Happy New Year, dear readers, and here's to shedding all the unhealthy layers in your lives as you would layers of fat or hard cheese!

As you step into another year, pray for world peace, no devastating hurricanes, significantly reduced crime statistics and develop the habit of amicably settling disagreements. Here are 10 rules that single women of all ages need to bear in mind.

1 Toxic relationships that make you angry just thinking about them need to go.

2 Stop moaning about being manless and get a hobby that could earn you money. In fact, go to a children's home and foster a child or adopt a homeless pet.

3 Stop being a parasite on your parents and friends - get your own stuff. Be neither a borrower nor a lender, be independent!

4 Stop spending your hard-earned money on worthless men. If you are educated and earning a decent salary, you don't have to pay them to pay attention to you. Respect yourself.

5 If you are paying your own rent, don't allow a man to move in and live off you. A real man will take over the rent if and when he moves in. And don't go shacking up with men either, they won't buy the cow if they can just roll over and grab your 'milk' and 'cheese'!

6 You already know where I stand on the car keys: if it's yours and you are paying the bank to keep it monthly, he has no damn right to it. Full stop!

7 Cut out this 'send-me-credit' rubbish, if you can spend over $5,000 buying a phone, you ought to be able to afford to pay for the calls.

8 Drop the men and other friends who constantly call you only to hang up quickly after telling you to "call me back". See Rule No. 6 and take the attitude that those who really want to speak with you should pay for the privilege. Real emergencies, such as robberies accidents, are exempt from this rule.

9 Don't buy into this notion that you need to have a child to prove your womanhood. Put off being a mother till you can afford to take care of yourself and a child, in case the man deposits the sperm in your womb bank and moves on. If you are good enough to mother his child, you ought to be even better wife material. Value yourself. The term babymother is not a national honour. If you are already a single mother with a deadbeat babyfather, don't remind the child of it constantly. It's your mistake and the child did not ask to be created.

10 If you have to keep checking his phone when his back is turned, if you have to trail him when he leaves home, if you have to call his friend to check up on his every move, you need to get a life and move on!

Happy New Year, girlfriends!

Lifestyle@gleanerjm.com