So I decided to make a huge change in my life. Leave everything behind, pack up my life and leave for the US to start my business. If it wasnt for this forum I wouldn't be doing this. I decided I would make a progress thread of my journey.
Where should I start
For the past year I wanted to move to the US and start my own business. The main thing that stopped me was money. I didnt have enough to make the move. After a lot of research I cut a lot of my costs, such as rent, and I could make it happen. I've been ready to go for some time. I have enough but something needed to give me a push to make the move. That push was death.
Its time to take action and move forward
It was May 5 when I decided it was time to move. In the past 3 to 4 months 4 people I knew passed away and another had been given 6 months to live. The oldest was 53 and the youngest was 17. This was a real eye opener for me to get a move on with my life. It was time to 'take action' and move forward in my life instead of wasting time. I decided I was going to sell everything I had, leave my family and friends to move to the US and start my business. First I had to decide where I was going to move. I already had a good idea.
Where should I move?
I decided about a year ago i wanted to move to the US and I wanted to live somewhere hot with outdoor life. So that really narrowed down the possible states. The options were Florida, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and California. I crossed California off pretty quickly due to the cost of living. Nevada was also crossed off quickly because the only real city is Vegas and it was not for me. I looked into Texas but none of the cities really caught my eye. So that left Florida and Arizona. I've been to Florida loads of times and its a great place. The things that put me off were the humidity, bugs, random rain and hurricanes. I didnt know if I could put up with them. That left Arizona. So the cities I thought about were Tucson and Phoenix. I read a lot about them on the city-data forums. It sounded like Tucson was a step down from Phoenix and no one really liked it. So I decided on Phoenix. Since I'm young and know no one in the state I wanted to live somewhere that I could meet other young people. I knew Phoenix had ASU and I looked where it was and starting researching the towns nearby. Now there is only so much you can read and find out without actually visiting but it sounded like Old Scottsdale or Tempe was right for me. I may like somewhere else once I arrive. The worst thing that can happen is I hate Arizona and move to a different state, Florida will be my first option.
Where am I going to live?
Well I dont know anyone in the state so I cant stay with a family member or friend. It looked like I would have to arrange an apartment before hand without seeing it and hope for the best. My worry was I wont like the place or the apartment and I'm stuck in a 6 or 12 month lease. If that happened I would probably become home sick, not want to make friends and become depressed. So I found on Craigslist.org a section called 'sublets / temporary' This was would be perfect because I didnt have to like the place, I would be leaving it in a month or so and while I'm staying there I can see different areas and find somewhere I like. There was another section which had listings for shares. If you dont know what that is its basically a house that has each room rented out. So you live with other people and pay a share of the total rent and bills. This was a great way to keep costs down but also meet people and start making friends.
In May the sublets / temporary section was full of sublets. Everyone was leaving ASU for the summer. I could be so picky and find the perfect place the only problem was I had not booked my ticket...
My plane ticket
I decided on May 5 I was moving. I was aiming for July because this would give me enough time to get ready and sell everything I have. I looked at tickets and it was about 400 pounds. A long story short is I got delayed and I ended up booking my ticket a lot later than I wanted to. Due to this the dates I wanted were fully booked and the prices were rising fast. It was June 6th and the tickets went up 150 pounds in less than 48 hours. I booked my ticket on June 8th and I was leaving earlier than I anticipated. I would be leaving early morning of June 25th. That gave me 17 days to sell everything I had and find somewhere to live. My biggest worry was finding somewhere to stay. I went straight on the sublets/temporary section of craigslist. Things had changed since May. There were not really any ads. I found a place in Tempe that was right next to ASU. So far so good, the ad even said they wanted someone asap so maybe my dates would work out. The only problem is I would be living with 3 girls, but thats not terrible
How did I arrange living? (part two)
I sent an email to the inquiring about the ad. I got an email straight back. It turned out she was leaving the 24th! That was perfect for me and perfect for her. After a few emails back and forth, seeing each others facebooks, I sent the first months deposit and I had a place to live! This didnt happen as fast as it sounds, it took about a week. Originally I thought I would have trouble finding a place to suit my dates. I guess I got lucky there.
