CONTENTS
FOREWORD BY KRISTIN VAN OGTROP, EDITOR OF REAL SIMPLE
Should you live here?
10 questions to ask yourself
Apartment WTFs
TRUE STORY: I had no job and rock-bottom credit. How I found a sweet apartment anyway.
By Molly Antopol
Apartment-amenity smackdown: what matters most
How to read the fine print, rental edition
Should you live with this person?
Renter’s and homeowner’s insurance: a primer
Buying a home: what you
need to know
Should you lock in your mortgage interest rate?
The ultimate moving checklist
Pack it in (better)
Getting a job (and keeping it)
How to apply yourself—and land the gig that you want
Should you take an unpaid internship after graduation?
Cover-letter and résumé do’s and don’ts
How to look good online
LinkedIn for beginners
Nail the interview: here’s how
“Do you have any questions
for me?”: Never draw a blank in an interview again
Name your price (and get it)
Are you my mentor?
Make your job work for you
Love, sex, and an open floor plan
A field guide to nightmare coworkers
5 work rules you should break
TRUE STORY: Being an overachiever at work doesn’t always pay. How I learned to pull back—then move on. By Kirstin Chen
When to take the problem to HR
Quitting with panache
What your skin is trying to tell you
Zits for grown-ups
No eye cream for you: anti-aging measures worth thinking about now
Portion control: skin-care edition
Put on a good face: your makeup must-haves
Never put on makeup the wrong way again
Beauty blunders, simple solutions
The only 3 looks you need to master
Take it off. Take it all off. (Your makeup, that is)
Your killer-haircut cheat sheet
TRUE STORY: How bad advice and too much pomade taught me who I really wanted to look like—myself. By Sarah McCoy
The hair necessities
Be your own stylist
Portion control: hair-product edition
Adventures in hair removal
Beauty products: when to scrimp, when to splurge
Salon drama, avoided
The cure for nothing-to-wear-itis
Clothes: when to scrimp, when to splurge
Your office dress-code decoder
Is this appropriate for my office?
TRUE STORY: I wore the same outfit for an entire season. Here’s why. By Jessica Grose
What to wear, everywhere: special-occasion dressing, demystified
What to wear when you still haven’t got a clue
Never again wonder: bra or medieval torture device?
Style secrets you don’t want to learn the hard way
Pressing matters: how to iron
Fashion faux pas, averted
In case of fashion emergency: what to keep handy in your bag, your desk, your closet
You can’t cook without…these ingredients
The spice-rack starter kit
Heavy metals: a beginner’s guide
Choose your tools wisely
Sharp advice on knives
8 kitchen gadgets you really don’t need
Kitchen secrets: how to avoid common cooking mistakes
4 oops! that are no big whoop
10 recipes anyone can make
The microwave is sexier than you think
Your seasonal guide to (almost) everything
TRUE STORY: A tribute to the first truly adult drink of my life. By Rosie Schaap
Wine 101
Which Pinot is which? A varietal guide
The cheapster’s guide to cocktails
Spending and saving the right way
The moneyphobe’s guide to financial terms
4 important questions to ask before picking a bank
Where to stash rainy-day cash
The truth about your credit cards
TRUE STORY: How I got over my fear of spending even a dime. By Cristina Henríquez
Health insurance: a primer
Money saving secrets
How much insurance does one woman need?!
Budgeting for people who hate budgets
Only 40+ years to retirement! How to start planning now
The 5-minute guide to your taxes
3 super-common tax-return errors
How to go to your friends’ weddings—without going broke
Your get-healthy, stay-healthy calendar
Wait—when did you get that shot?
The cure for what ails you: everyday-illness edition
3 symptoms that won’t go away on their own
And now for a message on smoking…
Your first-aid essentials
Good-bye to all that (aspirin): cleaning out your medicine cabinet
How to find Dr. Right
Health oops! fixed
Why do I always feel like [expletive redacted]?
The health issue you shouldn’t procrastinate about
Can you make a hangover less horrible?
TRUE STORY: How I cured my own bad body image in one fell swoop. By Jessica Soffer
You don’t know you’re beautiful: how to develop a better body image
Diet or exercise: which matters more?
Choose the right workout
It’s that time of the month again
Problem periods
Birth control 101
Yikes, the condom broke! What to do next
If you don’t want to be pregnant…
Decorating and clutter-busting
What’s your decorating style?
10 rules for small-space living
Low-effort, high-impact tricks
Get high on vertical space
Wait—don’t throw that out! How to repurpose
Furnishings: when to scrimp, when to splurge
TRUE STORY: How my fondest furniture dream finally came true. By Edan Lepucki
How to rescue a blank wall
What to know before hanging artwork
Decorate by numbers: a guide to proportions
Declutter your problem spaces
Organizing mantras to live by
Feng shui for beginners
Wait—don’t throw that out, either!
How to deal when your roommate has zero taste
The only cleaning kit you’ll ever need
The quick and dirty guide to housecleaning
How the heck do you clean…?
Ewww, how do I get rid of this?
Dirty confessions: a house cleaner tells all
TRUE STORY: My first apartment was crummy, small, and infested. A story of unconditional love. By J. Courtney Sullivan
Be your own super
Who does what? You vs. your roommate
The no-spin guide to doing laundry
Wash. Dry. Repeat. (Plus less obvious laundry tips)
How often should you wash this?
Laundromat etiquette
Out, out damn spot! Solutions for every stain
Outsource! When to call in the dry cleaner
All you need in your tool kit, desk drawer, car trunk
Etiquette rules for the real world
Do this, don’t do that
3 steps to writing a better thank-you note
How to make nice on the Internet
The rules of attraction
Coming out: a cheat sheet
Come on—fight fair!
TRUE STORY: How I learned to trust myself (with a little help from my dad). By Julia Fierro
Help! My friendship needs a fix
3 ways to be a better friend
How to break up (nicely) with friends and significant others
How to get closer to your mom or dad
7 questions to ask your parents
Why can’t we just get along? A sibling problem-solver
10 helpful pieces of life advice
What to tip anyone for any service rendered, from a shampooer to a mover