The Near Future (Portland, Oxford: employment, buy, luxury)

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Ok, I'm not moving to Montana or N or even S Dakota but I appreciate the thoughts.

Mollysmiles, RHB has given me some FANTASTIC advice and leads. I adore her for it. There's also another person who has been PMing me and I'm getting a lot of great tips through her, as well.

I'm going to put in for a few jobs before I get up there, see what happens and have also found a few places that will accept pets...we'll see what that means when it comes to dogs.

I've done this type of thing before, I can do it again.

See, folks, when you want something bad enough, you find a way to make it work. That's how I roll.

[square peg]

I'm not sure if this is an accurate likeness, but back during the depression all sorts of people were moving in all sorts of directions looking for something better - without a comparable safety net. They just plain did it. It must have taken a lot of guts but what other options were there?

No doubt, times are tough right now but not like the 1930s. If one has the will to relocate a major distance and has the enthusiasm to start anew in an honest trade, I'd give them a lot of credit. As someone who used to do the hiring, that's just the kind of character I'd be looking for.

All the best GatorMama. I don't live in Maine, but I certainly get there every chance I have and hope you get to live that dream. My dream was to move to Vermont and there weren't any real careers here either, but somehow it all came together - 25 years ago.

Do keep in mind the other posts above, because they're giving it to you straight.

[Evan_Lanctot]

She is detemined, obviously. These people are telling you straight what the situation here is.

But there are those intangibles you can get here that are priceless. The lack of gangs, low crime, down to earth people. Clean fresh air.

I know people who moved back from Florida and do not regret it.

GatorMama if you're so determined, do it. Just don't expect to get rich here.

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by GatorMama

Montana doesn't have a coast, so that's not going to work.

No, I am going to move to Maine.

I may have to start up somewhere that I wouldn't prefer but it's ok.

By the way, to try to explain why I know it would be a little easier there than here to find a job:

Do you have to be fluent in Spanish to get a minimum wage job up there? Do you have to be fluent in any other language than English?

Yes, I know knowing another language certainly HELPS you and can make you an asset to a company but is it REQUIRED?

(By the way, I say "minimum wage job" because it's what pretty much anyone should be able to get. Finding jobs that pay higher, in a field I'm knowledgeable in may take a bit longer...so we start with what we can find...even if it's flipping a fricken burger at McDs. Right?)

New Hampshire has some seacoast, plus unemployment is much lower in NH than in Maine so your chances of finding work would be better in NH, and there's no income tax and no sale taxes in NH, and NH crime rate is lower than Maine's.

[beltrams]

It's hard all over the country and it's only going to get worse as our economy and society comes to the end of the cheap energy and resource age.

Maine is tough. So is Florida. So is Massachusetts (believe it or not.) In MA, if I didn't have family and shared resources, I'd never have any kind of home or yard. Rather, I'd be trapped in an apartment, paying through the nose for everything. Maine is hard, so is paying $1400 a month for a studio apartment in the Boston area, one that's not in the best of shape. You can't go anywhere because you cannot afford to keep a car in the city and even ZipCar costs a fortune for a weekend trip. Yeah, there are more jobs around a city like Boston, but the prices around here make up for it and then some. Heating oil costs a bit more in Maine, yes, but even so, heating a 1920s flat in Revere, South Boston, or Brookline costs a pretty penny too. Natural gas is cheaper ------ for now, but it's had some pretty amazing price runs in the past 5 years or so too and will have them again as that fuel becomes loved to death. The only reason I don't pay a fortune in heating costs too is that I saw this energy thing coming and insulated our family house like crazy about 8 years ago (22 inches of fiberglass in the attic, for one thing.) I also am in a fairly unique situation where I've been improving my school employer's 160 acre, mainly wooded campus, get all the free firewood I could want, and have a masonry heater in my house. If not for that, the last time natural gas had a price run circa 2005, we saw gas bills of over $450 a month during the winter.

I also grow a fair amount of my own fruit and veggies here in MA and can and will do so when I move full time to Maine as well (see below.) I have low entertainment expectations as well. I do many of my own repairs, line dry my laundry, etc. These solutions work all over the country for saving money.

Just like Square Peg said, there is a comparison to the Depression when people were torn as to move or adapt in place, so to speak. I've adapted pretty well here in MA, even given the realities of a lower paying, education job. I've also a place in Aroostook, however, that I bought not too long ago, and at some point I'm getting there full time come hell or high water. It'll be tough there, but so it is here too.

The devil is in the details as to *how* one lives rather than which state one lives in, within reason.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Evan_Lanctot

She is detemined, obviously. These people are telling you straight what the situation here is.

But there are those intangibles you can get here that are priceless. The lack of gangs, low crime, down to earth people. Clean fresh air.

I know people who moved back from Florida and do not regret it.

GatorMama if you're so determined, do it. Just don't expect to get rich here.

I would not expect anyone to get rich anywhere in this economy.

[imjustthere]

www.bangor-maine.com

Well maintained apartments and pet friendly.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by square peg

I'm not sure if this is an accurate likeness, but back during the depression all sorts of people were moving in all sorts of directions looking for something better - without a comparable safety net. They just plain did it. It must have taken a lot of guts but what other options were there?

No doubt, times are tough right now but not like the 1930s. If one has the will to relocate a major distance and has the enthusiasm to start anew in an honest trade, I'd give them a lot of credit. As someone who used to do the hiring, that's just the kind of character I'd be looking for.

All the best GatorMama. I don't live in Maine, but I certainly get there every chance I have and hope you get to live that dream. My dream was to move to Vermont and there weren't any real careers here either, but somehow it all came together - 25 years ago.

Do keep in mind the other posts above, because they're giving it to you straight.

good post peg, i agree

It's easy just to throw your hands and say everything sucks, no jobs and no hope,

two weeks ago, after 17 years employment, I was a casualty of a business that closed,,,no notice,

If i believed half of what i read on here,,,, i would panic,,im in maine,,,no jobs,,no hope,,,well, not my nature, within 2 days i had 3 interviews lined up and within 5 days got a better job offer, than where i was, with a much better company

none of the jobs were posted, as i said in an earlier post, apply where you want to work,,,,,,,,even if there are no employment ads out..

[8635angelvalley]

Good Luck,Gator Mama. The very start of tourist season is an excellent time to move to Maine. Many places don't open until Mem Day weekend and some even open a bit later than that.What type of work to you usually do? Have you xdecided what area you want to live in. I vote coastal-mid coast is nice.

[MaggieZ]

I moved to Maine from Florida in 2003 and had 6 months of unemployment plus a severance check plus some extra saved and still, it was hard to make ends meet after only finding a minimum wage job because I didn't want to live off unemployment. I had everything planned ahead as much as possible but somehow things did not pan out and it wasn't for lack of trying ...I was told had I been in the medical field, I would have had better luck ...but then I was found to be 'overqualified' for a cleaning job at the local hospital...so after 7 months I left. I am glad I tried to live there, it was an interesting experience.
anyway, to the OP if you decide to go, I wish you well and at least you can say you tried if things don't work out...networking and testing the waters through this forum is a good idea though