Recent graduate, broke, stuck, where should I go? (real estate, apartment)
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This will probably be a strange post. But I just need to write it out, and I would love to get some feedback from people because I don't know what to do.
I graduated from college about a year ago. I was your typical, broke graduate looking for his next move.
I chose to work and live overseas. I had an absolutely amazing time and saved up a little bit of money. Living overseas made me see America in a whole new way. I am much more aware of the good things, and also very aware of the bad things.
I have been back in the US for a couple of months now. And things are not going all that great. The industry I am trained in, Journalism, is in the crapper and I have basically decided that I do not want to pursue it at all anymore. The working conditions, pay, job stability, etc. are all very bad. Campared to journalism, working in a grocery store or retail isn't much worse these days.
I moved to a new city after arriving back in the US. I grew up in California, but now I am living in Middle America. I chose to live here because the cost of living is cheaper, and I wanted to get away from the crime, rudeness, gangs, materialism and other issues in CA.
I am finding that here in Middle America. Finding a good job is hard. I am currently working at a restaurant. There is no glory and no glamour in this job, and i'm starting to feel the same way about this city.
After growing up in California and traveling around the world. Working at a restaurant in a cowtown of a city just does not feel too interesting. And the fact that I can't find a good paying job is very frustrating.
On top of all that. I am living with a roommate right now. And things are getting a little bit sour here. The roomate situation here is less than ideal. I need to move out. But I am not even close to having enough money to do so.
So here I am, broke, stuck, once again living paycheck to paycheck, even though I promised myself I wouldn't let it happen again. Living in a situation that I should be getting away from.
So, the main thing that I am thinking about doing is going back overseas. I would like to stay in the US. But it is just too expensive, it's too hard to make it in this country when you are totally broke and trying to get going from the bottom right out of college. There are millions of college grads out there now, and you gotta compete aainst all of them in this poor economy. Also, the health care situation in the US is awful, after living overseas I really realized this.
I could move back to California and live with family. NOT what I want to do. But if I stay in the US, it might be my best choice.
Or, I could move to a new city, broke, and be a total bumb. Maybe sleep in a car or on rooftops for a while until I get established.
Besides that, well, I can't stay here. My current job doesn't even make me enough to pay the bills. I am living, working, and slowing watching my very small amount of savings disapear. The situation at this apartment is not good. I turned in my resume to about 50 places with no luck. It's time to move on out of this cowtown.
This is a long, strange story. But I guess it would be cool to hear what some of you all think. What should I do? Have any of you ever found yourself in such a situation?
I am pretty much ready to move ANYWHERE in the world....... Any suggestions?
I could move back to California and live with family. NOT what I want to do. But if I stay in the US, it might be my best choice.
That's your best bet. It's hard to move back home after living on your own for so long, but it's a heck of a lot easier and 10 years from now, you'll be happy with the decision you made.
I feel for you. I graduated college in the early 90s and the economy was just emerging from a bad recession where the unemployment rate had topped out around 10% (worse than right now). With my liberal arts major, I found myself waiting tables after graduation and feeling pretty pessimistic about my career options.
Obviously, you are not finding good job opportunities right now and you feel trapped where you are. It seems to me that your two best options would be to move back overseas and return to your old job (if this is a possibility), or to move in with your folks and plot out your next step while the economy (hopefully) recovers in the next year or two. It sounds like you really enjoyed your old job and being overseas for three years, as opposed to one, shouldn't make a big difference if/when you seek to reenter the U.S. job market. If you move back with your folks, you can get yourself in a better financial position and you will find yourself in a city where you have some connections and possibly job opportunities. Neither option may be perfect, but they both seem better than staying where you are.
At the end of the day, you also have to take a deep breath and remember that you are really young in the career sense of the word. Everyone graduates college thinking they should be on the starting path to a long and productive career. The truth is, many people take several years to find their true calling. Heck, some never find it -- all the more reason to take your time in your own quest. And if you really find yourself trapped in a dead end job and there is no escape...there is always grad school.
Move to one of the handful of US states that is not in recession right now. That's where the most jobs and opportunity are. Search the forum for the word "recession" to find the threads discussing this.
Even here in so-called "booming" Texas I can't find a semi-decent job to save my life with my Bio degree. I've been looking for 6 months and found nothing. And a lot of the computer jobs from here have gone overseas, so my BF with a Computer Science degree has had a load of trouble the last 2 years finding anything decent here too.
Even in the areas that are not as bad off, job numbers still need to be taken with a huge chunk of rock salt.
I'm taking Texas jobs report with a grain of salt | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Steve Brown | Real Estate | Business Columnist | Dallas Morning News (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/sbrown/stories/DN-recol_05bus.ART.State.Edition1.4ab91e5.html - broken link)
Some economists take Texas job growth numbers with a grain of salt | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Front Page Stories (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/dmn/stories/121908dnbusjobs.3d59623.html - broken link)
jobs suck overall right now, I would'nt let the effect your move. ... where do youuuu want to move, like big cities? move there... like certain section of the country? move there...
u can live with roommates for awhile and work a grocery store there til u find a job, it will give you a little eustress to fill out more resumes.
http://www.lockheedmartinjobs.com/jobsearch_all.asp (broken link) (They have a bunch of jobs in their Owego, NY operation. That's between Binghamton, Elmira and Ithaca.)
I wish I could tell myself. Here I am stressing out about where am I going to be able to afford to live and get a job living in one of the most expensive cities in the US.
jobs suck overall right now, I would'nt let the effect your move. ... where do youuuu want to move, like big cities? move there... like certain section of the country? move there...
u can live with roommates for awhile and work a grocery store there til u find a job, it will give you a little eustress to fill out more resumes.
you are single and young, u should really relax
That's good advice. I should definantly just relax
What you suggested is exactly what I did when I came back to the US. I moved to a city I wanted to try out, got a roommate and got a crappy job to get me by. I did a ton of research on different cities and picked one that seemed to be a good bet.
But now it's not really working out. I took the gamble, and lost my chips. I am broke, my job doesn't even cover my bills, all the resumes i've turned in have lead nowhere. So I need to do something else.
As for moving to another city with a good economy. Well, at this point I am totaly busted, totally broke. So if I do that, i'll be doing it bum style. I don't know if i'm ready to do that again. I did that a long time ago actually...... job hunting by day and living in the forest by night. It's an adventure, but it's not easy. But it did work out for me pretty well really.
Every time you move it's a gamble. Maybe you'll win, maybe you'll lose.
I'm starting to realize what I need to do. Dig out the passport and get back on that plane.
If I could live a decent quality of life here in the US that would be great. But the life I live here is that of a wage slave, with no health insurance.
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