The first of the month is an easy day to remember to do routine maintenance stuff that needs to be done monthly. Look through the following list and see what you can check off:
Change or clean the filter in your A/C or furnace or central unit
Check the fluids in your car
Test your GFCI outlets
Pour boiling water down your drains to keep them clear
Check all faucets for drips
Run any updates on your phone/tablet/computer
Give your pet its flea/tick/heartworm preventative
Trim your pet’s nails, clean their ears, check their teeth
Make sure your gutters aren’t clogged
Dust your ceiling fans, lamps and light fixtures
Review your budget and calendar for the month
Clean and vacuum your car
Everyone’s life is different of course, so develop your own monthly chore list and stick it on your fridge or tape it to the inside of your broom closet door. One way to minimize stress and expenses is to take care of your things. Stay on top of it and a little, unnoticed leaky faucet won’t suddenly be a waterfall in your bathroom. Good luck!
even if you get along great with your family you will get along even better with them after moving out
generic is almost always just as good as name brand. But there are some things you never buy generic, including: peanut butter, ketchup, liquid NyQuil, Chips-Ahoy chewy chocolate chip cookies
just imagine the person on the other end of the phone hates talking on the phone as much as you do. Even a receptionist. I worked as one and I hate talking on the phone
at least once in your life you will go to Wal-mart to buy something under $20 like an ironing board or something and your debit card will get rejected. No one will judge. Everyone at some point in their lives has had $2.98 in their bank account.
thrift stores
everyone else is too busy panicking about everyone else noticing every tiny thing that could possibly be wrong about them to notice any tiny thing that could possibly be wrong about you
you will screw up. a lot. you live and you learn. and when you start to think too hard about that embarrassing thing that happened and how you wish you could change it, just tell yourself that what’s done is done. There’s no changing it, so just forget it and move on. It’s the only way to stay sane.
do the dishes before the sink grows its own ecosystem
you can’t put Dawn dishsoap in the dishwasher.
if you are the only one in the aisle at the grocery store, and you need to get from one end to the other without even looking at anything in that aisle, then you should totally cart-surf down the aisle. Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional. Hold on to the little things. They make all the difference.
never try to make cake from scratch at 3am. You end up with a topographical map of Middle Earth.
15% tip.
the best way to get money for food is to tell your grandparents about how you basically live on microwaved mac and cheese. Their horror may result in twenty bucks and orders to go out and get yourself “a real dinner”.
sometimes life sucks, and knowing that it might get better doesn’t always make it suck any less, but you’ll never get to the non-sucky days without enduring the suckiness.
no seriously, NEVER put Dawn in your dishwasher
Do not buy generic brand spaghetti sauce either.
Always check the type of light bulb that goes in lamps. A 60w is not interchangeable with a 40w.
Dollar store batteries work just as well as store brand.
Reward yourself from time to time when you do things that you needed to get done. It’s a good way to remind yourself to do them. Going out to pay a bill? Get Starbucks or something you don’t get often. Rewards don’t have to be huge, they can be small things like that.
Rice, pasta, flour, sugar, cheese, eggs, milk, a pack of chicken, a pack of frozen veggies and a well stocked spice cabinet go a long way food-wise. Splurge and get the biggest container of rice you can. You don’t have to go back and buy it again anytime soon and it makes a TON of meals in the meantime.
Rice can be cooked on the stove. You don’t need a fancy rice cooker. Two parts water to every one part rice (two cups water for one cup of rice for example). Get your water boiling, add rice, put a plate or lid on it, put it on low for 20 minutes. It should be done.
Keep a calendar on your pc of bill due dates. If your bills are set up at inconvenient times, like all of the services started on the first or something, then call up the company and find out if you can get your billing date switched to something more manageable. A lot of places do try to work with you.
There is no shame in calling a company and asking for an extension on a bill. Let them know what you can pay, pay that amount, and they arrange when the rest of the payment is required. This can stop you from having services shut off man. It shows responsibility on your part.
