Relocating Advice PLEASE!! (San Francisco, Modesto, Livermore: to rent, how much, home)

[Michele75]

My husband and I are considering getting out of the midwest. Except for his time in the Navy, we have lived just outside of St Louis our entire lives. His brother lives outside of San Francisco, and he would love to be close to him. The cost of living, housing, and traffic out there scare the crap out of me. Although, I would make 3x more than I do here. I think my husbands would be comparable. My mom lives in FL 6 months out of the year.

My husbands company also has a plant in Palakta, FL or Modesto, Ca. We would live in Saint Augustine if we chose Florida, and Livermore if we chose Californian.
We have four children, so education and employment opportunities for them after they graduate college would be a must. My husband is concerned about them finding good jobs after graduating college.

My daughter is a senior and wants to attend a college for nursing. My son is in 8th grade, very athletic, so football and traveling baseball is a must for him. Our other two boys are 2 and 3, so a good preschool with t-ball activities, etc.

I am a nurse in the ER and work prn......any advice on a prn RN with 6 years exp?

I am really nervous about making the move. We moved back here after the Navy due to being close to family, but honestly we don't see them that much, so why stay. My daughter has wanted to move forever. My son not so much. He is happy here, does not like change, but is accepting it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We would probably need to rent until our home in Illinois sold. Not sure how long the transfer would take, but would like to make the transition prior to starting a new school year.

[bmw335xi]

The Bay Area will definitely have the most job and internship opportunities for your children. I used to live in Florida and would visit Saint Augustine occasionally. It is a small quaint town that is very tourist driven. It's a nice place, but can't compare to the Bay Area when it comes to higher education, internship availability and employment opportunities. Livermore feels like a small town and you would in what I consider the "Outer East Bay" which is mostly suburbia. It is one of the more affordable areas in the Bay Area. I personally would choose Livermore over Saint Augustine because Saint Augustine is too isolated. Jacksonville is the nearest major city and my least favorite.

[Ruth4Truth]

Livermore is more affordable than most of the rest of the Bay area. I say it would be a good move. You'd be near BART, so you could commute to work, traffic wouldn't be an issue. What is a "prn RN"? With 6 years' experience, you should be able to find a job. Nursing jobs do pay well. Be sure to look into CA licensing requirements. Being near your hubby's brother sounds great. I vote YES for this move.

[Michele75]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Livermore is more affordable than most of the rest of the Bay area. I say it would be a good move. You'd be near BART, so you could commute to work, traffic wouldn't be an issue. What is a "prn RN"? With 6 years' experience, you should be able to find a job. Nursing jobs do pay well. Be sure to look into CA licensing requirements. Being near your hubby's brother sounds great. I vote YES for this move.

PRN is as needed......meaning you do not have a benefit position (full or part-time). For that reason they usually get paid a little more, but you are not guaranteed hours. I typically pick up one night shift a week in order to earn a little cash, keep up with my nursing skill, but stay home with my kids too. Make sense?

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Michele75

PRN is as needed......meaning you do not have a benefit position (full or part-time). For that reason they usually get paid a little more, but you are not guaranteed hours. I typically pick up one night shift a week in order to earn a little cash, keep up with my nursing skill, but stay home with my kids too. Make sense?

Sure. I'd never heard of that. I thought prn was some kind of specialty. Sounds like a great option, though---maximum flexibility!

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Livermore is more affordable than most of the rest of the Bay area. I say it would be a good move. You'd be near BART, so you could commute to work, traffic wouldn't be an issue. What is a "prn RN"? With 6 years' experience, you should be able to find a job. Nursing jobs do pay well. Be sure to look into CA licensing requirements. Being near your hubby's brother sounds great. I vote YES for this move.

BART is at least 7+ miles from Livermore and traffic is definitely an issue on that stretch of 580, it's one of the worst traffics spots in the region.

[aslowdodge]

we really need a gross income you expect between you and your husband. If you were a full time RN it's one thing, but 1 day a week may not be enough. Modesto isn't all that close either.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

we really need a gross income you expect between you and your husband. If you were a full time RN it's one thing, but 1 day a week may not be enough. Modesto isn't all that close either.

It depends on what shift you take. For example, if you work weekends, you get paid double time, so 2 days is like 4 days, which is plenty. I think the OP knows what she's doing in that regard. She just may need to do some hard math re: figuring out how much her hubby would make, against living expenses. 4 children, so a family of 6, that's a bit of a challenge, though. I didn't see that part before.

Do your homework and count your chickens before you decide whether to hatch them or not, OP. That's a big family to try to support on 1-1/2 salaries, even in Livermore. If you're renting, the kids would have to double up in 2 bedrooms until you got the job situation stabilized.

[aslowdodge]

The op said she picks up one shift a week to keep her skills up. Do you get paid double time if you are a freelancer who only works one day a week? I just figured she picked up maybe an extra $700 for that one shift per week. She said her husband would be working in Modesto at a plant so i didn't know if he was highly paid management or an hourly.
Anyways a gross income from her husband and her nursing would go a long way to figuring this out.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

The op said she picks up one shift a week to keep her skills up. Do you get paid double time if you are a freelancer who only works one day a week? I just figured she picked up maybe an extra $700 for that one shift per week. She said her husband would be working in Modesto at a plant so i didn't know if he was highly paid management or an hourly.
Anyways a gross income from her husband and her nursing would go a long way to figuring this out.

I'm not sure about the shift question. I thought the weekend shifts paid more in order to attract the staff they needed, so whether one were freelance wouldn't make a difference.

Yes, certainly, if they could figure out how much he'll be making, and then estimate what her pay would be (don't know how she'd find that out, since she doesn't have an offer), that would help.