You’re FREAKING out– or maybe you’re not because you are off to some grad/law/certificate/school and if so, you’re not freaking out yet.

But you’re freaking out because you don’t know what to expect. For the last 20 years of your life, since your mommy dragged your diapered baby powered butt to Mommy-and-Me, you have been told what to do, where to go, and for how long. You probably even spent the last four years getting prepared for the “real world” by going to college to learn the inside outs of some textbook major juxtaposed with learning the exotic taste of mixed drinks at a grungy bar and the detailed anatomy of you-know-who.

And now you’re here. Living back at home in your childhood twin sized bed terribly wall papered room, suffocated by boxes of memories and nags from mom like,”So, did you decide what you want to do with your life today?” on repeat.

Welcome to purgatory.

I graduated two years ago and since then, i have had three different jobs and have postmarked myself in three different states. And while all of that may sound fandango and ring with bells of success, I admit that it came with incidents of soaking the rug on my bathroom floor with tears, months of silence from thousands of sent job applications–leaving me wondering if i would be stuck living on the second floor of my parent’s house, screaming down for my mom to make me some meat loaf–for the rest of my life, and constant persistence that left me on multiple occasions marching my apple bottom into waiting rooms of companies and sitting, for hours, until they would concede to give me a few minutes of face time.

My 3.6 GPA in college and framed diploma, that collects more dust than interest, left me doing a jigg of a dance that moved me backward and forward for over two years–making me realize i knew more about how to bubble in scantrons and write three paragraph essays than how to make it in this world.  And so i have rummaged through my mistakes and my mishaps to shower you with 12 things, class of 2012, i wish i knew when i was twiddling my thumbs trying to figure out how to hopscotch my way on over to the dark side, the world of business:

1. Make the first move [Old folks would always tell me that "When i grow up the boys will be knocking down my door", well they aren't and neither will job opportunities]

2. Represent yourself [No one knows who you are, what you have done, why you know you are the person they have always been looking for. They know nothing except the words you carefully chose to display to them against a white background in Times New Roman font. You'll only have a fixed word count or a few seconds on the clock to prove yourself--so take inventory on what makes you SO great and push forward with that]

3. It’s going to be okay [Understand that even though you feel as though you are the only person in the world who does not know exactly what they want to do, you're not alone. In fact, not only do most people have no clue but what they think is not what they end up doing.  It's okay to not know. It's not okay to not do anything about it]

4. NO No’s [Don't take no for an answer--meet people in the middle. If they reject your job application, ask to meet them in person. Don't say no--Your Aunt Margie wants you to go on a date with her tennis friend's cousins best friends brother. Go. You never know how they can change your life]

5. Talk to everyone [Maybe in college you only spoke to a core group of people but here, in the real world, if you want to move up and want to get out there you need to talk to everyone. Start with a handshake finish with exchanging contact information. Everyone you meet will help you get one step closer to your treasure---a paying job you actually like]

6. Fill up your piggy bank [The  further you go the more money you will need. I worked and saved my pennies for two years so i could let the change jingle out of my pockets and move to New York]

7. Do something [If you find yourself becoming part of your couch and wake up one morning with Doritos in your eyebrows it's time to get moving. Doing nothing will suck you in and leave you unmotivated and smelly. Even if it is not your dream job, get to work doing something]

8. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else [Sally Sue may be having the time of her life in law school but Sally Sue didn't have childhood of being a nonfiction writer or a copywriter at an ad firm]

9. Let go–a little bit [Yeah, yeah, it's sad that you'll never see ALL these people again in college or be able to get away with drinking multi-colored drinks at a bar or saying YOLO. Sulk, compartmentalize and move forward. You'll still have just as much fun--and fine, you can still say YOLO]

10. Work harder than you ever have [For no grade and maybe, at first, no paycheck]

11. Trust your gut [The decisions i have made to end a job or to move to a new state have been guided by my gut, nothing else. Don't confuse the bubbles that pop in your stomach as acid reflex--they are letting you know what's up, so don't ignore them]

12. Never Never Never Give Up [If you promise yourself this, you will be okay. I pinky--spin around three times hand shake--promise you that]

That being said, this move has really put my condensing skills to the test. In less than a week, I will attempt to fit most of my personal belongings into a four door sedan. Since my mom is making the trip down with me, she’ll be taking up the front seat, and we’ll need room for her suitcase. So it’s more like 3/4 of a sedan…. eek.

