This has nothing to do with baking, but this is totally real life. These are the tiny lessons that people don't always teach you. The important parts of life.
1. First and foremost...PAY YOUR BILLS. Pay day=pay bills day, even if that means paying them almost two weeks early. It's better to be early than to be late. If you pay everything you can right away, then you know how much money you have left to play with, it's a win-win, trust me.
2. Save some money. You don't have you go crazy but any little bit helps, try just 10 dollars a paycheck, maybe 10 percent. The best way to do this is direct deposit, you'll hardly even notice that it's happening until you have a nice little stash of money...at least until your car breaks down that is (but that's why you've been doing this!)
4. Sometimes the answer can only be (fill in your stress eating food here). Mine is French fries. Just got in a fight with the family? French fries. 12 hour work day? French fries. It's unhealthy and it's not something I should do all the time, but sometimes it just has to happen.
5. Deal with stress. Stress is inevitable. You will face stress when you are living on your own. You may only have 5 dollars in your bank account 4 days before payday, that sucks. You might not always love your job, you and roommate might fight. You no longer have papers to frantically write but there is a whole other sleuth of stress. Learn to deal with it (and not just with French fries). Go for a jog, take a kickboxing class, spend a night reading at a coffee shop, do something new. Find a healthy way to deal with stress otherwise things could end badly for you (I REALLY need to work on this one).
6. Don't put up with people who treat you like poo. If your boss doesn't appreciate you, start looking for a new job. If your friend hasn't called you in 3 months and you keep trying to make plans with them and they keep canceling, maybe you should stop calling. Know your worth and spend valuable time with people who appreciate that, people who desire to KNOW you. You're worth a lot, don't let anyone tell you otherwise!
7. Along those lines, never forget that you're beautiful. You are, you're gorgeous. Don't be afraid to dress up, throw on some heels, do something fancy with your hair and rock your gorgeousness. Don't let the haters get you down, not everyone will think you're hot...they don't have you, you are so rock it.
8. Read books. Remember all those books you didn't read in high school (or was that just me?) Read them, it'll make you sound smart, or I guess maybe just make you smarter (people say that right?) Join a book club, some of your friends might give you a hard time about it, but you're awesome so don't let them get you down. Don't forget to read young adult fiction too! I mean, you need to stay up with the times, right? Also, hello awesome stories, strong characters and quick reads!
9. Travel! You're young and have few responsibilities (ok a job is a big responsibility but you can figure it out). Travel now, treat yourself to a graduation getaway, it's only going to get more complicated as you get older (kids will certainly complicated things, or so I've been told) so do what you can now! It's SO worth it!
I love this post! So many great ideas here. I think the number one thing I've learned about "adulthood" (am I really there already?!) is that "the harder you work, the luckier you become." It really is true!
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