To me, it's a bargain. One word: Oceanfront. To me, that's a privilege I'd pay a hell of a lot for. Plus the river? Oh my god, it's a dream spot for me. The whole idea is to be in the middle of nowhere. :p It reminds me of where I grew up. I want to be a place I'm going to enjoy just existing in which the two of us can also afford. But I'm going to be looking around in person as well as Craigslist before I make any solid decisions.
The location really tempts me tho'. :p
Also, is that 650 *with* uts?
Your advice is definitely appreciated! If it helps, I'll be getting $850/mo income steadily and I have a car, albeit it's a gas-guzzling Camaro. Mitch will be making whatever he can snag when we get there. I'm making plans on the basis of him getting a job much like what he has now, which is $10/hour with insanely shitty hours. (If he's lucky, he makes $400 a month.) The idea is to get a place we can afford without forcing Mitch to take a 9-5 7-days-a-week type job. I chose the Arcata/McKinleyville area because that goal is well within grasp! :p
Well two things you should know as far as your concerns. Gas is 4 bucks a gallon here. It's also harder to get a job around here. If he's expecting 10 bucks an hour, you may want to save more first. Jobs are crappy here, but with some luck you can get a job based on experience you've had. But most starting jobs are minimum wage.
Anyway, don't let me discourage you, of course. Perhaps you already knew all this. But watching costs is definitely something to consider. And usually utilities are partially included in the rent price. Like with my rent everything but electricity is covered, but that's not high. I pay about 20 a month for that, sometimes less. Gas is higher, of course.
But yeah, it's good that you're researching, though. Look at theeurekareporter.com and the-times-standard.com for more rentals and such. Good luck! That'd be pretty cool if you were up here. We'd definitely have to meet up. I'm even starting a writing group here which you should totally join. ^^
Gas: It's just as bad here. I wasn't expecting a break on gas prices. If I thought it would do me a lot of good I'd sell the Camaro and look for something more economical, but if I did that, I'd lose in repair costs what I'd gain in mileage. My car is in such good shape for its age I'd be insane to sell it, at least right now.
Wages: He *never* makes more than $400/month here. Minimum wage with normal hours would be a VAST IMPROVEMENT. That's why we're moving! The job market here is actually WORSE than there, to the point where it looks like a fucking bounty on Craigslist. Vacaville is a dead-end bedroom community for people who commute to work in the Bay Area. Its own existence as an individual entity is ... uh, limited.
So, honestly, I think what we've got here is a Grass-is-Greener situation. XD But yeah, I'm aware it's as tough there as anywhere. But if nothing else we're going to fall back on the student-type housing that'll be empty during the summer -- renting one room in a 5br house or something like that. It'll be easier to get a 215/420-friendly place that way too.
By normal hours, you mean like part time? Or full time. Cause finding full time work is hard. But yeah, I worked at Sears when I first came here, and minimum wage was less. I made about 600 bucks a month while there, so yeah, that'd definitely an improvement I'm sure. Good luck with getting something good. It can be hard but if you don't mind fast food or generic retail, it's not too bad. Sears is always hiring, lol. I came back here at 18 with no experience, so it was my first job. Since then I've gone through a slew of much higher paying jobs, but things sucked so now I'm in school and super poor. It sucks, lol. But hey.
Wow, yeah, sounds like your area was pretty bad if it's worse than here. Here, at least, you can work at Taco Bell or something, easily. If you can pass a drug test you can do things like retail, like I said. ^^
I just thought you should know since it isn't "as tough as anywhere" in my experience. I've never struggled so hard to make ends meet. But there are good things about this place, too. Cheap for California. But yeah, it just depends on the kind of person you are. I wasn't trying to discourage you. I just know so many people who came here with a different idea of what it would be like to live here, and are now struggling and disappointed. But you sound like you'd do well here with the things you're looking for.
P.S.- virtually everything but the theater and fast food do drug testing, just so you know. XD
If you have a hard time, let me know. I know rooms available and an apartment or two.
Drug testing doesn't worry me so much as refusing to acknowledge Mitch's 215. He's got it; do you know of any employers that definitely accept it?
And see the other comment I made. Even 20 hours at 6.50/hour would be an improvement, albeit a marginal one.
He's going to hate it, but we're both gonna just grit our teeth and deal until we can make enough on art to get by without day jobs. It would be a lot easier if I could work, but I still can't. No matter how shiny and bright I fix my brain up, my back is still fucked. Oh well.
Sears, note taken. That kind of info is very useful, actually...
We went to every fast food place, every outlet... it was insane. All of them were not just not hiring, they've all been *cutting staff*. When the national economy started to really get shaky, Vacaville's local economy just fell to shit. Absolute shit. His job is fucking waving signs on the streetcorner to advertise McMansion developments.
This town is a vision of some sort of subtle Orwellian Hell. We want out.
Also, my brother and/or others keep stealing my OxyContin, but even beyond that, this place sucks.