Take time to eat, even when you don’t feel like eating. Your body needs energy to live.
Wash or rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. It prevents gross caked on junk.
“The Works” is an excellent cheap toilet cleaner.
MAGIC. FUCKING. ERASERS. THEY WORK ON EVERYTHING JUST DON’T SCRUB HARD. I took the ring out of our bathtub with one. Also generic ones work just as well.
Keep some bleach around but if you use it for cleaning? Dillute it. There’s rarely ever a case where you need to pout straight bleach on anything. A cap full or two in a bucket of water works just fine.
DO NOT MIX CLEANERS. Chemical reactions are can be very dangerous. Here’s a good list. (Note that vinegar and baking soda can actually be a good combo for removing smells from things but it’s not very good at actually -cleaning-.)
If you drink? Don’t take meds at the same time it’s just not good.
Make sure you check the dosages on your pill bottles. No one wants to accidentally overdose on cough syrup or ibuprofen.
If you have a uterus make sure you have a heating pad and ibuprofen on hand for the pain. Hot baths also generally help and Ginger Tea is excellent for any nausea.
Buy a first aid kit. It’s worth it in the long run.
You can often do your taxes online at places like TurboTax.
Petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline) is good for chapped lips and you can get a decent sized tube or tub of it (generic brand version) for cheaper/same price as Chapstick.
KEEP TRIPLE ANTIBIOTIC OINTMENT IN YOUR HOUSE FOR CUTS AND SCRAPES AND SORES.
~~Medications~~
Over the counter medications (stuff you can buy right off the shelf no prescription needed) have a name brand and a generic name. ALWAYS buy generic if it’s available it is literally the same thing and way cheaper usually.
Some names to remember when you’re looking for meds!
Acetaminophen = Tylenol
Used to treat pain and reduce fever. Do not take with Ibuprofen.
Ibuprofen = Advil, Midol, Motrin
Used for pain and fever, is an anti-inflammtory. Is good for period cramps because it is an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug).
Naproxen = Aleve, Naprosyn
Treats fever, pain, arthritis pain, gout, period cramps, tendinitis, headache, backache, and toothache. Is also an NSAID.
Acetaminophen + Asprin + Caffeine = Excedrin
Usually marketed as “Migraine Relief” as a generic.
Asprin = Bayer
Use for pain, fever, arthritis, and inflammation. Makes you bleed easily so should not be used for periods. Might reduce risk of heart attacks.\
Triple Antibiotic Ointment = Neosporin
Used on cuts, sores, and scrapes to reduce risk of infection and promote healing.
Also a general mutli-vitamin isn’t a bad idea and if you don’t get a lot of fruits or milk/sunshine in your diet you might want to get vitamins C and D specifically for daily use.
if you do accidentally lapse and put dawn in your dishwasher, run it empty and put hair conditioner where the detergent goes. that’ll clean it out (tip given to me by dorm custodian when roommate did the thing).
if you live off ramen, add stuff to it! add veggies you like, don’t use the whole flavor packet to cut down on sodium and msg or don’t use it at all and add your own spices.
if you’re making something with potatoes in it (beans, stew) potatoes are done when you can easily stab a fork through them.
you can microwave a hotdog as long as you put it in a microwave safe container of water. microwaves work by making water molecules vibrate. also, when reheating rice leftovers, add a small amount of water, like maybe a spoonfull, so it doesn’t get hard and crunchy.
the rice cooking advice above is for long grain rice. if you’re making short or medium grain rice, a 1:1 ratio (one cup water for one cup rice) is better, so the rice doesn’t come out too mushy.
buy a few cans of chicken. wholesale club stores like sam’s, costco, or bj’s tend to carry multipacks for a good price. they’re incredibly useful for when you forget to defrost meat.
buy meat on sale and put it in the freezer. buy vegetables on sale, and put them in the freezer. frozen veggies are often as flavorful and good as fresh ones, keep longer, and often come in microwaveable bags or with microwave directions.
soak ink stains in milk to help get them out or at least lighten them.
soak blood stains in water as soon as possible, with a bit of detergent or stain remover. scrub at them. use cold water, heat binds proteins to fabric. tbh, there’s no real need to change the washer from cold-cold setting unless the thing you’re washing says to wash in warm water.
acetone, found in most nail polish removers, dissolves super glue.
