Life Advice

^^^this

 

Money can't make you happy, but no money will sure bum you out.
Since you have 1 1/2 years in stick it out for another year if you have to, but get the resumes out and start saving money and making plans. check out areas out west you like.

 

This.

And this.

Both quotes are among other excellent points here.

If there's nothing else tying you to CT my suggestion is to use your vacation time to explore and figure out which part of the country you want to live in. Then find a job there. Then go.

At this stage of the game I am finding out I would rather live pretty much anywhere than here, but am pretty much stuck. Don't get stuck.

 

Awesome advice guys. Thanks a bunch. Im gunna put my resume together tonight, and then start sending it out. Any thing I should be looking for specifically? Which western states if any should I steer away from....I hear Montana is a heavy tax state. But honestly it looks so beautiful, who cares. Also, people have suggested the money saving thing....how much would you recommend for a safe savings before I move? Thanks again for the advice!

 

Read the book “The Master Key System” by Charles F. Hannel. Then make your own decision from a solid foundation of knowledge.

 

Saving money is a good idea because moving cross country is expensive. I would recommend that you start getting rid of things you don't plan on taking with you now. Some things like a couch or chairs would be easier to replace than move.
First, find a job out west. Even then savings will be needed.

 

I made the move you're contemplating (sorta, IL to CO) when I was 31. Best decision I ever made.

I'm not in engineering (IT) but I know a ton of engineers out here. There are a boatload of engineering companies in the Denver and surrounding areas so even if they don't have openings now, keep looking.

As has been said, move out here with a job. The market is too volatile to hope you find something after you get out here. Unless you have a few months salary hiding in the bank to tide you over until you find something.

When I moved, I sold everything except a TV, clothes, and personal items. My move out here cost the price of a few tanks of gas for a Subaru sedan (about $150). Then I bought new as I needed it/could afford it. Took me about a year to get setup with almost everything I had in IL. If you've got a lot of stuff, and coming from 1000 miles further, you're looking at $4000-5000 just in uhaul rental to get out here.

Something different out here than on the east coast, or even midwest, is the amount of open space and how quickly that space can be covered. In IL, I lived in normal suburbia where traffic was a nightmare and it took 30 minutes to go 10 miles for my commute every morning. Out here I live 17 miles from work, and cover it in about 35 minutes. The majority of my commute is at 60-70mph (doing the speed limit) on surface streets because they're in the middle of nowhere. I mention all this because living in the boonies is incredibly cheap compared to civilization, but the commute isn't really any worse than my old commute that I was already used to. The only drawback to where I live is the 5 mile drive to anything resembling basic services, but my house was less than $70K (1600 sq feet, 3 bdr, 2 bath, 2 car garage).

 

I'm 26. Finished my degrees and floundered around for a while in Wisconsin working a few different jobs trying to find what I wanted to do... Caught wind of the job I am now working and applied. They asked for an interview, so I drove 1000 miles for an interview! I'm now working in the middle of wyoming surrounded by beauty(with the occasional eye sore), trails to explore, and friendly people. It's not for everyone especially if you're used to city life. I was lucky enough my at the time fiance was down with the move. She teaches and found a job here no problem. The no state tax here is great, although it does cost a bit to register your truck. but its better than state taxes... If you can find a job you like, wyoming is a great place to be. I'm 2.5 hrs from jackson hole, a bit more to grand targhee, 4 hours to park city and 4 hours from steamboat... you get the idea, its a good central location. When you move here driving 4 hours is like 2 back east... Its like one big city with long ass streets.

Best of luck with whatever you do! and hit me up if you come to wyo, theres a small group of us guys out here

~Marc

 

Oh yeah you should know this about CO, they do registration based on sales tax and depreciation... When I first moved out here I had a year old Subaru WRX (about 24K purchase price) that I hadn't obviously paid CO sales tax on. My first set of CO plates cost $900!!!

My Taco, that I bought in state and paid sales tax on at the dealer cost a little over $500 for its first set of plates.

 

^ lol yup, spendy adventure it was buying a new truck here in wyo. Meh, small apples in my opinion compared to everything else.