Supporting Yourself While Unemployed - Relocation

Earlier this year I was at the height of my fashion design career. I was making a salary of 60,000 a year along with selling my own designs online and in trendy Los Angeles boutiques for additional income. I wasn’t doing badly for a single woman in her early thirties and the prospect of doing much better seemed very attainable. Then it happened. I got fired. My performance could not keep up with my rapidly growing workload (a testament to my prior good job performance) and an assistant was not an option. I had been unemployed in late 2008 when the recession first hit the fashion industry hard and tha tparticular company had to downsize. I knew how hard it could be and vowed not to put myself in that same position of struggle again. I had to make some major and minor adjustments to my life but the end result is living a comfortable life on unemployment or working a job that does not pay your desired living wage.

  CITY LIVING -

As much as I loved Los Angeles I knew I’d have to leave the city of angels behind unless I wanted to relocate to a not-so-desirable neighborhood and still be paying rent that was out of my new financial range. I also had to reevaluate my expenses. My car was paid off but I was paying insurance and gas always seems too expensive. Los Angeles is a city that requires a vehicle to commute so this might pose a problem. I decided to move from California and relocate on the east coast. This was a big step and major cultural change. I did some online research and chose Philadelphia due to its close proximity to New York, decent public transportation system and affordable living. I had never visited Philadelphia before and read some disparaging things about the city but I was in survival mode and figured I could handle it. So there it was. I bought a one-way plane ticket and sold my car. I was bound for the city of brotherly love. (*Note to readers: I do not recommend moving to an unfamiliar city. I have an adventurous streak but this is not for everyone. Had I visited Philadelphia first I probably would not have relocated to this city. I have since moved to Charlotte, NC and live in a nice, clean 1bdb apt. for $400 a month) Once I arrived in Philadelphia I found a room for rent in a big house in the suburbs for $500 a month which I viewed as a bargain. I was told by a friend that this amount was actually too high. Sure enough I was able to find another room for rent for $300 in a well-kept row house. My rent in La Habra, California was $1175 for a 2 bedroom and this was considered a bargain. By moving to Philadelphia and consolidating my living space I had just saved myself over $800.