YOU’RE ALL DOING GOD’S WORK BLESS YOU
Takes pictures, have prints made and put them in photo albums. Be IN the pictures, have someone take pictures of you and your friends. Get over not looking perfect in thw picture. Someday that friend might be gone and those pictures might be all you’ll have, you will want to be in them. I made that mistake with my best friend, i always felt weird asking for a picture together… he died of cancer January of 2014 and now i have no pictures of us together. Its my only regret in life.
This is really helpful, thank you all!
I’m the newest of new adults but I’m gonna throw these little tips in there. IF YOU HAVE AN OLD CAR:
-coolant or water if your car overheats (coolant is preferable cause it won’t hurt the engine in the long run but hey i know money is tight)
-flashlight in case you break down at night and need to check under the hood and your phone is dead
-SPARE TIRE.
-jumper cables.you will at some point leave your lights on. you just will.
AAA or any other road side service is never a bad investment i swear. (try to mooch it off your parents as long as you can though)
Know how to change a tire. You’re going to need to do it at some point in time and you can’t always rely on someone else to do it for you.
Don’t be afraid to go to your local food bank. They are there for a reason.
Don’t be ashamed to ask for help period. Life is hard, everyone needs help occasionally.
You can put a LOWER wattage bulb in a lamp that says it’s for a higher one, but don’t put a HIGHER wattage bulb in. Also, watts refer to the amount of electricity used. LUMENS refers to the amount of light put out, and can vary quite a bit between brands, even though the wattage is the same. Look for the one with the highest lumens unless you actually want a slightly dimmer bulb in a certain location.
Those dollar store batteries? Fine if they’re alkaline. “Heavy-duty” batteries, however, won’t last nearly as long.
You can microwave a hot dog and bun simply by wrapping them in a toweling for a minute, less if you don’t want them scalding hot.
Reblogging to save lives.
Two adulting (kitchen-related) tips from me!
1. Buy a roll of parchment paper from the cooking shit aisle. A big roll will last you for-fucking-ever. Pretty much any time you’re using a baking pan you can line it with that stuff and save yourself A: food sticking to the pan and B: it’s a quick rinse and it’s clean.
2. Bread can get fucking expensive, so make your own. A bigass bag of flour and a bag of active dry yeast (store it in the friiiiidge!!!) works out a FUCK of a lot cheaper than buying bread at the store, and you can do so much more with it. Bread, pizza, rolls, cinnibuns, homemade pizza pockets. It seems intimidating but it’s stupid easy.
Seriously. It’s stupid simple to make, and most of the “3 hours” to make it is sitting around surfing the internet or doing whatever the fuck you want while the dough rises. If you have an afternoon free once a week to sit and play video games or surf the net, you have the time to make your own bread on the cheap. Here’s my simple-as-fuck recipe:
2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (You can buy a bag of this stuff CHEAP in bulk stores, the little packets are hella stupid priced) 1 cup warm water (think a hot bath) 1 ½ teaspoons sugar 2 tablespoons oil (any kind works for the most part) 2 ¼ cups flour 1 teaspoon salt
1. Stir the yeast, water, sugar, and oil up in a bowl. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. It will foam up VERY high, this is the yeast getting happy! If it doesn’t get all foamy, the water may have been too hot or not hot enough. Remember, Yeast is alive! Treat it like a nice girlfriend!
2. Mix your flour, salt, and the yeast concoction up in a bowl.
3. Knead that shit for about 5 minutes. It will start sticky as heck, but will come together into a nice dough. If it’s still super sticky, toss in a bit more flour. Here’s how to knead it:
4. Put your dough in a covered, lightly oiled bowl and leave it someplace warmish for an hour. At that point it will have roughly doubled in size, give it a gentle punch to release the gasses that have built up inside. Cover it again and let it sit for a bit longer.
