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I'm 28 years old, almost 29. I've been living in my parent's basement for the past 4 years since my divorce, trying to get my stuff together. I'm graduating from college in February with my Associate's in Criminal Justice. I intended to stay in Kentucky and work with the local Animal Control, but I'm learning that doesn't pay well and I need to get away anyway. I have friends in OH, so I've decided to move up there since I'll have my freedom, but also still have a support system and not be completely alone.
My question is this... When should I move? I had planned to stay in Kentucky until around February 2015. My plan was to use this tax refund to pay off my credit cards and then focus on paying off a personal loan through the year. Then I was going to use the tax refund in 2015 to make the move. But my problem is then I'd be getting a job down here and then saying "bye, thanks for everything" in a year and moving up there. I don't like to job hop like that. But if I move up there, from what I've been seeing on here, the chances of me having a job before moving up there is slim to none. I have no money set back as the job I currently have now is commissions and the economy sucks right now (I go to work 10 1/2 hours a day and may only make $50 before taxes). Another set back is I have five dogs and I raise show rabbits. Therefore, it's not like I can live in my car or crash at a friend's house. I don't have a support system down here that will take over care of my animals until I'm settled.
Another thing I'm stressing out about is that I want to buy a house. I have to show proof of income to get approved. If I don't have a job, I don't have proof of income. If I don't have a physical address, I likely won't get a job. Suggestions?
I guess the biggest stressor of the move right now is figuring out the order in which I should do things.
First things first. You are in no position to buy a house. Perhaps you could manage to rent a house, if you get a decent job.
You wanted to work in animal control but your AA is in criminal justice? What does the degree qualify you for? Police? Paralegal? Have you investigated jobs in the part of OH where you want to move?
A possible course of action is for you to obtain employment where you live; move to an apartment or rental; figure out how to continue with your animal hobbies or whether to stop for awhile till you are more settled; bank your tax return and continue to save; after a year of working, then give notice and move; find a job in OH; rent a house; start back with the dogs and rabbits.
You need to move on. You can't let your hobbies take precedence over your need for independence. You can probably keep one or two dogs, but I can't imagine a landlord allowing five dogs and assorted rabbits.
For all of your goals, short term or long term, you need savings. Get a better job and save. That's the first thing you need to work on.
Look for a job that has to do with the degree you have pursued.
Pay off your debts and save as much as possible.
Don't move out of your parents basement if you really don't have to.
Get rid of some of the animals and unless the show rabbits make you money
to help pay your debt down get rid of them since it costs you money for their food and shelter.
You cannot even dream of purchasing a home for quite a while yet.
No job, no savings, no steady income, no steady job and way too many animals.
Oh and if you are getting tax refunds of a large amount then you're withholding too much. Basically you are giving the government a free loan of YOUR money. Refunds are the worst way to "finance" anything.
The AA in CJ is problematic if you didn't have a clear career path, such as loss prevention at Target/Walmart/etc or contacts at the TSA. It's not a totally worthless degree, but the better-paying jobs require a BA (four-year degree) in CJ, as you're finding out.
You've been given some good advice on this thread. For a better job, I would recommend applying for loss prevention at all of the nearest big-box stores. You probably won't get full-time, so you may have to work both animal control and it, but if you can make that work, you'll be bringing in more money and can get better squared away.
If there's a decent-sized airport nearby, you could talk to TSA and/or airport security. If you are near any of the district courts, you might see if they need security personnel or have any internships for which you would qualify.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of CJs with 4-year degrees who can't get jobs, so you'll have to be very aggressive about going after work in that field.
I understand wanting to get out of there immediately, but such a move now might require you to give up all of your animals and camp on someone's couch in the nearest metro area where there is a larger concentration of loss prevention or security jobs. Even then, you might not get hired or it might take several months to clear all the hurdles associated with getting a job. Remember that there will be background checks, and those take time.
Why is buying a house such a high priority? You have many other things to take care of first. There is nothing wrong with renting, and is usually a good idea if you are new to an area.
As for getting a job and needing a physical address to do so, can you use the address of one of your friends in the area for now? Then if you get calls for jobs before you are there, you can tell them you are in transit and that will be your address. You can also get a free Google Voice number in the city you plan to work and use that as your local phone number.
Also, you really do need savings. I just moved without a job. I was able to rent a great place that allowed multiple animals (2 dogs and 2 cats) but they asked for more than one month's rent in advance because I do not yet have proof of employment.
I say move as soon as you have enough money saved up, the sooner the better, it is time to get out of mom and dad's house
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Well, this monkey wrench was through into the mix yesterday... My parents haven't been paying their house payment. They've already filed bankruptcy and they were warned if they didn't pay, the bank would come after one missed payment and take the house. They have 6 days to come up with the money. :/
As for the pets, I'm not the type of person who will dump my animals at a shelter or on someone else because I'm moving. As for renting, most places would not allow me to have the pets, you are correct. Also, I have put almost 2 years of my life working on the bloodline of my rabbits. I would prefer not to have to give up two years worth of hard work and heartache *if I don't have to*. If I have to, that's different, but it would make me greatly unhappy especially since there's very few breeders (2 in fact) that I would trust to take them and not screw up my hard work. There's far more backyard breeders than reputable ones.
As for the question about the animal control and the Assoc.'s in CJ, that's what is required locally to work as an ACO. I know each state is different, so that may not work in OH. Since I've only decided to move up there about 2 weeks ago, I haven't been able to research that far into it yet.
What I did think is that since I work at Petsmart, I can transfer to the one up there while I'm looking for a job. That way I will at least have *some* income. Also, since I'm still in school and there's another location of the same school in Canton, maybe the dept that helps find jobs for students when they graduate can help out. I know I probably won't make as much as I'd like to make directly out of school. No doubt it will be tight and rough. I'm not too proud to have a second job.
Don't think you can't rent with pets. I have 2 cats and 2 dogs and though it took some searching, I found a place that didn't seem to care at all. They charged me a flat $100 deposit for ALL FOUR and no extra pet rent. It can happen. I would never give up my fuzzbutts, either.
Now, raising rabbits? Yes, that is a different story. Unless you can rent a farm house or something rural, I can't imagine anyone allowing that. Some houses that you BUY don't allow that if you have an HOA with such rules.
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Do your research on what you would be qualified for in OH. Don't move unless you have a path.
If your parents don't come up with the money for a house payment, what will you do with your rabbits and your dogs?
I think this problem has to come before all the others, since you care deeply about your animals.
If you cannot stay, and you have nowhere to go, you will have to find someone to take your rabbits and some of your dogs at least. I would be thinking about this now. I hope your parents can figure out how to stave off eviction. But you need a course of action in case they don't.
Good luck.
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