A few notes on Sophie Kinsella

Before I start, let me preface this by saying I love everything I've ever read by Sophie Kinsella, and I own all of the Shopaholic books. Her characters are always relatable, to a point.

Girl in her mid to late twenties has moderately a sucky life, girl makes life changes, usually involving meeting some amazing and usually rich man, girl lives happily ever after. Right now, I would kill for the crap life her characters start out with, let alone the amazing and rich man. But I think that's why her books are so relatable, her leads are in the same place in life many of us are in. (Hello credit card debt?)

I would just like someone to write a book or tv show or movie or magazine article where the lead character doesn't have a glamorous lifestyle, she doesn't do anything crazy, or life changing, or doesn't fall in love, but in the end, her life is still awesome. Her life is still wonderful because of her family, pets and friends. Maybe no one would read or watch that, but it would be strangely reassuring for those of us who want to be happy with their lives as they are.

So, this is my message to Sophie Kinsella: Please keep writing your books exactly as they are. They give hope to the rest of us normal girls out there that a major change is just around the corner, and it could include an handsome new man, too.

$$$$$

When did the rumor start that all single people automatically had a ton of cash? That if you're not a parent or married, you're not struggling to keep money in the bank. When? Who?

Guess what all you married people with kids, single people have money trouble, too! In fact, we only have one income (unless we're working multiple jobs, but more about that later.)

A big issue married people are throwing in single people's faces is eating out. Guess what, most recipes serve like, 6 to 8 people or something like that. And restaurants usually portion things out into like, single or double servings. So we're eating out not because we can't or don't want to cook or save money, but because we want one burger, not four. Is it so much to ask that we can have different food every night, and not eat the same thing, or not pig-out on two dozen cookies when all we really want is one.

And this whole, you need to save money thing. Save what money? After rent, bills, and food, there is no money. Those great careers with amazing salaries, don't exist anymore. They've gone the way of the dinosaur.

Carrie Bradshaw and Helen Girly Brown made it look and sound so easy. But guess what, it isn't. I don't want Eurotrash friends or rich boyfriends financing my life. I want to do it my way, on my own, no strings attached. Money is a tough subject, and in today's world, it's even worse.

Credit Cards

My generation has financed our short pasts and risked our futures with credit cards and student loans. I am definitely not innocent of this, and it sucks.

We were told that we needed a college education, which turned into a bachelor's degree, which turned into a master's degree. We were told that we would only get jobs if we had theses degrees. As we neared collegiate age we were told that college was expensive, and our parents didn't save enough to pay. We weren't all smart enough to pay our way with scholarships, so most of us got student loans, most of which were from the government that educated us up to college.

And at the college, working for minimum wage or slightly above trying to buy pizza and beer and living off the refund of our student loans, and nice looking lady, someone who looks like our favorite aunt, came up to us in the student union and told us we could get a t-shirt or a free pizza if we just signed up for a credit card. You need a credit card to build your credit, so its a good thing. We'll give you a $3,000 limit, but if you only spend what you can, and pay it off, you'll be okay.

Damn that pizza was good, and $10,000 later with a 15% interest rate, that t-shirt is the nicest thing you own.

Credit is this scary thing that's catching up with us now. We're over-educated and underpaid and were planning on making more with our degree than we were when we started, so those "emergency" credit card purchases would be paid off. And now they don't want to hire us.

There are no jobs, or so it seems. We were told to spend, and now we're told not to. There are no fruits to our labor, because we have no labor.

Buying in Chicago

If you've visited Chicago in the past year and made a purchase, you've probably noticed our ridiculous sales tax rate. All purchases are subject to sales tax, which is 2.25% on grocery purchases, 10.25% on general merchandise and even more on liquor and bottled water (5¢/bottle). Which is crazy, because if you want to be healthier drinking water is one of the best things you can do for yourself and sometimes you either run out of the water you brought from home or forgot or didn't expect to be gone as long or what ever, my point is people don't always drink bottled water to be snobby but to hydrate themselves (who would have thought?)

