asheville, North Carolina and a person they just started seeing in Rhode Island because 'apparently I hate dating people that actually live in the same city as myself.' Above all, Jack says, respect is prioritized in each relationship. Lavvynder, Sam, and Jack requested their last names not be used due to privacy concerns. Still, navigating relationships doesn't come easy. 'It requires a deep level of self reflection, honesty, and communication that we are not taught and is not modeled to us in any traditional societal structures,' Sam says. 'Your boundaries will differ from relationship to relationship.' 'It is difficult and something you have to be conscious of, at least I do,' Jack adds 'I'm not that good at it yet.'
