Moving to Chicago (Homeless) (school, to live in, thrift stores)

[krelithous]

though i would save as much as i could for food and renting a room atleast to avoid the shelters there and you'll have a residence and i would get a cheap cell phone for job interveiws. your in such a rush you need to slow down and do some research before you find yourself in a postion you wish you were never in not being rude or disrespectfull in any way. good things come to those who wait. and things could get alot worse than having your shoes stolen or your back pack you could wind up dead somewhere!!! hopefully things work out for you though peace

[SoxCub Fan]

Originally Posted by filmsequal

I say go for it. I can guarantee you that if you stay where you are and graduate from college, you'll still end up stuck where you are with no job. But if you can, skip the spring semester and work 40 hours a week at mcdonalds or something while you prepare. Sounds like a tough move though. It will be very hard to fit in there, people aren't as warm and open to friendship as southerners. I know lots of southerners who moved to Chicago and felt the people were standoffish.

Man I really hope you left NC for Chicago by now...dont listen to these people on this forum a big lot of them are safe betters who never took risks in life!! By all means make that move...you are young and NOW is the time. And never listen to women for advice about your life....but I digress. Chicago is not a hard city to live in once you understand the basics. And oh yea Craigslist is your best friend for anything in Chicago.
If you want to get a job that pays steady.. first place you should look is at a telemarketing company, they hire like crazy and damn near weekly.This will allow you to maintain while you search for another job. If you need clothes for interviews and work...the thrift stores are AMAZING in Chicago and if you catch a special you can leave with a months worth of quality clothes for less than $20. As far as housing, again back to Craigslist, be creative here....people are always renting out rooms and such....strike up some kind of deal where you can work for room and board until you get on your feet. Or just explain your situation and intentions, you would be surprised of how people would be willing to work with you... Chicagoans arent like New Yorkers they are much more grounded and understanding and most are from the suburbs anyway, lol. So you are dealing with people with sense. Chicago is not a tough city when you figure out what is what, and who is who. By all means just do it! Say **** it and do it...hit the Amtrak get your ass to Chicago...your destiny awaits!

[nutra]

Originally Posted by SoxCub Fan

Man I really hope you left NC for Chicago by now...dont listen to these people on this forum a big lot of them are safe betters who never took risks in life!! By all means make that move...you are young and NOW is the time. And never listen to women for advice about your life....but I digress. Chicago is not a hard city to live in once you understand the basics. And oh yea Craigslist is your best friend for anything in Chicago.
If you want to get a job that pays steady.. first place you should look is at a telemarketing company, they hire like crazy and damn near weekly.This will allow you to maintain while you search for another job. If you need clothes for interviews and work...the thrift stores are AMAZING in Chicago and if you catch a special you can leave with a months worth of quality clothes for less than $20. As far as housing, again back to Craigslist, be creative here....people are always renting out rooms and such....strike up some kind of deal where you can work for room and board until you get on your feet. Or just explain your situation and intentions, you would be surprised of how people would be willing to work with you... Chicagoans arent like New Yorkers they are much more grounded and understanding and most are from the suburbs anyway, lol. So you are dealing with people with sense. Chicago is not a tough city when you figure out what is what, and who is who. By all means just do it! Say **** it and do it...hit the Amtrak get your ass to Chicago...your destiny awaits!

I second this.

I first moved to Chicago with $300 and couch surfed for two months. Got registered to vote within a day, got a job as a bank teller in a week (I was 18), and went full-time as a self-employed individual within five months (eventually opened my first business a year later).

I moved to Chicago fresh out of high school at 18 years old and have Chicago to thank for making me a man and putting hair on my chest.

You only live once so you might as well live remarkably. Don't listen to the people recommending that you prepare, do you know why? Because you'll be preparing for the rest of your life.

Act as if, then act because you have to.

P.S. If you want to know how it ended up, I'm now President & CEO of a supplement company. I wouldn't trade the good times and the bad times Chicago threw my way for anything.

[MassVt]

You don't go to Chicago with the idea of using homeless shelters as a base. Even couch-surfing, with people you supposedly know only a little, is worlds better than being "homeless". Let's use some common sense here.

[Aleking]

Originally Posted by nutra

I second this.

I first moved to Chicago with $300 and couch surfed for two months. Got registered to vote within a day, got a job as a bank teller in a week (I was 18), and went full-time as a self-employed individual within five months (eventually opened my first business a year later).

I moved to Chicago fresh out of high school at 18 years old and have Chicago to thank for making me a man and putting hair on my chest.

You only live once so you might as well live remarkably. Don't listen to the people recommending that you prepare, do you know why? Because you'll be preparing for the rest of your life.

Act as if, then act because you have to.

P.S. If you want to know how it ended up, I'm now President & CEO of a supplement company. I wouldn't trade the good times and the bad times Chicago threw my way for anything.

lol

[Drover]

You know, I've done the "pick up and move to a new city with nothing lined up" routine too. But that was back when jobs were ripe for the picking and nearly anyone could find one right away that paid well enough to at least feed, clothe, and house you.

Times have changed, and the job tree doesn't exactly have an abundance of fruit for the picking these days. Moving with nothing and no marketable skills to a city where you know nobody is not a brilliant career strategy right now.

[C. Maurio]

You all are giving that guy BAD advice. If he wants to come here, cool, but wait until March or April when the worst part of winter is over. You can seriously die here in the winter.

[nutra]

"Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Uptown
991 posts, read 461,456 times"

lol

[ChicagoMeO]

That "pick up and go" attitude might be ok if your an adventerous person, but I would not want to be adventerous and homeless in 30 degree below zero windchill, and having to live on the street, and the homeless shelters don't seem to be such a fine and dandy sugar candy place to live either. With the current citizens already here who cant find a job, you're taking your chances if you feel you can land a job right quick .. But then, if you want to find a job like in Target or MacDonalds, you might have a go. Still, you have to have a place to go change into clean clothes and take a shower even with working in a store like that.

Take your chances, but have a backup plan in case that does not work out for you.

[dfoush21]

Originally Posted by cfbs2691

Keep us posted OP?
Success is the best revenge.
Go to college.

As of right now I'm still in NC and I've got a job at Walmart and my mom has also I gotten a job. She's finally came around to the idea of moving and wants to help financially. So i will officially be moving at the end of July. I plan to transfer from this Walmart to one in Chicago ( ready to become an official Chicagoan). Go Bears!