10 ways to use your gap year to its full potential

'I'm not sure what I'll do, but -well, I want to go places and see people. 

I want my mind to grow. I want to where things happen

on a big scale.

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Much like the poem by Robert Frost where he detailed the fork in the roads that we find on lifes journey. Many graduates take the road that lead to a career right after their graduation, some already have plans to attend graduate school soon after, others are unsure and they stand at that fork not knowing which way to go. Perhaps, it isn't a fork, but another path to choose. I chose the latter, I stood  at that fork unsure of what I wished for in the immediate future. Although I did not have any plans for the immediate future, I have spent my gap year making plans and trying out new things. New paths opened up for me, and I learned new things -things I wouldn't have learned if I took the other 2 paths.
This list is the things I have been doing to during my gap year to make sure it is a year of achievement and new experiences.


1. Travel - There are hidden gems all over the world, and you can find them if you search for them. The best part is that some are in your own backyard.

2. Craft - Now, Pinterest is a huge site that caters to this hobby. I've always loved to craft and paint, but during my undergrad I did not have a lot of time to do those things. I can now take the time.

3. Plan my future - To a certain extent. I have recently been thinking of what I want to do for the rest of my life. So far everything is falling into place and I couldn't be more excited.

4. Start an adult job - I have recently come across the opportunity of a career that could open doors for me. So we'll see where that goes.

*phew I have to come up with more?!?!*

5. Apply for graduate school

6. Realize you have to pay for graduate school

7. Start saving for graduate school

8. Realize that I luckily have one of those adult jobs

9. Make lists

10. Catch up on some sleep lost during the undergraduate years.

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Saving Goals

Just about everywhere there are bloggers giving out financial advice on how to save for the new year. Prices are inflating rapidly while pay is remaining quite stagnant, unfortunately. So saving is becoming more difficult since more of your hard earned money is going to pay for your commodities, but because of this, it is a time when saving is crucial. Saving for that rainy day when your windshield wipers stop working when it is pouring rain (true story, that happened to me, was not fun). Although I met a cute guy but that is besides the point. How should you save?

For me, I can only do small increments. There is that one saving tip where you put in a jar, the week of the year. So week 1 is one dollar, week 16 is 16 bucks, etc etc. You get the general idea. I called upon the math I learned while at university and calculated that if you do this method, you'll have saved over 1300 bucks. Whoa. I think I need to do that.

My savings route involves me only using cash and whatever ones and change I gain through spending, I put in a jar. I never know how much I truly would earn at the end of the year through this method, since I use it for emergencies. But, it helps me through emergencies so that means it is a good method, right?

Okay, we all have goals, saving money is for both rainy days and for non-rainy days (traveling). You know, whatever catches your fancy or necessity or both. I decided to make a list on what one should save for, I am not a financial adviser by any means, but it works for me.

1. Travel - I want to go to Savannah, GA. I'll start closer to home, ya know. I live a days trip away and I have never been out there. Have a separate jar for it.

2. New car - There's a jar for that.

You thought I was kidding, weren't you?

3. For those of you planning on signing for a student loan, behave like it is a mortgage. PUT . A. DOWN. PAYMENT. ON. IT. It isn't the same thing but if you save money for your education, your loan will be a lot smaller. I see  a lot of my friends struggling with theirs and they say they wish they saved money before signing for one. I cannot stress this enough, I have recommended it to all of my younger cousins and their friends. I did a thesis on this topic, I read a lot of sad stories of kids struggling with huge loans and the interest tacking on to the total. Save yourself some heartache, start saving for it or work in college and save to pay it off.

4. Do you need your tooth fixed?

5. Going to grow old eventually?

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What would I do differently?

I am most likely going to Europe this summer to complete a program similar to the one I completed this past summer. This is a list assuming most everything I experienced will be similar, what will I do differently.

Clothing:

1.  1. I would pack less work clothes and more play clothes. I did the opposite this past summer and I wished I had more clothes to travel with because I don't wear big tees on the regular basis. 
   
2. I would bring a smaller suitcase so I could have the option of traveling around, either that or find it a place to leave it. Unfortunately a lot of airports do not have that option anymore, some bus and train stations still do though.
3. I would bring less clothes as a whole, so I could buy clothes over there because I found some good deals and things I liked but I didn't had hardly any weight room available.
4. Bring clothes for different seasons, I sorely wished I brought shorts with me.

Food:

1. I would bring peanut butter with me and ritz crackers. The food is expensive on top of the exchange rate. My friends and I wanted to 'eat the culture in' when traveling but it got to hurt our wallets. They give a lot of food but a lot of the places we ate at didn't allow 'doggy bags'. I also don't remember ever seeing kids meals.
2. IN MODERATION- Not eat and drink as much as I did daily. It was neither easy on the wallet nor my waistline.
3. Find cheaper options to eat because you still need to think about the exchange rate depending on your home country.
   

