So I’m going to be honest here, I absolutely intended to update this after 30 days of ownership but I got carried away and now….well, here we are! I have had possession of my Tesla Model 3 for over 2 months now and I am ready to spill the good, the great, the bad and the ugly.

I also got my car wrapped, so my once-red Tesla is now an overbearingly obnoxious hot pink. Pepto pink, Barbie Pink, Mary Kay pink.. whatever, you get the picture and I’ve heard it all. As gorgeous as the Multi-coat red was, it wasn’t totally me so I got it wrapped in a colour that I feel suited me more. (lets not forget the added protection that wraps offer.)

The Great
1. Not. Pumping. Gas
2. Speed – I have never a driven a car that is as fast or powerful as the Tesla Model 3.
3. Handling – the car hugs every twist and turn beautifully and I feel so in control. I love how in tune the handling is and it’s a damn smooth ride.
4. No rattling engine noise.
5. Car is always on so you can jump in and go.
6. Sentry mode is amazing (when it properly works) and gives you peace of mind.
7. Touch screen is super handy and incredibly easy to get used to, a total game charger for car interiors and makes knobs and buttons a thing of the past.
8. The heating/cooling system – I love the air blades and how easy it is to control them and how fast the AC kicks in.
9. The over all body of the car is beautiful.
10. Sound system. Honestly, sound is so incredibly crisp and amazing. I think any audiophile will be incredibly happy with the immersive sound system.
11. The fact your car ONLY gets better with time with all of the updates.
12. Head turner.
13. Smoothest ride of your life.
14. Never having to take it in for maintenance or care about oil changes.
15. All of the USB ports!
16. ALL SEATS ARE HEATED.
17. The amazing view you get from the all-glass roof. It allows so much light in which makes the car seem that much more open
18. How you can set Easy-Entry profiles so it adjusts mirrors, steering wheel and seat height/position automatically for you as you get in and out of your car.
19. How in tune all of the sensors are to cars and objects around you.
20. Not having any instrument panels in front of you allows a nice big and wide view out the windshield.

The Good

1. Full Self Driving – This feature is amazing and ultra handy especially on long highway drives or when you’re tired and less alert. It’s also fantastic when traffic is a tad hectic because it keeps you sane and prevents you from rear ending anyone so that’s pretty coo’.
2. Interior – I really like the overall simplicity of the Tesla Model 3, it’s clean cut, minimalist and has the look and feeling of a high quality car. The seats are easy to clean and as long as you keep a pack of baby wipes on hand, you can keep it pretty darn tidy at all times.
3. Apps and features – One of my favourite things to do with my friends and guests who have never been in a Tesla before, is to show them all of the cool bells and whistles the Model 3 has to offer – like the fireplace, sketch pad, fart sounds and Atari games. Sadly, I never actually really use these features for myself but they are still fun to show off.
4. The Auto-Windshield wipers – I love when it starts to rain, the sensors kick in and turn on the wipers. They also can detect how heavy the rain is and increase their speed accordingly. Pretty handy in my opinion and it is fairly accurate, too.
5. How easy it is to just plug in at night and have a “full gas tank” essentially every day. I love getting into my car every morning and knowing I don’t have to hit up any gas stations or check for prices. Only time I ever have to think about charging is when I go on long road trips or somewhat long round trips – whenever that happens, I just have to look up destination / Superchargers in that area.
6. Self-Parking and ease-of-use cameras – I rarely use the self parking feature but I have tried it out a few times and I have to say it’s especially handy for those who struggle to reverse-park into spaces. It takes all the guess work out for you and literally parks itself. The extra large screen displaying the back up camera also helps to back in and out of spaces as well, especially since it displays the distance between your car and whatever object you’re near. I have a short driveway so I have to back up close to my garage door – I always make sure I am no more or less than 30cm from my garage door so this feature is super handy.
7. Being able to educate others and share my excitement – Everywhere I go I have people stopping me to ask about my car – sometimes they are interested in purchasing one, sometimes they are just car enthusiasts or maybe they are just misinformed about EV’s. Either way, I love being able to share my knowledge and excitement about my car with others – It’s also a warming feeling knowing that they are always considering a Tesla in the future at the end of the conversation 😉
   
   

The Bad & The Ugly

1. Range Anxiety – So I have to say, range anxiety is a real thing and I have experienced it myself a couple times now. Having the Long Range, I get 499 Km’s out of the battery. However, it’s closer to 300. Once you take into consideration that any heating / Ac, seat warming, music and speed – you’ll find your Km’s will drop much faster. Any speed over 120km/hr will drain your battery faster and there are also more variables like temperature, wind, rain, etc. I made it home after a round trip from Barrie to Kitchener, with 7% battery left. Talk about stressful! Just make sure to charge to 100% if you’re travelling far or making round trips more than 250 km, take weather into consideration and check out http://www.abetterrouteplanner.com to make sure you can make it and find best routes to take where there are accessible chargers.
2. The build quality – Although this doesn’t necessary bother me as much, I have read about many many others having a plethora of issues with their Model 3s – whether it’s paint flaws, panel gaps, unsealed windows and leaky headlights – I haven’t had anything horrible come up except a slight paint flaw and the glass top roof is a tad misaligned but nothing has been a deal breaker.
3. SLACKER RADIO – Yeah, I like having a bunch of stations available and being able to always listen to clear-quality music.. what I DON’T like? You can never go back so if you skipped back on a song or want to listen to it again, you can’t. Also – if you search for a song, you most likely won’t find it.. if you want to listen to a specific artist or playlist? Can’t do that either – it will play a song here and there from the artist you searched for but you mainly get a bunch of crap you don’t care for. I wish Spotify was built in, instead…
4. Interior quality in some spots – I have owned 5 cars now, and I have never broken or damaged any of them. So far? My driver seat material is wrinkled in some areas and I guess I got into my car too rough and I pulled the interior trim off the frame so there’s a gap and I can’t clip it back into place and the fabric from the front seat ripped from the plastic base somehow too.. For a car that I baby, that’s odd and a little soul crushing.
5. How sensitive the accident prevention is – I’ll be driving and there will be cars stopped ahead at a stop sign or red light, if I am not slowing down as much as my car would like, it flashes the other car in a red colour and sends out an alert sound which is often startling..even if there is no imminent threat.
6. Auto Pilot / Full self driving flaws – Everyone knows that the FSD capabilities are still in the works, but I have had a near accident now from it not detecting any of the construction barriers – and along a certain stretch of highway, it drops down to 30km from the 110-120km I usually travel… so it’s rather alarming when your car drops nearly 100km in speed out of no where. It will only get better with time, though!
7. Price of repairs and wait times – Although I have never had to make a claim or get anything fixed, I definitely dread it ever happening. With my luck I don’t doubt something awful happening to my baby… but from other Tesla groups, I am definitely learning any body repair is going to cost me limbs and also keep my car out of commission for several weeks.
8. The fact some assholes have Tesla hatred – this fact is incredibly sad but also incredibly real. There are some real jerks out there who have nothing better to do than be a jealous A-hole. My buddy owns a Tesla and got on video (Thank you Sentry Mode!) a man keying his car intentionally in a parking garage. Also, some people just want to smash windows because they can. It sucks, don’t do it.
9. People think you’re rich – Ever since I got my Tesla, everyone seems to think I have all this money… Model 3 is the cheapest version and I was financially strict with myself to save for the down payment and the monthly payment. I factor in the fact I don’t have to pay for oil changes, transmission fluid, other maintenance or gas. It’s probably one of the most financially sound decisions someone can make to be honest. Simplify yo’ lives.
10. Sometimes the screen crashes, which sucks – There have been 2 occasions now where my screen kinda crapped itself. I’ll be driving down the highway then out of no where my music turns off and the entire main console screen goes black. Why does this suck? You can’t control anything. Wipers, music, HVAC, seats, steering wheel, mirrors, you can’t see or use GPS, use seat warmers or see your speed. When this happens, just pull over and push in both buttons on your steering wheel and hold them, this reboots your system. A tad bit of an inconvenience but still fixes the issue. Again, I’ve only had it happen twice within the first week of ownership.
11. The damn piano-finish console. The centre console is this beautiful glossy black plastic which looks really really nice when clean – but unfortunately, it is absolutely impossible to keep the surface scratch and smudge free. Finger prints everywhere, hundreds of tiny little scratches all over…. Your best bet is to go on Amazon and order a Kenriko console wrap and do a DIY protective cover on it. Best $25 spent.
12. The goddamn door buttons. I have to tell literally every person how to get in and out of my car. Usually people can figure out how to get in, but it’s the getting out that is the issue. It wouldn’t be so bad if it had a better symbol to show where the button is.. or if using the emergency release hatch didn’t potentially damage your door and sound off a bunch of alerts…. I’ve only had that happen once, thankfully. I feel Tesla should look into sending all owners free stickers with the car door open symbol on it so they can just tack ’em onto the button so maybe it will be even a little easier for others’ to figure out.

I will be sure to update this if more come to mind, but for now that is my
“2 months into ownership” pros and cons list.

Despite the Cons, this is still hands down the best car I have ever driven or owned. I still love it and highly recommend this car to anyone.

First off, I would most likely be able to come up with more than 10, but I’m trying to keep it simple. I am going to exclude the EAP (Enhanced Auto Pilot) and self-driving capabilities because these features cost more to add. ($10,600 more, at that.) so I am keeping these mainly about the car itself.

