3 illinois weirdos trying to move to wa. Where to go? (Seattle: real estate market, apartments)

[Snugglebear]

We are a husband and wife, and our mutual friend. We've lived most our lives in central illinois and we haaaate it. Because we are hated. And we have no families or friends (besides each other). And so we want to just drop all our **** and up and move to a place we feel we actually belong better.
We're not very political but we're very anti trump. (Everyone here loves him)
My husband is actually trans and wants to transition with hormones but not get death threats while walking to work every day.
We're kinda all the long haired goth hippie freak type to different degrees. Not hipsters. Not aesthetic irony. Just quiet. We're loners and losers and nobodies. Not good with crowds. We would love to live in a 2br shack in the middle of nowhere. But that's close to jobs.
We have nothing but the clothes on our backs and a pocket of cash. No cars. No furniture. We're nearly homeless. I recently lost my job and we'll have to move somewhere soon. Why not somewhere that sucks less.
But we only got about $3500
And getting a place requires proof of a job and getting a job requires proof of a place.
And idk how to get a job in a place that's 3000 miles away.
We're all highschool graduates and poor af. We couldn't afford college and all had to work during highschool to support our fams then moved out as soon as we were 18. (It's eerie how much our lives are the same that's why we're all really close friends)
I've been a cashier at a gas station for 5 years and i worked at a pizza place for 5 years and that's about it. But I'm also a tryhard artist and wanabe musician.
My husband has been a manager at a dollar store for a few years and a butcher and a sandwhich maker and even did roofing and construction for a few years and he sculpts and designs his own clothes and even knows how to taxidermy so he has all that knowledge to work with. But no official licenseses or formal training tho. He studied under his grandpa who owned a taxidermy shop in ohio when he was in highschool. But he's open to it.
And our friend has all the same skills as both of us combined plus he's good with plants and animals. They both want to be like park rangers and I'd be happy with anything that doesnt kill my feet like standing in one spot at a gas station for 10hrs a day did. I just want to work and sit at the same time. And i can type almost 80wpm.
They also both have long hair and would refuse/prefer not to cut it for a job unless it paid insanely good. And they're willing to do anything for jobs. ~Men arent supposed to have long hair in illinois. Apparently.

And anyway we have nothing and dont even know where to look or who to talk to. I hope someone here can help us. We are super friendly and down to earth. Chill. Hard workers. Responsible.

When i had a fulltime job our combined monthly income was about 2300 and our combined expenses was about 1800 and we just need something in the ballpark of that ratio to be happy.
But all the money and col is different. Idek what groceries and gas cost over there. So it's hard to math out.

We're hardcore and willing to crawl thru mud to get to where we want. Even if we have to live in a homeless shelter til we get jobs and a house.
But what town and state. Washington or Oregon.

[Sandy Nelson]

Snugglebear,

Thanks for sharing your background. Reading it is heartbreaking and encouraging at the same time. Heartbreaking that you are all struggling to make ends meet and have a hard time being accepted as your true selves; and encouraging because you're not giving up and you're determined to find a place where you feel you can be at home and have a more comfortable life.
I don't know what Illinois is like, but what I appreciate about western Washington is the accepting attitude of the people who live here. In general, I believe whether you're goth, hippie, trans, gay, retro or hipster, people here don't bat an eye.
Relocating to a place without a job and support system, such as family or friends is extremely difficult. I would suggest that you identify a place where you plan to move to and then work hard at making connections there, even remotely through forums like this. I think you'll have to break out of your "loner" shell a little bit to make a soft place to land. I'm often told by clients who move here from out-of-state that our groceries are very expensive. A gallon of gas currently costs around $2.75-$2.95. Minimum pay in the state is $11.00 an hour, and I see plenty of "help wanted" signs. Your biggest struggle will be in finding an affordable place to live, as rents are high. A humble 1-bedroom apartment will easily cost $1,000.
If you end up taking root in the Olympia area, please reach out to me. I'll gladly mobilize my network to see if anyone has job openings, or vacant apartments.

I admire your determination and am sure you'll be able to create a better life for yourselves.

Best of luck!

Sandy

[sll3454]

Post in the Oregon forum to get Oregon suggestions.

[rantiquity]

Where should weirdos move to in Washington....Seattle or Portland, you would feel right at home.

[StealthRabbit]

Portland will be a much better match. (Lots of gas station jobs!!!)
//www.city-data.com/forum/orego...as-oregon.html

Bring a trashed Motorhome (they are now all over Portland LEGALLY)

Look into Dignity Village
https://dignityvillage.org/

[Snugglebear]

Min wage was 7.50 when i started and after 5 years i was finally getting 10 and now min wage is 11. Christ. Lmao.
How much are basic necessities. $50 can feed us all for a week. Milk, eggs, bread, potatoes, mac n chz, ramen, meat and butter and noodles and sauce. Stuff like that.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Snugglebear

Min wage was 7.50 when i started and after 5 years i was finally getting 10 and now min wage is 11. Christ. Lmao.
How much are basic necessities. $50 can feed us all for a week. Milk, eggs, bread, potatoes, mac n chz, ramen, meat and butter and noodles and sauce. Stuff like that.

I have always fed my family (4) (well) on <$100 per month.

$100 goes in the 'food and entertainment' envelope on 1st. if / when the envelope is empty... we get 'creative'. We eat Fresh Salmon, Colorado beef, Tillamook Cheese, farm eggs

There are great occupations on freeway off ramps if you have a sad dog and a Plastic Sign (Cardboard won't last for long in 200+ days of drizzle!) , supposedly $20 - $30k / yr is possible. The 4 beggars I saw today were all on their Smart Phones, so must be doing OK.


Milk is $0.99 / qt every other week at Fred Meyer stores
Bread is $1 / loaf at Dollar Tree (buy the whole wheat)
Ramen is $0.10 when on sale
Eggs = $1 / doz Large (grocery)


Salmon.. $3 / # from the Native fisheries.
Grass is free and abundant

Instead of a Motorhome... Bring a Diesel Skoolie... it will run on cooking oil... fuel will be FREE!

[texasdiver]

Housing everywhere on the west coast that you'd want to live is expensive. As is transportation for you household out to the west coast.

Honestly your best bet would probably be to use your skills to design some sort of small mobile home that you can drive out and live in while you get your feet under you. Stealth is the way to go. Something like a big delivery van or small truck that you can live in but that doesn't look lived in. Like this guy: Living in my Converted Box Truck who can park in just about any commercial area and not attract any attention.

[PS90]

OP, I hate to be a downer, but it doesn't sound like Washington/Oregon is a good fit for you guys.

As self-described "weirdo's", the the only real place in the state that you will probably want to be is in the urban centers of Seattle, Tacoma, or Portland (especially Portland), but then, with your budget, you will be priced WAY out of the real estate market in those places. Even the general cost of living will probably be too high.

There are certainly cheaper places in to live in the PNW than Seattle, Tacoma, or Portland - but IMO, in order to be happy you will either 1) have to try not to be "weirdo's", or 2) care less about what other people think of you (based on your original post, you seem to care a lot about what other people think).

[robin9]

Thousands of people have received community-college certificates+degrees that open doors into a variety of occupations that pay reasonably well--sometimes very well.

What is that prevents you from doing the same?

--"Because we are hated."
--"We're loners and losers and nobodies."
--"They also both have long hair and would refuse/prefer not to cut it for a job unless it paid insanely good."

Could the problems here be more psychological than geographic?