19 yr old male moving to Los Angeles, $2500 saved any suggestions? (West Hollywood: rent, school)

[cassidy2]

Hi. You seem like a nice person. So here goes. Have you noticed how negitive the responses to your post have been? Hence, LA, people are the worst--dream smashers, arrogant and angry. Next, you have a chunk of change, go for your dream. There are a ton of rentals out here right now, for cheap. I currently rent a bach. in Brentwood for 775.00, a month, including utilities and it was easy to find. Lastly, you may want to rethink your dream, as a direct result of the people in this town. They suck!

[RememberMee]

LA??? Even if you could wait tables and live on $10/hr, you better make a short visit first (using those $2500) to get an idea. Personally, the place depresses me, it's just one big, sprawling, crowded, dusty, garbage saturated metropolis. Pleasant winter climate - yes, but remember about summers. Sure, I must be missing something since millions of people find (unknown to me) allure. You better make sure that the things you are looking for exist in LA before making all those sacrifices.

[treedonkey]

You'd be better off just making a road trip to LA and blowing that $2500 along the way. Just remember to save a few hundred for the bus trip back. Could be fun. Not much to lose at age 19.

Of course, there's about 500 destinations I would choose for a cash-blowing road trip over LA. LA is lame.

[Melissa R.]

Originally Posted by cassidy2

Hi. You seem like a nice person. So here goes. Have you noticed how negitive the responses to your post have been? Hence, LA, people are the worst--dream smashers, arrogant and angry. Next, you have a chunk of change, go for your dream. There are a ton of rentals out here right now, for cheap. I currently rent a bach. in Brentwood for 775.00, a month, including utilities and it was easy to find. Lastly, you may want to rethink your dream, as a direct result of the people in this town. They suck!

I for one am not a dream smasher, arrogant or angry, I'm just a realist. $2,500 is not enough to move to Los Angeles without a job lined up. I came out here 5 years ago with $5,000 in the bank and a decent paying job, and it was still hard. The economy is total crap right now and many people who are extremely qualified are having a hard time finding a job. I just don't think this is the right thing for him at this time.

[Sambazon]

Originally Posted by cassidy2

Hi. You seem like a nice person. So here goes. Have you noticed how negitive the responses to your post have been? Hence, LA, people are the worst--dream smashers, arrogant and angry. Next, you have a chunk of change, go for your dream. There are a ton of rentals out here right now, for cheap. I currently rent a bach. in Brentwood for 775.00, a month, including utilities and it was easy to find. Lastly, you may want to rethink your dream, as a direct result of the people in this town. They suck!

As Melissa perfectly stated, we're not trying to deter the kid of pursuing his goals - we're being honest and realistic. $2,500 is not even close enough for him to get by (especially in California), and after suffering hardships he is very likely to regret relocating, despite saying how much he won't mind "being homeless".

To the OP: No one can stop you, just know that it's probably a bad decision to relocate if you're ill-equipped and not fully prepared. Emotionally you may feel like moving on a whim just because you're young and you feel like experiencing freedom and independence, but without a full-time job already lined up (you transferring to another retailer's branch isn't even a guarantee), you'll probably end up moving right back to Chicago with $2,500+ less in your pocket. The move would've just been a money-sucking experiment. :\

[cassidy2]

Just wanted to add that I am moving to Northern California, this summer. Don't want to be in LA. when the blank really hits the fan.

Originally Posted by cassidy2

Hi. You seem like a nice person. So here goes. Have you noticed how negitive the responses to your post have been? Hence, LA, people are the worst--dream smashers, arrogant and angry. Next, you have a chunk of change, go for your dream. There are a ton of rentals out here right now, for cheap. I currently rent a bach. in Brentwood for 775.00, a month, including utilities and it was easy to find. Lastly, you may want to rethink your dream, as a direct result of the people in this town. They suck!

[XodoX]

Originally Posted by Hutch323

So basically I'm 19 and need to get out of my house and am planning on moving to LA this January. I moved to Chicago in '02 but grew up in Playa del Rey. I know I wont be able to afford to live in Playa so any other suggestions? Where do all the struggling artists and such with little income live? I have $2500 saved and plan on waiting tables for a while once I get out there.

Hi.

I did the same thing when I was 21. However, it didn't work out.
I moved to West Hollywood. Yes, sounds expensive, but thanks to the rent control is was not significantly more expensive than the other areas around it. Plus, you might not need a car there. I was also attendting school and I didn't have that option in L.A. I realized that I couldn't make it alone that way. If you had parents there and didn't have to pay rent, then it would be a different story.
Have you ever been to L.A. ? No offense to anybody, but I think L.A. proper is so ugly! You wanna live somewhere inside the Hollywood Fwy. and I-10, or somewhere in the north. The North Hollywood area is nice and not too far away. I had someone who was willing to sublet her place to me while she was out of country. That way I didn't have to worry about getting an apartment right away. Not sure how cassidy2 got that place for 775 Dollars including the utilities, but I probably would not want to live there. I'm fine with ok apartments, but I couldn't handle anything lower than that.
I "wasted" a good amount of money, but I do think it was well worth it. If you have the option of going home, I would say go for it. I don't regret it. But be prepared that it will not work out.

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by cassidy2

Have you noticed how negitive the responses to your post have been? Hence, LA, people are the worst--dream smashers, arrogant and angry. Next, you have a chunk of change, go for your dream. Lastly, you may want to rethink your dream, as a direct result of the people in this town. They suck!

For someone who peruses any number of other state forums, you'll find the same dream smashers everywhere today. Paricularly, Las Vegas or Phoenix forums with bold letters: Don't come here!

[osuzana]

Since when did $2500 become a "chunk of change"?
Originally Posted by cassidy2
Have you noticed how negitive the responses to your post have been? Hence, LA, people are the worst--dream smashers, arrogant and angry. Next, you have a chunk of change, go for your dream. Lastly, you may want to rethink your dream, as a direct result of the people in this town. They suck!

[uptown_urbanist]

There's a difference between being a "dream smasher" and pointing out the reality of the situation. I'm not arrogant or angry, but do know that the economy is really terrible, and with no job that $2500 will be gone in no time, especially if there's any apartment deposits involved.

Anyone considering moving to LA without a job lined up deserves to know the reality of the situation, and be fully prepared that it might not work out. Whether or not he decides to take the risk is up to him, of course, but he (and anyone else) deserves to be able to make an informed decision.

People are negative because we've seen the economy fall out from under us. My husband's LA job was eliminated, my hours were reduced, and countless numbers of friends have had the same happen to them.