Here are my person top 10 reasons to buy a Tesla Model 3:

1. To start, now is a better time than ever to get into a Tesla Model 3 as the prices have dropped a pretty decent amount. The entry level rear-wheel drive standard range version is currently $47,600 which is still a great price considering many other ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles in the similar class. Though, I would recommend standard range plus for only $2,700 more – you get partial premium interior, longer range, higher top speed and overall faster acceleration. For a luxury car with as many cool bells and whistles as this one – you definitely get a bang for your buck.
2. No keys! If you’re like me and you absolutely hate carrying a lanyard / massive set of keys around with you, then this car is for you. Not only does this car not use any keys what so ever – it also isn’t a push start either and actually uses a Tesla keycard to gain access / operate your vehicle – as well as your smartphone. Soon I’ll be upgrading my front door house lock to a key entry so that I won’t have to dig my keys out of my purse again for ultimate freedom.
3. Audio – Now, this is more so aimed towards those who opted to get the premium interior (found in the long-range rear wheel drive or AWD versions) that boast 15 speakers with completely immersive sound. The sound is crisp, the bass is rich but not overbearing. There’s no chattering like you often get in some car audio systems. The Tesla Model 3 has 15 speakers that are located throughout the cabin and the trunk to allow for completely immersive audio experience. This car has all the full range, tweeters, woofers and subwoofers you could possibly need and more. It’s honestly one of those things you will just have to experience for yourself.
4. The Tesla model 3 has received a top-notch 5/5 in all categories including subcategories with the NHTSA. What does that mean for you? that means you are offered that extra protection and peace of mind when driving your Tesla M3 because of the reinforced cabin space that has an incredibly strong aluminium and steel frame with an all reinforced glass roof. (This car can withstand the weight of 2 adult African elephants. …y’know, if African elephants ever decide to storm these Canadian streets, you know you’re squish-proof. ..unless a 3rd elephant joins in… then maybe you’re just S.O.L) The Tesla M3 also has what they call a crumple-zone, which is essentially the front and rear of the vehicle that is designed to absorb the shock of the impact to further protect you. The battery is also located centrally underneath the cabin, so you don’t have to worry about all of those mechanical parts found in ICE vehicles being impacted and causing potentially further issues upon impact. The fact that the battery is located centrally in the vehicle also holds a vantage point in preventing roll-overs. You know in some larger sedans / trucks / SUV’s those warning stickers posted on the visors that warn against abrupt maneuvering / taking corners too sharply in case of rollovers? Well, the Tesla M3 has perfectly balanced weight which makes it an incredible car to drive, handling wise. It can take corners closely, handle abrupt movements and take winding roads and curves at higher speeds. In fact, I’m pretty sure they even had to use a forklift to show example of Tesla rolling over… the thing is basically a tank. So yeah, it’s a pretty safe car to drive.
5. Added safety, security – Obviously being an EV, this car relies solely on technology – which has a huge advantage when it comes to overall security and quite frankly, I’m confused why most vehicle manufacturers aren’t catching up to Tesla with these points. This month, Tesla just released an update that has something called Sentry mode. What this mode does, is it essentially utilized the sensors and 8 cameras (3 are internal) to monitor any action / questionable movement around your car to send alerts to them, to warn them they are ‘too close’, and also to alert you. If someone leans on your car, it will send a warning and then sound the alarm – if someone keeps leaning or if they break a window / forcefully try to enter your vehicle, it will sound the alarm, display a warning on the front 15″ monitor, even play music loudly to deter criminal activity and most importantly – alert you that there is an issue occurring at your car. It’s important to plug in a USB drive, as it will actually record the activity up to 10 minutes before it even happens – which is ultra hella handy when you get alerts to your phone but are unable to get to its location – you simply unplug the USB, view the video and submit it to authorities if need be. The camera quality is also pretty clear, so it should get a clear snap of whatever idiot attempts to break into your vehicle. Another bonus? Tesla’s always get updates for free, so I can foresee even more security updates being provided over the next few months / years.
6. Simplicity! God, how I love how minimalist the interior design of the Tesla Model 3 is. Now, this may not be for everyone – there are some people who love the feeling over an overly crowded, cozy interior with ample buttons and knobs available. The M3? Nadda. You have window buttons on your door, and your button to open the door – other than that? absolutely nothing. There is no instrument panel above your steering wheel, no volume or HVAC control knobs, no unsightly vents, just pure, seamless simplicity. Oh, and the 15″ touch screen that contains literally everything you could possibly need and more. So if you’re not someone who would feel content with a fairly empty interior and have everything centrally located on a center touchscreen, then maybe this car wouldn’t be for you. To everyone else, you would absolutely appreciate the simple yet comfortable, clean and efficient interior layout. The wood panel that runs straight across the dashboard also adds this sense of luxury and warmth in the car as well (if you aren’t a fan of the wood panel, you can always wrap it as well.) As someone who hates change, I can confidently say that it really doesn’t take long to get used to the many, many changes that Tesla has thrown into the automobile game.
7. Never having to pump gas ever again (unless you’re like me and own a secondary vehicle that happens to be an ICE.) How many of you hate seeing that worrisome and annoying little gas light pop up on your dash? wondering how far you can push it before you just carelessly break down in the middle of the road or on the highway because you either don’t want to pay the insane gas prices, or can’t be bothered to stand at a gas station for 10 minutes? Not to mention all of the germs associating to said gas stations.. *shudder* Call me a girly-girl if you wan’t, but I definitely hate pumping my own gas especially during thunderstorms and snowy weather – also in the summer when the pumps are infested with spiders! no thank you. That is why an EV is perfect for me, I can avoid all of that all while having optimum range daily since my car will be charged and ready to go every day without the need to worry. A lot of non-EV drivers try to slam them by saying “Yeah well, have fun waiting an hour or 2 to charge your car on roadtrips.” Well, for one – there are Superchargers located in almost every city / large mall / large shopping center. You can get a sufficient enough charge from 30-45 minutes at a Supercharging so you can happily carry on your way, recharged, on your roadtrip. That, and I personally only go on maybe 4-5 road trips per year where I would even need to hit a supercharger along the way. (You charge your EV’s mainly from home.) Let’s say I spend 45 minutes at a charger each time I go on my trip – that’s about $50 a year in charges, and that’s 3.5 hours total spent waiting for my car to charge (but since the chargers are located at rest stops / shopping centers, it’s a good place for me to have a meal and do some shopping so really…) and if I am spending say 8 minutes at a gas station, and I am filling up every 5 days or so (with the amount of city driving I do, I tend to spend $45.00 every 5-6 days with my Veloster, and spend $50 every 4 days or so with my SUV. ) So if it’s 7 minutes per fill up, that’s 5 extra hours and $3,200-ish I’m saving by not pumping gas.
8. Lack of maintenance – This one is also another personal fav. of mine. I have had a terrible track record of keeping track of oil changes and transmission fluid and blah blah. I’ve had batteries, belts, oxygen sensors, spark plugs, exhaust pipes, flex lines, shifters and transmission components, so on and so forth replaced. I’ve had various recalls on cars I’ve owned, faulty parts and random repairs.. you name it. The Tesla Model 3 basically reduced moving parts from 200+, to only 17 in the drive-train. The only maintenance your Tesla would need would be break fluid at 2 years and battery coolant every 4 years. Majority of other issues can be corrected with a simple software update or computer reset – that’s it.
9. Ease of access right at your fingertips – You can control so many settings right from your smart phone, like locking and unlocking your Tesla no matter how away you are from it, checking it’s battery health and charge info, as well as setting the internal temperature before you even leave the house! This is definitely beneficial during the cold winter months – you can turn up the heat in your car and turn on the seat warmers so that your battery is nice and warmed up for the day (which allows better range) and also who doesn’t like getting into a nice, warm car with toasty bum warmers on a cold chilly morning? and on the flip side – Imagine it’s a scorcher of a day, 35 degrees Celsius with humidity. Most cars especially those with black leather interiors would be a skin-melting nightmare to get into – but with the ability to turn on the AC and set the car to be an optimal temperature well before you even get in? unquestionably awesome. No more turning on the car and waiting for it to warm up or waiting for that sweet sweet AC relief.
10. I definitely saved the best for last – but speed. The Tesla Model 3 is absolutely a fast car – Elon Musk even makes it a point to say that Tesla’s are meant to be very powerful, fast cars. They put so much care into every tiny detail of the body and overall performance of the vehicle. The curves, edges, lack of grill, shape of every exterior component, aero wheels, flush door handles.. they’re all aspects of the vehicle that make it the most aerodynamic that it possibly could be. Even the most inexpensive standard Tesla Model 3 can reach a whopping 100kms in just 5.9 seconds. If you want ultra speed, the Performance is where it’s at – I can assure you that the rush of shooting 100kms in a mere 3.4 seconds is literally breath taking, it feels as though you are shooting down a roller coaster and I can assure you that sensation will never get old. The version I purchased is a step down from Performance model (god I wish I had that extra $11,800 to sink in, or else I would have) I have the Long-range AWD – which realistically isn’t too far off from the Performance model – they are almost identical, except for the fact that the Dual-Motor AWD version reaches 100km at 1 second longer than perfomance, can only reach 233 max speed opposed to Performances 250 max, doesn’t have the 19″ performance wheels and it doesn’t have the calipers or upgraded suspension to handle performances demands. To me, that wasn’t worth the extra $12k. Whatever trim you go with, you will not be disappointed with how quick these mini electric tanks are. You will find accelerating to be effortless, merging onto highways and overtaking slower cars to be seamless and you will thoroughly enjoy being behind the wheel of this ride. In fact, they even launched Track Mode – which is fairly self explanatory.
11. I know I said only 10, but this one is a great perk- standard ICE cars tend to drop 45% depreciation as soon as they’re driven off the lot. From my calculations and from what I have heard from other Tesla owners – the depreciation sits around 16% or so. So not only is this car fun, reliable, safe and leaves no carbon foot print – but it also retains it’s value more than most vehicles on the market.

I hope these points helped you or maybe even encouraged you to look into the Tesla Model 3. I’m newer into my Electric Vehicle adventure, but so far it has been delightful. There’s a bit of a learning curve and a lot of debunking common misconceptions, but honestly? I don’t think I will ever look back.

