Moving

[JavaMouse]

I was laid off last May, and have had mediocre success in my job hunt since then.  My last job was so dreadful that I decided to be more picky about taking my next job.  My financial situation is such that I can afford to do this, at least for a while (hopefully those are not famous last words).  Up until now, I've always taken the first job offer that was given, no matter how bad it looked.

This summer, I took a temp-to-perm position.  I declined to go perm because I wasn't enjoying the work while a temp - quite the opposite.  That was the first time that I have declined a job offer in my life, and it felt kind of like stepping off a cliff into the unknown.  Very uncomfortable, against all my instincts.

After that experience, I decided that my job hunt is needlessly difficult where I currently live, which is not exactly a technology hub.  So I decided to move to a major metro area.  I have a friend who lives there, who will be away for a couple of months, and I'm going to be staying at her place while job hunting.

I know DarkHumour has done this sort of thing... Has anyone else done this?  Any advice?  I feel very strongly that I must find a job before my friend returns; I don't want to impose on her.  That gives me about two months to find something.  If I don't find something, I figure my only option will be to move into an extended stay type place, and that gets expensive very fast.  Am I being foolish thinking that I can find work more quickly in a major metro area?

On a related note: In my last job, I heard some discussion about contractors who have no permanent address.  They keep a PO box, put any of their stuff in storage (I am in fact putting most of my stuff in storage), and travel around staying in temporary digs.  I just don't see how that is possible in this country.  If you do this, how would you get/keep a driver's license, credit cards, bank account?  Impossible to own a car in this situation, right?  I didn't think you could keep a PO box without having some permanent address associated with it.  Does anyone know if this is really possible, or is it just some urban myth?

[The Original Dinosaur]

Well, you have a roof over your head for another two months, and you may find a job in that period.  So I would defer the decision until then.  If you're willing to relocate, I see no benefit in committing to one city over the other without a job.  What DH did was as much to get out of town as it was to find work.

Turning down jobs gets easier with practice.  You may even start to enjoy it, and be happier with the jobs you accept.  Of course, if you need a paycheck, you must take the first offer, but that doesn't mean you have to stop looking.

Getting credit cards or a bank account without a "home" street address may be difficult.  So keep the ones you have.

As far as registering a vehicle and getting a license, check South Dakota.  At one time, they would accept a private mailbox (Mail Boxes, Etc. or the like) for both.  People who motor-home full time used to use this strategy.  

Both the PO and PMB stores require a street address to open the account.  You might need to use a friend or relative's home address to get the PMB initially, but after that, they don't care as long as the box rent is paid.  I had the same USPS box for 23 years, while moving several times, and I never bothered to notify the PO.

I use a PMB for nearly everything - bank statements, etc. for privacy reasons, and my printed checks just show my name and the city, not the street address.

[pm4hire]

But the advantage of using SD is much lower
insurance rates for auto.  So it might be worth
the drive.

A lot of military people and contractors in the defense
and nuclear industries do this.

Go to the forums on RV.net to get the latest info.

BTW, most states require a verifiable residential
address.

[JavaMouse]

Quote:If you're willing to relocate, I see no benefit in committing to one city over the other without a job.

Right; that's why I'm putting most of my stuff in storage near where I live now.  I will move this stuff to my permanent location, wherever I end up in the longer term.  I am not committing to the city where I am moving right now.

I am moving out of my current apartment for a few reasons:
1) I'm saving money on rent; my friend is charging me a lower rate than what I'm paying for my current apartment.
2) While I was job hunting, I found fewer than 5 suitable jobs within an acceptable commute - my current location does not have the type of jobs I'm looking for.
3) I'm hoping recruiters will be more willing to submit me to a job if I'm considered "local" to this major metro area (i.e. no questions about them having to pay for relocation).
4) It will certainly be easier for me to go to interviews if I live closer.  Driving 3 hours to an interview is no fun.

Quote:Getting credit cards or a bank account without a "home" street address may be difficult. So keep the ones you have.

