Just Moved Here!/Apartment Rent & Budget Review (Huntington Beach, Orange: apartment complex, renters)

[MisterDuke]

Car insurance, clothes, dry cleaning/laundry, internet, movies, entertainment? Your food budget seems kind of low. Does it include any eating out or drinking? No budget for dating?

[yougotfitched]

As far as car insurance, my father pays for that. I don't have a car payment either. With the car I drive, I wouldn't be able to afford my own insurance. I haven't included entertainment money or money for dating because to be quite honest, I won't be able to afford a girlfriend for a while. The position I am in is a high growth position, with potential for a promotion within 1 year. I lived here for about 6 months last year for an internship and told myself this is where I wanted to be. I'm finally here, and am ready to make sacrifices needed to be well off in the future.

[EscapeCalifornia]

I wish someone would pay my car insurance.

[sueprnova]

I lived in the 'hood in s tustin.. if you want to save a bit of $ try looking for a place in Tustin. Tustin Villas has studios that are pretty nice. You get carport parking. The studios are pretty nice sized. It may not be the nicest area but I lived there for a few years and never had any problems. With a lot of studios the utilities are included... so that may help. Its also close to 5/55 fwy

[Music1812]

Hey yougotfitched,

Congratulations on your new job, and the move! Best of luck to you! I'm curious as to how you went about finding a job in another state, before actually moving there. How exactly did it happen? Do you know if there was something specific you said to your new employer that made them comfortable with not only interviewing an out-of-state candidate, but hiring them?

Thanks much.

[yougotfitched]

Originally Posted by Music1812

Hey yougotfitched,

Congratulations on your new job, and the move! Best of luck to you! I'm curious as to how you went about finding a job in another state, before actually moving there. How exactly did it happen? Do you know if there was something specific you said to your new employer that made them comfortable with not only interviewing an out-of-state candidate, but hiring them?

Thanks much.

Hey Music1812, I can provide some details for you and explain how my situation worked out. I applied to jobs via Job Search | one search. all jobs. Indeed that were located in CA while I was living in NY. Most of the employers that responded told me that they would not hire out of state or would not pay to fly me in to interview. After 6 months of stress and frustration, I heard from a company that was interested in speaking with me. They were clear in stating that they would not pay relocation or for me to interview in person. After making it through the phone interview, I told them I was highly interested and booked my own flight and accommodations to be there for an in-person interview. It showed how serious I was about the position because I payed my own way to interview for the job. I had to do the third and final phase of the interview once I got back to NY, but within a week of being in CA they offered me the position, and I had to pay my own way to get back out here. It was tough, but many people here on the forum recommended I make a trip to CA and meet with employers directly rather than sitting on the comp. in NY. I'm not sure exactly what your situation is. If you are currently out of state, I would highly recommend visiting for a short period of time and meeting with some employers. I even looked into attending career fairs here that Monster.com hosts. Best of luck to you as well!

[drshang]

Some comments:

- Axe the 100 dollar cell phone bill. That is way, way too much. Get rid of the data plan or whatever you have that keeps it that high. Heck, I have a data plan with all the bells and whistles and still only pay 65 a month. You can free up 50 bucks a month real easily right there.

- You NEED to budget 500 a month for clothing, entertainment, car repairs, medical expenses (you can still have these even with insurance), and any other misc stuff that will come up. You absolutely 100% can not ignore this. You will have many expenses beyond the ones you have listed and if you do not account for them you will end up in CC debt very frequently.

- Save 100/mo for retirement. That is enough. Your health insurance should to a large degree be covered by your employer so I think the remaining 250 a month should cover these two.

- You can not afford 1050 a month in rent. You just can't. Not with 500+ a month in student loan expenses. You need to get your rent number down to like 700 or 750. Sorry dude, you can't afford that much in rent and it's not even close. Doing this and cutting down your cell phone bill 50 bucks will allow you to budget 500 a month in "other" expenses. It will also cut down on your cable and utility bills.

- Consider a second income source. It doesn't have to be a part time job (sure can be) but maybe some side business you can do on some evenings or weekends. Even if it brings in 300-400 a month that will help you tremendously for the first couple years and if it ends up being really successful it could be a primary income source some day. This will help fill your budget gap and give you some excess.

[POhdNcrzy]

Fitch, what is the job? In what field? What kind of college degree do you have or not?

Just curious....

[killer2021]

$3,000 left at the end of a year

Probably be 0$ to tell you the truth. There will be something that will take the money. How about an emergency? Maybe you get a ticket? Maybe your car breaks down.

You got to focus on making more money but in this economy, good luck!

[yougotfitched]

Originally Posted by POhdNcrzy

Fitch, what is the job? In what field? What kind of college degree do you have or not?

Just curious....

Thanks for the feedback guys! I got hired for a Marketing Analyst position. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Major: Marketing, Minor: Advertising. Hope that helps!