I wanted to share with you 10 things I have learned about life by now, as they may come in handy.
1. Go To Work - For me, this is harder than it sounds. I am not one of those people who are hard-core dedicated to their jobs, even though the job is what provides the paycheck. I like being at work, but good Lord do I LOVE being under my bed covers when the alarm goes off at 7am. I don't consider myself a lazy person, in fact I hustle pretty hard, but part of my brain feels like there are so many other things I would rather be doing. This was a hard lesson for me to learn. I needed to stop being selfish and to really try to think of how my work relies on me to show up, I am one of the cogs that makes the machine move. On the other hand, if you are seriously unhappy at your job, if you dread Sunday because it is one day closer to Monday, and you practically cry (or maybe you do) when you slide into your sheets the night before and set your alarm, then there is no reason to stay there. Which brings me to #2.
2. If You Are Unhappy, Work Hard to Change - If you are unhappy with your job, unhappy with your relationship, unhappy with how you feel, even unhappy with the color of your bedroom walls - work hard to change it. I am not saying to drop everything, change your name and move to Mexico and rent jet-skis to tourists for a living (but hey, if that floats your boat...) but if you really hate your job, start beefing up your resume. Maybe it needs some reformatting, update your job descriptions (please delete your high school waitressing job, that is usually no longer applicable by age 27), join LinkedIn, create some business cards (Vistaprint is always having great deals), and maybe even take some online classes. If you just want some experience vs. a degree, try Lynda.com.
If you are unhappy with your relationship, talk to your significant other. See if you can work out differences, find out if anything is bothering them too. If all else fails and you know in your heart of hearts that you would be happier as just friends, or totally on the opposite side of the country, then it is time to leave. It is going to take courage. It is going to hurt, Lord will it hurt, but by the time you are 27, you owe it to yourself to be happy. By now you should probably already know what you like and dislike to do, and the holes in your soul that you would like filled with another human being. Don't stay in a relationship because it is comfortable, because you are used to it. Expose yourself to the world. Let the wounds breathe for awhile. You'll be much happier and much stronger from the experience.
3. Learn To Cook - Ladies and Gentlemen - it is not OK to not know how to cook by the time you are 27. It is no longer acceptable to rely on your mom's leftovers or takeout every night of the week. I'm not saying you need to be a 3-star Michelin chef or anything like that, but know how make a few basic dishes. Learn how to bake a batch of cookies for that work potluck you forgot about. Learn how to cut an onion without crying, and how to boil pasta al dente. A big one that took me awhile was to buy and use an oven thermometer. Not all ovens are created equal (and in fact, the one that I have is off by nearly 75 degrees on a good day) and an oven thermometer is a good way to not turn your food to charcoal.
4. Learn Basic Nutrition - Know the difference between regular- and whole-grain. And don't be that person at a party who has never heard of quinoa and pronounces it "queen-oh-ay". You don't need to be a walking nutritional encyclopedia but health is important and you need invest in some of the knowledge to keep you healthy and happy.
5. Get Your Oil Changed - Unless your dad is my dad, then it is likely that no one is nagging you (or threatening you) to get your oil changed anymore, or your tires rotated, or flushing your cooling system or whatever. But you still have to do it. Do it when it is due. Not 6 months later when your car is starting to smoke. You'll regret it if you ruin something that will cost you thousands of dollars to fix when you could have avoided it for less than $50.
6. Use the Cold Cycle On the Washing Machine - I wear a lot of dark colored clothing. I love the color black, I love navy, dark purple, etc. Use the cold water cycle on your washing machine to help preserve your colors. Hang dry whatever you don't want to shrink (Ikea sells a great clothes horse here), and buy one of these bad boys to help rid your beautiful sweaters and dresses of pilled material and fuzzies. Take care of your clothes. I love to shop (love, love, love) but there is this really annoying thing called a budget, and it really sucks when you have to spend another $30 on a sweater from Target because you put it in the dryer and it shrank, or you washed it on hot and after 2 washes it is already fading from black to... off black.
7. Budget - UGH. No one likes this word. But, alas, no one likes debt either. Especially debt with high interest attached. Sit down with a pen and paper and write down everything that you MUST buy every month. Rent, utilities, gas, student loans, health insurance, credit card payment, etc. Then write down all the things you really DON'T have to buy, but you'd love to be able to do once in awhile. Movies with popcorn, bowling, a new book or two (or four), dinner at a nice restaurant, lunch at McDonalds, Netflix, a video game etc. Then, write down things that you buy, but not every month, like expensive clothing, expensive makeup, a haircut and highlights, new eyeglass frames, etc. Make sure that every month you are saving enough money to cover all of your basic necessities (keep in mind that if you don't pay the electric bill you're not getting your Netflix either, so it's lose/lose). For those of you with a really large family, or for those of us who really like to spoil the people closest to us during Christmas and birthdays, set aside an allotted sum every month for that. Even if it is only $10, by Christmastime you're going to be thankful for having that extra $120 or so.
Live by the 10, 20, 70 Budget plan.
- 10% of your income goes towards debt. Which is student loans, credit card payment, car payment etc.
- 20% of your income goes towards your Savings Acct. (this can be broken down even further into 10% for retirement, 5% for emergencies, and 5% for a specific goal, like saving for a vacation, or those Christmas presents)
- 70% for living expenses. This is where your rent, utilities, gasoline, etc. comes in. Things that need to be paid or you will not be surviving.
Implement this to the best of your ability and you can bring yourself back from the brink of bankruptcy, you can pay off that credit card and you can improve your credit score.
8. Pay Your Bills On Time - Credit Scores mean more than people are letting on. Do you want to buy a car one day? Do you want your monthly car payment to be $200 or $400? Credit scores determine that. Do you want to buy a house? With terrible credit no one is going to trust you to own the home of your dreams. This is important. Pay your bills every month. On time. I pay everything on the 1st of the month, regardless if they are due on the 3rd or the 22nd, they get paid. Keep a list of them too, and check them off every month that you pay them. That way you will know if you didn't receive your water bill or if you almost forgot to pay Fido's vet bill. Every time you miss a payment, or are overly late, it brings down your credit score. Booooo.
9. Call Your Parents - And Grandma, too. You're 27 now and chances are that you own a cellphone or can sneak a call in from work now and then. Your parents will be pleased to hear from you, and Grandma, who just turned 80, will love knowing that you care enough to call and see how she is doing. Plus, Grandma knows all the juicy gossip. Keep in touch with your loved ones, because you never know how much longer you have with them. This may sound cliche, but for someone who's family lives mostly in another country and it is hard to get in touch with them, I know how important it is to maintain family ties.
10. Do Something That Makes You Happy - This is a doozy. There may not be a perfect job for you out there, and I don't believe that we should all put all of our happiness in the hopes that we do find that perfect dream job, either. But do something that makes you happy. Whether that be running, hiking, photography, feeding the ducks at the pond, volunteering at the animal shelter, crocheting, sewing, designing websites, reading, writing, cooking, baking, painting, rollerblading, surfing, whatever! Just something to look forward to. Something that can take us out away from everything else. I picture myself kind of like a paper doll. being picked up from the background that is my job and my home life, and being placed someplace else, which is my hobby life. I love to crochet, I love to watch movies, I love to bake. Carve out time for that precious thing that makes you super happy, because dammit, you deserve it. You work hard, you deserve to play hard too.
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