Here’s what I’m working with:

My clothes

To maximize the amount of clothing I can take with me, I’ve been packing my clothes into these storage bags. In past moves, I’ve even taken cues from Jersey Shore’s Angelina and shoved my clothing right into kitchen-sized garbage bags. Don’t knock the garbage bag method till you’ve tried it! You may look like a crazy person moving into your apartment, but the soft bags allow you to smush more clothes into your car than boxes ever would and are easy to pick up and carry (or drag) up flights of stairs. Large storage bags are another great option if you’re looking for something more aesthetically pleasing and re-usable. I found the storage bags I’ll be using for my move to Austin from the local dollar store!

My “assorted stuff pile”

Ahh, nothing like a pile of random hard objects that you have to jigsaw perfectly together to fit into a confined space. My parents claim they are experts at this task from moving me into various dorms and college apartments, so I guess this move will really put their skills to the test. One piece of advice: when choosing what to bring with you, try to pack harder objects that can pull double duty. For example, I’m bringing a small suitcase that I can use on the airplane the next time I visit home and filled it with most of my breakable dishes and mixing bowls. This way the dishes are protected and my suitcase is not taking up precious space. My mom also had the great idea of utilizing space under my passenger side seat to shove some extra pots and pans. When moving across the country, every ounce of extra space counts. Hmmm.. maybe she is good at this moving thing?

My car

I love my car, but no matter how many I downsized my belongings for this move, I still had a few things left over that would just not fit. I decided that clothing would be the personal belonging to take the fall, and packed up two extra boxes full of colder weather clothes that my parents will ship to me when it starts to get cooler in Austin. So…. December? Haha.  I would definitely recommend packing your heaviest necessities first when making a move like this. It will be far cheaper for me ship some jeans and heavy sweaters than it would be to ship all of my pots and pans.

Have any of you moved across country in a small vehicle? I’d love to hear any of your packing tips before I hit the road on Saturday.

Many writers organize their work on the web by creating a personal website, hiring a professional web designer, or using a pre-made template on blogging sites such as WordPress, Blogger, or Tumblr and purchasing a domain. While this is my ultimate goal as I progress further in my career, I found that the websites I was attempting to create for myself just didn’t have the streamlined look I desired and I really didn’t have room in my budget to hire a professional to bring my vision to life. So what’s a frugal young writer with less than stellar web design skills to do? All I was really searching for was a place where I could gather links to my writing around the web in one professional location.

After spending some time checking out countless portfolio sites that wanted to charge me for their services, I finally stumbled across my current favorite online writing portfolio site: Contently.

Contently is a free online writing portfolio site for that’s currently in Beta. You can sign up easily by visiting them at contently.com and requesting an invite. I received mine in my email the same day. Once you join and choose a URL (this will be yourusername.contently.com), you can start adding writing clips by simply typing in the websites you’ve been published on. After finding your writing clips, you can add descriptions and upload them to your portfolio.

What I love most about Contently is that it allows me to easily rearrange my clips and choose which pieces I’d like to see featured first on my portfolio page. I can group clips together into categories and even upload pdf copies of stories that were featured in print publications. I think this feature is beneficial for post grads on the job hunt because it allows future employers to check out only the parts of your portfolio that they’re actually interested in. The portfolio page itself is professional, minimalistic, and easy to navigate, which is another bonus if you’re planning to share your portfolio with potential employers.

Contently also gives members the option to connects with freelance publishers if you’re interested in pursuing freelance work. I haven’t had the chance to explore this portion of the site yet, but definitely will once I’m settled in Austin.