You also have to realize that I'm not only Cali born and bred, I come from one of the most expensive parts of CA, period. I grew up thinking the minimum possible monthly rent for an apartment was $1,500. In the early 90s.
So to me, all these prices we're talking sound like amazing deals. XD I mean, I know how poor I am, but compared to trying to make it work in Vacaville or Santa Cruz it'll be a breeze.
So yeah, perspective is really everything. I'm fleeing insane cost of living in the south and I've got guaranteed monthly income, so it won't be too hard to make it. I get SSI no matter what happens, after all, and if my living situation gets worse I can reasonably argue for more, too. So I'm not too worried.
I may indeed get back to you about that, depending on when we can leave.
As far as money, let me put it this way. I just did some math. At the job Mitch works right now, yeah, he gets $10/hour, but he only gets ten hours a week.
If he had a job paying $6.50, and they gave him 20 hours a week, he'd make 130 before taxes.
The location really tempts me tho'. :p
Also, is that 650 *with* uts?
Your advice is definitely appreciated! If it helps, I'll be getting $850/mo income steadily and I have a car, albeit it's a gas-guzzling Camaro. Mitch will be making whatever he can snag when we get there. I'm making plans on the basis of him getting a job much like what he has now, which is $10/hour with insanely shitty hours. (If he's lucky, he makes $400 a month.) The idea is to get a place we can afford without forcing Mitch to take a 9-5 7-days-a-week type job. I chose the Arcata/McKinleyville area because that goal is well within grasp! :p
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Anyway, don't let me discourage you, of course. Perhaps you already knew all this. But watching costs is definitely something to consider. And usually utilities are partially included in the rent price. Like with my rent everything but electricity is covered, but that's not high. I pay about 20 a month for that, sometimes less. Gas is higher, of course.
But yeah, it's good that you're researching, though. Look at theeurekareporter.com and the-times-standard.com for more rentals and such. Good luck! That'd be pretty cool if you were up here. We'd definitely have to meet up. I'm even starting a writing group here which you should totally join. ^^
Reply
Wages: He *never* makes more than $400/month here. Minimum wage with normal hours would be a VAST IMPROVEMENT. That's why we're moving! The job market here is actually WORSE than there, to the point where it looks like a fucking bounty on Craigslist. Vacaville is a dead-end bedroom community for people who commute to work in the Bay Area. Its own existence as an individual entity is ... uh, limited.
So, honestly, I think what we've got here is a Grass-is-Greener situation. XD But yeah, I'm aware it's as tough there as anywhere. But if nothing else we're going to fall back on the student-type housing that'll be empty during the summer -- renting one room in a 5br house or something like that. It'll be easier to get a 215/420-friendly place that way too.
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Wow, yeah, sounds like your area was pretty bad if it's worse than here. Here, at least, you can work at Taco Bell or something, easily. If you can pass a drug test you can do things like retail, like I said. ^^
I just thought you should know since it isn't "as tough as anywhere" in my experience. I've never struggled so hard to make ends meet. But there are good things about this place, too. Cheap for California. But yeah, it just depends on the kind of person you are. I wasn't trying to discourage you. I just know so many people who came here with a different idea of what it would be like to live here, and are now struggling and disappointed. But you sound like you'd do well here with the things you're looking for.
P.S.- virtually everything but the theater and fast food do drug testing, just so you know. XD
If you have a hard time, let me know. I know rooms available and an apartment or two.
Reply
And see the other comment I made. Even 20 hours at 6.50/hour would be an improvement, albeit a marginal one.
He's going to hate it, but we're both gonna just grit our teeth and deal until we can make enough on art to get by without day jobs. It would be a lot easier if I could work, but I still can't. No matter how shiny and bright I fix my brain up, my back is still fucked. Oh well.
Sears, note taken. That kind of info is very useful, actually...
We went to every fast food place, every outlet... it was insane. All of them were not just not hiring, they've all been *cutting staff*. When the national economy started to really get shaky, Vacaville's local economy just fell to shit. Absolute shit. His job is fucking waving signs on the streetcorner to advertise McMansion developments.
This town is a vision of some sort of subtle Orwellian Hell. We want out.
Also, my brother and/or others keep stealing my OxyContin, but even beyond that, this place sucks.
You also have to realize that I'm not only Cali born and bred, I come from one of the most expensive parts of CA, period. I grew up thinking the minimum possible monthly rent for an apartment was $1,500. In the early 90s.
So to me, all these prices we're talking sound like amazing deals. XD I mean, I know how poor I am, but compared to trying to make it work in Vacaville or Santa Cruz it'll be a breeze.
So yeah, perspective is really everything. I'm fleeing insane cost of living in the south and I've got guaranteed monthly income, so it won't be too hard to make it. I get SSI no matter what happens, after all, and if my living situation gets worse I can reasonably argue for more, too. So I'm not too worried.
I may indeed get back to you about that, depending on when we can leave.
Reply
If he had a job paying $6.50, and they gave him 20 hours a week, he'd make 130 before taxes.
Right now, he takes home $100/week before taxes.
So you see, as I said... vast improvement. x.x
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