Actually, I am doing a change of address to my friend's house for items like these.  She does not mind receiving my mail there.  Since I am leaving my current rental apartment for good, I do not want to take the chance that important documents (bills, insurance, etc) get lost in the mail.  Better to just point this all to my friend's address.

Thanks for the tip on South Dakota.  I have wondered how people do the RV thing without having a "home base."  I know of some people who use friends or family as their mailing address, but over the long term it seems like an imposition I would not want to put on anyone that I know.

Quote:I had the same USPS box for 23 years, while moving several times, and I never bothered to notify the PO.

Did you always live close enough to the POB that you could easily pick stuff up there?

[TRexx]

Quote:As far as registering a vehicle and getting a license, check South Dakota. At one time, they would accept a private mailbox (Mail Boxes, Etc. or the like) for both. People who motor-home full time used to use this strategy.

Most states are more than happy to let a non resident register a car and/or get a driver's license.  

But most have rules regarding how long you can keep driving an out of state car. (they want their registration fees). I was doing a long term gig in North Carolina and got cited by a cop who saw my car parked in the same hotel parking lot week after week. (Note to self: Next time don't pick a hotel across the street from a donut shop)  I beat the ticket by showing the judge proof that I was flying home every weekend. (It was cheaper to drive my car to NC and rent one in NJ on the weekends).  But other people I worked with who had relocated but never bothered to re-register got fined.

The other concern is insurance. If you tell the insurance company your car is at your "home" in Podunk, IA,  but you are really driving in downtown New York City, they might raise an eyebrow when you get hit by an MTA bus, or some fun loving youths decide to enhance your paint job.  This is a common dodge for Philadelphia and NYC residents. They register their car at a friend's  home across the river in New Jersey where rates are (relatively) cheap.  Pennsylvania and New York complain but the NJ DMV is not about to give up all those fees for cars that spend maybe 1 day per year in our fair state.



 

[JavaMouse]

Quote:the advantage of using SD is much lower insurance rates for auto

Thanks for the tip on TX.  Unfortunately what matters with auto insurance is not where your street address is, but the "home base" for your car.  At least, my insurance company wants to know the address where I park my car most nights.  So I can't use just any old address for the purpose of car insurance.

I wish "they" would switch from real, physical addresses to virtual addresses.  I hate all the stuff that has to be redone because I'm moving out of state:
1) Health insurance, including prescriptions.  I have one prescription that I get mailed to me currently.  I will have to go to a new doctor in the new state in order to get a new prescription, even though my current prescription is perfectly valid.  Bleh!
2) Driver's license and car tags
3) Auto insurance
Sure does make moving out of a state a major headache.  Not the kind of stuff you want to do often.  However, I have a pretty good incentive to do so, which makes it worth the hassle.  At least my email address won't change!

[TRexx]

Quote:3) I'm hoping recruiters will be more willing to submit me to a job if I'm considered "local" to this major metro area (i.e. no questions about them having to pay for relocation).

It might be worth investing in a disposable cell phone that has a local area code.

[Rastus P Shagnasty]

Most voip providers will let you get any area code you want.

[JavaMouse]

Quote:Most states are more than happy to let a non resident register a car and/or get a driver's license.

Ha, that's interesting, I didn't realize that!

Personally, though, I am going to register my car and get a license in the new state where I'm moving ASAP, since I really no longer have a residence in the old state as of Dec 31.  In fact, another reason why I'm moving Dec 31 is so that I can definitively sever ties with my old state, and not have to file two state income tax forms for 2007/2008.

I did check with my insurance company about when I would have to shift over the auto insurance for the new state; did I need to do this before the move, or could it wait until I was already there?  I was told that it would be OK to wait.  Of course, they told me verbally, and I don't see anything about that in my contract... Hopefully there will be no problem doing this.  I am going to shift everything over to my friend's address ASAP, to avoid any problems of the sort you describe with questionable auto insurance, etc.  I already bought into a new health insurance policy that begins Jan 1.  It is much cheaper than my current COBRA payments, and seems to cover everything that my current plan covers.  I should have moved to an individual plan earlier.

