Serendipity's Guide to Saving

First of all, I wanted to go ahead and say thank you so much for the continuous support you guys offer me. I love all of you, oh so very much. It never fails to amaze me how much the blog community does for each other and I am very blessed to have such positive people who read me. Again, thank you!

I wanted to take time and go ahead to share some tips I used to land my new gig. These tips might not work for everyone based on a variety of reasons due to skills set, job market and location, but it worked for me so I wanted to go ahead and share.

1. Figure out what you really really want. Yes, I just referenced the Spice Girls but please hear me out. What do you really want to do? Yes, you. Not your mom, boyfriend, girlfriend, friend or cat want you to do, or even for that matter, think you should do, what do you want to do? This thought came to me when I first decided it was time to seek other employment for myself. Although my background is in a certain field, I thought if perhaps I would like to try a different field altogether, even one where my degree would be useful ( although I think any degree in general is useful honestly) . Be open and honest about what would be rewarding to you. A lot of people don’t feel they need to be rewarded by their job but since you spend so much time there anyways, why not at least be doing something you somewhat enjoy?
2. Time to slaughter that resume! Maybe you have a nice resume that stands out to employers screaming, ” PICK ME!” And if you do, good for you! A lot of us need resume help and this is a good time to get some. I myself looked up resumes catered to the field I wanted to stay in and altered my own information as I saw fit. And then I turned it over to some blog friends who slaughtered it. Now, if you get sensitive ( like me), use this time for constructive criticism. No one is going to tear apart your resume because of you, but because they are looking at it with a different set of eyes, like a potential employer will. Be open to criticism and change what is suggested. Also, use friends who will be okay with giving you tough love to make you better and not just tell you what you want to hear. There is no time for that!
3. Delete! I think most of my readers, but not all, are early twenties to mid-thirties. In our early 20′s and beyond, a lot of us like to go out and live a little. Living a little can now seem like your living big thanks to social media networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. I live in Las Vegas and I’m very social thanks to my group of friends. Although we may not be partying hard all of the time, we do go out and enjoy ourselves and take photos. My profile on Facebook is blocked and so is my Twitter account. I do not want potential employers to Google me and have the misconception that I’m a lush and neither do you. Carefull check all settings on social media networks, delete or don’t post things that make you look crazy and Google yourself. You may be surprised what you find and can take care of it before your new boss sees.

Hopefully, these tips can prepare you for what’s about to come next – the job hunt!

Serendipity

Happy Mother’s Day! That’s me and my momzy circa 1986. My mom had an idea of taking me to Disneyland and this is us posing in front of Merlin’s Carousel. If I have children, I plan on seriously re-enacting this photo.

I wanted to go ahead and talk about financial/ life lessons my mom taught me ala Erika, thanks for the inspiration!

• Sometimes it pays to buy the good stuff first. My mom wasn’t the best bargain shopper. In fact, she quite often paid full price for very expensive things. She had champagne tastes, my mom and this expensive habit may have rubbed off on me. Instead od denying it, I let myself embrace it from time to time. I’ll do research on an item and make sure it’s a sound investment. I’d rather have something I’m going to enjoy and pay a little more than a cheap replacement.
• It’s important to be able to fend for yourself. My mom and dad separated a year before she passed away around Thanksgiving. Instead of letting me see her upset, she figured stuff out and showed me life goes on. She ended up legally separating from my father, received child support and alimony, still collected on her early retirement ( she was ill and was allowed to) and found other ways to make money. She played pool professionally which netted her income, helped others prepare legal documents with her paralegal background and took in roommates to help pay the bills. She was still able to fend for herself and didn’t depend on child support just in case my father couldn’t come through. This has taught me that it’s important to take care of my finances and earn a good living just in case. I mean, what if Rambo died or something?
• Be accepting of everyone, they may not know better. My mom had a really big heart. So do I. She taught me to be respectful of others and love them despite their shortcomings. They may not know better or may have had bad things happen to them in their life to make them like that. Although I do not allow myself to be treated poorly, I am still accepting of others and their mistakes.
• Make sure you always smell nice and do your makeup nicely. My mom was my idol when growing up when it came to looks. She got her hair done every month, her nails every week and always looked nice. She took insanely good care of her skin despite being ill and always looked put together. I look back on our old family photos and noticed she always looked nice, which I admire. I remember when I first started getting into beauty products, she sat down and showed me different makeup techniques. She always reminded me to smell nicely and do my makeup nicely. Wouldn’t you know, these are two things I get complimented on?
• Follow and stick up for what you believe in. My mom was a big believer in gay rights before it was cool. She was a faghag and I always remember having gay men around, so I never really knew that some people thought being gay was wrong until I was probably 8 and someone used a really offensive slur against a classmate. Confused, I asked my mom what it meant and she sat me down and explained things to me. She explained different viewpoints and told me to stick up for what you believe in, even when others are against it. That advice has stayed true for most of my adult life, from everything ranging my relationships to my own personal beliefs about religion. Although I won’t preach one way or another if no one wants to hear it, I stick up for what I believe in. And my mom would be proud. I’m probably a bigger faghag than she was.

All in all, I think my mom would be pleasantly surprised at the women I’ve become. My dad told me the other day that I was just like my mom, going off and telling people they were going to fix it whether they wanted to or not. You’re just like your mom, demanding to see results and change, my dad sighed. I smiled. I think she would have been proud.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom! I know your in heaven but I still love you! And Happy Mother’s Day to all of my readers!

Serendipity