4 ms·

Moving costs money. If you're scraping by as tightly as they are - how would one expect them to afford to move? You need money to rent a u-haul to haul your s

by Aloha 9y ago

Moving costs money. If you're scraping by as tightly as they are - how would one expect them to afford to move? You need money to rent a u-haul to haul your stuff, some cash to rent an apartment, and then enough cash to provide a runway to find a job (which in a service industry role shouldn't take more than 6-8 weeks) - that still adds up to about 10k to relocate to a cheaper part of the country.

godelski 9y ago
Having moved across the country a few years back for my job, the idea that it costs near $10k is ridiculous. I didn't even have half that to my name when I moved. Checking U-Haul, you can geta 15' for 10 days and go from SF to NYC for under 3k. And you're probably going to be going half that distance and in less time. So let's say you go more central. Estimate U-Haul at 2k, gas at 1k, rent of new place as $500/mo (so $1k first month). And let's say you eat out every day on the trip and actually use all 10 days. For 3 people that's $5(per meal)3(people)3(meals per day)*10(days)=$450. You're at ~$4.5k right there, under half your value. I can tell you I did 2/3 of the country in 3 days and closer to $2k (but I own a truck). And with my experience this is a conservative value. I'd expect you could do it a lot cheaper than that. With $5k you CAN move most places in the country. For a few grand you can move most places within a half country radius. I'm not trying to say that saving isn't hard, but I'm calling BS on your $10k number. A few grand is a number close to which you can save and borrow from friends/family. I think the reluctance to move is more a reluctance to move, not so much the financial burden. I know most of my friends won't do it for that reason. And I won't lie, that is a tough part, but you have to do what you have to do.
- estebank 9y ago
  You're not considering that these people are living month-to-month so they don't have 5K lying around and that the time between jobs when they are moving is time they're not getting paid. That means that you need >5K, otherwise you just erased all your savings to move to a place with a lower job prospects.
  - godelski 9y ago
    > You're not considering that these people are living month-to-month so they don't have 5K lying around Uhhh.... I said > I'm not trying to say that saving isn't hard, but I'm calling BS on your $10k number. A few grand is a number close to which you can save and borrow from friends/family. I'm also suggesting that the cost (from experience and our estimate above) that it is far less than 10k to move. I also acknowledge the difficulty of the task and realize that you might not be able to do it independently. I did say that I recently did just this. So, please read the entirety of a comment before replying. > otherwise you just erased all your savings to move to a place with a lower job prospects. Who said that? Have a job lined up first. Consider cost of living changes. I'm not saying to just pick up your bags and determine where to move by throwing a dart at a map. You can line up a job. You can line up housing. You can line up your travel and moving so you only lose a few days of work. This is literally how I did it. No, it isn't trivial, but it also isn't that difficult. Especially if you're really open to where you move to. You're making an unreasonable assumption here, and I don't appreciate the red herring. As for erasing ALL your savings? Yeah, I've been there, done that. Sucks, but it is making an investment in yourself. And IMO a good investment.
- Aloha 9y ago
