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I know, another "I want to move to Florida thread", but seriously, after living in west Michigan for the past 20+ years with 9 months of cold, unending cloudy days, lots of snow, rain, icy roads and sidewalks to slip on, my boyfriend and I have been talking about moving to someplace in Florida for the past 5 years. We're barely surviving here, so our attitude is we'd rather be barely surviving in someplace where we would at least have sun and warm weather to go out for walks and be able to open the windows. That's where the question comes in- has anyone just packed up their belongings and left with no real place to go; no job waiting for them. Situation now: I am on disability from two different low back disorders. I worked my whole life up until 2 years ago when my back disorders got so severe I ended up on disability. My boyfriend has done a little bit of everything, but was mainly in the construction, landscaping and printing business for 15 years making a decent living, but was laid off from that about 5 years ago; printing/bindery work practically obsolete. He has been working in retail for the past 3 years making $7.40 an hour and is extremely hard-working and his manager said he did the work of 3 or 4 people. We live in an apartment for $700/month. I get a little over $600/month on disability,$100 is taken out for medicare. So we know what it's like to struggle and be poor. We just need a new start somewhere where we have sun and warmth; the constant cold, clouds & snow make me hurt even more. I live in constant pain and don't ever want to go out in this weather. I know it sounds so unrealistic, but certainly we're not the first people to have ever done this. Would love to hear from people that actually have just packed up and left with less than ideal circumstances, like being very low income and not having a job waiting for them when they get there. We also have no relatives that live in Florida (or the south) to stay with until something possibly works out. We're not asking for a lot, just need a fresh start in a place with sun and warm weather.
What have you got to lose? Your boyfriend surely can get a job at that rate in the south, and possibly the cost of living is less .I do know that here in Lafayette, landscaping is a huge business.
My husband and I moved to Louisiana from CT 11 years ago, and have not regretted it. Granted, he had a job lined up (I didn't). For me, the warmth of the weather and the people made the move worth it. We had no one here, either, when we moved, but now we have plenty of friends.
My adult son and his girlfriend at the time followed us down here 6 years ago, and his result has been the same. They both came with no jobs, both quite quickly found jobs, and they both are still here. It was the best move they could have made.
Yes I've done it, yes it seems reasonable in your situation.
My question is about your financial ambition. You imply, to my ear anyway, that you don't see yourself escaping poverty any time soon.
That should really be the priority. That's where your struggle comes from. Not Michigan.
Do you have any real world plans to escape a 7 dollar an hour existence? I know you're disabled but your husband?
I just don't see reserving yourself to a life of financial stress and minimal variety of life experiences when your husband is clearly hard-working and motivated.
I say what do you have to loose. My only question would be, do you have any savings to get to guys through a couple of months until your boyfriend can find something. We have savings, but it might be a struggle with nothing. Not impossible though, my sister did it with nothing and two kids.
I started a thread a little bit ago, asking a similar question. MY husband and I have a very similar situation to you, minus the disability part. We know what it's like to be poor, too. LOL. I work retail and my husband worked a a family owned retail, the business was slow, so they combined positions and he got the boot. We are almost 99% sure that we are going regardless if he has a job or not. It just seems like the right thing to do. There is nothing here
Some advice to consider, without a fixed address it will be harder to get a job even at minimum wage. Also, not having a phone makes it hard to get a job unless you have cell phones. I remember standing at a pay phone (anyone remember those?) waiting for a call back for a job, people get pissed when you tell them to get off the phone.
My best advise is have enough saved up to get a crummy apartment, that's about all you'll be able to get at first, ASAP when you get wherever you go and the next day tell your boyfriend to find a temp agency and get signed up. From there start rebuliding, Good Luck.
Sure, I gave up everything, picked up my things and just left. Finding a job and a stable home has been much harder. I can't count how many jobs I've had or houses I've lived in. This might be the first year I get my first normal stable job, and a safe and secure place to live. It has not been easy at all, but now that I think about it, I've never regretted it.
Sure, I gave up everything, picked up my things and just left. Finding a job and a stable home has been much harder. I can't count how many jobs I've had or houses I've lived in. This might be the first year I get my first normal stable job, and a safe and secure place to live. It has not been easy at all, but now that I think about it, I've never regretted it.
This will be my second time doing this. the First time, it was alabama, this time it will be Harrisburg
I did it. I moved from Florida to California without a job two months ago, gave up everything and took a big chance. I'm now enjoying life here and working.
I too have been thinking about packing up and moving with no job because I hate where I live !!!
I constantly search this forum for advice/tips etc and finally decided to join and post.
I've wanted to move for at least 5 years, but always let my doubts and fear stop me. It's hard to imagine doing this because you don't want to make the wrong choice and end up homeless, but as you say, you're already poor so it can't be any worse can it? The only difference is you'd have the warmth. I already live somewhere hot and humid but I just hate the culture and the high cost of living.... for you people who think FL is expensive, try living in the Bahamas!! I'll give you some examples. Gas is 5.92 I believe when I put gas in my car today. Milk is around 6.99 a gallon. Our electricity bill is 200-300 in "winter" months and during the summer can go anywhere from $800 - $1200 (in a 1200sq ft house) We are not running our A/C because it just costs too much.
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