Melissa Eastlake QueercentsLast weekend I put out a casting call for the Queercents intern and after receiving a plethora of sincere replies, we settled on the smart and delightful, Melissa Eastlake. I was sold the moment the sombrero and story about looming student loans showed up in my inbox. Apparently, her time at that expensive women’s college was fun’¦ but now the real world calls; credit card and all.

Melissa is a 22-year-old Libra on the cusp of Virgo (careful in finance, reckless in love). She graduated from Hollins University in May of 2007 with a B.A. in Communication Studies and English/Creative Writing, and now she’s getting settled into her first real-world job and apartment.

She lives in the DC area, where, except for college, she has lived all her life, and works in PR with a focus on web-based communications. While she’s always kept a careful budget, the barrage of new information and responsibilities in the Big Girl World has led her to an obsessive interest in researching the ins and outs of personal finance. She is flatly terrified of her brand new credit card, has obscene student loans, and likes to interpret ‘œfrugality’ as a karmic mandate to find the best happy hour deals in the city.

When not worrying about contributions to her future children’s 529s, she likes to read, cook, send and receive stupid text messages, and listen to a lot of Tegan and Sara.

Melissa will be posting weekly and helping us out with a few intern-y type projects squeezed in after her new day job!