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Hello all! This forum is great, I'm so glad I found it. My husband and I are both 34 and live in Massachusetts.
We want to move to Myrtle Beach, not because of the lower housing costs, etc, or because we think we'll fair a lot better financially, but mainly because of the weather (which is better for my health now) and because my husband has been playing golf since he was seven and loves the idea of being able to play pretty much year round. Our lifestyle is pretty simple though. We don't need a lot of fancy cars and lots of "stuff," just a nice place to live, enough to pay our bills and maybe play a round of golf, see a movie or eat a nice dinner out here and there.
Whenever we visit the area we talk to locals, and it seems to be two completely contrasting messages. Lots of folks say you can make a living there and find a good job, but others say all the young people are struggling and everyone there is considered "the working poor" and that there are hardly any jobs, most all jobs are wait staff or bartender type positions or jobs in retail, and that even the jobs that require college degrees don't usually pay more than minimum wage. One guy actually told us that the only people in Myrtle Beach who are not close to poverty are the ones who retired there from somewhere else and are living off big pensions. I have been to the area many times and simply can't see that being true.
We are both 34 years old, married with a dog and no kids, not in the near future anyway. I have a master's degree in English Lit and creative writing and a background in both insurance (customer service and underwriting) and tutoring college students. Due to illness I currently work from home and only make about $20k a year, but if I had to I could do this job in Myrtle Beach and maybe supplement it with a part-time job there. My husband has a business degree, a background in golf (cutting fairways, working in the pro shop, bartending, among other things), radio (on air as a talk show host and producing shows), insurance (customer service and help desk support/IT), and he's working at a manufacturing plant making about $45K. Both of us are open to many different career opportunities.
Oh yeah, and we own a 3-story townhouse here that we won't make much money on so we'd probably keep it and rent it out, but we would only want to buy a small place there. like a condo under $100K, or even rent at first.
Are there jobs for us in Myrtle? How much do we need to make to live comfortably?
*p.s. sorry for the long post! I wanted to make sure I included enough relevant info about our situation.
Writer--I'm considering a move to MB in Nov. and have similar concerns. I'll look for work in timeshare or a related sales field. I have a B.A. in English Literature and, like you perhaps, am qualified to live in the 13th century. I'm many years older and have lived all over (currently AK), more because I'm curious than anything else. There's a lot of mixed messages on this forum about MB. As I wrote in another thread, I'm going let a temporary place (see www.myrtlebeachroomsforrent.com) to sort of take the temperature of the MB scene. Keep in touch here. Maybe we can share some information.
Hey, thanks for that website, I'd never heard of it and it's a good idea to do something temporary at first.
True, the degree in English Lit are really quite useless when looking for a job other than teaching. Have you ever been a teacher? In MA I tutored college students (mostly Sudanese refugees) for $25 to $40 an hour. I have no experience teaching, and quite frankly the thought kind of scares me, but I'm wondering if there are any opportunities to do tutoring or something else in the education field.
Writer---No, I've never taught and actually get peeved when people ask me if that's why I went to college. I think I took nine credits in Education, mostly because the courses were an easy A. Too many view undergraduate work as a trade school. I became educated. As for MB and crime, I don't know. I lived in center city Philly for years and knew where trouble was apt to occur. I avoided those places. Most crimes today are drug related and I have no problem staying far away from that crowd. I think I'll prtobably give MB a one month try. See what's up. Read through this forum and you'll find mixed reviews about almost any place. I like the South and MB offers a little bit of Yankee. I've lived in MA (Nantucket, Amherst and Northampton) but these days it's either too cold or too expensive for me there.
I agree, everyone assumes with my undergrad and MA in English and writing that I must want to teach. I don't, I just love writing and wanted to get better at it and be educated. But at the same time it qualifies me for very little, although I feel I can learn the fundamentals of any job and do well at it. Myrtle Beach at the moment has few options for new careers for me, but in these current times so does everywhere else!
I'll be interested to hear how things go for you in the future. Good luck and thanks for your responses!
Because MB is a tourist destination, many of the jobs are in the "service" sector--not very high-paying! But, there are "real" jobs around, if you have the skill/experience! I mean, there are advertisers, publishers, doctors, dentists,contractors, teachers, landscapers, etc....just like anywhere else!
We have moved to MB recently from MA. Its very different but I like it. Jobs are hard to come by right know. We are also a married couple (29) w/ no children. One problem is its hard to find friends in our age group down here!! GOOD LUCK
I have lived here almost 2 years, came from NJ. I will say jobs are VERY hard to come by. I worked for the same company doing Accts. Payable/Receivable, Collections, Payroll. I would send out resumes and get nothing back.
I have alot of friends looking for jobs in anything and they can't find anything.
Not everyone is poor here and I just wanted to clarify that first. Most of us are middle class working families.
Having said that, jobs are hard to come by. I have worked at the same position for years now. Even though I have experience, it's hard to find a job here locally in an office that does not have a high turnover rate.
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Moving to MB
