Relocating on a Very Tight Budget
 

Good Afternoon Fodorites!

I'm planning a major relocation within the year but doing so on an extremely tight budget and to make matters worse, moving to an area where the cost of living is much higher than my current location.

Occassionally, I hear stories about people who've done this successfully, though the details of how it is accomplished are often left out, (due to story length constraints and the need to keep it upbeat and moving along, I assume). Sometimes it is mentioned as an aside that the author lived with a relative while getting settled in. Obviously, there is more such detail to most of these stories than usually makes it to the printed page.

So I'm asking anyone who may have practical insights about how such a relocation might be accomplished to please let me know about the "nuts and bolts" of it. Or if anyone knows of a good source of information on this subject, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all who respond!

swoops

Start reading the web versions of the new city's newspaper, to get a feel for the community, an idea of neighborhoods, some sense of rent levels or house prices, etc.

This should speed up your time spent in hotels trying to find a place to lice.

There are times of the year when local university dormatories are available for rent by individuals, and this is often the least expensive place to stay for a week or two.

Sometimes poeple move too much stuff. Depending on your life style, you can often minimize what you pay to ship.

I once moved across the country and bought new furniture in the new city, rather than paying to move furture from my original home.

BAK

I have done it and the way I did it was obtain a position before I left and the company that hired me paid for my interim housing expense completely, plus the move. That is what you should do if you are an in-demand professional. If you don't want to and are just sure you want to move there anyway, which I understand, I think you should either pay for the expenses to visit the place ahead of time and find an apartment before moving OR put your things in storage until you have moved and found a place. If you visit ahead of time, you may only have a week (which is what I had) to find a place and so what you rent may not be your ideal place -- just prepare for the fact that you may want to move again in a year after you are settled and know the place better. It's just a cost of doing that kind of thing, if it is far enough away that you can't easily visit and find a desirable place ahead of time. If you have friends or family there, that would be a good thing to do (stay with them a week or so) while searching for an apt. Make yourself unobtrusive and minimal effort to them.

For any of these methods, you have to do a lot of research ahead of time, involving knowing the city well enough to have an idea where you will look for an apt. so you don't spend so much time, an idea of rents, and perhaps even a list of some apt. agencies. You can do all of that ahead of time. When I made a major move, I had to view the Sunday apt. rental sections and did that for about six months before going to find an apt. Now you can do a lot more with the internet.

There is always lots of information around on a place and neighborhoods, if you look for it--whether guidebooks or online web sites. I would hope you aren't moving to a place you've never been.

Hi Swoops. Could you give us more specific info such as from where to where you're relocating? I think it'll be easier to respond to your questions and concerns if we have a frame of reference.

Thank you all so much for your help!

BAK, I can tell you've done this before. Thanks for the great advice! I'm sort of a pack-rat so the first and hardest thing for me to do is to get rid of all that extra stuff.

I'm also a research nut so that part will come naturally to me. Unfortunately, I've found that the price ranges advertised at apartment locator websites are almost always out of date and on the low side. I've had better luck, in terms of accuracy, with the online version of the newspaper but listings fitting my criteria are relatively few and far between.

Christina, ideally I would find a position before moving but I've found that employment agencies and prospective employers alike will not take you seriously unless you currently live in the community where you are seeking employment. No, I'm not an in-demand professional...more like an artist who's done just about every kind of work but didn't care enough for any of them to consider a career in those fields. It's always been relatively easy for me to find jobs, (though not always ones I wanted), because I interview well. In order to get settled in my new place, I'm willing to work at jobs I might otherwise not consider, even working multiple jobs, if viable with regard to commute times, etc.

I like what you say about being organized and making the time I have to find a place count. I will visit the place I move to at least once prior to moving there. But herein lies the dilemna and the reason for all my cyber-research, as you will see in the next paragraph.

Hi Betsy! Yes, it would be much easier for me too if I had it narrowed down to one place. >Picture me blushing here< You see, I spent a really long time narrowing down a very large field of possible candidates to a workable handful. At this point, I know that the only way to really make a final decision is to actually visit my candidates and yet, I just don't have the resources to visit them all.

I was hoping with this question, to further narrow the field by putting myself as much in the process of making the move as possible, hoping that a candidate might emerge from the pack by virtue of practicality, if not sheer desirability.

So, having said that, I'll be moving from Oklahoma City to one of the following:

New Orleans
Ft. Lauderdale
St. Petersburg

I've identified areas within each of these places where the housing is fairly inexpensive compared to the rest of the metro. Still, such a move is daunting.

Thanks for anything you can tell me.

swoops

Don't know your age but someone just sent be a great book called Goin' Solo at 20 and 30, the girl's guide to starting life on her own in a place she can't afford.
It's got loads of advice on moving to new and expensive cities alone - phone numbers and websites galore.
It could easily be used for any age. It's very clever and it may offer you some good tips.
Good luck!