[JavaMouse]

Quote:Most voip providers will let you get any area code you want.

That's a good point.  My cell phone company doesn't seem to care where I live either.  Of course, my area code makes it look like I'm a non-local, but I guess that happens to more and more people.  I may pay to switch to a new local area code once I find a job, wherever I end up.  I seem to recall there's a $15 charge to do this.

[Rastus P Shagnasty]

With Vonage I could get a number say in NY city.  All the calls could go to voice mail.  Vonage would then email the VM to you and you can choose whom to call back.  Don't need a physical phone.  Good way to screen.

[JavaMouse]

Do you find that the connection is reliably good with Vonage?   I knew someone who used VoIP for conference calls and he was always dropping out or crackling.  I have been reluctant to completely divorce myself from a land line because my cell phone connection is not always crystal clear.  If I do a phone interview, I always use a land line.

[DarkHumour]

Tips from "the gutter"

Depending on how much the other state's oppressive offices are you can (applies to 1 and 2)

1) You can get a po box with an out of state I.D. I think I may have used my former address on the application since it matched my driver's license at the time.  When there was an issue they screwed up and tried mailing me a notice to former street address but "local" city and state address. (correction)

2) My license plate tags were about to expire and I didn't have residency anywhere. I didn't want to screw around with using Oregon (my families' addresses) and then to another state two weeks later*. I did have the PO Box for a month and a half in Washington, mentioned my temporary 'residence' in their state campgrounds, but I didn't have gainful employment yet.  I paid the fees and somehow I managed to score WA license plates.   I *did* start working a week later.  My other alternate plan was to get a job as an onsite apartment manager where part of my compensation was a two bedroom.  *(I didn't get my own place until four months after moving out there. People did NOT return freakin' calls out there.)

3) Get a Virgin Mobile** cheapo cell phone. Register it online and chose any zip code you want. Voila. Assigned a local number.
(**This can be done from anywhere. I don't know any other cell phone company that allows this.)

3) If you weren't staying with a friend then check out if there is a youth hostel in the city or cities you plan on living and/or working. I stumbled upon two that cost $25.50 or $29.00 a night.  Which while not free beats the hell out of normal Chicago rates that are typically over $125.  I don't know if hostel-women are slobs but I think I have heard my share of weird noises coming out of both ends of people.  Sorry.  

4) Craigslist and google have a beta service that maps out available rental housing. www.housingmaps.com/  

5) W2 information - I had to use a physical address.  I used my parents which was in Oregon and I got dinged for taxes for two whole months even though I worked in North Bend, Washington. In hindsite I maybe should have used the post office's physical address or found out what homeless people use.

6) Switch as many bills to paperless as you can and the rest to the PO Box.  Make sure you have online access to anything left to pay or you need to establish. Utilities, banking, credit cards, cable, etc.  Most of my stuff was do-able online.

7) If your bank does not exist in this state and cannot get direct deposit from your employer to your original bank/city account you're kind of boned (or at least will be paying fees at the ATM or suffering delays mailing your check to your bank for deposit). I could not open a local account without a physical address.  They required a lease, utility bill with an in state address, in addition to the usual ids. I guess it is both terrorist and "id theft" scrutiny to blame.  

These were off the top of my head... don't mean to add any redundancy to anyone else's suggestions in the thread.

DarkHumour

[The Original Dinosaur]

Good stuff, DH!

You triggered a recollection for me.  Usually homeless shelters will let you use their mailing address to find work, etc.  It's not a big jump from there to creating a "local residence" for most purposes.

[DarkHumour]

Thanks T.O.D.

Also note:

There is a new payment option I never heard of before moving west which seems to unfairly target low income people.  Getting paid with an Paycheck debit card that you draw from.

It seemed convenient if you didn't have a bank account but with all the associated fees it tended to screw you if you didn't plan ahead.