Contently is everything I wanted and more when it comes to a writing portfolio on the web. If your interested in seeing what a completed portfolio looks like, you can check out mine at allisonsass.contently.com. Contently is free to join, so I hope that some of our fellow post grad bloggers will take advantage of this excellent way to organize your work!

Post Grads today are making entry level salaries, if any salary at all, and paying back some of the highest loan debts in history. None of this is news, though. It’s a well known fact by now. We got it bad and we know it.

My point in bringing this up, though, is to talk about how quickly everything can turn around. Just when we think we finally have things figured out, we have calculated the budgets, we have tried to save the right amounts; something huge goes wrong.

When I got the news from my mechanic I went into full blown Freak Out Mode. My anxiety levels were off the charts, I couldn’t sleep, and I had to fix it. In less than a week I had turned in my plates, sold my car to a junk yard, went to 2 different car dealerships to research a lease, made a spreadsheet with the information I gathered about said leases, opened a new savings account specifically for the car, and landed 3 babysitting jobs to start earning money to put in the account.

In the words of a friend, “Wow, your freak outs are crazy productive.”

Why yes, yes they are. It was during this week that I started planning my Money Diet.

1. Organize all your debt information in one place. I have Student Loans as well as credit card debt from fixing my car throughout college. I needed to know exactly where I stood in order to start making it better.

My spreadsheet has the following columns for my loans. You may need less (or more even) but it’s a good place to start:

Loan – Private/Govt – Original Amount Lent – Principle Amount – Outstanding – Interest Rate(s) – Monthly Min. Payment – Actual Monthly Payment

And my credit card sheet has these:

Card – Limit – Amount Outstanding – Interest Rate – Monthly Min. – Monthly Payment

Being able to see all my interest rates laid out in front of me showed me a good place I can start in cutting costs. I can look into consolidating loans at a lower rate and transferring the outstanding balance on my high interest cards to one that has a lower rate.

2. Evaluate your savings plans. When I started this freak out I had one checking and one savings account. Then I realized how ineffective that is for actually saving up. I realized I needed a different account for each financial goal I had. Putting everything into 1 lump account doesn’t help much when saving for 3+ different things. So I opened a new savings account for my new car. My bank also offers a Savings Plan so I can set my goal amount and the date I want to achieve it. It helps a lot for tracking my progress.

3. Only spend on the essentials. Gas, food, toilet paper, rent. And by food I don’t mean ordering in or going out. I planned out my meals for the next 8 days and bought only the things I needed to make them. I spent 20% less than usual at the grocery store because of it.

4. Don’t count pennies like an anorexic counts calories. Being smart about your money, and saving it, shouldn’t consume your life. You do still need to be happy, and have some fun. Just try not to spend a lot while doing it.

I’ve learned a lot since I started on this new financial adventure. Believe it or not I’m actually excited about my savings plans and want to expand into real investments soon. I’ve realized that the more aware I am of what is happening to my money, the more control I have over it. And hopefully all this will prevent another Freak Out, even if it was productive.

“You have the classiest food at your parties!”

I take that as a huge compliment. I love cooking, and I love when it actually tastes amazing. I don’t know if the foods are actually classy or just better than other parties, but I will take it. I wanted to share some simple recipes with you all on the fool proof foods to serve to your guests that will get you these results.

1. Meatballs. Meatballs are so easy to make, can be eaten with a toothpick, and you can make a different kind every time by changing the sauce/glaze. This week I used a honey chipotle lime glaze, huge hit! And for the superbowl I tried these.
2. Deviled Eggs. Also a cheap, super easy finger food. You can spice them up by adding garlic or basil to the filling.
3. Tater Tots. Add a toothpick and set out some fancy dipping sauces and a childhood favorite is transformed into a Post Grad party pleaser.

Those are my go-to snacks to make, but that doesn’t include the classics. Cupcakes, cheese and crackers and chex mix should be included as well. Do you have any party food recipes to share?