17 days to pack up and move!
My plan was to sell everything I own on ebay. I would put everything up at 0.99 with no reserve. I knew I wouldn't get anywhere near the price I paid for things but a little money is better than none. I also thought once I arrive I can buy things from craigslist rather than a store. I still have a few things to sell but the the expensive items are gone.
One thing that I really did not want to sell was my Lexus IS200. This was a car that I really wanted and I had saved up for. I traveled 4 hours each way to buy it. Also in the current conditions selling a car should be hard. Especially when you have to sell it in 17 days. I finally put it up for sale on the evening of the 13th, which was a Saturday. I had 12 days to sell my car! I knew most people look on the weekends and I should've put it up on Thursday or Friday. Still I was confident that I would sell it, I had really good pictures and a great description. Well days passed and I started to get worried. 4 people had contacted me, 3 were scammers and 1 wanted to trade. Things were not looking good but I knew it was because I wanted to sell it quickly and people dont have that much cash to buy a car. On Saturday night I got a phone call about it. I got a low offer and said no. He was using the classic lines when buying a used car. I've read everything he was doing and used it to my advantage. We agreed on a price and I sold my car yesterday, 21st of June. I only owned my car for 4 months but I put 6,000 miles on it and loved every minute. The best part is, I sold it for more that I bought it for! This is the second car I have made a profit on in the past 8 months. Pretty crazy huh?
Once I arrive
I think it will take about one to two weeks to get a bank account, transfer money, get a car ect. Then its time to focus on my business. Its important that I get a job so I will be looking for one. This way I can use the money to cover my expenses and use the money I have saved up over the past year to start my business. I made a excel sheet of my living expenses, job income, and business income. This let me play around a bit to see what salary is better for me. Could I afford to not get a job? What if I only work 20 hours a week so I have more time to focus on my business, will that cost me a lot of money? Those are a few questions that this helped me answer. Its really make or break for me. I've made a life changing decision and there is no going back.
I'll update this as I go along. If you have an questions or feedback I would like to hear it.
Where should I start
For the past year I wanted to move to the US and start my own business. The main thing that stopped me was money. I didnt have enough to make the move. After a lot of research I cut a lot of my costs, such as rent, and I could make it happen. I've been ready to go for some time. I have enough but something needed to give me a push to make the move. That push was death.
Its time to take action and move forward
It was May 5 when I decided it was time to move. In the past 3 to 4 months 4 people I knew passed away and another had been given 6 months to live. The oldest was 53 and the youngest was 17. This was a real eye opener for me to get a move on with my life. It was time to 'take action' and move forward in my life instead of wasting time. I decided I was going to sell everything I had, leave my family and friends to move to the US and start my business. First I had to decide where I was going to move. I already had a good idea.
Where should I move?
I decided about a year ago i wanted to move to the US and I wanted to live somewhere hot with outdoor life. So that really narrowed down the possible states. The options were Florida, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and California. I crossed California off pretty quickly due to the cost of living. Nevada was also crossed off quickly because the only real city is Vegas and it was not for me. I looked into Texas but none of the cities really caught my eye. So that left Florida and Arizona. I've been to Florida loads of times and its a great place. The things that put me off were the humidity, bugs, random rain and hurricanes. I didnt know if I could put up with them. That left Arizona. So the cities I thought about were Tucson and Phoenix. I read a lot about them on the city-data forums. It sounded like Tucson was a step down from Phoenix and no one really liked it. So I decided on Phoenix. Since I'm young and know no one in the state I wanted to live somewhere that I could meet other young people. I knew Phoenix had ASU and I looked where it was and starting researching the towns nearby. Now there is only so much you can read and find out without actually visiting but it sounded like Old Scottsdale or Tempe was right for me. I may like somewhere else once I arrive. The worst thing that can happen is I hate Arizona and move to a different state, Florida will be my first option.
Where am I going to live?
