How to Plan a Sober Vacation

Websites such as Support Groups Central, DailyStrength, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and SMART Recovery provide resources and virtual meetings to help individuals maintain their sobriety, even when in-person meetings are not feasible. When embarking on a sober vacation, it’s important to have strategies in place to avoid temptations and stay on track with your sobriety goals. Here are three helpful tips to help you navigate your vacation with confidence and resilience.

North Carolina

This stands at retail price inflation plus 2%, meaning hand-rolled tobacco will increase by RPI plus 12%. The centrepiece of his speech from a personal finance point of view was a cut in National Insurance Contributions (NICs), paid on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, from 12% to 10%. Legislation will be introduced swiftly to allow this to take effect from 6 January 2024. This suggests borrowers are set to continue to face affordability challenges when looking to remortgage on the open market next year. UK Finance says it is likely to see a continuing preference for product transfers into 2024.

• Look for destinations and activities that won’t put your recovery in jeopardy.
• Even your best efforts to avoid relapsing may be thwarted if you’re in a place where alcohol and other drugs flow freely.
• Serve a meal at a homeless shelter, reach out to a newcomer at a meeting, spend time with an elderly loved one or neighbor.
• One such app is Loosid, which offers a range of features including chat groups, a sober dating platform, and access to six hotlines available 24/7 for immediate support during challenging moments.

June: Plugging National Insurance Gaps Could Boost Entitlement

The Bank said that ‘like other central banks around the world’ it has increased interest rates to help slow down price rises. However, costs are still soaring with annual inflation – 9.1% for May – at the highest level for 40 years. Education tops the list of expenditure, followed by groceries, household costs and energy bills. At least a quarter of parents are helping with rent and mortgage payments, hobbies and holidays.

Practical Tips for Staying Sober on Holiday

• It follows an almost year-long suspension of forced (without the household’s permission) prepayment meter installations introduced to protect vulnerable customers.
• Family members expect holiday perfection, and they often demand every ounce of your time and energy—and patience.
• Creating more recovery-focused services requires a change in culture and practice at every level of the organisation (Shepherd et al., 2010).
• These include conducting internal assessments to identify wrongly installed prepayment meters and offering compensation to affected customers.
• This is despite the successive Bank Rate hikes pushing up the cost of mortgages for borrowers on variable rate deals – and new two-year fixed rate deals reaching average costs of almost 7%.

To fuel growth, the government is proposing almost 40 new low-tax investment zones across England, and says it will work with devolved authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to extend the scheme across the country. Mr Kwarteng responded to criticism of his Friday statement by doubling down on his tax-cutting agenda, saying that further changes would be made to the tax regime in a bid to stimulate growth at a trending rate of 2.5% per annum. There will be another statement from Mr Kwarteng – dubbed a Medium-Term Fiscal Plan – on 23 November.

He also added no detail as to what support might be provided to households when the current Energy Price Guarantee comes to an end in April 2023. “Ending the exemption from road tax for electric cars from 2025 will be unwelcome news for EV owners, but this £165 annual cost will raise a meaningful amount of revenue for the Government’s coffers. The Energy Price Guarantee, introduced by Liz Truss as a replacement for the Ofgem energy price cap, will remain in force at its current level until April 2023, keeping annual bills for typical households to around £2,500. The FCA said the majority of consumers (90%) are aware of the existence of credit files.

Packing a Travel Survival Kit

• If you are wondering if it is possible to enjoy a vacation while avoiding triggers and maintaining your sobriety, the answer is yes you can!
• Rightmove said that, by raising the tax-free threshold to £250,000, 33% of all homes currently for sale on its portal in England will be completely exempt from the property tax, a steep increase from 7%.
• “In response, we’ve worked closely with insurers, drawing upon cutting-edge data analysis to create a rating system that offers a more precise and detailed assessment of vehicle risks.
• Developed by Thatcham over 18 months using 1,300 data points from 25,000 vehicle derivatives, VRRS will affect both the car insurance market and the manufacturing industry.

During this time, there have been no reported linked incidents or accidents, according to Ford. While the figure remains elevated, it is below the three-month average rate of 5.6%, said the BRC. The cost of fresh food and ambient food, which can be stored at room temperature, continued to accelerate in the 12 months to April by 17.8% and 12.9% respectively (17% and 12.5% in March).

• Total costs – including venue hire, catering, professional fees, funeral notices, flowers and limousine hire – reached £9,200 in 2022.
• “The problem isn’t  the product itself – which can be very useful – but in how it is sometimes sold, especially where this involves huge mark-ups when identical coverage could be purchased online for a fraction of the price.
• “Insurers remain determined to ensure that motor insurance remains as competitively priced as possible, but this has become increasingly challenging, given the continued rising costs that they are facing.
• Credit union loans often feature low rates and are designed to provide a financial lifeline for those on lower incomes who are less well served by the mainstream lending sector.
• It says that, within an hour of the announcement, traffic to its website jumped by 10%.

Meanwhile, over a third of respondents (38%) said they would not contact their creditor if they fell into arrears, with 20% of this group feeling too embarrassed to discuss the issue, and 15% unwilling to disclose their personal circumstances. Of those who missed a payment, 14% said it was the first time they had done so. Cars being off the road for longer while repairs are made is also bumping up the cost of providing courtesy cars, which again feeds through to premiums. Tobacco Duty on hand-rolled cigarettes will increase by 10% more than the duty escalator that applies to other tobacco products.

Coping with Self-Pity and Nostalgia During Sober Travel

To stay connected with loved ones while on vacation, it can be helpful to establish check-in protocols. Agreeing to check in with family or friends at designated intervals can provide a sense vacationing in recovery of accountability and support. For example, you could agree to text each other every 90 minutes during the evening, sharing details of your day or any challenges you may be facing. This regular communication helps you stay connected to your support system and provides an opportunity to seek guidance or encouragement when needed. By shifting the perspective, individuals can embrace the idea that a fulfilling vacation is not solely dependent on substances. It’s about discovering new places, immersing oneself in different cultures, and creating memorable experiences.