If you’re interested in anything Tesla / EV related, be sure to follow my blogs – I will be posting more of these and more information including tips, software updates, pros, cons, etc.

xo

http://www.tesla.com

The good, the bad, the damaged.

Way back in the early 2000’s, highschool hallways always had the distinct smell of Axe body spray, Manic Panic and teenage angst. It was the time when (nearly) every girl and boy decided to become an absolutely non-professional hair stylist. Well, colourist.

As for myself, I definitely fell into the emo kid life back in high school, which inevitably turned scene. My wardrobe mainly consisted of overly worn-not washed enough band T’s, ripped jeans (which weren’t even bought that way) and every colour of Converse / Vans shoe that was available, and that my teenage minimum wage wallet would allow. …actually come to think of it, I think my wardrobe is still the same..

Let’s not get into those overly obnoxiously neon coloured studded belts, bracelets, ironic pins and the 100’s of kohl eyeliner pencils I blew through.

A major staple for any emo kid – potentially the BIGGEST (sometimes literally) was their hair. The fastest way to tell if someone’s stereotype fell into the emo/scene genre; was based on how teased, coloured, striped, leopard printed, swooped, spiked and unevenly chopped their hair was. For the most part, one of the loudest forms of self-expression was how vibrantly unnatural your hair was – and how did we achieve that? Mainly Manic Panic (or koolaid for those posers)

I remember being 14 and 15, begging my mom to let my buy a box of store-bought bleach so I could absolutely sabotage my hair in order to have luscious neon-pink locks. Well, that didn’t last long – after losing most of my length to what we emo kids and lover of bleach blondes call “chemical cuts” I just rocked the spiked-in-the-back and swooped-in-the-front look (think Billie from Good Charlotte)

It was worth the risk. Pink, blue, purple, green, fire engine red, orange and high lighter yellow – it was like the cast of my little pony just threw up all over the early 2000’s.

I tried going back to the fashion colour days by dabbling in Splat!, Manic Panic, Joico, Ion, Arctic Fox, Punky Colours and so on, over the years. A few things I learned are:

1. Always wear gloves, because that shit stains.
2. Don’t do it in a nice bathroom or at least cover everything and be ultra careful. I can’t tell you how many dye stains I’ve had to clorox-bleach out of my moms bathroom.
3. Never use nice towels to dry your hair or clean up mess. Even days – weeks after dying your hair.
4. Have a pretty decent budget set aside for resting your hair because fashion colours don’t last – especially if you aren’t taking care of them.
5. Be prepared to always damage your hair if you want to change colours because fashion dyes are really really hard to fully strip from your hair.
6. Also be prepared to have a hard time having your makeup and your outfits match your hair without making you look like a neon-mess / clown. (I think this one mostly applies to me – I’ve never been good at coordinating with my hair without looking like a crazy person.)

The last 2 points I think were the hardest for me to deal with. I always got so bored of my hair colour no matter how rad which resulted in many chemical cuts and corrective colour treatments – and matching my outfits was also impossible. …so I started wearing more black since that was the safest bet.

I wanted to still have fun-coloured hair but without as much commitment and stress over what I’m going to wear or what lipstick will clash – so I opted to try pastel colours, and boy was that a good decision. I started with pastel purple -which was a tad harder to achieve since it shows any warmth in your hair which sticks out like a sore thumb. I then went to grey, then coral, then pastel pink, then a mauve colour, back to blonde then straight back to pink again. Best part is? Super easy to transition between colours.

I’m going to include a list of pros to having patel hair, as well as some tips on how to achieve it and maintain it.

• First of all, you have so much creative freedom when it comes to pastel hair colours. You can dilute pigments and mix them to find your ideal shade – if you don’t like it, just shampoo (clarifying shampoo works best) in hot water for a week or so, then try again.
• It’s really conditioning for your hair! Since the main way to dilute the pigment to be pastel is to add conditioner, it’s like a deep conditioning treatment every time you touch up your colour.
• Soft colours tend to not drown out your features, so to say.
• It’s easier to find outfits and lipstick that go with pastel shades!
• More low commitment than vibrant colours.
• You save money! Unless you’re buying already packaged pastel dyes, you only need to add a small amount of dye to conditioner to make it a pastel shade. You could get 5-8x the amount of use out of a single container of potent dye, than if you just used it directly on your hair.
• It’s interesting and not a lot of people opt for pastel shades. Heck, I even go to hair salons and the stylists are actually baffled at my hair and ask where I get it done, how I do it and what I use. Which is weird, because they should already know this?
• They’re cuter and more kawaii 🙂

Now on how to achieve pastel hair, maintain it and also the cons that come with the territory.

• Your hair has to be platinum blonde, like – ultra blonde. So if you’re naturally a brunette or already have a lengthy hair-history of dyes deposited to your hair, have fun stripping that build up.

• Toner! One thing you’ll want to use frequently is toner to keep those pesky brassy tones at bay. Especially if you’re looking to do any cool tones like purple, blue, silver and mint.

• This won’t happen over night! It will take a lot of time to be able to achieve the level of blonde you need to be, and as nice as it is to see all of these beautiful Pinterest-quality hair goal pics, they aren’t always realistic. Get your hair professionally lightened and listen to your stylist – don’t rush the process, take it slow and remember to take care of your hairs integrity.

• Deep conditioners and coconut / avocado oil will be your best friend – since your hair has to be fairly stripped in order to achieve pastel shades, you’ll want to repair and replenish your poor, damaged hair. I recommend applying coconut oil every so often, at least to the tips. I personally do hot oil treatments every month, put coconut oil in my hair every other week and touch up my hair colour every 1-2 weeks (which is 90% conditioner) leave-in conditioner is also great!

• Now, if your hair is stripped, toned and ready to go – all you’ll need is: a mixing bowl, a tint/application brush, gloves (they aren’t mandatory though, I never use them and never get stained since it’s so diluted) a dye of your choice and a big bottle of white conditioner. I recommend Tres Emmé – it’s thick, white, smells nice, moisturizer and more importantly; it’s cheap.
  
• I brush out my hair before hand and apply it to dry hair – you can do it wet, though. Whatever you prefer.

• Squeeze a generous amount of conditioner into your mixing bowl, then squirt in a small amount of the dye you’re using. Think like, half a tea spoon. Mix up the dye and see if the colour is remotely want you want it to be in your hair – remember, you can always make it more vibrant and add more pigment if it’s not the shade you ideally want. If you go too dark, just add more conditioner.
• If you find the colour isn’t quite what you’re looking for even after diluting – just add other colours to it! For example, if your pink is turning out more coral, then just add a very VERY tiny amount of purple. If the green you’re using is more of an alpine green, add some yellow. If your pastel purple is too grey, add a small amount of pink. Get creative and just think of basic colour theory!
• With pastel dyes, I recommend leaving them in your hair longer than vibrant dyes. So make sure you’re doing your hair on a day that you have available time and no big plans – or perhaps at night. Hell, I’ve even slept with it in my hair under a shower cap.
• A good, quick way to upkeep your hair colour is to also add a dollop of dye into your everyday bottle of conditioner – so every time you shower and condition your hair, you are depositing a bit of colour back in. There are also some conditioning colour masks available at http://www.overtone.com and some colour-depositing shampoos available at Cosmo Prof.
• If you want to ensure your colour lasts longer and leave more time between colour-touch ups, then you’ll want to think about washing your hair in cold/cooler water and shampooing it less.

• Dry shampoo will be your holy grail.

Through trial and error, you will find what dyes last the longest. In my personal opinion; The Good Dye Young ( Hayley Williams of Paramore’s colour line, available through Sephora for $23.00 CAD ~ ) Pravana hair dyes (I bought mine in Amazon for $15.00 CAD~) and Arctic Fox. (The easiest to get your hands on and probably least expensive. I believe they also have more colours available)

• A downside to having pastel hair is having to do a bleach bath in your hair every so often to strip out colour residue and get rid of those pesky brassy tones that tend to sprout randomly through out your hair. (A bleach bath, also known as a ‘bleach cocktail’ is the mixture of lightener powder mixed in with shampoo, than you lather into your hair to provide a more gentle, subtle colour stripping result. You can also add conditioning oils and small
  amounts of developer if need be.) I do this every few months – probably every 5-6 months. I just lather up the bleach concoction and quickly froth it into my hair, let it sit for 5-10 minutes and then rinse, followed by either a toning shampoo or Wella T18 lightest ash blonde toner – available at Sally’s Beauty for under $10.00.
• Root touch ups also tend to suck, especially if you either lift too much or too little. I struggled with this a bit until I found the perfect developer volume and perfect length of time for it to develop. If you bleach your hair to basically white, you’ll find that your roots will end up looking more vibrantly pastel than the rest of your hair, if you have existing build up. If your roots don’t lift enough, then you can risk having the pastel dye not even stick to your roots, which will leave you back at square one again in the root-touch up process. **its best to just go to a professional for this, even to save the hassle.More importantly – just have fun with it. You want crazy, fun coloured hair? Do it. I’m almost 30 and I can’t imagine myself not having fashion colours all up on this.
  If you have any questions or more advice to add, feel free to leave a comment! I’d love to hear back from you.

♥

• 2 Months into Tesla Ownership
• 10 Reasons To Buy A Tesla Model 3
• Pastel hair colours
• My Experience Ordering a Tesla Model 3
• Difference between Boss and Evil Dictating Overlord

Anyone that knows me, knows I’m a bit of a tech nerd. I’ve always kept up-to date with any anticipated technology whether it’s been mobile phones, computers, vehicles, software, every day appliances, and even watches and thermostats. The world is changing every day and it is incredible how far technology has advanced even within the past 10-15 years. So it’s no surprise I have been a supporter of Elon Musk and followed closely on several Tesla forums and social media.