Well I dont know anyone in the state so I cant stay with a family member or friend. It looked like I would have to arrange an apartment before hand without seeing it and hope for the best. My worry was I wont like the place or the apartment and I'm stuck in a 6 or 12 month lease. If that happened I would probably become home sick, not want to make friends and become depressed. So I found on Craigslist.org a section called 'sublets / temporary' This was would be perfect because I didnt have to like the place, I would be leaving it in a month or so and while I'm staying there I can see different areas and find somewhere I like. There was another section which had listings for shares. If you dont know what that is its basically a house that has each room rented out. So you live with other people and pay a share of the total rent and bills. This was a great way to keep costs down but also meet people and start making friends.
In May the sublets / temporary section was full of sublets. Everyone was leaving ASU for the summer. I could be so picky and find the perfect place the only problem was I had not booked my ticket...
My plane ticket
I decided on May 5 I was moving. I was aiming for July because this would give me enough time to get ready and sell everything I have. I looked at tickets and it was about 400 pounds. A long story short is I got delayed and I ended up booking my ticket a lot later than I wanted to. Due to this the dates I wanted were fully booked and the prices were rising fast. It was June 6th and the tickets went up 150 pounds in less than 48 hours. I booked my ticket on June 8th and I was leaving earlier than I anticipated. I would be leaving early morning of June 25th. That gave me 17 days to sell everything I had and find somewhere to live. My biggest worry was finding somewhere to stay. I went straight on the sublets/temporary section of craigslist. Things had changed since May. There were not really any ads. I found a place in Tempe that was right next to ASU. So far so good, the ad even said they wanted someone asap so maybe my dates would work out. The only problem is I would be living with 3 girls, but thats not terrible
How did I arrange living? (part two)
I sent an email to the inquiring about the ad. I got an email straight back. It turned out she was leaving the 24th! That was perfect for me and perfect for her. After a few emails back and forth, seeing each others facebooks, I sent the first months deposit and I had a place to live! This didnt happen as fast as it sounds, it took about a week. Originally I thought I would have trouble finding a place to suit my dates. I guess I got lucky there.
17 days to pack up and move!
My plan was to sell everything I own on ebay. I would put everything up at 0.99 with no reserve. I knew I wouldn't get anywhere near the price I paid for things but a little money is better than none. I also thought once I arrive I can buy things from craigslist rather than a store. I still have a few things to sell but the the expensive items are gone.
One thing that I really did not want to sell was my Lexus IS200. This was a car that I really wanted and I had saved up for. I traveled 4 hours each way to buy it. Also in the current conditions selling a car should be hard. Especially when you have to sell it in 17 days. I finally put it up for sale on the evening of the 13th, which was a Saturday. I had 12 days to sell my car! I knew most people look on the weekends and I should've put it up on Thursday or Friday. Still I was confident that I would sell it, I had really good pictures and a great description. Well days passed and I started to get worried. 4 people had contacted me, 3 were scammers and 1 wanted to trade. Things were not looking good but I knew it was because I wanted to sell it quickly and people dont have that much cash to buy a car. On Saturday night I got a phone call about it. I got a low offer and said no. He was using the classic lines when buying a used car. I've read everything he was doing and used it to my advantage. We agreed on a price and I sold my car yesterday, 21st of June. I only owned my car for 4 months but I put 6,000 miles on it and loved every minute. The best part is, I sold it for more that I bought it for! This is the second car I have made a profit on in the past 8 months. Pretty crazy huh?
Once I arrive
I think it will take about one to two weeks to get a bank account, transfer money, get a car ect. Then its time to focus on my business. Its important that I get a job so I will be looking for one. This way I can use the money to cover my expenses and use the money I have saved up over the past year to start my business. I made a excel sheet of my living expenses, job income, and business income. This let me play around a bit to see what salary is better for me. Could I afford to not get a job? What if I only work 20 hours a week so I have more time to focus on my business, will that cost me a lot of money? Those are a few questions that this helped me answer. Its really make or break for me. I've made a life changing decision and there is no going back.
I'll update this as I go along. If you have an questions or feedback I would like to hear it.
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