Might be moving

[flanagan0718]

Hello all,
So as some of you may know it is INSANELY expensive to live in the New England area, especially Massachusetts. My wife and I are considering relocating to another area of the country. We are thinking PA or WV. I am not thrilled about the idea but understand it will have its benefits. I think weather wise I want to go no more south than PA, I'm not a summer / humid weather guy. If I had my way we would move to Canada but I'm not the only one in the equation. I have some questions for those who have done something like this.

Did those who did this do so with out having friends and family where you moved? We would not have either.

How hard was it to find decent employment and did you do so before hand? My wife has her pharmacy tech certs so she wouldn't have too hard of a time finding work. I don't have any higher education than a HS diploma so I May have a difficult time finding a decent job.

We are not expecting our financial burden to go away. Selling our house and moving to a more affordable area of the country seems to be a good place to start. Has anyone done this before? Kinda looking for some advice here.

Thanks for reading.
-Mike-


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[matmosphere]

Mike, I moved from where I grew up to outside DC when I was in my mid twenties. It was manageable. Made the move so she could go to grad school and we ended up staying. Being a little younger and having her go to school helped us meet some people quick.

I didn't have any college done at that point, so I just took the first retail job I could get and worked my way into management. Then I went to community college for an associates and then a four year school. Started having kids in the middle of all of it.

Do you already have kids? Hardest things were having the little kids with no family to help, and meeting people and making friends. Having the kids is actually what helped that the most (meeting people and making friends)

My best advice is see what the job market is like. I know from experience that Just cause you don't have any college it doesn't mean you don't have any skills. Also look around for a place that has a decent community college, that could help you get some certification or training to get into a different job.

[madbean]

WV is beautiful but I'd say you need to think a lot about moving to a state that is so economically depressed. There are still lots of states that have cities that are affordable but offer much better prospects in the job market.

[flanagan0718]

WV is beautiful but I'd say you need to think a lot about moving to a state that is so economically depressed. There are still lots of states that have cities that are affordable but offer much better prospects in the job market.

My wife mentioned WV. I'm assuming that is where you live or lived at one point. I do have a little one and school systems are paramount to me. I'm not so concerned with my education (being 36 now) my daughters is much more important to us. I'm a creative person and have held many jobs in different trades. Thanks for the advice guys. Keep it coming!
-Mike-


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[dan.schumaker]

Good luck with the move, and finding your piece of land. 

Purely biased here, but West Michigan is beautiful and the Grand Rapids area is growing (but still reasonable for cost of living) 

[Bret608]

Let me mirror what Dan says, you should seriously look into the upper Midwest (besides Michigan, I'd say Wisconsin, Minnesota or Iowa). I think it's still a good balance between affordability, solid job prospects, and a good education system. When I say education system, I mean for kids as well as adults (technical/community college offerings that lead to well-paying jobs and/or ladder into four-year transfer if that's your thing). The only caveat there is that rural school districts are contracting, which leads to more precarious financial situations. We moved out here when I was in graduate school, moved back to the East Coast, then moved back again! We don't have family too close by, but with kids it wasn't too hard to make some friends. This is my two cents, anyway!

[jkokura]

I love living in Canada! I've lived in a significant variety of locations across this country. Hard to say where was my favourite, but if you can convince the wife, it's a fantastic idea!

Jacob

[flanagan0718]

I love living in Canada! I've lived in a significant variety of locations across this country. Hard to say where was my favourite, but if you can convince the wife, it's a fantastic idea!

Jacob

I'm trying! Haha!

Thanks for all your experiences. I live that you guys are all open and positive about the experiences you have. I was dreading taking this question to social media, which is why I didn't. I figured that this forum would be the best place to ask.

I haven't considered the upper Midwest but that may be a good option too. We'll look into this as well when searching.


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