Recently, I finally pulled the trigger on ordering one. It’s been my goal for a while now, so you can imagine how excited I am to finally make that a  – reality – for a while, Tesla only had their 2 models available which were the Model S and the more SUV-like one, Model X. Both models being well over $100,000. The model 3 was unveiled in 2016 – and production began in July, 2017. Within months, Tesla had accumulated nearly US$14 Billion just from deposits alone. Half a million people already put their names down to have first dibs on the long anticipated lower price tag version of a Tesla, and  waited over a year to take delivery of their vehicle – some even waited 18 months. Elon first promised the Model 3 to be incredibly affordable, priced at only $35,000 USD – hoping that anyone and everyone could get on board with this incredible EV. Since then, there have been various updates and changes made to the ordering process, as well as to the overall pricing of the vehicle and it’s upgrades.

I have spent a lot of time on the Tesla site – fake ordering my dream car, picking and choosing every aspect of it and wishing I had the guts to just pull the trigger on it. They honestly make it way too easy to want one, and way too easy to obtain one. Can you blame them? These cars are incredibly fast, incredibly responsive and insanely fun while also being rated as one of the safest vehicles on the road.

I decided to document my process so far (not that it was a long or hard one) so anyone else who is thinking about buying a Tesla anytime soon, can have a feel for what the experience is like and maybe know what to expect going into it.

1. First of all, you do everything online at http://www.tesla.com   they try to refrain from in-person interactions and operating like a typical dealership – No, Elon wanted things to be done differently and quite frankly? It’s genius.

2. Make a login. (Optional) on their front page they showcase their 3 current Tesla models – Tesla Model S, Tesla Model X and the Tesla Model 3. The Model S is their first sedan model, the X is their SUV rendition (though still looks like a large sedan) and also have the higher price tags. The Model 3 is the newest, the one in highest demand and of course the one with the lowest price tag. In American, these bad boys start at $35,000 USD and up from there depending on configuration.

3. After you select what model you’re looking at, it basically walks you through all of the options and gives you fairly basic, straight forward selections – it’s overall a very seamless, simple, well designed ordering system.

4. The first part is choosing what colour you’d like. Currently; there are 5. Solid Black (standard, costs nothing extra to have), Midnight Metallic Silver which costs $2,000 to have, Deep Blue Metallic which is also $2,000, Pearl White Multi-Coat which is $2,600 and lastly the Red Multi-Coat for a whopping $3,300 more. Personally, I knew I was wrapping mine so I stuck with the stock black at no extra cost.

5. After you’ve selected your preferred colour, it’s now time to choose which version you want. Now, this is the part you want to think about “splurging.” There’s the standard, mid, long range and performance version.

The “cheaper” version of the Tesla model 3 that was long promised by Elon Musk to be at a reasonable price point and offered at only $35,000 USD – is still a great car, but has far less mileage and is also rear wheel drive.

The starting prices in Canada, are:

Rear Wheel Drive, standard interior – standard range = $40,900

Rear Wheel Drive, Standard Range plus with partial premium interior = $43,600.

Rear Wheel Drive Mid Range with premium interior = $47,600

Rear Wheel Drive Long Range with premium interior = $51,700

Dual-Motor Long Range All-wheel drive with premium interior = $57,100
And of course:

Dual-Motor All-Wheel drive Performance with premium interior = $71,900
*All of these prices are actually lower than what you actually pay, as they factor in potential gas savings and incentives (no longer available)

I opted to have the Dual-Motor All Wheel Drive Long Range version, and opted out of performance. Some will say that performance is the way to go – but for what it offered me personally, it wasn’t worth the additional $11,000. Every aspect of the AWD and Performance versions are identical in terms of battery, motor, overall make of the car – the main differences are the 19-20″ performance tires, red calipers, apparently suspension is more equipped for the handling, it has Track mode update newly released and can reach a whopping 100 km/h in a mere 3.5 seconds. Which is INSANE.

6. Wheel selection – If you choose any model other than the Performance, you have 2 options. Option #1 is the standard 18″ Aero Wheels which are included, or the 18″ Sport Wheels that are a $2,000 upgrade. Personally, I went with the standard Aero wheels as they look cool, they cost nothing extra and also they are meant to be aerodynamic which means car = faster. Not only that, the Aero caps are actually removable which reveal the actual rim underneath and either way, it’s aesthetically pleasing.

7. Interior selection – You essentially get to choose between all black vegan-leather interior, or black and white vegan-leather interior. The black comes standard, with the Tesla Model 3’s signature wood-panel continuous dash, where as the white interior switches that out for a white panel. Both choices are nice, however I couldn’t justify the extra $1,300 just for some white seats and accents (not to mention, I have nightmares of potential staining and how prone to looking dirty they would be. Me and white, don’t mix.) Both of these selections include the same Premium Interior options, they are merely just for aesthetics purpose.

8. The Final and arguably the most awesome selection – the auto pilot and full-self driving features. If anyone knows Tesla, they know that the long-anticipated self-driving capabilities are basically what help make Tesla one of the most advanced vehicles on the market. Not only does this car come standard with 8 cameras and 12 ultrasonic sensors, but it has the ability to literally drive itself. I’m talking steering, breaking, lane changing, accelerating and swerving to avoid potential threat and following speed of traffic. The ultrasonic sensors have the ability to see 2-3 cars ahead and read what is happening – so if a vehicle 3 cars-ahead decides to slam its breaks, your car knows before the vehicle ahead of you does. These features are currently not at their full potential yet, but they will be. So many updates have already been released lately and soon – Sentry mode will be available. If enabled, Sentry mode essentially uses it’s 8 cameras to have full view around your car and record anything that could potentially pose as a threat – there are 3 internal cameras as well, that could capture clear-quality images of any potential thief/asshole that decides to try and rob you or damage your car. Not only that, Tesla’s will be able to sense if someone is leaning on your car and will actually honk and issue a warning on the 15″ display panel. Same goes for if someone were to break open a window – not only that, but your car will blast music, display warning on screen while simultaneously having the horn alarm go off and send alerts to your phone to let you know there is an issue occurring. Later these year they will also be releasing an update that allows the car to be able to read traffic lights and detect stop signs, so that it can literally drive itself. Another great feature? Summoning! You’re standing outside, your car is in the garage – why crawl into your garage and squeeze inside your car and back out.. when you can summon your car to drive itself out of the garage?!? Have you ever been in a very large, crowded parking lot and struggled to find your vehicle? Or perhaps it’s raining out and you don’t want to get soaked – your cars summon feature will also allow your Tesla to literally come to you. It will navigate through the parking lot, avoid obstacles and come to you via your phones Bluetooth location. So yeah, to sum it up – these options are rather pricy (essentially $11,000 for both CAD) but HELLA worth it. …If you’re into that kinda thing, anyways.

9.  You’re done crafting your dream Tesla to suit your needs and your budget. It is through this process that you realize that the long-awaited consumer-friendly priced vehicle can instantly sky rocket to luxury car prices in literally 5 clicks.

Now, as I said before – everything is done basically online so from this point on, you essentially look over details of your car configuration, input your details and credit card number and prepare to place a $3,200 deposit down on this bad boy. From there, after you pull the trigger to reserve your Model 3 – you then get to decide if you’re going to buy the car outright, or do a Tesla-loan. The loans are actually incredibly reasonable and an easy process to apply for.

10. So Tesla has their own loan system, but go through 2 different lenders – Either RBC or Scotiabank. Tesla also doesn’t base interest rate off credit score / income, instead, they base interest rates based on longevity of your loan. 96 months (8 years) starts at 4.25% interest, 84 months (7 years) is at 4%, 72 months (6 years) is at 3.75% and so on – which is a really phenomenal system. Also, I can safely say that even if your credit isn’t stellar or you don’t have a high-paying job, their approval rates are insanely high compared to any other dealership. You simply input your details, SIN number, Driver’s License number and photo of your license card, a photo of your current insurance policy, input details of your workplace and that’s basically it. You will hear back within 24-48 hours (in my case it was 4 hours) if you are approved or not, and details of your loan. It will break down total cost of vehicle plus OMVIC + Licensing fees, HST and show you what your estimated monthly payments would be. Prepare to put around $5,000 down on your car, aside from the $3,200 you already placed as a deposit. (Your down payment will be around $8,000 total including deposit placed.) You can either pay them by wire transfer, or you can bring a certified cheque on the day of delivery, before taking possession of your vehicle. Everything is basically laid out straight forward for you in terms of loan info, payments, rates, car info, so on and so forth – but if you do have any questions you are always welcome to contact them by phone or by E-mail.

I can confidently say that their customer service via phone is absolutely phenomenal. The menu’s are simple, short and straight forward and the wait time has never been more than 1-2 minutes for me to be in direct contact with someone. Any time I have called, I have had all of my questions answered, concerns addressed and have felt very taken care of. 10/10, amazing company. 

11. As soon as you get your Loan offer, you have 30 days to confirm it, do if you need that time to crunch numbers, budget or even just process the info / decide on a different route, you have that window to think on it. If you are unhappy with the numbers or wish to make changes, your best bet is to contact the finance department by e-mail (autofinance@tesla.com) and they will get back to you within 24 hours (again, I heard back only a few hours later) and they will work with you back and forth to deliver a loan arrangement that you are happy with.

12. Once you confirm the loan, you are now sent over the basically “the waiting room”. It shows your Tesla vehicle, your Registration Number, and also all of the information you provided including your loan details. At this point, you are now waiting to receive your vehicles VIN number, and as soon as that happens, you are given a specific delivery date and you will have a delivery specialist contact you to set up delivery for your vehicle and also help you along the way. Usually, you will receive the VIN number a week or so before the delivery date. Currently that is where I am at – playing the waiting game, checking my Tesla account occasionally to see if there have been any updates.

