Have you a way to pay for a place yet? First find a job....then apartment.
Not technically but I’m working on that next/simultaneously. I already have a plan. And I’m trying to save up all my money so I can save like at least 6-12 months rent first, aiming for 12. I already have a pretty good start on that. I have been saving all of my money from dog walking and depositing the checks right away into the savings account and then I also have a decent amount of cash I need to finally put in the bank too. I opened the account in September and have been saving every paycheck since (they used to pay me in cash every week but started using checks and every two weeks once I opened the bank account and they pay me a little more since they got Frank) as well as every birthday, holiday, and graduation check and cash. By saving everything, I have a pretty good amount built up already but I definitely still need to save more. I am not moving immediately anyway. Just thinking about possible places. But I am planning on staying here a while anyway because the minimum wage is a lot higher here than most places and I can save up faster. For example, here it just went up to $12 as of the 1st and is supposed to be going up to $15 by 2023 (so sort of a 5 year plan, he just signed it in June). Whereas PA is still $7.25 I think although according to Google they just passed a bill too so I think it may be $12 now too but that might just be for state employees. And idk about Ohio, where I am looking right now. But anyway, point being that I am not going to move anytime soon because the minimum wage is ridiculously high here and I would like to save way more than I have currently. I am obviously not going to stay the whole 4 or 5 years until it gets up to $15 but I am going to stay at least a little while longer so that I can save a lot first. I figure if I can save so much just from cash and dog walking, once I get a real job I will be able to save crazy fast. And I do have a plan for that. Planning on getting a real job like in retail or something and then once I have experience there then possibly applying to the Post Office or something. I really would prefer not to do any of that and to just get certified as a professional dog trainer and train dogs and/or get more dog walking jobs (all of which I am also planning to do) but I know that most apartments require you to have a real job with a good record or whatever first, at least to get approved, so I am going to have to suck it up and get one. And if I did the post office, it pays well and is government, and I could probably transfer anywhere I wanted if I worked there long enough, and it has good benefits and health insurance which is most important considering I can only be on my parent’s plan until 26. But you have to have work experience first, hence the other job. But I really do not want to work there. But I will if I have to and if it means I can move wherever. But I am still working towards the dog trainer and walker thing too. But I do have a plan. I would never just pack up and move somewhere tomorrow or anything without a plan.
I had been thinking that.... lots of effort spent on daydreams that could be spent on learning a marketable skill
Since when is trying to find someplace to live considered a daydream? The way I look at it is that it is better than browsing BYC and Twitter, texting, and watching Netflix all day and night which is what I have been previously doing. I am trying to find a place to live so I can move out as soon as possible because I can’t live here (with my parents) forever and almost all of the places around here are thousands of dollars a month which is why I am looking at other areas of the country that are a lot cheaper. Not necessarily because they are the best areas or somewhere I would actually like to be. I am not even looking at acreage anymore like I was before, just dumpy, cheap places so I can say I have
somewhere to go. Yeah I do tend to daydream a lot, like all the animals I want to have or the acreage I want for my farm eventually and when I almost got on the list for a puppy, but I am not doing that anymore. I am simply trying to move out. Which I don’t think really classifies as dreaming, unless I want to live here or in a tent forever. And I am already trying to find a course to take or school to go to so that I can become a certified dog trainer and planning on applying to a bunch of jobs soon. Just because I post about trying to find an apartment a lot doesn’t mean I am not also looking into jobs or making a plan. Yeah, maybe it makes more sense to find the job first, but I am not even necessarily 100% moving to any of these places, I am mostly just looking at a lot of different areas to see what the market is like there and what I can afford. Not because I want to sign a lease right this second and move out tomorrow or next week. Just trying to see what’s out there and make a plan which I don’t really think is so bad or how it’s making childish daydreams.
Honestly since you want larger dogs I would keep my eye out for rentable houses. Granted that will mean that utilities aren’t usually included but a yard would be helpful.
After you find a job to support yourself first though.
Well, actually, I have decided to put the whole dog thing on hold right now. I do really want one but dogs are expensive and a lot of money a month and a year goes toward food, toys, harnesses/collars/leashes, vet care, etc. so I have decided that for now it would be better to just not get a dog for a while so I can truly save ALL my money and not just a small portion of it. Plus wherever I move to isn’t going to be a permanent residence or anything like that, I only want to live there like a year, or maybe a couple years, just so that I can get out of the house and not live here any longer. I am planning on buying a house eventually but I just want to move out and away from here first. And then if I like the area, I will stay and try to find a house nearby, or if not, I will look elsewhere, but I would like to try to stay East of the Great Lakes. It is a lot greener out here and I like green. But I just want to be able to move out sooner rather than later. But I am also planning on visiting all or at least a bunch of the places that I am considering moving to so that I know whether I would actually want to live there or not. Because a place might seem really great online but then it might end up being really boring or really unsafe or ugly or cold or something and plus this way I can see the safe and unsafe parts of town too and where certain apartment complexes are. But I’m not going to visit them yet.
And I am working on the job part. I already have a plan for all of that. I am not planning on moving yet or even this year. I just want to look and see what is available. That’s all. I am planning on getting a job or two first. I am not just going to pack up and leave immediately as much as I would love to. That is just plain stupid to leave without a plan. I may be doing it a little backwards but I am also simultaneously making a plan so I’m not only looking at apartments.
(for now)
