so i'm sitting at my dining room table in my apartment that i am absolutely in love with and that is absolutely way more than i can afford but whatever i make it work!

how to "make it work" in an apartment you cannot afford:

1. no cable - for me this was easy because i don't watch tv other than basketball. i wasn't always not into tv but once you don't have it saying that becomes much easier, mainly because you have no choice. plus saying "i don't have cable because i don't watch tv" makes me feel super sophisticated and adult like rather than "i don't have cable because if i did i wouldn't have a roof over my head to watch it because i can't afford both" right? and in all honesty not having cable was really not that bad! plus there is always netflix...well not always because the next tip...

2. no internet - internet and cable pretty much come hand in hand and when you take away cable the damn company tells you for just $10 more a month you can have cable and the internet and it becomes this whole back and forth battle and then you remember "what good is internet if i don't have an apartment". i wish that not having lights was an option because who needs lights during the day and at night there are candles (so romantic even if you're single and alone every fucking night) and then you sleep the rest of the time. but unfortunately with lights comes power and well i'm not giving up my curling iron; i'm no premadonna, but my hair is all i got going, i'm missing a tooth (i'll explain later) and i have no clue how to use makeup (thanks mom)! but don't worry there are ways around it, you know that neighbor that has "linksys" network with no password...yeah make sure you say "thank you neighbor" :)

3. go on dates - now this one can easily back fire unfortunately (i will get into that another time) so choose wisely!

okay now is "another time" because i have to vent: i'm the farthest thing from a gold digger; trust me that's probably why i'm broke i always pull out my damn wallet and rarely does my hand get smacked away therefore i pay...sorry sorry like i said i'll talk about that another day.

okay but really dates can be a great help! dates usually consist of a meal and activity, use that meal ticket! groceries are costly and when spending so much money on rent sometimes you can't always afford that grocery store trip. so while a few missed meals is great for that early morning flat ab (you know what i'm talking about, when you wake up in the morning after a night of not eating dinner and you look at yourself in the mirror and your gut is significantly smaller and you just want to parade around in a bikini and say "look at me and my flat stomach" but then the second you look at food it's right back to normal...well yeah that!) a girls gotta eat! which brings me to the next how to make it work tip...

4. cereal and lactose milk -
don't judge me quite yet hear me out first! cereal is the cheapest, yummiest, and at times healthiest meal you can have in the house! one box of cereal can last at least a week (and that's having it every single day for at least 2 meals a day) think about it a box of cereal is about $4 (get special k it's a $4 diet in a box, "guaranteed to drop a jean size in 2 weeks" hello that's awesome, i couldn't get that starving myself and working out 3 times a day. now for the milk...lactose milk is the way to go! lactose milk has like double the life than regular milk so you really get your money's worth so that's another let's say $4, i can't even tell you how many gallons of milk i've thrown out because they expired before i met lactose milk. i have my ex to thank for my lactose milk discovery at least i have something to thank him for; he made me lactose intolerant! like he was lactose intolerant and when we broke up he left me with that shit...he didn't leave me with a puppy, or a the car, or an apartment nope he left me lactose intolerant...he took dairy away from me...bastard. i know people say its not contagious but seriously it kind of is think about girls; when they spend a lot of time with each other they start pmsing and getting their period at the same time their bodies adjust to one another soooo the same thing applies here. i spent so much time with his lactose intolerant ass that when we broke up i was left with that shit! but i'm thankful because now i know about lactose milk and i can make it work in a sick apartment because of the money i'm saving on my cereal and lactose milk diet.

5. workout dvds - gyms in nyc run you for a good $80 a month, which equals like $20/hr because let's be honest people (and by people i mean me) only go like once a week and get a real good run in that gets them super pumped for the rest of the week but then an awesome happy hour opportunity arises and we (and by we i mean me) forget all about that motivation. so, when it came time to cutting expenses to "make it work" with my lovely apartment the gym was the first thing to go! but i couldn't not workout at all so i spent $9.99 on itunes for the jilian michaels "30 day shred" video and the one time that i did it for like 10 days straight i started to feel pretty sexy (granted it was winter and i was wearing support control tights, but regardless i felt great)! then, one night (well morning 4am) while in my hotel room in colorado during a work trip i woke up to an infomercial for the malibu pilate machine (they were doing pilates on a pool on the beach overlooking mountains in bikinis with amazing tans and no rolls...dirty play!) so i called in and bought it! the one 30 minute workout i did was awesome, 10 months later i've yet to open the other 3 dvds but whatever. my latest craze is my hula hoop omg i'm so good at it! i throw on some beyonce and hula hoop my butt away, that was fun i think i did it twice. so you see why waste money at the gym, i'll have nothing to show for so instead invest in something to show for: an at home gym! it's less than a real gym, makes for great instagram pictures, they're awesome conversation pieces, and i'm convinced my pilates machine can easily double for something that will enhance my life in some sense one day god willingly.

oh i almost forgot why i was actually writing this piece "packing with no place to go" i'm literally packing up my apartment because my lease is up in 6 days and i don't have a place to move to yet. freaking credit score is killing me, i cant get approved for a damn apartment. but what's really killing me is that i'm trying to move to an urban area where the rent will be a fraction of what i pay now so i can potentially have cable, internet, not have to go on awful dates, eat breakfast for breakfast only, and well the at home gym stays because i own a freaking pilates machine now but i can't because my credit isn't good enough. so cool the guy in the apartment next to the one i want is a drug dealer but has good credit so he's good. bullshit!

share your "how to make it work" tips with me!

my happy place. check out that classy decor: blow pop wine stopper and vokda filled wine racks

so in love with my view of nyc (the bronx is considered nyc so shh)! <3

at home gym: pilates, hula hoop, and 30 day shred dvd...golden!

jacqueline solivan