But I digress, this isn't about bottled water, but about the general merchandise tax. The state of Illinois runs about 7% sales tax, and then Cook county adds most of the rest, which is 10% in the immediate suburbs. At a lower rate sales tax doesn't hurt that much and makes you feel like you're helping your state, but at 10% or higher, it really adds to the cost of a product. A $100 pair of jeans turns into a $110 pair of jeans. A recent purchase of $54.50 work pants and a $12.99 top added up to just under $75. It's kind of crazy to think about.

The car-less can make it out to many of these shopping centers in the 'burbs via CTA, but that doesn't save much tax-wise. Neighboring Wisconsin has a low sales tax rates and my native near-by Minnesota doesn't add sales tax to necessities like clothing and food.

But what if a trip just isn't possible? Don't leave home! When you shop online you are only charged state sales tax and many major online retailers offer shipping deals including low flat-rate shipping or free shipping. Go into the store and try on the clothing or check out the products you want, depending on the sales staff, they should be cool with this because in the long run, the money goes back to their company. If they're not just lie and say nothing worked, which really isn't a lie because, in the store, it doesn't work for your wallet. If you're not so good with remembering type a memo into your phone or write down the styles and sizes so you make sure you get the right products.

The next time you try on those awesome jeans, hold off, go home and check out the stores' website. If it doesn't save you money to buy online, they'll be there tomorrow.

Good luck!

The Right? Try the wrong!

I am so sick of conservative/right wing/Republican bull shit. I really don't understand what they're afraid of, a country that works?

I've written a lot about healthcare because it's something near and dear to my heart. I work at least 50 hrs/week at two different jobs, but I do not have decent healthcare. I have minimal emergency coverage through my dad's job that my parents pay for. I think I'm still a student as far as my dad's company is concerned.

I am well-educated. I'm not a slacker, I try my best to be a productive member of society. I pay my bills on time. But apparently, according to the aforementioned scum, I'm a horrible person. I rent, I don't have healthcare, I'm not married and popping out babies, I don't own a car or care to own a car. I am a liberal single woman, three things conservatives hate.

I'm sick of this Obama-is-Hitler-our-country-is-going-down-the-toilets-we're-all-gonna-die-he-hasn't-fixed-everything-yet-our-economy-is-horrible-the-unemployed-are-scum-unless-they-are-conservatives-at-which-point-they-were-robbed mentality that has overcome this country.

Use your brain and think before you allow yourself to be brainwashed by conservative garbage, please!

The Benefits of Brinner

Brinner, or Breakfast for Dinner, is amazing. First off, how often do you get to eat good breakfast food in the morning? If you're like me, it's very rare. I'm lucky if I wake up with enough time to have a bowl of cereal and a piece of fruit, most morning it's one or the other. Point B) if you're like me, you only get time to cook one meal a day, and that's usually supper. Example 3: Breakfast is usually cooked one serving at a time, which means that you get a fresh meal every night, rather than a reheated hotdish.

To keep it from being too filling, pick one breakfast dish like pancakes of eggs, skip the heavy meats like bacon and pork sausage (but if you must indulge, go with the turkey version) and top the rest off with fruit or veggies. If you like your eggs yellow, but still want to cut calories, add one yolk, but toss the rest into your scrabbled eggs or omelette. Do you love cheese as much as I do? Get the 2% milk version to top your eggs with.

Pancakes and fresh grapes, amazing! Eggs and all the cantaloupe you can eat? The best supper ever.

Brinner is also great to cook for a couple of friends, it's super easy and always appreciated.

The Golden Girls

I've been watching the Golden Girls a lot lately, and they really embody the single girl spirit. Even though they all were married, they learned to live without men as protectors and bread winners. Three of the "Girls" were widdowed, but Dorothy was divorced.

It's hard to continue your life as normal after a break-up. A major part of your life is suddenly ripped out of your life, and minimal to no contact is preferred. It's hard, and you cry and you either eat way too much or don't eat anything and normal doesn't exist until you rebuild.

Now imagine that you've built your whole life with someone, not just a few months or a few years but your whole life. And you don't just break up with someone, they die. The person you love will never be back. That's what the Golden Girls is about.

They are strong female role models and I think young twenty-somethings can take a page from their book. No matter what happens in life, you must march on, and great friends are a key support.