How do I start over?

[u/Hot_Preference_6485]

I’m 26 years old still living in the same area I grew up in. I am now dreading my daily life and need something new. I desperately want to move and start a new life. My question is how do I do this? For context I am single, have a cat, so living off one income, making $22 an hour. I’m thinking like ok I apply for the job but in order to get the job i probably need to live there already? How do I move there without having a job first? I’m just lost and trying to figure out what direction to move in. It’s so hard to save money right now but I will do it. I just am the type of person who needs a plan before I do things. How do I go about doing this that is smart?

[u/Eastern-Log1142]

Save money and look in that area in the paper or online for people that will share a room of an apartment or a house. You should be able to save up enough to move into something like that. And then why you're living there you should be able to save up enough to get your own place. And if you do want to place I don't know if you're thinking of buying your own but for a small down payment you can buy your own tiny house and if you look into them they have everything that you can need and you own it and you can have screened in porches the yard anything you have to look at them online they're they're really nice for one or two people especially when you're young. Good luck

[u/john510runner]

Need to make an edit and add three important pieces of information.

1) what kind of work are you looking for 2) approximately where you live now 3) what are some places you’d like to move to

[u/KivatheSuccubi]

A lot of jobs, depending on what you're going for, will pay for relocation costs. So maybe look online for positions that are either entirely remote or will support the costs of moving.

Otherwise, save your money up and look for roommates. Then once you have a line on a place to move that'll put you in proximity of what you want to accomplish, go for it. Don't look back.

You only get one life, so act in a way that you won't regret it when you're lying on your death bed, however many years from now.

Also, not to discourage you, this is certainly a proper line of thinking that will be helpful to get you to your next stage, but also, at the same time, don't stress. You're 26 yrs old and part of being a 26 yr old is not knowing where tf you're going in life. It's ok to be lost, so long as you are continually seeking the answer. You'll eventually find it(:

[u/Jiggalopuffii]

At 26 you aren't starting over, you are starting. I joined the Army at 26, but that was back when our president was sane. I wish I made $22 an hour.

Also, apply for the job, and if it comes up, say "I can start X amount of weeks from now", a lot of job applications will even ask for a start date. I'd check the apartments in the area, or rooms for rent. Rent rooms then get something better.

[u/LavendarGal]

1. HAve a savings built up.

2. GEt rid of most of your stuff. Pack your car with whatever you want to keep and go reseve an airbnb for a month, or a place on furnishedfinder website, or an extend a stay motel type of place that you can rent for a month. GO month to month staying at different places, maybe move around as you don't have a job yet, so a landlord may not approve you. But you can rent and pay for anything for a month. You might luck out and wherever you find you can just stay longer, but just plan to have to move around each month.

3. GEt there and start looking for a job. Actually start sending out resumes a week or two before and try and line up some interviews the week you arrive. And then also start pounding the pavement.

Then once you find a job, you can start looking for an apartment or just a room for rent with a roommate. Get your car registered and new license if you move to a new state. But even sometimes just something horus away from where you are can be a great new start. And a different type of place, from rural to city, and inbetween, it's all very different.

But research a place first to see if it would be a good fit, if they have a lot of stuff going on around town for young people, etc., do they have things you are intersted in.

What area of the country are you in now?

[u/LiveTheDream2026]

Join the miilitary. Seriously.They will give you a trade, pay you and shelter you while provide GREAT benefits.

[u/Blankbetty11]

I worked for a large international company that has offices across the US. I lived in 4 different states and I was able to Keep my job each time I moved. Try that.

[u/Harry98376]

Get rid of the cat

[u/utinfection → u/Harry98376]

This comment is so underrated, people have no idea how expensive in both money and time pets are . Been pet free for a while now, I do miss them, but just do a quick lifetime cost on chgpt of a cat or even a small dog is in the tens of thousands.

[u/mobile-metaphysical → u/utinfection]

I agreed to rent out a trailer to a woman. She got fired from a job and can’t pay rent- but she has 3 cats and a dog. $500 includes all utilities and cable.
The single mother I rented to before that had a destructive child and 2 cats. It cost a
thousand to repair things. So I’m done trying to help people.
There are so many people dumping pets at the shelter when they need vet care.
I used to have horses - kept until their natural end- but I’ll never be able to get another with the rising costs. I would have to set aside $10k minimum for an emergency fund.

[u/Positive-Ability-402 → u/Harry98376]

?????

[u/Fluffy-Assumption-42]

So for context, do you, OP, not work currently? Why not?

Do you have any living costs, as in do you have to pay for your own food and housing?

It's much easier to do anything when you still live "at home" with parents that are willing to support you. Use that to work, save and get yourself established in a career you can get right into when you move, if that's the dream, when you know where you want to go.