The title of this post, I must dedicate to my boyfriend, who is oddly obsessed with the Carousel of Progress. The reason for this dedication must be that he's coming into Houston do visit me! He got his tickets last night and will be here in 22 days! I'm very excited! So anyways...
Angela, from MN, had some wonderful questions about the program that I wanted to share with everyone.
First of all, did you fly to Florida from Texas or drive?
I drove, and I recommend that anyone who has a car that they can bring with them, to bring it. There is a bus system that will take you to and from work, the mall, and Walmart, but they aren't the most reliable means of transportation. Sometimes they show up early, sometimes they leave early, and sometimes they don't show up at all. So guys if you have a car, bring it. If you have to use the bus system, make sure you leave for the bus earlier than you need to be there.
And what large items will I need to bring?
As for large items, I brought with me a set of plastic drawers. I recommend any one with a lot of stuff or a lot of clothes to get one of these. You can get them at any Walmart or Target, so if you want to buy them in Florida, you can. Also, when you find your roommate, decide which of you is bringing the TV (don't forget the cable cord!). You only need one per room, so if your roommate doesn't have a TV, you may want to consider bringing one. You may end up putting your TV in the living room if no one else brought one. Don't forget the DVD player too! Besides that, I really didn't bring any large items. I brought clothes (you'll need it for cooler weather as well as hot weather), my bedding, toiletries, stuff for the kitchen (like dishwashing soap, dish towels, and for me an ice tea maker), my favorite pictures in frames, a small bulletin board, my DVDs, DVD player and a TV. I also brought by Wii with me, but I played it maybe twice the whole time I was down there. I severely over packed my last program, and I plan to bring a lot less this next program. Extra blankets for the living room is a must, unless you want to haul around your comforter every time you get cold, and I brought throw pillows for my couch which were very helpful. Also, one of my roommates brought a foldable butterfly chair. This isn't needed, but it was nice to have an extra seat when we had friends over.
My parents say "pack light" and not bring the bulletin boards and movies that I want for my room since I will only be living there for seven months. They also think that I will not be spending much time in the apartment and do not need to decorate, what do you think?
I agree you should pack light, but then again 7 months is over half a year! You won't need or have room for all your office supplies, 12 towels, 20 wash rags, every bit of makeup you've ever owned, and all the clothes you own. I think you should go through your clothes and don't bring anything you know you won't wear. If you think you'll only wear it once, I wouldn't bring it either. You're sharing a closet and bathroom with someone so keep that in mind. Now, as for the bulletin board and DVDs, I say bring them. You're only allowed one bulletin board per person per bedroom; so only bring one with you. As for the DVDs, bring the ones you know you'll watch. We had movie nights 3 or 4 times a week in my apartment, and sometimes we had movie days too. So DVDs are really a good idea. It is true you won't be spending all your time in the apartment. You'll be working a lot, but for the first few months you get there, the parks will close at around 8. So, unless you want to sit around and be bored or go out and party every night, you'll need a few things for amusement, like your TV, maybe your favorite board game and a deck of cards. As for decorations, the rules of the apartments you will be living in does not allow more than "two holes" per wall. That means, one bulletin board per person in your room, maybe one shared bulletin board in the common areas, and maybe a clock on a wall in the kitchen. (You can have more, but once a month they inspect the apartments, so you'll have to take it down and put it away for inspections) So for decorating, keep it to a minimum. Only bring your favorite stuff that can go on your bulletin board or on your half of the dresser space. I kept my favorite framed pictures on my half of the dresser and my jewelry box. My TV took up part of the space of the dresser too. So for decorations, pack light.
Also, how much money did you end up spending on food, souvenirs and other activities while you were there? When the semester was over did you at least make more money than you spent?
First thing about money, when you get here, make sure you have money for at least 2 weeks of living. You will get very small paychecks the first two weeks. The first week because you won't be working very long, and the second week because they deduct double rent since in the first week you don't make enough money to deduct rent. You'll need grocery money, money to go out to dinner at least once, any money for souvenirs you want, gas money (if you have a car), and a little extra for unknown expenses. I spent about $150 on necessities that I didn't bring with me from home (including groceries, shampoo, soap, that kinda thing), and kept $200 with me for the 2 weeks I was there. You can definitely make it on less money, just be careful about your spending.
I'm going to try and break down the money situation as best as possible during my stay. I personally have a good handle on my money, so I kept my spending to a minimum.
My average paycheck was anything from $170-200, depending on the week. Sometimes you'll make more than that. It also depends on any premiums you get for working in certain locations, but that will all be explained when you get there.
$50.00 a week- Groceries
$40.00 a week- Gas
$75.00 a week- Other food/shopping for the week (this one I'm over estimating, sometimes I
wouldn't buy anything, and sometimes I'd buy a lot depending on how often I went out and if I went clothes/souvenir shopping.
Total expenses for the week: $165.
So on average I saved anywhere from $5-35 a week. Some weeks I saved over $50 and some weeks I saved less, depending on what I did that week. One week all my roommates and I took a mini vacation to Siesta Keys and I spent a lot more than I normally did, but we had been planning it for a while, so I saved my money for that adventure.
When I came home from the program I had almost $200 saved.
But as I said earlier, spending depends on the person. You do get paid every Thursday, so remember that when trying to figure out how much to save or spend each week.
I hope this helped you Angela as well as all my other readers. I hope everyone has a Zip-a-Dee Doo-Dah day!
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