Moving To A New City (Without A Job)
It’s been over a year since I packed my car full of everything I own and drove to Denver, Colorado. As much as I would like to tell you that I moved out here on a whim, with no income, no savings, and just did the damn thing… it actually took months to plan and a lot of manifesting to make this dream a reality. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, but words cannot describe how fulfilling it has been. Denver is the best. I have grown so much and am crazy proud of myself for making this move.
I’ve always known that I wanted to live somewhere besides my hometown. Not only because I wanted a fresh start but because I knew that moving to a new city would force me to grow as an individual. It took me 10 months to save enough money and manifest this into reality.
I want everyone that reads this to know that if you aren’t happy and want a change in your life, you can absolutely do it. Stop waiting for more money, the perfect job, your significant other, or the right time.. just go for it. In this post, I will talk about my decision to move and how I planned for it. If it’s your dream to move somewhere new this is my advice to get you started:
SET YOUR MIND TO IT COMPLETELY
This is probably the biggest piece of advice I could give you. Make the decision and don’t turn back, no matter what. If this is something that you’ve been dreaming of then set your mind to it with a full heart. The moment you start feeling doubts tell them to STFU. If you are indecisive about it then odds are you won’t follow through. I told everyone I knew I was moving to hold myself accountable. Telling others made me feel obligated to follow through and guilty when I had doubts.
If you need more motivation and another reason for your family to completely freak… do something that will force you to do it. For me, it was booking a trip to Canada with my best friend that would force me to quit my job. This made it REAL. It also gave me a good timeline to follow to know how much money I needed to save and when I needed to make it by. Most importantly, it gave me the motivation to work really hard. I got a second job, I sold things I never used, I made vision boards, and worked hard to get my mind right. There are few things in this world that give me motivation… travel is hands down number one. Obviously booking a trip is a little ridiculous when you’re already trying to save money. Maybe consider something else, like make a bet with someone who’s mean and will hold you to it or buy a deposit for a place before you’re fully ready.
I also want to mention that I received a LOT of negative feedback when I told others I wanted to move (mainly because I didn’t have a job lined up). If I’m being honest, it hurt. People that I cared about thought I was completely stupid for wanting this. It made me question why I was even trying. What you have to keep in mind is that the people that are unsupportive are putting their fears onto you. They may also be a little jealous as well… If they haven’t done it themselves then don’t listen to them, period. The easy thing to do is give up and stay in your comfort zone. You have to trust yourself and keep moving forward.
This will not be easy. You are going to have a lot of rough days. You have to have faith that everything will work out the way it is supposed to. Moving away from friends and family sucks. After I moved I got extremely homesick and for a while, I honestly felt like the world was turning on me. It took a few months for me to feel comfortable and almost a year to find a job that I like. Be patient with yourself.
JOB HUNTING
Moving to a city without a job lined up was pretty scary. Don’t get me wrong, I tried to find one before moving. I applied to around 50 jobs. At first, I was really picky about where I would apply. When I started running out of time I applied to anything and everything. I applied to resorts in the mountains to big corporate companies in the city. I had several interviews before the move but they all fell through. As time started running out I started getting a lot of anxiety about not locking anything down. Obviously, I didn’t find one, but I was able to save enough money to make it work.
I don’t have any magical advice about trying to find a job before you move. From my experience, all the jobs I’ve been offered were not from online platforms like indeed or glassdoor, it was because I made a connection. So my advice is to network. Tell people you’re wanting to move! Post it on Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, email blast your whole family, and reach out to people you know that live there currently. Odds are, someone is going to have a connection in that city that might be able to get you a job, a place to stay, or maybe just a friend. It’s comforting knowing people have your back in your new city before you move. The possibilities are endless and you’ll be amazed how genuinely helpful people can be!
Also, most companies won’t even consider your application if your address is in a different state so, if you can borrow someone’s address till you move DO IT. Hopefully, they will pull your resume and you’ll at least have your foot in the door.
If you’re unable to find a job before you move, the key is to save enough money to live off of for a few months until you find something that can support you. I have a ton of customer service experience so I knew no matter what I would be able to get a serving job, which is exactly what I did. When I first moved I found a job serving, a month later I got a sales job (which I was ABSOLUTLEY awful at), then I bartended. It wasn’t until 8 months after I moved that I found a job that I love and began to feel comfortable financially. Just take it day by day and make as many connections as possible. You’ll find something.
MAKE A PLAN
The biggest excuse I hear of why someone doesn’t move is that it’s too expensive. If it’s something you really want you’re going to have to make it a priority. I think people like to assume that I have a lot of money making the move that I did. I don’t… like at all lol. The key is to BUDGET! Especially if you are unable to find a job before you move, you’re going to want to have a lot of money saved up. I worked a full-time job and served on the side to save enough to move myself to Colorado. I also didn’t go out as much, sold things I didn’t want to and lived with my parents to save.
BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET & then do it again. Sit down and make goals. I’m crazy organized so I made a google doc that listed all my expenses and how much I would expect to make until I moved. I highly recommend making an excel sheet that lists all your monthly expenses; student loan payment, car payment, monthly subscriptions, credit card bill, gas, etc. Think about how much money you would be able to put away each month to save for this move. I suggest saving enough money to live off for at least 3 months. I saved $6,000 to move myself to Colorado and boy, do I wish that I saved more. That money went fast, and realistically only lasted a little over two months from paying for things like a deposit, rent, furniture, and little things I didn’t think about. Everyone’s situation is different but I recommend saving as much as you can.
Be realistic and think about how much you will have to save to move yourself to a new city. Ask yourself questions like;
Will you take a trip to that city to find a place?
How much is the average rent in the city you want to move to?
Will you need to rent a Uhaul?
Will you need to get new insurance (my car insurance went from $70 to $165 btw)? Renters insurance?
Will you need to buy furniture?
How much gas money will you use driving out there?
Will you have to get a new license plate ($300 for me)?
I highly suggest finding someone that is willing to make this move with you. I was EXTREMELY lucky and had a friend that wanted to make this move as well. My rooate found a job one month before we moved and she met someone on her interview that was looking for a place too. Although I was willing to make this move by myself, having them has been the biggest blessing EVER. Having roommates gives you a support system to lean on and splitting the rent is huge. If you can’t find anyone that wants to come with you, don’t let that stop you. You just may have to work to find a roommate online or save more money.
If you want to move you can. People up and leave all the time with no planning at all. It’s all about your mind set. I talked a lot about being in the right mindset to make this jump. Having faith in my decision and knowing that everything was going to work out perfectly was so important to make this move happen. And while this journey has been far from perfect, I’ve never been happier and it was all worth it. If you have any questions about how I made this move please don’t hesitate to ask. 🙂