Relocating to Denver,Co in hopes to find a better life (apartments, leasing)

[Mvmariam]

Hello readers.
Two adults, one chinchilla, a bed, a couch, and couple boxes of stuff, are going to take on a drive from Macon, Ga to Denver, Co in hopes to find a better life. Both of us have degrees in Biology and years of experience working (Me) in retail,sales,customer service,office paperwork,design and arts, (HIM) restaurant, animal care and animals, and hospital. Living in Macon, Ga is very sad, no jobs, no social life, expensive apartments, working for minimum wage on 2/3 jobs just to pay rent (minimum wage is $7.25 an hour).
Eventually, we decided that this year would be our last year here in Macon and we will no longer continue our leasing agreement which ends in October and we will try to relocate to a different state. After months of research we ended up deciding on Denver,Co as our final destination. Thankfully I am able to transfer my correct part time job from Macon to Denver which will give me an initial job while I find a better one. However, my husband is still searching for a job that will pay at least 12/13 an hour full time.
I am here because I want to hear your voices, people of Denver!!
PLEASE, help a young couple out with ANY tips you can have for us!!!!!
Just to give you an idea, we have 2 cars a truck with a moving UHaul trailer, and a small Honda Fit. We are planning to drive to Denver in first week on November or end of October (2 Day drive for us) !
I’m originally from Russia and multilingual, He s born and raised in Macon, GA. Both very outgoing and social with a passion to learn new things and explore new locations! We love outdoors and having our own mini garden, mostly cook at home, and not big drinkers, even though we enjoy going to interesting bars and microbreweries! We love having an easy acsess t a library and art galleries. Not rich, not not poor, middle class! Our monthly budget so far was 90% rent and we were hoping to change that with better full time jobs and better pay. Also, here we go to cheap grocery stores like ALDI, Walmart, and Kroger, where we usually spend about $200 per month on groceries combined.
Also, if anyone knows the laws regardless changing out driver license, IDs and insurance related paperwork please let us know as well!!

[MountainEarth]

Are you aware of the cost of rentals here?

[StarrySkiesAbove]

Originally Posted by MountainEarth

Are you aware of the cost of rentals here?

I was wondering the same, a $12 dollar an hour job is still going to have the bulk of your earnings going towards rent in the Denver market.

[pikabike]

$12 per hr was doable 30 yrs ago when rent was cheap. This couple needs to read the classifieds for rental rates (both in newspapers and online like craigslist) before they pull the plug.

If they are each willing to work two such jobs, it might still be doable, but who wants to live like that? The stated goal was to achieve a better life, not a worse one.

[Mvmariam]

We estimated $1200-$1700 for rent

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by Mvmariam

We estimated $1200-$1700 for rent

That’s doable. Two people working full time at $13/hour is $50K. I think you can make this work. If he goes to a decent restaurant, the hourly should be higher.

[Mike from back east]

There might be work with the military since you speak and can translate Russian and English. Military is big in COLO SPGS (also more affordable than Denver) and has some presence in Denver too. Check USAJOBS.GOV to see if anything is available.

[brown_dog_us]

Amazon is always hiring.

[Thoreau424]

As a backup plan or Plan B, what will you do if you find it too hard to live in Denver (can't pay the bills, etc.?) You should always be planning ahead for unexpected scenarios, rather than all eggs in one basket with fingers crossed.

Macon to Denver is a big jump. Something less severe might be much more sensible. I'm sure there are more candidates in this huge country besides just Denver.

Also...have you visited Denver before? Would you potentially move without visiting first (moving sight unseen)? Better to ask and consider the hard questions now than after a possible 'oops', which could set you back further.

You should also have a rough budget put together before moving, with all relevant expenses listed (rent, water, gas, gasoline, food, etc), and estimated monthly costs for each. Keep in mind annual and semi-annual expenses too, like vehicle registration, and health and auto insurance, which once found could be divided by 12 or so for another monthly component to add to the mix. You'd have to face those numbers anyway, so do them first for less shock value.

[WhatTheFox]

I admire your ability to take stock of your current state and do something about it (most just stay put and whine.) Be flexible but disciplined, have a positive attitude, give yourself a year or two for things to work out and it will all be fine.

Welcome to Colorado!