13. In the meantime, Tesla has actually posted several videos on your new car that are available on both your Tesla app (download the app from either apple or android app store and just login with the login you used for the website.) as well as posting various helpful videos on your account, to give you a virtual tutorial/walk around of your new car before you take the keys. (err… keycard, in this case.)

I will update this further as soon as I receive my VIN and take delivery of my Tesla Model 3, until then – I’ll include some random information below.

• Tesla’s don’t use keys, instead – every Tesla model comes standard with 2 key cars and a key card wallet. These cards are used to not only unlock/lock your car, but also ‘turn it on’. How do you do this? You simple tap your car underneath the sensor on your driver-side door panel, and that will unlock your vehicle. (this only works on driver side.) to start your car, you simple just place your card on the back part of your centre console cupholders, and put your car into drive – it’s that easy.
• Funny enough, the key cards are actually meant as a back up method to access / operate your vehicle. The main key / controller? Your smart phone. On the Tesla app, you will have access to a plethora of options, including: locking and unlocking your car remotely – even if you aren’t near it. You can set the temperature of your car whenever you want, which is especially handy during winter and summer months. Not only that, but when you initiate heat in the winter it will also turn all 4 of your seat-warmers on, too. (to turn them off, simply tap on your car seat on the image of your car in the settings and hold it – that will turn off the seat warmers.) Imagine waking up early, It’s cold out – you don’t want to have to wait for your car to reach optimal temperature… well, why would you? 30-45 minutes before you even leave your house, you can have your car waiting for you like a warm snuggle, waiting to embrace you with it’s warm technologically-advanced arms. Not really, but honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if there were an update for that.
  Your phone can also summon your car, check the battery level / charge status, among various other settings. It’s pretty awesome and I have no idea why every other car manufacturer isn’t jumping on that.
• On the topic of setting temperatures from your phone – there’s also a Dog mode that is being released. What is dog mode? it’s when you can set the interior temperature of your car to a nice, comfortable and cool temperature so that your pooches are continuously kept cool while you’re away from your car – as well as display a notice on your 15″ touch screen that alerts passerby’s that your dogs are taken care of and it displayed the temperature of interior cabin.
• Easter egg, but Elon Musk added a really cool ( some deem as pointless) feature that turns your Tesla into an Atari. TeslAtari. These games can only be played when your car is parked, but you can play various hit classic games from 1979, from your steering wheel or your touch screen.
• The Tesla Model 3 ranked 5/5 on all of it’s safety rating tests, which is absolutely no surprise. The battery is located in the centre of the vehicle, which not only gives it an incredible point of balance which is amazing for overall handling especially when taking corners – but that also means that there is less risk when getting into an accident. The front and rear ends are considered “crumple zones” they are designed to absorb the impact of the crash, and the reinforced steel and aluminum frame helps to protect you in the cabin. Not only that, but the all-glass roof is surprisingly incredibly strong – the car can handle 4 times the weight compared to other EV’s. They say the Tesla Model 3 can withstand the equivalent weight of 2 full size adult African elephants which is insane. There are no gasses, excess oils / fluids / moving parts in the car, which means the battery is the main concern when it comes to damage – oh, and you. The Tesla is guaranteed to offer you more protection which makes it one of the safest vehicles on the road.

  

• The back-up camera is phenomenal – displayed on a large 15″ screen, easy to read and navigate, has various sensors and also tells you to the exact inch – how far you are from any objects or obstacles. That comes in particularly handy when parking in smaller spaces / tight garages + lots.

  

• There are no dials, buttons, switches or gauges on the instrument panel. Nope, nothing. Literally everything is put in one convenient spot – the 15″ centre display touch screen panel. From that panel, you have access to literally every aspect of your vehicle. Including your own internet LTE connection with web browsers, music, live-maps GPS, cabin temperature / HVAC controls, steering wheel settings, mirror settings, speedometer, distance tracker, battery charge, map and list of all Tesla super chargers available as well as information on all Tesla service centres / approved mechanics, Atari games, drive control settings (steering, handling, breaking, accelerating, etc.) and you can set up your own driver profile and literally fine tune the perfect configuration that fits your needs.

  

• Since there is no engine, you have 2 trunks. The rear trunk which offers more space, or the smaller front trunk. The “Frunk”. The Frunk is more annoying to close than the rear, so most people put items in there that they don’t need constant access to. (road side kit, washer fluid, etc.)

  

• Your car also comes with a 12v plug and 4 USB adaptors (provided you opted for premium interior) 2 of the USB’s are located in the front console, conveniently underneath a well-planned phone mount. The front section of your console lifts up to reveal a slanted section that can perfectly hold 2 phones, displayed so that you can see it if need be while driving (useful if using Waze) and underneath that mount-panel, theres 2 USB ports that you can plug your phones charge cables into and pull them through the gaps on the phone holder so it’s essentially a charge station. The other 2 USB ports are located on the back of the centre console, for those in the back seat to use. There is also a fold-down cupholder armrest in the back seat too, which is convenient for guests.

  
  

• Your door handles are actually flush with the car doors (again, Tesla is all about that speed and aerodynamic details) – to open them, simply push in on the larger section, and that will pop the handles out so you can grab and open your door. To open your door from the interior, there are buttons on the interior door handle that you simply just push in, which opens your door. There is also an emergency handle to pull open the door as well incase the car runs out of power – however, it is recommended to not use this as the main method of opening the door, as it could cause potential damage with continuous use.

  I’m going to leave this here for now, but I will be updating everyone with more blogs down the road that will fully cover my entire experience, my full review of the Model 3 and I will also include any tips I have for it and any new updates / information / easter eggs I pick up over the next few months.

  Thanks for reading! If you have any more questions or input, feel free to leave a comment or connect with me. If you are debating buying a Tesla – I recommend you look into them and DO IT. I hope this has helped give you an overall idea of the ordering / finance process for the Tesla Model 3.

  Until then,

  xo

Have you ever heard or read on the statistics of those who genuinely are depressed in their workplace, walk out from their job or just feel undervalued and how that really is just a product of poor management? Roughly 65-70% of people tend to leave their jobs because of their bosses.

Do you relate?

It seems as though sometimes the problems lie in the fact most employers / bosses take phenomenal employees for granted and don’t strive to work on their development, embellish their strengths and counter their weaknesses – instead, they leave no room for error and leave no challenge / too much challenge for their employee. That’s also just it – they feel like just an employee.

If there is one thing that running my own business has taught me, is there is no cookie cutter method to mentor, delegate and manage a workplace.

For me, I love every single person that walks through that door, genuinely. For one, I don’t hire based on skill and experience alone – I hire based on personality, attitude and drive. You can be the best artist in the world but have a negative attitude that drains everyone else, or have a terrible work ethic / strong personality that clashes with everyone else. It is true when they say “you are only as strong as your weakest link” so that’s where I come in and I help my artists turn those weaknesses into strengths, or help to polish their strengths to outshine the weakness. A table is great as a table – it can be used to display your items and hold things for you as well as be aesthetically pleasing – you wouldn’t sit on your table and use it as a chair, would you? No, because that’s not what it’s meant for and that’s recipe for failure. The same goes to trying to assume all “employees” are the same and perform the same.

These tips are based off my own personal experience are are my own personal opinions – everyone has their own teaching / managing methods but this is how I do it.

1. Always greet your employees and genuinely ask how they are doing. What have you been up to? How was that concert last night? Any tattoos you’re particularly excited for? I know people tell me countless times to never be friends with my employees, but honestly? They are some of the best people I know, I work worth them every day – why wouldn’t I be friends with them? I take genuine interest in their lives.

2. Learn to read them. I can confidently say, I know what’s up with ANY of the girls who walk in the door. I can immediately detect when something is wrong – that is when I drop what I am doing and approach them to check in on them. If they have an issue or are stressed out, I hear them out and offer any advice that I can. Sometimes people just want to vent and be heard – be that person.

3. Never let them fail, ever. If you see someone struggling – whether they’re overwhelmed, stressed out, not understanding their task, falling behind, facing numerous errors – step in and just help. If you see someone drowning, throw them the life line. It’s up to them to grab it and pull themselves out but if you see an employee falling behind in their work, don’t just turn a blind eye, offer to help. Provide them with some advice, figure out what areas they’re struggling with and help them find a solution. You’re a team.

4. Don’t be quick to pull the trigger – one thing I always say is: it’s easy to fire someone, it’s harder to recover them. Nothing in life that is worth while, is easy. If someone isn’t performing right or if they’ve been running late and falling behind – address the issues, clearly communicate expectations, hear them out and help them find their drive again. Delegate tasks that pique their interest, give them some 1 on 1 coaching, praise them for their positive behaviour and success instead of focusing on their flaws. An underperforming employee is usually a byproduct from fear of failing, feeling unappreciated and unmotivated.

5. Find what motivates each and every person, and use it when you can. Motivation has to come from within – you can always provide someone with all of the tools they need to succeed, but only they can choose to utilize them. So find something that will make them want to utilize them, and see if that yields better response. For example: one of my artists felt unmotivated lately, felt they weren’t getting much better and didn’t feel challenged. So I purchased them art hooks to help them study their area of tattooing, I challenged them to draw more pieces in their style and make prints of them and also to enroll in art seminars at the tattoo convention and I would join them. Try and show your employee that you’re in it together and you want them to grow – plateaus happen, so work together to overcome it and find solutions together.

6. Understand that each and every employee is important and has their place.

One thing I can NOT stand or tolerate, is a lot of this “artists come and go” behaviour from various shop owners. One in particular I worked for, let’s call him Steve – would always refer to his artists as “assholes” and “cancer”. He threatened to fire every single one of them if they didn’t do as he wished, he also always reminded them that their positions weren’t secure and they were expendable.

