i have my mullvad vpn connected via the budgie network settings, but every time i turn my computer on, i have to manually connect to the vpn. in this case, my kill switch doesn't work so i'm able to connect to the internet without vpn if i forget to turn it on.
is there a way to make the vpn connect automatically on startup?
You can install network-manager-applet, then either run nm-connection-editor from terminal or launch "Advanced Network Configuration" from menu. Double click on your chosen network, in "General" tab you can find the option to automatically start vpn.
They should really integrate this option to gnome-control-center.
i looked for the applet on the software center but I couldn't find it ~ where can i get it from?
my general tab for my wired connection already has the automatically connect to vpn but when i checked it and rebooted, the budgie vpn manager couldn't even pick up that i had configured my vpn. 
round-gerbil i looked for the applet on the software center but I couldn't find it ~ where can i get it from?
The display name for it is just "NetworkManager", but it should show up if you search "network-manager-applet".
Alternatively you can install it from the CLI by running sudo eopkg it network-manager-applet
