The Lazy ship has set sail

Here is the thing, I have been so busy and it has been so hot that when I do have a moment that I am not working or babysitting, I just want to sleep. So I have slacked off seriously in my digital life. However my life is sorta changing a lot. My boyfriend of almost two years has an opportunity in DC so in a week we will start the long distance train all over again. He is going to do amazing over there and it really is the best thing for him. But it's gonna be a long four months.

I have three automatic ways to deal with stress.
1. Eating I have no money for new clothes or the plethora of food needed so that's gotta be out. Which leads me to...
2. drinking....well as my friends from Ireland will tell you sad mallory+alcohol =crying Mallory= worse situation then before. Plus no money.
3. Shopping. This is my personal fave, but as noted in #1&2 no money :(

Sooooooo what does this lead to? DIY projects!!!!! My house (and by house I mean apartment (and by apartment I mean room)) will be the cutest ever. I have so many ideas already, so this week I will be doing nothing more than some slight pouting and trying to spend as much time as possible with my boy, then it will be the start of many crafts for me. So if you are looking for some good home improvement ideas stick around and I'll give you some good ideas......hopefully.

Groupon Calling....

I have recently been self diagnosed with a terrible disease. It is the desire to constantly purchase things. I am sure that it is a problem that many of us have. As I have spent the entirety of my working life watching my hard earned money slowly leak out of my bank account due to late night Taco Bell runs and random books and clothes that litter my room. After much deliberation, I have come up with a reasonable solution.

Besides the usual cut backs, making meals at home and bringing them to work, or cutting out the early morning coffee I have also found a way to keep my bank account, and my terrible habits in check. I have found a solution that works for me. First i subscribe to every single rewards program and coupon program i can find. AKA www.groupon.com is my absolute favorite place. I found cheap prices for spa treatments, for dinner shows, for wine tasting, and even simple things like dinner. Groupon is great because it not only lets you get things at ridiculously low prices it also is a great way to see new things going on in your area.

Another way I am working to save my money is letting my self buy at most, $100 a month in clothes. This is a good amount because i can spend it over that month buying one or two little things. My advice? get a job at your favorite store, even if it is one night a week or just working floorset. (which is about 1 or 2 shifts from around 8 pm to 1 am usually on Friday nights. This is where you take all the clothing off the floor and bring out the new line and set up the floor the way it needs to be done.) You can get in a little extra cash and usually they give discounts that are pretty decent. I work at Aerie by American Eagle, and now i can shop at almost half off. Even if you dont want that second or third job, always sign up for their rewards card. At American Eagle if you spend over $100 in a three month period they will send you a coupon for 15% off. Be smart shoppers and get the rewards you earn.

I am the queen on snacking. I do it all day everyday. My biggest secret is to buy things and just keep it in my car. I always have a case of Diet Coke, (because I am not a fan of Pepsi) a few packages of popcorn, chips, and on good days maybe even some candies. Sometimes for lunch I will eat a bag of popcorn because i can pop it at one job and eat it on the way to class. I would recommend this for anyone who likes to eat food all the time. I can shop about twice a week and cut almost half my spending on food.

Welp thats all I can think of for today =)

The Beginning

I am a small town girl from Snohomish, Washington; who left everything she knew to try to make it big in Southern California. I moved down to the Ventura area dreaming of my new life. It was going to be a glamorous one; filled with shopping, mingling with Katy Perry and laying out at the beach. I was going to live the life that I had always wanted and it was going to be magical.

As soon as I arrived the reality of what life would be like hit me. Sure it was wonderful, the temperature above 65 90% of the time, the palm trees, great shopping and of course the beach full of tanned life guards a mere 30 minutes away. My first summer here was beautiful, I nannied for my Aunt and Uncle, I made $150 a week for laying by the pool, taking my nine year old cousin to the park, and doing crafts with her. It was wonderful, I was tan, I was rich, and I was living the dream. The only thing I didn't have was friends. Knowing I wasn't ready to give up a life of luxury just yet, I enrolled in a local school to finish my degree and make the kind of life I have always dreamed of for myself. 

As I started making friends, it became absurdly apparent that I was on the low end of the socio-economic scale. My parents made just enough for us to fall above the work study line, but not enough to actually pay for my school. I had to work 15 hours a week for minimum wage. Now I know that this doesn't sound unnatural, and at first I didn't mind, but it seemed to me like everyone I was meeting never had to work, they could spend all they wanted and they were going to graduate completely debt free. Talk about getting you down. I was working my butt off and was going to graduate $40,000 in debt. 

A year and a half later I am finishing up my senior year of college and ready to graduate and continue pursuing my goals. I have a wonderful boyfriend who I want to marry, I have great experience with which I hope to get a job, I want my own apartment for a while, and I want to help people out. I am definitely still a working girl, I balance 3 jobs working about 30 hours a week, a full 19 credit school load, along with a boyfriend, and a personal life. I am still learning a lot about myself, and about life and I am definitely not perfect. But I would like to start helping women, and men, learn to push themselves out of an unhappy life and learn to live the life they want. Whether that is status, wealth, happiness, relationships, anything at all. I want to offer my advice and my help because I know what it is like to be working hard for goals that you wish to achieve.