Travel:

1. Don't plan so much- This past summer I learned this, because I was saying how I will be here x amount of days/hours. That really never happened.
2. Although if you are planning on traveling on a Friday, buy the ticket so it isn't so expensive. I was going to go to Edinburgh and I was waiting the entire time for the night before to buy a ticket to anywhere. When I went to buy a ticket to Edinburgh it jumped from 85 pounds to near 200 pounds. I had to give up that portion of the trip.

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8 Saving Techniques

Now I am a college student on a limited income, so I have to try and make my dollar stretch.

1. Try and make a budget- Write down what you spend everyday in a notebook or in an excel spreadsheet. You will see over time where your money is going and where to cut down.

2. Pay attention into what pits you are throwing your money into- I realized that I was going out to eat way to often and buying a lot of coffee. Slowly I began to make my own coffee and making my own food at home. 

3. Use only cash!- Credit cards for emergencies but use cash, because once it's gone it is gone. 

4. Save your change- Have a jar that you put your small change in everyday. If you follow number 3 then you will always have change left over, just put that in that jar and count it when you decide too.

5. Pay-as-you-go phones- Last year my contract was up and I was  in the market for a new phone. After shopping around and doing my budget. I realized I could afford an iPhone, but I didn't want to pay for it. So I decided to get a go-phone and I pay 35 bucks a month for unlimited text, data and (I think) 150 mins. Now it isn't ideal and I sometimes wish I had a new smartphone, but I realized that it is a want and not a necessity. 

6. Necessity vs Want- I remember a conversation I had with my father when I was a freshman, I told him that I 'needed' this purse. He corrected me and told me that I 'wanted' that purse, I can survive without it and I did. With that being said you must evaluate the necessities and wants in your life.

7. Put a portion of your weekly income away into savings.

8. Set goals for yourself.

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10 Tips for College Freshman

I will be making a video about this but I wanted to write it down first. Now this semester I have a class where the majority are freshman and I see them making some mistakes that I have learned not to make over the years. So these are my tips that I have learned from my undergraduate years.

1: Ratemyprofessors.com- It's a great resource when you're a freshman or sophomore and still have multiple sections and professors to choose from for a single class. Also helps you figure out what the class will be like.

2. Slugbooks.com - This site compares prices of textbooks. Personally I like half.ebay.com and I always buy my textbooks from them. Now because of ratemyprofessor I can look up if the professor uses the book so I can buy the book ahead of time for the cheapest price possible. Now you can watch the savings come rolling in!

Now when your dorm AC isn't working you can use your money to fan yourself!

3. Go to office hours- professors don't care about you if they don't know you, it is the simple truth. Also if your plan is to go to some sort of postgraduate school you will need some recommendation letters. Those professors who know you as a person and not just a grade are most likely to write you some awesome recommendation letters.

4. Use a planner- learn to use it for time management, you will need to use those skills when you're a Junior or Senior.

Even comes with stickers!

5. Stop wearing your high school sweaters, shirts. Everyone will know you're a freshman and you're in a new chapter of your life; you won't need to live in the past.

6. Join a club, organization or go greek- Universities are huge and it's easier to make friends in organizations because most people wear headphones and sunglasses when walking around campus or on the bus. Also this helps find future roommates, I have heard too many horror stories of kids having to resort to Craigslist or a roommate match up.

Nobody messes with my clique.

7. Learn to cook and eat somewhat healthy- Freshman 15/30/50 exists.

An example of not what to eat on the daily.

8. Do not be that one kid who gets overly drunk at parties- Learn your limits and don't go past them.

9. Break out of your shell- Try new things, even I did Army ROTC for sometime.


Last but not least

10. GO TO CLASS- All this money  is being shelled out for your education. Don't be that one kid who had no idea there was an exam. You'll need all those A's to keep your GPA up when you're in 3000 or 4000 courses. Also don't take all of your elective classes your freshman and sophomore years, you'll need those to make the course load easier when you're in your core classes.

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Updating twice in a day. Whoa!

So I am updating twice in a day because I have important news for everyone! A very good friend of mine just started his own blog here on blogspot (http://thefloridarider.blogspot.com/). He is awesome, former Navy, a motorcycle aficionado. He is pretty much going to post about these topics and other topics that would come to mind. All that would help in daily life, tips and such. I actually can't wait until he posts pictures or videos of his rides!

I plan on having him as a guest poster, so you will be seeing him everyone once in a while.

Anyways,
Love y'all

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Ways to study for the GRE

There are 3 ways

Number 1: actually studying, not fun! Most helpful.

Número dos: through osmosis. Not helpful.
- Book doubles as an umbrella!

Numéro trois: to cry while holding the book. Least helpful of all.
- Allows you to channel all of your broken hopes and dreams unto a book.

Well to all of studying. Good Luck!

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