None of those employees work for him anymore. Why would someone want to work for someone who clearly just wants to make money off them and have them be another face in the crowd? That is absolutely no way to treat an employee or make them feel valued – because they are.

Remember this: the employees are the oil, the company is the engine. The engine can’t run properly without the oil. You can’t have one without the other.

7. Change “I”, “me”, “mine” to “we”, “us” and “ours”.

8. Small gestures go a long way! You have a group of people literally dedicating their lives to working for you and supporting/helping your business grow. I appreciate the girls at my shop so much and if I have to do a few small gestures a year to show them that, then absolutely I will. We remember everyone’s birthday and throw mini parties, I try and give them Christmas gifts, Valentine’s Day gifts and random surprises and write them heart felt cards especially when they’re feeling down. Why wouldn’t I put that effort forth into the most important people in my life?

9. Incentives! Offering incentives is a great way to drive healthy competition in the work place and always give everyone that drive boost they need to be more productive and proactive. For example, this year I am finally rolling out the gold star system. Yeah, you heard me – I am making a chart with everyone’s names and a bunch of different categories ranging from attitude, cleaning, customer service, to helping fellow colleagues and going above and beyond. Each month the person with the most starts will get a $25-$50 gift card to a place of their choosing.

Also offering birthday incentives is a great idea too! I always let the girls take their birthdays off, but if they choose to work them then they get 70% commission cut for the tattoos they do that day.

10. Giving them time off – this one I find is a big one. A lot of employers are absolutely reluctant to provide their employees with approved time off. I always hear about my friends being unable to book dates off or take time off even if ample notice is given. I basically approve everyone’s time off requests (as long as we aren’t left short staffed and they notify me ahead of time) because they don’t live to work. You can make money anytime in your life – though you’re limited on time to experience life.

11. Sick days – I won’t ever ask for a doctors note from my employees. Why? Because if they feel sick enough to not come in, that’s their judgment call. Even if they don’t feel well due to PMS reasons, mental health reasons, or straight up don’t think they can handle the work day – that is absolutely fine by me. More often employees call in fake-sick when they aren’t motivated to go into work. I leave an open forum with the girls so that they feel comfortable enough to tell me if they can’t handle coming in or if they’re just having a bad mental health day. I absolutely support taking personal days and focus on self healing.

12. Don’t belittle them or yell at them in front of customers or their peers. I can’t stress this enough – nothing is more stressful and embarrassing than your boss calling you out or yelling at you and making a scene in front of your coworkers or worse – customers. Any issues you have with your employee, take it up with them personally and in an isolated space. Don’t attack them – approach it constructively and head them out. You will absolutely ruin a good relationship with your employee if you embarrass and shame them publicly.

13. If you are constantly having problems with an employee, re asses how you approach them. Never go in guns a-blazing and hyper focus on everything they’re doing wrong. Always offer constructive criticism and suggest alternatives.

Instead of: I saw how you spoke to that client today Karen, I never want to see that EVER again, that will not be tolerated. If I see you communicate like that again you’re gone.

Try: I was listening in on your interaction with a customer today and I would love to offer you some suggestions for the future. Instead of speaking in that tone and coming off as aggressive, try uncrossing your arms and be more welcoming and lower your defence – sometimes customers can be frustrating but just remember, we want to make sure everyone who leaves here is as happy as we can possibly make them to the best of our ability. We can work on it together”

Or at least something along those lines.

14. Don’t penalize them every single time they make an error. Don’t make them feel like they’re walking on egg shells and that there is no room for mistakes – look, it doesn’t matter what field you’re in – there is forever a learning curve in every industry and mistakes happen. If you have your kid water before bed and he wet his bed overnight – would you punish him for having an accident or would you assure him it’s okay and help him clean up and know to not give him water before bed next time? (I can’t believe I just referred to employees as wetting the bed)

If you reign down on someone every time they made a slight mistake, it’s going to cause them to be overly anxious when they do, and also hide things from you. It’s best to help encourage them to take every mistake as a lesson. We are forever learning and growing, and honestly? Mistakes DO happen. Success is really just multiple failed attempts eventually gone right. Help them brush off, recover, and hope they take it as a lesson for the future.

15. Lead by example! If you aren’t willing to go scrub the toilet, don’t expect your employees to, either. If you want them to be positive and driven, you need to openly promote those traits.

16. Listen! Honestly, it seems so simple but this is so very often overlooked. If your employee comes to you to open up, whether it’s about their personal life or work life – just listen. If they have any concerns, pay attention to what they’re saying and address them as punctually and seamlessly as possible. If they are indirectly asking for help or advice, try and look out for them and have their best interest at heart.

17. Always value feedback. Nothing is worse than an employer / boss who can’t handle any form of criticism. Your employees are literally handing you the solution by providing you with feedback. Always accept tips and performance related feedback from your employees, because in the end you need them to respect you and also you need mutually respect them. Always be open to constructive criticism, take it as an opportunity to learn and grow together as well as a way to strengthen yourself as a leader.

18. Be generous with your resources and also be open to provide your employees with any necessities they may need to succeed.

This one is also big – the first shop I apprenticed at, my mentor “Steve” as I’m going to refer to him as, never wanted to put money into the business or the artists. They requested a colour printer to better help them have references for tattooing – the owner insisted they buy their own. Instead of providing safe, sterile and health board approved bandaging – the owner stuck to plastic wrap, the cheaper option. If the artists requested another arm rest or upgraded product, the owner refused or would take several months doing so. Sometimes it’s like employers forget that they too need to invest in the company and their employees futures.

At Ruby, I make sure I always have ample products in stock. I always make sure to cater to each artists individual needs and provide whatever they need to help them do their job seamlessly. Better printer? Got it. Higher quality paper? On it. Different cleaning product? For sure. I provide bottles of water so they stay hydrated, I sometimes provide snacks and I provide keurig coffees and copious amounts of art books, art supplies and so on.

19. Develop an action plan and know when to say goodbye.

As much as we want to keep some of our employees around forever – sometimes people don’t want to grow or change, simply put. Negative behaviour can absolutely be toxic especially in a smaller tight-knit group of workers. If someone is being overly negative and dragging down the entire atmosphere – communicate with them. Fine out what’s going on and see if there is anything you can help them with. Helping an employee tackle a problem / stressor dead-on also helps strengthen problem solving skills. Help curb that behaviour by encouraging and promoting a more positive environment, reward them for their positive attitude and be quick to establish boundaries when it comes to negativity. If you get to really know your staff, you will be able to understand them more and therefor have a stronger sense of communication with them.

20. Treat everyone like they’re special – because they are. Sometimes I take some of the girls on impromptu sushi dates, shopping dates at the mall, we go for walks around the plaza and talk or simply hang in my car to chat. I always leave an open invitation for them to contact me outside of work, even call me and come hang out. I will always be invested in them and their personal lives, always here to listen to them and if they need it – I will help them out of any situation. We are all stronger as one.

What it comes down to; is trial and error. No one is perfect and sometimes it takes years to be able to figure out how to properly manage. Everyone has their own styles and preferences – obviously sales jobs with many higher ups will have more stress and strain on employees, so this list is really just a rough guideline. I didn’t follow an algorithm, I just did what I felt was right and now here I am writing about it. I love the ladies at my shop and I can confidentially say I mutually feel the love back.

Xo

How I lost control of my life and financial situation.

Part 1, giving a kid money.

Anyone else here love to spend money they don’t have? C’mon, you can’t tell me I’m the only one who has late-night binge shopping sessions?!

Although I love me some online shopping (who doesn’t?) I also have complete control over my finances and a savings account to back that up. I mean, of course there are some areas I could improve on but for now it hasn’t posed as an issue for my financial goals – I’ll get more into those in a later blog.

I’d like to share a (lengthy) story of how I actually accumulated over $20,000 in debt not including student loans ($44,000 including it) and how I managed to pay it all off and end up with over $35k in savings.
I feel like some of you could potentially relate to aspects of this story, I know now that a lot of these issues in fact stemmed from lack of accountability but also depression and anxiety.

How It Began:

Real talk – I used to be in debt. A lot of debt (for my standards, anyways.) I was absolutely reckless as a teen and that definitely put various road blocks in my way well into my 20’s. …late 20’s.
I remember the day I turned 18, I went on RBC’s website (who I banked with at the time) and I applied for a credit card – it was safe to say I had no idea what I was doing, I just thought it was the grown-up thing to do, and also who doesn’t love ‘free‘ money?!

It came as an absolute surprise that I was approved for a $5,000 limit credit card with only 11.9% interest rate – even though I didn’t verify my income and I just turned 18. Who cares, I just got access to $5,000!
This is the part where I would love to say that I was 100% responsible with my money and recent credit-fortune, but I would absolutely be lying. In fact, my very first credit purchase was a $2,000 flat screen TV. You know, back in 2008 when we were ditching tube TV’s for 1080p 42″ subpar quality flat screens priced at nearly $2k a piece. It was expensive but hey, my friends thought I was cool because of it and my place was the place to come play video games at.

At the time, I worked a door-to-door sales job that paid me $7.00 an hour more than minimum wage at the time (Here in Canada, minimum wage was $8.00 at the time – currently it’s $14.50) Needless to say, I thought I was rich for my age. I did fairly well keeping up with my minimum payments until I started making poor choices – I started withdrawing money from my credit card at ATM’s at bars and malls without realizing there were penalties for that – I also lost my job and wrote my landlord cheques from my credit card as well to pay rent with.
It didn’t take me long to max out that credit card, I can tell you that now. It was also then that I realized that sometimes credit card limits aren’t actually “limits” and more of a guideline – my next bill was for $5,500 and to my surprise, my bank didn’t just stop me from using it at the supposed $5,000 limit. As soon as you roll over your limit, you start getting charged up to twice the interest rate and you are also now charged an over limit fee which ranges from $25-100 depending on the card/bank. Thankfully, against my knowledge or consent, I was subscribed to an insurance service with my card called “Balance Protector Premium” which was there to help me make payments if I were to lose a job (like I did.) Also spoiler alert, total waste of money.

