Can two minimum wage earning adults make it in San Diego? (apartment, rent)

[Azborn_Txraised]

My husband and I are 22 and 24, We are currently staying where we are because of family that is here, however we want to move away from Texas sometime within the next 2 years. We want to move to San Diego or a town near San Diego. We don't have career fields, and will most likely be attending school of some sort there. We will be starting out with regular paing jobs, (walmart, macdonalds etc..) Can two people working minimum wage in San Diego make enough money to make it in a decent apartment and decent nieborhood? Are there any towns nearby San Diego where we might have an easier start to big city life? (we are from a small Texas town...but we need a dramatic change!) I love San Diego, and i would love to move there and start fresh, but we don't want to jump into it head first and then end up homeless or something because we could not adjust... any advice? We noticed that pine valley had good reviews...but how easy or hard would it be to find employment there? The main thing we are looking for is a town or community in or near San Diego where we could find jobs and make it with those jobs.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Yes you can make it. The question is for how long and to what your tolerance level is for compromise.
Best example being folks looking to move here from afar and want to live "blocks from the beach". After the partying phase is over, some high tail it out, because jobs may not pay much or rent is too expensive or they feel they are going nowhere fast. This of course can happen in any city, its just about keeping expectations in line thats all. I am fairly certain that if you are both going to want to go to school, you dont want to earn min wage the rest of your life.

Its not a place I would necessarily recommend for a young married couple trying to make it, starting off. For fun yes, however over the long haul, I would say maybe not.

San Diego isnt going anywhere. There are much easier cities to cut your teeth in and have your dollar work a bit farther. I hate to say it, but staying in Texas might be a great oppt for the both of you in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio or Houston.
You still have many years ahead of you to establish yourselves career wise and financially.

[sfosyd]

I'd actually disagree with this assessment. I've heard that it is VERY difficult to find a minimum wage job in San Diego and there is an incredible amount of competition. You might be able to make it, with many, many compromises, IF you both land minimum wage jobs which is difficult at best.

If you really want to move here, line up a job at Wal-Mart or Best Buy in Texas and see if you can transfer to San Diego, then live close to where you work.

[AADAD]

I would recommend that you drive out and look around. Your goals should be:

Looking at which areas are affordable. You can do much of this research before you arrive and then put eyes on it.

Making contacts with local employers. Make a list of potential employers and go there and meet the manager. Explain your situation and ask the questions.

Go pretend shopping and cost it out for a month.

Good luck.

Early birds catch the worms.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

I agree with AADAD here. There are plenty of folks that do/dont make it here. I dont think its 'easy', no one said that so far.
But you did ask if it was possible and of course the answer is yes but with caveats as I mentioned.

SD is not a place to just pick up and go generally speaking. I would say most folks that are here for any long period of time that can afford it either came with plenty of savings, job moved here, have family here or have made some compromises in some way or another.

Coming to SD best prepared for your situation is really just good advice for anyone, not just your particular situation.

[AADAD]

Good advice s_g.

[civic94]

I dont think you guys can survive long, but you can survive for the short term (you said decent apt in decent neighborhood). min wage in california is 8 an hour, which means at 40 hours per week, its about 1100 after taxes. times it by 2 people thats 2200 per month. now use that money to pay your rent, health ins if you choose, food, and transportation. you wont have much left.


at least try to apply first, get a job first, then move there. I made the mistake of moving to Philadelphia first, assuming that its not that bad to find a job. I came back to Seattle after looking for a job in Philadelphia for over a year, with no luck, then just for fun, applied for a job in seattle, and i got a response in 2 days, so i moved back . it wiped out most of my savings to say the least

[Clevelandgal]

unfortunately I would not assume you can even get minimum wage jobs. There are many threads discussing this. Many will say these jobs go to Hispanics and have theories why. I am not sure I agree with some of the theories, but that's not the point. I think it is b/c being bilingual in a service job is pretty much expected. And the fact is more Hispanics than Anglos are bilingual.

And after reading your post, you will note some of us are older, wiser and more educated (or have another well developed career skill) and wanted to move to SD or a place like it when we were your age. Instead we finished our education or other training, stabilized finances, and built resumes in far crappier places so we actually could move to a place like SD one day and not have to leave a few months or year later with our tails between our legs and with an empty bank account. just food for thought.

[Zembonez]

San Diego is an awesome area, but I would get school behind you and have some sort of career field to go for there before you move. Living poor and scraping by will get really really old and can have lasting bad effects on a relationship.

THINK!

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by Clevelandgal

unfortunately I would not assume you can even get minimum wage jobs. There are many threads discussing this. Many will say these jobs go to Hispanics and have theories why. I am not sure I agree with some of the theories, but that's not the point. I think it is b/c being bilingual in a service job is pretty much expected. And the fact is more Hispanics than Anglos are bilingual.

And after reading your post, you will note some of us are older, wiser and more educated (or have another well developed career skill) and wanted to move to SD or a place like it when we were your age. Instead we finished our education or other training, stabilized finances, and built resumes in far crappier places so we actually could move to a place like SD one day and not have to leave a few months or year later with our tails between our legs and with an empty bank account. just food for thought.

I think this post by Clevelandgal is so spot on target and should be listened to carefully.

Shmoov is right in that you probably could get by but the key thing is just how long you can get by. You said you wanted a dramatic change but I'm not sure that dramatic change includes maybe blowing through all your savings, not being able to support yourself, etc. I'm not saying you can't make it here...

But I agree that it's not always good to have an "I want it NOW" type of attitude. I've wanted to live in San Diego for a long time but as Clevelandgal mentioned, lived in far crappier places and sacrificed a bit in order to move to San Diego more established, more experienced and better financed.

I always recommend people have a good game plan. And don't just think about today but think ten years from now. At 22 and 24 you might think you are young and will be young forever. But time flies.

Yeah, San Diego is an amazing place to live if you can swing it. You just have to figure out your game plan and what your goals are.

Is your goal to just get by or live in San Diego for a very short period of time or is it to try to live here longer term? You have to be realistic with your objectives.

In your situation it's not going to be an easy situation and even getting minimum wage jobs isn't a slam dunk which in and of itself is super depressing to think about for many people.