Relocating to Austin! (Dallas, Spring, West: ski resort, apartment complex, lease)

[Terry Ray]

Hi everyone!

I'm new to the forum but I have a couple of questions about moving to Austin. I'm from New Mexico and am moving to Austin and transferring to UT. I was planning on moving at the beginning of November but as luck would have it I'm getting my braces off in December so I thought I might as well save myself the trip back and forth and stay home for the holidays. My goal was to have $5000 saved up before moving. I wont have a job lined up but I found an apartment complex willing to rent to me even without a job lined up on a shorter lease for $675 a month in what Ive heard to be a nice part of the city. Well, as life goes, some unforseen bills popped up such as me messing up my knee and having medical bills and having to make car repairs. I now only have about $2000 saved up and had to quit my current job because the excessive second hand smoke is causing some horrible sinus problems which i also have medical bills for. I'm single, moving alone, and wont need a u-haul or those types of expenses. I'm wondering if $2000 is enough to get started? I figure it will take about $1000 for the rent for the first month after deposits and such and the other money can be used for gas, etc. I plan on working anywhere I can when I get to Austin. I'm not picky when it comes to work. I'm moving at the beginning of January. Is it worth finding a seasonal job for the two months before I move or is $2000 sufficient to get on my feet? Also, whats the weather like in the beginning of January? Any responses are greatly appreciated!!

[TomCTX]

This sounds like a question my son pondered before he moved to Lake Tahoe a couple of years ago for a ski bum adventure. As I told him, the general rule is more cash is better than less cash. I said that even working for an extra few hundred dollars could make all the difference if something unforseen happened. His retort was that I worried too much about the "what if's" in life and chose not to work for the last three weeks before he left. He had a job lined up with a ski resort for minimum wage and a season lift pass. He had a house lined up that he was sharing with 4 of his buddies. He had enough money for 200 gallons of gas for the 2300 mile drive, two nights in a cheap motel, his share of the deposit for the house, one month rent, a weeks worth of fast food and a duffle bag full of beef jerky, Ritz crackers, power bars, trail mix and cereal. He pulled out of the driveway at 6 am on the morning of the big day, with his 99 Malibu loaded to the gills, headed for Northern Californa and all of the treasures she holds for a single young man with a snowboard and no responsibility. At 7:35 the phone rang. I will never forget (and neither will he) the words that I heard next. "Dad, I hit a deer". I don't know if you've ever seen what a deer can do to a Malibu, but suffice to say, the plan altered.. By the time he finally made it to South Lake Tahoe, his car had been creamed, it had been broken into in one of the "cheap motel" parking lots where they stole his snowboard, his duffle bag full of food, and his Ipod. Two of his buddies bailed on the house. Consequently, he was well short of the deposit needed to secure the house, leaving him forced to couch surf for the first two months, and driving around one of the coldest places in the US with no grill, radiator and headlight tied on with baling wire and a garbage bag held down with Duct Tape for a driver's side window. Ahhh to be young again...!

You never know what might pop up... Get a seasonal job and bring every dollar you can.

As a side note, I felt that he had sufficiently learned his lesson, so I sent him $600 via Western Union, to help him get a place to live and fix the window on his car. He bought a new snowboard and Ipod instead.

[Trainwreck20]

Obviously, rent eats up that $2000 pretty quick and would be completely gone on rent alone in three months. It is easy to guess you can make it 2 months w/o much in the way of worries, but things I would think about:
- Is your car in good shape? A broken down car is a world of trouble if you don't have any local friends. If you are on the shuttle bus route, that is a HUGE plus for a student (save those miles on the car and the gas).
- Do you have local friends as a safety net, such as the couches mentioned above?
- Do you mind, and are you able, to wait tables? No smoking allowed in the restaurants (workers or employees), so that should be good, but are your knees up for it? It is the easiest job to get and starts paying in just a week or two (after training, anyway). Waiting jobs are relatively easy to find and easy to 'upgrade'.
- Do you have other skills that would make you valuable to a temp service? It is another quick way to get into some cash.

Anyway, it is probably enough, as long as your are willing to skimp for a while...

[10scoachrick]

As a side note, I felt that he had sufficiently learned his lesson, so I sent him $600 via Western Union, to help him get a place to live and fix the window on his car. He bought a new snowboard and Ipod instead.[/quote]

Sounds like something I would have done in my younger years. Of course, it would have been really hard finding a snowboard OR Ipod 30 years ago!!!

[TomCTX]

yep. me too...

[southwest1230]

Bring all the money you can...I say work two more months, and bring about 3-4 K... as they may ask for last months rent even in a short lease, and you have to put down a 150 dollar deposit with the Austin utility board even if you are subleasing..I think Texas gas has you escrow a hundred too....Its always good to have more moeny in the bank, even if you find a job right way, from little things here and there. Your new job may require you to buy a few things too out of that pool.....Just work those last two holiday months, and don't be lazy..you will appreciate that extra money when you get there.

[Terry Ray]

Thanks for the replies!
I have been weighing my options. Where I live right now is honestly a good hour drive away from any employment and I wasnt sure if I wanted to put another 4000 miles on my car, sending it over the 100,000 mark. But if I continue working where Im at for the next two months I should be able to secure $5000 before going. I think Ill stick it out. Thanks!

oh, and about that January weather?

[LaneyS]

January weather in Texas can be in the 70's one day and in over an hour a blue northern can move in and deposit freezing rain an inch thick on the roads! Wait till Spring then you just have to worry about tornadoes and flooding. Your allergies will probably get worse. And the humidity you'll never get used to. People kept telling me I would but I never have and I've been here in Dallas for 24 yrs now.
What can you tell me about Tome?

[texastea]

Dallas gets ice way more than Austin does...but, yes the weather is really unpredictable. If you want real data, Welcome to The Weather Underground : Weather Underground has a "history" thingy that you can type in a city and date and see the weather on that day.