Okaaaayyy. So I've been a California resident for a little over a year now, and I can't express how much my life has changed in the past 14 months. To start, I just called myself a California resident, which is crazy enough, but it gets better!! Let's start at the beginning...
14 months ago (August 24th 2014) I hopped off a plane at LAX with a dream and a cardigan. Well, I wasn't wearing a cardigan, but there were definitely a few in my 6 suitcases I carried across the airport. Yeah. I did that. I don't recommend it. Especially since the only person helping me was my sister who couldn't be bothered to carry more than 2...and one of them was her own. I then had to carry all 6 up 3 flights of stairs to my apartment. Again, DON'T recommend it. However,I probably saved a couple hundred dollars doing it this way so maybe I do recommend it. Personal preference, I guess.
Like most actors that move to Southern California, I had about $2,500 saved in my bank account for the big move. I knew I wasn't gonna make it big in a few months, but I figured that would be a good start. Boy was I wrong. I went through that in about a month and a half. Keep in mind I was only 18 at the time and I never had to buy my own groceries or pay for my own gas before, so I didn't really know how to budget my money. But man that money burned a hole in my pocket and there's not a day that goes by that I don't wish I didn't eat out so much my first few months. But since then, I HAVE learned how to budget my money and while I still haven't figure out how to save it, I think I'm doing pretty good.
I've also become reaaallyy independent since moving here. I'm not scared to go anywhere by myself anymore (besides LA at night, I've yet to do that and I'm not stupid enough to try it). Instead of being self conscious about being alone, I've learned to embrace and have found that doing things by yourself comes with a lot of perks. I've learned so much about myself this past year and can't wait to see what my next year brings me. So instead of just living and forgetting the little things, I've decided to put my journey out in the open, not just for myself, but for other people like me. I hope I can provide good advice to all the LA newbies and maybe I can learn even more by interacting with all of you cray crays that have been here longer than me. So I hope you enjoy my journey, I know I will.