This service was I believe $65 or $85 monthly tacked on my credit card bill every month, and even when I requested several times to remove said service (shout out to RBC for having their clients best interest – not)
A rep actually called me from RBC to explain to me that my card is over the limit and that I am starting to drown in interest. I explained I had lost my job and had a change in living situations, they seemed sympathetic but also explained that I am the perfect candidate to take advantage of the Balance Protector program I was subscribed to. They gave me instructions on how to call them and request a claim – so I did that. I called the bank, they told me to call Balance Protector Premium company – so I did. They said they couldn’t access my account and sent me back to RBC – who again, said there was a lock on my account and it’s the insurance’s problem, not theirs. I played phone tag with both companies for several months and was just told my account was “locked” yet no one had a solution. Finally, I was told to just fill out claim documents and send them back – they mailed me the documents, I took a few days to fill them out (procrastination at it’s best) and I ended up receiving a rejection notice for my claim.. 4 days after even receiving my forms to fill out – I hadn’t even sent them back yet! I was finally told the reason my account was locked was because I was over the limit – but this service was supposed to be available for those in my situation so it honestly made no sense and I feel like it’s just a scam. Either way, I didn’t have that extra $1,000 to put my credit card under the limit.

I felt it was a joke. Back then, I wasn’t the greatest at handling problems – if there was no simple solution or if it stressed me out, I had this awful habit of shoving it all under a rug or else I’d rip out my hair and eyelashes (trichotillomania FTW.) So I left it – the balance was $6,212 when it hit my collections account – I remember that number well..

I honestly wish I put my care into my financial situation and I wish I was more vocal about what was going on, because that credit amount in my collections just snowballed from there. I felt my credit already took a big hit, I can’t pay it, so what’s the point? I just accepted my fate and assumed it would all just work out. Later that year, a group of friends and I decided to rent a house together. To this day, still one of the best decisions I made – nearly 10 years later – they are still some of my best friends. Though, things were a bit stressful back then – I was between part-time minimum wage jobs back then, or I was in a bad space and just intermittently used the welfare service for several months to help cover rent. We all decided to sign up for a joint RBC account to pay rent from since that was a bank we all used – It was then I learned that ANY account that my name was attached to with RBC, was free game. This account had nothing to do with my personal banking accounts, but since RBC saw money go into it every month (rent) they decided to take large portions of it to put towards my defaulted credit card debt. Not only was that stressful for me, but now my poor financial choices were impacting my room mates / best friends, and my parents – who ended up bailing me out every time this happened. I closed out all my RBC accounts and switched over to a new bank to run away from the issue.

I couldn’t for the life of me budget properly, I couldn’t save money and I made excuses for myself as to why I simply couldn’t (didn’t make enough money, couldn’t afford to, no point, etc.) – I would cancel cellphone accounts and leave the balances to hit collections, I mean hey – I already had my credit card in collections, what’s another account?
I no longer felt remorse for my poor decisions, I didn’t care about my bad habits, I didn’t care about paying my debts, I didn’t care about how it could affect me. (Later on I learned it was also a plethora of mental health illnesses that contributed to those feelings but we will touch on that later.)
I definitely give props to my parents for always supporting me, and to my mom for always bailing me out of these sh*tty situations I always put myself in. Maybe I also knew deep down that if I messed up, I didn’t have to have accountability for my problems because I knew my parents would end up helping? who knows.

Years later, my credit card debt ended up being $14,000 or so with all of the interest and missed payments over the years and I had about 4 other collections accounts opened which made my debt roughly $20,000 total – I was just in my early 20’s at this point. How do I know?

I finally got a job that I liked and held, with room for advancement in the company. I worked at the mall in a cellphone sales kiosk – I liked my boss, I liked my coworkers, I liked working in the mall and I liked the commission money. After years of working for Fido, I started getting a drive to advance further into the company. I opened a new store location with now one of my closest friends, Jen. She was the store manager and I was her number 2 – she basically coached me and prepped me for management and had me taking my career more seriously. She motivated me.

I decided to get a new car instead of my sport old used Hyundai Tiburon (RIP) and I opted for a newer 2012 Ford Focus hatchback, aka the ultimate mom car. I was denied for a loan, I was denied for leasing – I had to have my mom cosign everything with me, because my dumb ass past me didn’t care about future me.
My phone was with Virgin Mobile at the time, I had a terrible plan that was costing me $100 ish per month – where as with Rogers, where I was working, I could have had a better plan for 50% off with my employee discount – I was rejected because of my poor credit. Not only could I not get my own car, I also couldn’t get my own phone, apartment or any other new credit card. All because I refused to accept I had a problem and refused to properly deal with my issues and just put them on the back burner.

Fast forward to 2015 – I had left my job at Rogers and was now a tattoo apprentice – this was the time where I was starting to really grow and think about my future (I was 25 years old.) I was working full time unpaid, living off savings and my parents helping me out during my broke-ass apprentice days. It was not the most glamorous, to say the least. On top of that, I still had to balance my monthly expenses and also purchase all of my own tattoo equipment – thankfully I managed to snag a part time job at Sally’s to bring in some cash flow on the side.

Once I started doing some tattoos (18 months or so in) I started making a little money here and there – I started realizing the importance of dealing with problems and taking control of my life – especially the aspects I had lost control of. I went onto the Equifax website and signed up to get a copy of my credit report – best $25 spent.

I got to see in detail all of my collections accounts, my debts, my missed payments, delinquency status, my credit score (it was baaddd) and every open account I had, every inquiry to my credit I had… it was eye opening, to say the least. It was at that point I decided to form a game plan to pay down this awful debt I wracked up for myself. Before, I would prioritize random spending, fast food and makeup over paying down any debts – that was no more. Every pay cheque from Sally’s went directly to paying off any debt accounts I had – I started small.

How I managed to pay off collections accounts, one at a time:

On your Transunion / Equifax file, it shows the collections accounts as well as the contact number for who holds the account. I decided to call each of them and see if I could work out either a payment plan, or perhaps lower the amount and pay it in one lump sum.

My tip to anyone who is trying to pay off collections accounts, is to start small. Any collection account will stay on your file for 6 years of last reported date of activity.

How did I tackle my debts? Here are some tips:

1. What balances are lowest amount and newest opened collection account?
Mine was a $257.00 Fido account that I forgot to pay the last bill on and forgot about. I called up collections account, paid that $257 – now It’s cleared up.

2. Next was Rogers account – I closed out my internet and home phone and forgot (neglected) to return equipment, I got charged a hefty fee for that that past Dana didn’t care to handle – so I ended up calling up the collections company, and offering them $500.00 flat for the $800-ish amount showing. They accepted, I paid that one off.

3. Virgin Mobile – I stupidly opened a cellphone account for a boyfriend who then ended up leaving me and also leaving me with his phone bill. PRO LIFE TIP: Unless you’ve been dating for YEARS, do NOT sign a contract on your partners behalf and assume financial/credit responsibility for them. A hard pill to swallow – but if someone’s credit is too bad to get their own phone, then maybe that’s a sign they aren’t financially responsible – take it from someone who was in the same boat, and wasn’t responsible.
Anyways – I called them up and cleared up that $600 balance.

4. The big one – My Visa debt
Actually, truth be told – I never paid this balance. I spoke to a consolidation officer in charge of collections accounts, they made me an offer – they would accept one big lump sum payment of $5,500 for my credit card debt, instead of the $14,000 ish showing on my file from interest / missed payments. I was in the process of saving up that $5,000 when I refreshed my Equifax order (6 months later) and realized the RBC Visa card actually fell off my credit file since it was 6 years later! I honestly lucked out with that – though, I will make mention: Just because a collection account falls off your file, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I will never be able to get an RBC credit card again, most likely – which is totally okay.

5. That $3,000 I saved up toward paying off my credit card debt? I put it on my student loan – which brought the loan down to $20,000-ish.

Needless to say – I worked an unpaid tattoo apprenticeship with a part-time, minimum wage job on the side – I did a couple $80 tattoos here and there and tucked that money away, but the point is – I managed to save money and pay down debts even though I was not in a financially strong position, which just goes to show that even if you don’t make much money – you can make it work. If you are determined enough to dig yourself out of debt, you absolutely can and will – it just takes discipline, drive and patience.

Fast Forward to 27 and 28 year old Dana (2017/2018)

The past 2 years, since December 2017 up until Dec 31, 2018 – I signed up for a Capital One Mastercard with only $300 limit, I used it as much as I could and paid the balance off immediately, I managed to pay off large portion of my $20,000 student debt, I made absolute sure to never ever be late on any phone payments (wireless/cable companies are absolutely ruthless.) I got out of my lease with my Ford and traded it in for a 2015 Hyundai Veloster (which I also had to have my dad cosign.) I also moved out with my friend at the time – let’s call her Trish. I was now paying rent, shop rent, shop bills, personal bills, cell phone, buying my own groceries, paying for my car, insurance, and so on. I managed to get myself a TD Visa card with a $1,000 limit (which was huge, considering my credit score used to be under 400 and I was unable to get any credit card prior to this.)