Boom. You have bread dough. Here are some baking times and uses for ya:
Optional egg-wash: Just crack an egg into a bowl, add a pinch of salt, and mix the bejeebus out of it with a fork. Brush (or if you’re like me, goop it on with said fork) that shit thinly on bread before baking for a nice crust.
Pizza: Stretch it on a pan, stab the fucker all over with a fork, add toppings, bake 425*F 15-20 minutes.
Bread Sticks: Make snake-shapes, let rest on pan 10-ish minutes, bake 400*F 10-20 minutes.
Dinner rolls: Make ball-sized (yes those balls) balls. Place on greased pan, let rest 10-20 minutes to rise. Egg-wash and bake 375*F 25 minutes.
Bread: Lightly score (cut) the top, let sit for 20-ish minutes on/in whatever you’re using to bake it, egg-wash, bake at 375*F for 20-ish minutes. It’s done when it sounds hollow if you knock on the bottom.
You bet your ass you can deep-fry this shit for cheapie yeast doughnuts. Roll that shit in sugar or dip it in whatever, it’s fucking tasty.
Bagels: YES. YOU. CAN. Form bagel-shapes out of the dough and boil them in salty water for about 2 minutes. Egg-wash them and bake them at 400*F for 10 minutes.
Cinnamon Rolls: Roll that shit out into a rectangle. Brush it with a mix of butter, cinnamon, sugar, and a pinch of salt (no exact amounts here, do it to your taste). Roll it up into a log, and cut it into discs. Let them sit 20 minutes in a pan and then bake at 375*F 15-17 minutes.
You can add whatever you want to the dough for some variety, just if it’s dried spices remember you really only need 1-ish tablespoons. I personally like making bread with about 1 tablespoon of dill in the dough. Roll it out flat, sprinkle it with cheddar, roll it into a log, squeeze the ends shut, and bake it like a regular loaf of bread. Cheesy dill bread OMNOMNOM.
*ahem* That got a bit long. But yeah. Bread’s expensive, yo. Save your wallet.
(Also it’s ridiculous amounts of therapeutic to bake, for me anyway)
Being able to bake your own bread is pretty awesome, if you got the time for it.
Banana chocolate hazelnut butter sandwich 🥪 Soooo good. I used sprouted whole wheat bread, slathered on @justins chocolate hazelnut butter spread, added sliced bananas and then a bit of @earthbalance on either side of the sandwich before toasting it on a pan. Melty chocolate perfection 🍫❤️
Hi everyone! Above is a sample of a cover letter I wrote to apply for a job at a tech startup. I received a quick callback for this job, but I was already signed on to another position. Using this format has been basically foolproof for me, because it’s professional and reads as well-spoken, but also gets your point across and keeps the focus on the employer. I’ll break this up into sections.
First, formatting: Your cover letter should match your resume in some way. You should use the same font or colors somewhere. I cropped off the top half because it has my address and phone number on it, but it has my name and contact info on it the same way my resume does.
It should never be more than a page long. Honestly, I think the example I’m using is a little too long and wordy, but I think startups appreciate the extra effort because it shows you’re willing to be above average.
Opening paragraph: “I am excited to apply for your Customer Service Lead position. Glowforge is my idea of a perfect company because it bridges the gap between the creative and tech communities. I’d love to bring my energy and drive along with my relevant experience to your innovative company.”
In the first sentence, I state that I am excited to apply for the position. I’ve been in charge of hiring for a few different jobs I’ve had, and 99.999% of all cover letters start with something very dull like, “I am writing to inquire about the receptionist position.” That doesn’t make me interested in learning more about you! Using an energetic adjective like “excited” can be intriguing to employers because they know you will go on to explain how in the rest of your letter. Perhaps you have a personal connection to the company, or you are extremely passionate about something they make or do.