  Uhaul 2-3000k Hotel during moving 80/night * 6 days = 480 fuel for other vehicle on trip (presumes two cars, and uhaul can haul one) = 350 food on trip = 720 dollars (assuming 40/meal (assumes $8/pp) and you eat fast food) 3 nights of hotel upon arrival = 300 (more expensive in city.) 2 months of food on arrival for a family of 5 for two months, assuming you can cook at home 5 (head) * 3 (meals) * 4 (dollars per person) * 60 (days) = 3600 dollars. apartment 800 (first month) +800 (security) +800 (last month) +800 (second month) +200 (key fee, background check) = 3400 Starting up utilities (power/internet) = 300 Cell Phone 100 Total: 11250 Now this is my worst case for a family of 5 - in all likelihood, move in costs could be lower, food on the road might be cheaper, and food at home could be much cheaper - but the 10k number was picked because you need an emergency cushion - my original back of the napkin (literal) showed about 8500 dollars, which would leave you more cushion for the unexpected. So while I agree with you.. that I could move cross country for 5k - I don't think I could move a family of 5 cross country for 5k.
  - godelski 9y ago
    I totally disagree with your numbers. $800 is a lot for rent. We're assuming we're going somewhere cheap. Even that $500 is high if you're moving to the middle of the country. You can find a 2 or 3 bedroom rental at $500 in even "bigger" cities like Oklahoma City or Albuquerque. That's a huge upgrade from a garage. Utilities are going to be nowhere near that. You're also inflating numbers. Like where does this 2 months of food come from? Where are you getting the second month? Who does this? It is first and last (which is your security deposit). Utils are going to be <$100/mo, including basic internet. So for 5 people, on the cheap (because come on, they are living in a garage, we're just looking for an upgrade, not middle class status on arrival). So let's do an even more refined analysis from what I did before. Uhaul = 2-3k with fuel (we aren't doing the 10 days Uhaul estimated. NYC to SF is 44hrs driving). You tow your car, but I'm guessing they don't have one, let alone two. $5/person/meal for lunch and dinner (breakfast at motel or you skip). That's $150 for 3 days (we're on the road ALL day). Motel at $40/night (two nights). You also have a uhaul... (you can trade off driving through the night too...) First and last month is $900 (we're doing 2bd 1ba in not the greatest neighborhood but not out in the boonies. The kids have a room). Utils are $150 for turning on and first month. You buy a cheap cell phone or a prepaid, $100 for two phones (you and wife). You probably already have this, but hey I'm adding a little wiggle room. Nothing about this is glamarous, but that's not what I'm trying to illustrate here. This comes to $3,380-$4,380. Clearly we can do even cheaper. These numbers probably seem low to you because you've never had to do this or never lived in these places. 5k would give you wiggle room, and honestly we're not concerned about that. We're looking bare minimum. Most people don't even have $500 in their savings, so unfortunately we're not going to presume that our imaginary family of 5 does. We can definitely argue over this number but I'll say CAN is in the range 5k+-1k for a good portion of the country. So CAN we move a family of 5 across the country? Yes. Is it going to be easy? No. Is it going to be comfortable? No. Are you going to live in the greatest area? No. Are you going to have an easier time saving money once you move? Yes (on the condition that you did your research. Even a "pay decrease" can be a "raise"). Is it going to be better than a family of 5 in a garage? Hell yeah.

