47 and dreaming of living in alaska (Anchorage, Fairbanks: apartment complexes, rent, how much)

[Achilles2012]

Hello to any one reading this thread !!

Well , after reading alot of storys about people moving to
alaska, and , or others wanting to and thinking of moving.

ive started looking at my options and situation.
and i have come to realize that my life sux !!! lol
i live in savannah , ga and i dont have a pot to pee in
or a window to pour it out of. working at wal mart
and paying alot of child support. im already ruffing it!!
and have alot of experience with doing with out alot of things.

i dream of moving to alaska every day !!
since there are wal marts in alaska, i already
have a place to work. even though alot of people
look down on wal mart as far as employment is concerned.
i figure that since one needs to have a job lined up
before attempting to move to alaska. its a start !!

all i need is a plane ticket and money for
food , rent a room, and maby find and old truck
for transportation, and some warm clothes.
things to hold me over till geting situated.
BUT !! i will put alot of planning , and
do some research. before acually making a move.
in fact. thats how i found this very helpfull
forum!!

so if anyone thats been there and done that !!
and has any kind of information , tips
web sites or if im on the wring track even .anything at all that
i can read up on , lemme know !!

[lovinCarl]

47.. that's a good age to move to AK LOL.

My husband turns 47 in 15 days and we are moving to AK in April.

Perfect time to start fresh huh?

[Rance]

There is a basket full of info here. Try the search feature in the AK forum for some questions. Or go back through the pages and check the titles. I think you'll find helpfull info to just about any question you may have.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by lovinCarl

47.. that's a good age to move to AK LOL.

My husband turns 47 in 15 days and we are moving to AK in April.

Perfect time to start fresh huh?

That's right! Then one works to the age of 60, and the cold weather makes it so hard that one moves back to a desert or something down South, still broke as ever

[Nephler]

Achillies, two things to think about. Your child support will follow you here and I believe you would have to apply for a transfer with Wal-mart to be able to have a job here soon as you arrive. Just food for thought.

[bkyhi]

Curious,

I moved to Alaska at 48. But I am somewhat financially stable and have some skills.
I'm from Hawaii where costs are a bit higher than the national average, and I was surprised at the cost of even a burger in Anchorage.

I wonder if working at Walmart will support a better or worse lifestyle in Alaska.

My guess is if your life sucks in savannah , ga it will suck more in Alaska. I don't know what you do at Walmart, but I think the cost of living here is bit more than you are used to.

Research very carefully - I'd contact Walmart and find out how much they will pay, check out the housing, transportation costs, FOOD, heat, clothing, activities (unless you plan to watch TV all the time - oh yes, cost of cable), internet, just about everything you can. Search this board and read EVERY LITTLE thing you can. Be sure not to miss the archives. Check out other sites too.
Since you are thinking of staying with Walmart your locations are somewhat limited.

Dreaming is a nice thing, but watch out - reality kicks hard.
You don't want to find yourself here, worse off and not able to get out.

Good luck

[RayinAK]

Yes, it would be hard to survive at Wal-Mart wages in Alaska. A full-time job helps, but one may also have to work another job part-time to pay for the expenses. Some places in Alaska are more expensive than others. For example, we didn't want to drive to Fairbanks this morning because of the extreme cold wether (-50, -60), so my wife decided to buy 2 bars of Dove bath soap at the Safeway store of North Pole. The soap was on sale, $4.29 for the two bars, discounted from $4.59 or so. The price for food has gone up for the past two years by approximately 25% to 35% from previews years, too.

One of the reasons why the cost of living is higher than what one reads on the news, Internet, etc. is as follows: one must often drive to the store, whatever that store may be. It means more wear to the vehicle, more gasoline to use, and more frequent maintenance. This costs nearly doubles during the winter months, at least in the interior where it gets very cold. Gasoline is still expensive up here, too.

Another problem is that a lot of the major stores don't have apartment complexes nearby. Another problem in North Pole is that at North Pole and vicinity, residents travel to Fairbanks to buy groceries, as well as everything needed. Some buy groceries here, but at a premium plus 3% tax. The same goes for fuel, since it's more expensive than in Fairbanks.

Housing is expensive, too. For example, for a 2-bedroom apartment in Fairbanks, one in a least a decent neighborhood, costs from $900.00 to $1,200. Basic landline telephone is not too expensive at $34.00 to $40.00 per month as long as you use a calling card for long distance, since long distance within Alaska is very expensive. Basic cell phone service (two cell phones, and 300 minutes) costs around $45.00 at ACS, plus 22 cents a minute after the 300 minutes. An iPhone would cost (service) around $86.00 per month, or a lot more depending on what type of service you want. A basic DSL modem with ACS doubles the cost of the landline (from $40.00 to $75.00 per month for both).

[lovinCarl]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

.

Housing is expensive, too. For example, for a 2-bedroom apartment in Fairbanks, one in a least a decent neighborhood, costs from $900.00 to $1,200. Basic landline telephone is not too expensive at $34.00 to $40.00 per month as long as you use a calling card for long distance, since long distance within Alaska is very expensive. Basic cell phone service (two cell phones, and 300 minutes) costs around $45.00 at ACS, plus 22 cents a minute after the 300 minutes. An iPhone would cost (service) around $86.00 per month, or a lot more depending on what type of service you want. A basic DSL modem with ACS doubles the cost of the landline (from $40.00 to $75.00 per month for both).

LOL 900-1200 expensive? Where we are from (Calif, NV and MT) that is the going rate. We have never paid anything less than 900 (right now we are paying 1000).

Same w/the dsl and the landline. We are paying 81 a month right now for dsl/internet and landline phone.

but then again we are in the west where it generally has always been more than the south/east.

That's right! Then one works to the age of 60, and the cold weather makes it so hard that one moves back to a desert or something down South, still broke as ever

LOL We're from Montana. Cold .. what is cold???

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by lovinCarl

LOL We're from Montana. Cold .. what is cold???

Heh heh, spend a winter where Ray lives, and you'll find out!

I lived 40 miles southeast of Fairbanks for 20 years, and used to enjoy telling people from places like Chicago that they didn't really understand... you see, it ain't cold there, it's just miserable. Fairbanks is genuinely COLD.

That's why I moved to Barrow, because I got tired of the intense cold, and came up here where 1) it never ever gets warmer than 80F, and 2) it's always at a nice average cold temperature rather than the extremes of the Interior.

[DannyL]

I was the same age (47) when I started putting my plans together. You're plenty young enough to do this. (Age is just a number anyways....)