Enter: Current Dana

It is currently March 12, 2019
I can say with absolute pride and confidence:

• I am no longer being rejected for loans, apartment rentals and credit.
• I have absolutely no accounts in collections.
• I have not been late on any payment in the past 2 or so years.
• I have newest iPhone with Rogers, in my own name – as well as my moms phone in my name and my Internet – despite being ‘delinquent’ with Rogers in the past.
• I have 4 credit cards now in my name, 2 of them for business and 2 of them personal.
• I have a ‘Track my spending’ app on my phone which is very handy.
• I have been able to save up for any big purchase I wished to make – new TV, video game consoles, software, camera, iPad, new tattoo equipment, gaming computer setup – you name it.
• I stopped going on pointless emotionally-driven shopping sprees (to some degree, anyways)
• I have control of my online shopping addiction I previously had, and use a reward system when it comes to random purchases.
• I transfer over most money in my cheq. account, to my savings account, leaving only enough to cover upcoming bills.
• I currently have just over $30,000 saved in my TSFA and $2,500 contributed to my Mutual Funds.
• I have brought my credit score from a measly 383, to just over 700.
• I use mostly cash to spend money – I put anything larger than a $20 bill into a lock box and spend only smaller bills. I save my cash up and either use it towards larger purchases or rent, or I throw it into savings.
• I paid off my student loan in full – I made a payment arrangement to pay $1,673.00 per month and finally made my very last OSAP payment in January.
• I just purchased a Tesla Model 3 ($65,000 car) and financed it 100% under my name, locking in a 4% interest rate (opposed to my 6.99% rate I had on my last car even with my dad as co-signer.)
• I have a $25,000 loan available for my business, offered by my bank.
• I never struggle financially – I don’t have to worry about my bills, expenses, food, rent or anything – I plan ahead, put my monthly expense money away and always have a back up fund in case things take a turn for the worst.

MORE IMPORTANTLY:
I have worked really, really hard to dig myself fully out of debt and start forming a proper savings account. It took me 4.5 years to undo all of the damage past-Dana so recklessly made. I made plenty of poor choices way back when, I refused to take charge of my life, I made excuse after excuse of why I was in debt, why I couldn’t afford my lifestyle, why I couldn’t afford to save or pay down debt and I refused to acknowledge I had messed up and let things go a little too out of hand.

I did my research, I reached out, I formed a plan and stuck to it. It was hard, I was financially strapped for years – I sat out from a lot of events, concerts, trips and events with friends. I made due with the items I had, and I lived off instant noodles for a while. A lot of my friends and even some family members try and chalk up my current situation to “luck” saying that I lucked out in having my business – but in fact, luck is the last thing I owe thanks to. It wasn’t easy to get to where I am now, but honestly? It was worth it. It takes next to no work to make a mess and not deal with it – but it takes a great deal of time and effort to undo the mess created. You just.. have to want to do it.

Be proactive now, take control of your life and your situation – stop blaming circumstance, stop blaming other people and the world for problems that may arise. As soon as you start seeing the errors in your ways and start being accountable, you will flourish and be absolutely financially FREE.

My parents (mainly my mom) had bailed me out of MANY bad situations I landed myself in, she handled my car payments and storage unit fees when I was apprenticing, she would help with my rent when I was younger if I didn’t make enough money and she always supported me. Sometimes we take things and people for granted – had she not have helped me out as much as she did, I have no idea where I would be. I think the fact that my past me’s bratty poor decisions put a heavy strain on my family is also what lit a huge fire under my butt to get my sh*t together. Not only were my bad choices affecting me, but they were now affecting those close to me. For that, I owe my parents the world and I will spend the rest of their lives trying to show them that.

I hope my story somehow helps and if you have any questions, feel free to leave any comments 🙂 I will be posting another blog that has more money-tips in terms of saving and fixing credit. Nothing is more liberating and empowering like being absolutely independent, having everything in your name, knowing all of your monthly expenses will be accounted for and that YOU yourself are the one who is responsible for your success and your future.


I guess to sum it up, I was a huge brat. What else is new?
xo

I hate moving.

So it’s been a week since I have fully moved into my new home. I went from living in a 2,600 sq. ft detached house, to a 1,400 sq. ft townhouse. Sad little upside? I get to live right next to my parents. Is that weird? Probably – but it means I get to spend more time with my folks, help them out and also score a free meal or two every so often. 😉

While I sit here on my computer writing this, surrounded by unopened and partially empties boxes – I decided to write a little blurb about productivity. Ironic, I know.

Be honest, who actually likes moving? and by moving, I mean having to pack up your entire life, find a box and a place for every single knick-knack, document and object you own, carefully packing away dishes and breakable object, trying to prioritize what to pack first as to not leave yourself unable to even find a stick of deodorant for moving day… and then transporting all of your belongings from A to B, and undoing all of the packing you did. It’s honestly the worst. I’m getting frustrated even typing about it.

I’ve compiled a list of ways to help you during this horrendously tedious and frustrating process, so I hope they come in handy.

• 1. Always make sure you know where all of your important documents are and pack them in a place you can easily access. Personally, I placed all of my important-paper documents into large plastic freezer ziploc bags, and placed it all into a red plastic tote. Why red? because every other tote bin I used was blue, and everything else was in cardboard boxes. Nothing is worse than having something come up and needing to access important documents that you can’t for the life of you find.
• 2. Form a game plan – I know, this sounds pretty basic right? but proper planning and pre-work will save you the headache, trust me. Do a quick scope of all the stuff you are moving and determine if you can comfortably move it on you own with help – or if you should put money aside for a full-on moving company. If you had similar amount of furniture that I had at my previous place, you’d be easily looking at $1,000.00 – where as renting a moving truck and recruiting some friends and family to help, cost me only $250.00. If you plan on renting a truck, make sure you reserve one days in advance and make sure you have a credit card available to put a $500-1,000 deposit on and have someone available who is comfortable to drive it. (If you can do it yourself, then awesome! I personally convinced my dad to do it for me. Probably saved me from having to awkwardly explain why I crashed it into a building or something.)
• 3. Mark your boxes! this is something I do every single time I move. I either used coloured dot-stickers or just a handy lil’ sharpie. I number my boxes and bags from 1-3. 1 being most important, 3 being least. (or you can skip that and just use clear bins.) For example, when I pack up my massive stock pile of makeup and beauty products, there are some things I can live without for a while, and some things I absolute cannot. To save me from having to savagely rip through every box to find that one mascara I can’t go without, I just put a simple 1. on my box, with a brief written description of the boxes contents. This also works for clothing, household products, dishes and so on. In an ideal world, we would all love to be fully unpacked and set up on day 1 of moving in, but.. reality is, that never happens.
• 4. If you have access to your new home prior to moving date, take full advantage of it! use that as an opportunity to purchase some organizers and shelving. I made sure that the week before we moved in, I had hangers in every closet, shoe organizers, I had organizational tiers in the cupboards, built the cabinet / microwave stand for the kitchen, the kitchen cart and pots and pan holders. I also took this opportunity to do a walk-through of the house and take pictures of every single room and section of the house so that I could keep track of any current damage prior to moving my belongings in. I also used this time wisely to install any floating shelves, replace light bulbs, hang curtain rods and window coverings and set aside storage space. Benefits of all that pre-work? You can move in, and everything has a home when you unpack.
• 5. Don’t leave anything last minute!
• 6. Putting together a “Moving kit” is also very handy. A moving kit should include: Shower products, deodorant, 1 full clean outfit, tooth paste, tooth brush, any needed medications and anything that would be important or potentially needed upon first day of moving in to your new home. Also, don’t you dare forget about toilet paper! Or you’ll have more than a a moving-mess on your hands…. literally.
• 7. LISTS! One thing I absolutely love and can’t live without, is list-making and label makers. Making an inventory list is not only practical, but can also help you keep track of your belongings if you say… hire some questionable help or a random moving company. You can never be too careful. Consider even taking the time to produce a quick spread sheet of electronics and valuables in case something happens to go missing.
• 8. Protect your valuables – Make sure you have ample amounts of sheets, blankets, towels and news paper to help protect your belongings. Imagine this – You unload the moving truck only to find your glass top table is now shattered, your brand new full length mirror is cracked and so is your 65″ 4K tv. Make sure you wake up extra early on moving day and have your valuable belongings protected with Styrofoam, blankets and sheets. Also, some trucks are just really.. dirty. It doesn’t hurt to have some tarps / drop sheets available to lay down on the floor of the truck to prevent any gunk from getting on your furniture.
• 9. Whatever you do, keep your clothing/fabric items that are packed in garbage bags – away from your ACTUAL garbage. Last thing you want is to unpack a bag of trash and realize you donated your Louis Vuitton track suit and hand bags to the city dump. (Who are we? Jeffree Star?)
• 10. Pet sitting! If you have any pets, I strongly recommend either finding a reputable pet sitter, a super nice friend or perhaps drop them off at a near-by pet daycare for the day. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t feel like leaving our Aussie shepherd pup locked in a crate all day to lose her shit while we are trampling about. Fortunately, my mom (who I now live next door to) took her for the day, which was a tremendous help. If you don’t have any friends who can pet sit for you, then day care’s are a terrific alternative (mainly for cats and dogs.) plus your lil’ fur baby gets snacks, attention and socialization for the day!
• 11. Lastly, treat your movers well and relax. This is especially crucial if you have movers working on hot or cold days. If it’s hot out? have cold beverages / ample amounts of water available, if it’s cold – perhaps offer a hot beverage. Same goes to your family and pals who help! I think it’s pretty customary to order food for your movers and provide beer (or any other beverage.) and most importantly – REMAIN CALM. Keep focused, move everything in that you can – if you followed the previous steps, you shouldn’t have too much to stress about but if things go wrong, just slow down, relax and take it easy. Everything will work out, moving days are stressful for everyone. (Having an emergency stash of sadness-chocolate also helps. 😉 )

I hope these tips helped you out even a little bit, even if majority of them seem straight forward.

For now – I am going to go take my own advice and chip away at the last few remaining boxes and bags of clothing – hang in there everyone! So close to victory. :’)

xo