Things about my life

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything and I’m not really sure what to write about this time around: so I’m just gonna tell you things about my life. 

First, my living situation. I live in a 3 bedroom 3 bathroom apartment with 5 other girls. I like them a lot but it is rare that we are all in the apartment, awake, and interacting with each other at the same time because of our work schedules. It’s always nice to see them or eat dinner with them we one of my roommates is around but I also am liking the alone time that I have had the past couple months. I can do just about whatever I need/want to do and don’t have to worry about getting in anyone’s way. The only time and place were the 6 of us bump into each other is in the kitchen. If more than 2 people are in our kitchen at the same time it is a mess! The way the kitchen is set up makes it feel very small, like you are on top of everyone! We also have trouble with the fridge and the freezer. Fitting food for 6 girls is like working a puzzle. There is limited space in the refrigerator and every time you take something out your have to rework the puzzle to put it back where you got it from. The freezer is even harder to work with because it is so much smaller! I find myself taking things out of the box or packaging to try and save or make space for everyone else. And just like the fridge if you take something out it’s a puzzle and work to get it back in. Only this puzzle falls in your face and its freezing…literally. Luckily one of my very favorite and sweet roommates used her talents and OCD and organized our fridge. Now instead of everything being placed and organized by who it belongs to, things are grouped together by similarity: yogurt and applesauce together, fruits and veggies together, drinks together, and so on. It’s an adjustment but it is very helpful. 

After doing the math my rent is about $370 a month (it would be better if we had our laundry but its whatever). Then after all 6 of us pay our $370 our room is $2,220. . . which is just bananas! 

Now how do I pay for this apartment? I ask myself that every week. I get paid every Thursday and rent comes out of my check each week. Working 30-36 hours I make anywhere from $200-$300 but after rent and taxes I only get about $150-$200 of it. It’s not that bad and I get a little excited every time I get paid but it’s also not a whole lot to live off of. Saving is both hard and easy to do. I don’t have a car to go where ever I want like I used to and sometimes I just don’t want to go anywhere or do anything because of my work schedule, so that makes saving money easy. There are A LOT of outlets here and I am trying to save up so when my parents come I can go crazy and treat myself to some nice things (True Religion, UGG, Tory Burch, Michael Kors, The North Face, Nike). I think it will be well earned and deserved by that time. 

Now for some exciting news: I GOT A RAISE!! Until this week I made $7.93 an hour and after rent, taxes, and other expenses that Disney takes out of our checks there was not a lot of wiggle room, rather a lot of saving and planning how to spend my money. Now I will still plan and budget but I will have a lot more money to work and play with. This can be both a good and a bad thing (: However, I am excited for tax day this year. I always evied my friends who got huge amounts of money for their tax returns mostly because that they all had extra money and would go treat themselves to nice things. Now I know that you have to work HARD for the money you get on your checks and how frustrating it can be when you see how much is taken out of it. So like getting a check every week, that tax refund will be something earned and very well deserved! I am very proud of myself and all the work I have done this year! 

My biggest hurdle and obstacle in life, currently, is not having a car. I’ve gotten the hang of taking the bus to work and occasionally to Walmart if I need one or two things but I hate it. When you factor in traffic, the multiple stops each bus makes, and the possible of problems the bus may have you have to plan about an hour and a half to go anywhere because it actually takes that long. One day I needed 3 things from Walmart so I explored and took the bus. This particular bus has 3 buses on route and one arrives at each of the stops about every 30 minutes. The schedule said the bus would be at our stop at about 3:15 and Walmart was the first stop. I grabbed what I needed fairly quickly and was out in time for the next bus. By the time I got home it was 5 o’clock. Thank God that was my day off. Some days I don’t mind not having a car, but other times it’s very frustrating and makes me feel helpless. I hate asking people for rides because it makes me feel like I’m bothering or annoying them. Most of the time people don’t mind letting me ride with them to work or home from work, grocery shopping and getting to the outlet malls is the hard part. I either have to ask my roommates, which they usually don’t mind, or try to go when they go. I think what has been hardest is that people don’t always offer to give me a ride; this has been difficult for me because if the situations were reversed I would gladly offer to help people out. But, as I have learned over the last year, not every thinks and does things the way I do or how I would. 

I have made it work and sometimes its nice to have some alone time when running errands. The other day (October 6) I wanted wine and brownies and had to take my computer to get looked, but didn’t want to spend the time taking the bus. There is a Sony store and a Publix grocery store about a block away from my apartment, so I walked there. It was still day time and only took my 15 minutes to walk to the store but I was still really nervous about walking somewhere by myself. On the way to the store I stayed on the phone with my mom the whole time. Then on the way back I just called and told my parents I made it home. I actually really enjoyed my little walk to the store! It was different than taking the bus because I didn’t have to keep myself on a schedule and I controlled where I was going. Right next to Publix is one of the outlet malls so although I am limited on what all I can get, walks may happen more often in the future! I still hate not having a car but I have a feeling that will be changing in the near future (: