Saturday, November 26, 2011

1 Minute Kahlua Brownie in a Cup

I have the worst sweet tooth of all time. OF ALL TIME. I love cake like a fat kid loves cake. As a child this love did in fact contribute to me being a fat kid. And while there's nothing wrong with being fat (or chubby!) in any way that's not really a place I want to go back to.

I've battled with my sweet desires as best I can. For instance, after Girls Night I force any left over sweets on my friends. Most of them live with husbands/boyfriends so the sugar can be split evenly where as in my case if I take a pan of brownies home all of them will be shoved into my gaping mouth hole. Another key tactic is to just not buy the junk, if there is a pint of ice cream in the freezer I will eat it all.

Unfortunately I can't be strong all of the time but there are ways to get a sugar fix without busting my pants! A few years ago I discovered the most beautiful thing in the world: Single serving brownie in a mug ready in one minute. So perfect. So simple. Now instead of trying to portion out a pan of brownies when a craving hits I can just make one brownie and enjoy!

Recipe
    1 T Vegetable oil
    1 T Water
    dash salt
    1 T Unsweetened cocoa powder
    2 T Granulated sugar
    2 T Flour
**The recipe at the link has the portions doubled and also has vanilla but I prefer a smaller portion (sometimes) and no vanilla.

Now, if you've been following this blog I'm sure you know booze helps me through most of life. Not that my life is particularly hard but anyone who spends as much time as I do on hold with Wells Fargo needs some fucking liquor. That is why I, in all my glory and wisdom, have improved the wonderful Brownie in a Cup recipe.

Kahlua Brownie in a Cup
    1 T Vegetable oil
    1 T Kahlua (or more, you know, for flavor and shit)
    dash salt
    1 T Unsweetened cocoa powder
    2 T Granulated sugar
    2 T Flour

So wonderful and goes nicely with Pour Girls Kahlua Cocoa:
Soy Milk
Kahlua
Cocoa
Enough marshmallows to kill a man

I find booze-y sweets very nice as I sit in my apartment and contemplate breaking up with my boyfriend and possible crying....a lot. Ah, the joys of my mid-twenties.

I don't want this post to end on such a sour/sad note so here is a picture that gets me through hard times:

Have you ever seen anything so wonderful????


Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Wells Fargo is Mind Fucking Me

So after weeks of pure hell trying to deal with Wells Fargo it looks like I might finally get my loans consolidated. YAY, right? NOPE. It appears that Wells Fargo is the king of mind fucks. Seriously, I doubt anyone could touch the bull shit this bank has put me and my family through.

If you remember my original loan monthly payment was $821. My new monthly re payment is......* Drum roll*


Yep, $748.68!! A whooping saving of $72.32. After weeks of tears and stress and ulcers that kept me up at night it's all worth it because I saved less than a hundred-fucking-dollars. Don't worry it gets better.

As it turns out I have a special relationship with Wells Fargo. So special that I get a MASSIVE discount of 0.250%. All along I thought Wells Fargo was fucking me out of hate and spite but it's clear they're fucking up my life out of love.

I always thought I was good at math but after looking at this bank statement it's clear that I know nothing about numbers. I borrowed around $80,000 which is somehow $91,000 and then $91,000 equals $224,000. SUPER. I could have gotten a better deal with the mob. The original amount of $821 a month projected I end up paying around $147,000...how did consolidation make it worse????

I fucking hate this whole thing. I should have never gone back to school, the increase I get in pay with another degree will never equal what I will pay out in a life time. I feel like I will never escape this debt. It feels like a punishment, a life sentence of stress. I'd have an easier time trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. It's to the point I'm starting to think crazy thoughts, like, maybe I should do porn or nude photos. So glad I got a great education that can only be paid back through whore-dom. Also, throwing myself in front of a city bus or maybe black mailing a politician. Both equally appealing at this point in my life. Charging my boyfriend for sex? SEEMS REASONABLE. Rob a casino a la Oceans Eleven? TOTALLY DOABLE.

I'm emailing friends asking if they know about jobs, I'm picking up shifts at my old work, I'm trolling Craigslist like a fiend. I just want to live in world where re-paying my student loans doesn't mean killing myself with work or having to live the life of a pauper.

Since there's nothing I can do about this bullshit (at least at this point and time) I'm going to use the last hours of my day off to drown myself in a bottle of skunk wine and television. Also, eventually brownies. And yes, I did say skunk wine. I have to drink old skunk-y wine because I can't afford a $5 bottle of Yellow Tail.


Thursday, November 10, 2011

Awesome Week Rap-Up

So Fun Fun Fun Fest was a blast. I wasn't able to attend Sunday but the shows on Friday and Saturday were amazing. The tickets were around $160 for the 3 day fest (purchased before my financial crisis....or sort of at the beginning....the line up was totally worth breaking out my credit cards).