by Aloha 9y ago

godelski 9y ago

Having moved across the country a few years back for my job, the idea that it costs near $10k is ridiculous. I didn't even have half that to my name when I moved. Checking U-Haul, you can geta 15' for 10 days and go from SF to NYC for under 3k. And you're probably going to be going half that distance and in less time. So let's say you go more central. Estimate U-Haul at 2k, gas at 1k, rent of new place as $500/mo (so $1k first month). And let's say you eat out every day on the trip and actually use all 10 days. For 3 people that's $5(per meal)3(people)3(meals per day)*10(days)=$450. You're at ~$4.5k right there, under half your value. I can tell you I did 2/3 of the country in 3 days and closer to $2k (but I own a truck). And with my experience this is a conservative value. I'd expect you could do it a lot cheaper than that. With $5k you CAN move most places in the country. For a few grand you can move most places within a half country radius. I'm not trying to say that saving isn't hard, but I'm calling BS on your $10k number. A few grand is a number close to which you can save and borrow from friends/family. I think the reluctance to move is more a reluctance to move, not so much the financial burden. I know most of my friends won't do it for that reason. And I won't lie, that is a tough part, but you have to do what you have to do.

estebank 9y ago
You're not considering that these people are living month-to-month so they don't have 5K lying around and that the time between jobs when they are moving is time they're not getting paid. That means that you need >5K, otherwise you just erased all your savings to move to a place with a lower job prospects.
- godelski 9y ago
  > You're not considering that these people are living month-to-month so they don't have 5K lying around Uhhh.... I said > I'm not trying to say that saving isn't hard, but I'm calling BS on your $10k number. A few grand is a number close to which you can save and borrow from friends/family. I'm also suggesting that the cost (from experience and our estimate above) that it is far less than 10k to move. I also acknowledge the difficulty of the task and realize that you might not be able to do it independently. I did say that I recently did just this. So, please read the entirety of a comment before replying. > otherwise you just erased all your savings to move to a place with a lower job prospects. Who said that? Have a job lined up first. Consider cost of living changes. I'm not saying to just pick up your bags and determine where to move by throwing a dart at a map. You can line up a job. You can line up housing. You can line up your travel and moving so you only lose a few days of work. This is literally how I did it. No, it isn't trivial, but it also isn't that difficult. Especially if you're really open to where you move to. You're making an unreasonable assumption here, and I don't appreciate the red herring. As for erasing ALL your savings? Yeah, I've been there, done that. Sucks, but it is making an investment in yourself. And IMO a good investment.
Aloha 9y ago
Uhaul 2-3000k Hotel during moving 80/night * 6 days = 480 fuel for other vehicle on trip (presumes two cars, and uhaul can haul one) = 350 food on trip = 720 dollars (assuming 40/meal (assumes $8/pp) and you eat fast food) 3 nights of hotel upon arrival = 300 (more expensive in city.) 2 months of food on arrival for a family of 5 for two months, assuming you can cook at home 5 (head) * 3 (meals) * 4 (dollars per person) * 60 (days) = 3600 dollars. apartment 800 (first month) +800 (security) +800 (last month) +800 (second month) +200 (key fee, background check) = 3400 Starting up utilities (power/internet) = 300 Cell Phone 100 Total: 11250 Now this is my worst case for a family of 5 - in all likelihood, move in costs could be lower, food on the road might be cheaper, and food at home could be much cheaper - but the 10k number was picked because you need an emergency cushion - my original back of the napkin (literal) showed about 8500 dollars, which would leave you more cushion for the unexpected. So while I agree with you.. that I could move cross country for 5k - I don't think I could move a family of 5 cross country for 5k.
- godelski 9y ago
  I totally disagree with your numbers. $800 is a lot for rent. We're assuming we're going somewhere cheap. Even that $500 is high if you're moving to the middle of the country. You can find a 2 or 3 bedroom rental at $500 in even "bigger" cities like Oklahoma City or Albuquerque. That's a huge upgrade from a garage. Utilities are going to be nowhere near that. You're also inflating numbers. Like where does this 2 months of food come from? Where are you getting the second month? Who does this? It is first and last (which is your security deposit). Utils are going to be <$100/mo, including basic internet. So for 5 people, on the cheap (because come on, they are living in a garage, we're just looking for an upgrade, not middle class status on arrival). So let's do an even more refined analysis from what I did before. Uhaul = 2-3k with fuel (we aren't doing the 10 days Uhaul estimated. NYC to SF is 44hrs driving). You tow your car, but I'm guessing they don't have one, let alone two. $5/person/meal for lunch and dinner (breakfast at motel or you skip). That's $150 for 3 days (we're on the road ALL day). Motel at $40/night (two nights). You also have a uhaul... (you can trade off driving through the night too...) First and last month is $900 (we're doing 2bd 1ba in not the greatest neighborhood but not out in the boonies. The kids have a room). Utils are $150 for turning on and first month. You buy a cheap cell phone or a prepaid, $100 for two phones (you and wife). You probably already have this, but hey I'm adding a little wiggle room. Nothing about this is glamarous, but that's not what I'm trying to illustrate here. This comes to $3,380-$4,380. Clearly we can do even cheaper. These numbers probably seem low to you because you've never had to do this or never lived in these places. 5k would give you wiggle room, and honestly we're not concerned about that. We're looking bare minimum. Most people don't even have $500 in their savings, so unfortunately we're not going to presume that our imaginary family of 5 does. We can definitely argue over this number but I'll say CAN is in the range 5k+-1k for a good portion of the country. So CAN we move a family of 5 across the country? Yes. Is it going to be easy? No. Is it going to be comfortable? No. Are you going to live in the greatest area? No. Are you going to have an easier time saving money once you move? Yes (on the condition that you did your research. Even a "pay decrease" can be a "raise"). Is it going to be better than a family of 5 in a garage? Hell yeah.