First paragraph:
“
For the past three years, I worked as a bookkeeper and payroll specialist for My Seattle
Bookkeeper. I helped grow the company from 20 to 60+ clients in this time, acting as the
first point of contact for every incoming and ongoing client. I have also acted as office
manager and employee coordinator, leading a team of four employees to meet
monthly, quarterly, and annual goals. In this position I fine-tuned my communication
skills and helped to find specific solutions to diverse problems. I loved making our clients
happy and simplifying their business operations with my accounting skills and go-getter
personality.”
The point of a cover letter is to expand on your resume and support the evidence your resume provides. It is where you should explain any significant gaps in your employment history, or explain why you made a major career or college switch. You should also use it to expand on job tasks and discuss how the skills at one job will help you at the job you are applying for. Because my job at MSB was not really client facing (I worked remotely in a basement, lol) and very analytical/mathematical, I used this paragraph in my cover letter to explain how I demonstrated growth in this position and what skills I gained. I specifically brought up communication and making clients happy because the position I was applying for was customer-facing.
Your first paragraph after your opening paragraph should discuss what you’ve done and expand on anything that might need explaining or stringing together.
Second paragraph: “I would love to work at Glowforge because I am a maker. In my spare time I love to knit,
quilt, sew, and design. I recently taught myself HTML and CSS and I am currently
learning JavaScript. I am fascinated with the concept of blending hands-on art and
design with software and technology. There is a gap in the tech-maker community, and
the fact that Glowforge has so many excited customers before the product has launched
speaks strongly to the necessity of the product. Being a part of a growing startup has
always been a dream of mine, and my interests and skills are perfect for this position.”
Your second paragraph should be about WHY you want the job. Don’t be afraid to tell them about yourself in a relevant way! This makes it unique and lets them get to know you a bit more. It also shows you are creative and can think further than copying and pasting a boring form cover letter. This should of course be used within reason; if you’re applying at a big 4 accounting firm you should definitely scale it back, but I’ve found that for smaller businesses and start ups and jobs that require an outgoing personality, this is the best method.
Be sure to tie it all together though! Notice how I share a fact about myself (my love of fiber arts) and then lead into how I am teaching myself computer programming. I then use a segue sentence that allows me to move on and talk about their company and why I want to work for their company.
In this paragraph you should also demonstrate that you have researched the company and know what they’re about. Reference something specific but interesting about them so they know that you care about the company, care about the job, and have done your research! I’m not positive, but I think this piece is the reason I get so many interviews when I use this format. Showing that you are passionate about the job no matter what it is and that you are a hard worker who goes above and beyond is really important at this stage - you really have to sell yourself!
At the end of this paragraph, be sure to choose a conclusion sentence that ties it back in to the your intro about your hobbies. Always tie it together.
Final paragraph:
“
Again, Glowforge’s dedication to customer happiness and leadership has made a huge
impression on me. I would be thrilled to work for a company that values data-driven
work and user success as much as Glowforge does.”
Your conclusion is your chance to tie it all together and gas them up. Give them a compliment that reiterates their company mission and values. Show that you understand what they’re all about and that you will be a valuable asset to keep them moving towards their goals.
Salutation: “Thank you for your time! I look forward to hearing from you soon.”
Always thank them! Hiring people is hard work and they read a million of these in the process. Also, ACT CONFIDENT throughout the entire process, but especially in your salutation. Let them know that you know you are a perfect fit and they will want to contact you. Fake it til you make it. This also helps you to follow up with them in a few days if you haven’t heard from them yet. Include your phone number in the email or body of the contact form when you send your PDF resume and cover letter.
I basically took this template from here and tweaked it, sending it out over and over, until I found what works best for me. Feel free to copy it and tweak it with your own skills and interests!
Thinking about doing a 2018 resume dos and don’ts next - so much has changed recently and we can be a bit more creative with resumes these days! Let me know what you think!
