I have a question about Southern Californiaa (Pasadena: apartment, bad credit)

[TYLER626]

I currently live in southern California in Pasadena, I wanna go to school to get my BSN in nursing and i wanna specialize in the Surgical Unit. My question is: do Nurses make enough money to survive in So Cal? If i dont specialize in anything will i still be able to afford to to live here? I'm just curious because i dont wanna get into the wrong field that wont support me in the favorite place in the whole world!

Also, my Brother wants to move from Ohio here, but he fied for bankruptcy, my question here is will he beable to get an apartment out here eeven though he filed for bankrupcy? Or should he not even bother to come out?

if you can tell me my answers it will help me out greatly!!

[POhdNcrzy]

I'm not an expert on southern California, but I'm answering because no one else has yet.

I've read a number of times here on CD-F that California nurses earn significantly more (if I recall it's because they are unionized).

As for your brother, a bad credit report/score (a sure thing if the BK is less than 10 years old) means he'll have to put up a double deposit or even pre-pay multiple month's rent. If he is coming to California with a job in hand that would really help. Right now, the combination of no job and bad credit is probably gonna put him at the bottom of any landlord's list, if that is the case.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by TYLER626

I currently live in southern California in Pasadena, I wanna go to school to get my BSN in nursing and i wanna specialize in the Surgical Unit. My question is: do Nurses make enough money to survive in So Cal? If i dont specialize in anything will i still be able to afford to to live here? I'm just curious because i dont wanna get into the wrong field that wont support me in the favorite place in the whole world!

Also, my Brother wants to move from Ohio here, but he fied for bankruptcy, my question here is will he beable to get an apartment out here eeven though he filed for bankrupcy? Or should he not even bother to come out?

if you can tell me my answers it will help me out greatly!!

I think you have to be more specific than just the word "survive". After all, you could 'survive' in a trailer or studio apartment for the rest of your life and be just fine (physically, mentally, etc.). Most of the world's people 'survive' on much less.

If you are thinking 3 BR house in a nice California suburb that you can afford on your own, well that is a different story. Most people can't afford to buy that type of house on one income in California, even if it is a decent income as an RN's would be.

In general, I would say you could certainly be happy earning what a nurse earns in SoCal. Researchers are finding out that once a person's income gets them into the middle class (which a nurse's salary would do), making more and more money or having more and more stuff (or a bigger house) doesn't add any more to their happiness.

Once you get onto the lower rungs of the middle class, enjoying your work and having friends/family you have good relationships with will add more to your happiness than more money. Ironically, if you enjoy your work, you'll probably earn more. As long as the extra money is a by product of doing what you like/love (love is better), that's great. If getting more and more money/stuff becomes a major focus of your life, then you will make yourself miserable.