Despite the hefty ticket price I didn't spend that much money. I transferred $50 from my Pay Pal account to fund whatever I might need. It was nice to know that I had earned enough money through re-selling to fund some fun. The fest was located downtown and I was worried about the parking situation. I found out that my job provides free parking at a garage downtown so for the two days that I went I didn't pay anything for parking and I only had to walk a block to the show. My tummy's been on the fritz all week so I wasn't craving a ton of alcohol which was good because booze was hella expensive. A 24 oz can of beer was $9 :(

So giant in my tiny, tiny hand.

The crowd was giant and the line up was amazing.


The crowd behind me at M83.


The crowd in front of me at M83.


Sno Cone heaven.


The Damned closing out the night on Saturday.

After Fun Fun Fun I didn't think my week could get any better or be topped in any way. Then my girlfriends surprised me with a sweet Dia de los Muertes themed birthday party.

Tres Leches cake.


The amazing spread.

So my week has been amazing. I have great friends and I'm eating left over cake for lunch. I still haven't heard anything about a second job which is upsetting but I'll figure it out. Jewelry sales have been steady and good, I'm not rich but I'm getting good reviews and that makes me happy. I'll probably order a few more pieces and really push hard for Christmas. Life is really good.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

I'm exhausted but I'm only on day five of a eight day work week. I would complain but I'm working this long so I can attend Friday and Saturday of Fun Fun Fun. PARTY.

ALSO: Homemade Halloween Ice Cream:





You can find the recipe for my homemade ice cream in this post :)

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Life and Loans

Married to the Sea only speaks the truth.

Wells Fargo is the bank that holds my student loans. Long story short I didn't qualify for federal student loans so I had to get private bank loans. About a week or so ago I received a letter saying my payments were set at $821 a month. Cue crying. Lots and lots of crying.

I called and tried to explain my situation and Wells Fargo did a really great job of not giving a fuck. They told me the only way to lower the payments was to consolidate. So I tried and got denied. They asked for a co-signer. My mom and I got denied. They asked for ANOTHER cosigner. My mom, my dad, and I got denied. They asked if I could ask some friends. I told them I don't know anyone without debt. My parents and I all have credit scores in the 750+ range and yet we still didn't qualify for any help. Supposedly Wells Fargo wants my money but they sure are being dicks about how they take it. I can make payments of around $300 a month and that apparently isn't good enough.

I won't lie this whole process made me pretty depressed. Whenever I start feeling this way I allow myself one epic evening of pity party fun. I went out and bough a stuffed crust supreme pizza, hot wings, and peanut butter cup ice cream. I drank whiskey and stuffed my face and felt so sorry for myself. I cried. I ate. Cried some more. I got pretty drunk and watched animal videos on youtube. I got every ounce of self pity out so the next morning I could get to work.

The next morning I started looking for a second job. While it may suck I know it's possible to work the job that I currently do and have other employment. My lead does it and in my mind she's a superstar. She works TWO full time jobs and goes to school for her masters. If she can do it, I can do it. I used to be a barista so I dropped off a few applications (I got a call back today for an interview, fingers crossed it works out). If I can't find new employment I can always pick up shifts at my old job. Either way, I'm working more. I called Wells Fargo back to see how much money I would have to make to qualify for consolidation (I was told one of the reasons we were denied was because the debt to income ratio was too high).

I was told that not only was my debt to income ratio too high but that since I had only been at my job for a month that I didn't have a long and stable work history. I told the guy that I had been at my last job since 2006 and I was technically on the payroll and still worked some shifts. He ended up crunching a few numbers and just that small fact lowered my payment by $200 bucks. He told me to have my dad re-submit his information because maybe he forgot to include the contract jobs that he sometimes does and we could finally qualify.

So, here's the thing that I don't understand. The fact that I made more money than originally thought LOWERED my payments. How does that work? Shouldn't it be the fact that I'm broke as fuck and don't have an extra $800 that lowers my payments? If I had more income I should be expected to pay more. It's like when places like Baskin Robbins or KFC give celebrities life time free cards. You know, the same celebrities who make millions and millions and can afford a $5.99 meal. Companies should be giving poor and hungry families life time free cards but that's not how it works. While I've somewhat known it all along the system is really set up to fuck the poor. Fuck them good and hard. All I want to do is pay back my loan and still be able to eat food and have electricity and Wells Fargo is making it close to fucking impossible.

I already told the guy I will call back every day until my loans get consolidated. EVERY DAY. Sold a piece of jewelry on Ebay? Better call because that $5 sale could lower my payment. Get this job as a barista? Gonna call so I can get closer to qualify. I got all of the sadness and the tears out of my system and now all that's left is piss and vinegar. Wells Fargo doesn't know who they are fucking with. As God is my witness my loans WILL BE consolidated and my payment WILL be lowered to a reasonable amount.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Sellin'

I just sold my first piece of jewelry on Ebay. While I know it's not that big of a deal I'm all like:



Ballin