You'll never make it in California

U.S.A. California

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I am sick of people telling me this!! Its realy discouraging and when you hear it so many times you start to believe it. I'm going to be graduating from nursing school in may and I plan on moving to CA sometime before september to work as a new grad.

I live in pa right now and I'm going to pack up all my stuff and relocate. I might be moving with 2 friends, but I'm not really sure about it. I might end up just living by myself for a while. A lot of people tell me that I'll never make it because its sooo expensive.

I'm going to be living in the orange county area. When people start with all this negative talk about how expensive CA is and how congested it gets on my nerves.

It is possible for someone to live in an apartment and work at a hospital in Orange county and live comfortably correct? I won't be pinching pennies will I?

Specializes in Public Health, DEI.
I will miss that I do miss the snow on Christmas. The good thing is not having it the rest of the winter, either, lol!

I do think it is harder to connect to people here, but I really don't feel that there are any more two faced people here than there were in PA, where I grew up. I know many people idealize small town life, but those people must have never visited the one where I lived!

Well, I just tried to edit this message and the craziest thing happened.... anyway, what I meant to say in the first long was ''I will admit that I do miss the snow on Christmas''...*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

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Specializes in Public Health, DEI.

**********************************************************************************************OG what is with all these asterisks! I can't make them stop until the bar advances all the way to the right!!!!

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Hello,

I am a nurse of 26 years who just moved to Ca three months ago. The jobs are out there but I am in managment so I have had a hard time finding anything. The pay is for an experienced nurse about 30-40 an hour. Depending on where you live, apartments are from 900- 1500. You can get a travel assignment to the area but I think you need a years experience first. I know that alot of the hospitals are hiring new grads. I know that my sister lives in Maryland and it's about the same thing. Hope this helps......

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LOL.. well so where did you move?

lol.. san clemente (where i used to live) is a small town .. well acually .. its larger now.. but seems to keep the fact that if you do anything.. everyone still finds out.. lol....

so how are you doing.. managing everything...

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I moved to Rancho Cucamonga, Ca. I have been here for three months. This is a small area but they have good schools, and I have a 16 year old daughter. I think half of my problem is that I don't know anyone. Alot of these positions are word of mouth. I could be a hospital floor nurse but I don't want to do that. My husband is supporting me right now. I have had some interviews but I will learn from now one to check the state site on these places before I go for an interview. Some of them were awful. It's discouraging but I am trying to keep positive. In the meantime, I am doing assessments for Long Term Care companies.

I lived in Escondido in the 80's and 90's but I was an LVN then. I never had a problem finding work.

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yah.. that is a really nice area.. ive only been there a couple times.. but it seemed really nice....

yah knowing people does always help..

how is your daughter dealing with the move .. does she like her school?

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She loves the school. She is involved in Cross country, drama and track. The problem that I am having is that everything available is so far away. Where do you live now?????

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Specializes in Medical/Surgical/Maternal and Child.

luv2shopp85 don't let people discourage you from going to work in Southern California if that is what you really want to do. There are many places in Southern California that are just gorgeous and the pay for nurses is great. Granted the cost of living is in the stratosphere in alot of places but if you're really good at budgeting you should do just fine. I would imagine that since it's usually warm all year around your utilies wouldn't be too bad. If this is what you really want to do, go for it and the best of luck!!!! :)

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Specializes in ICU.

Hi luv2shopp,

I am in a similar situation b/c I keep getting the same negative feedback. I am deciding now what I am going to do after graduation. I will definately keep this thread in mind b/c the advice is great!!! I hope people keep posting about Southern Cal, b/c that is the area I am looking into. Specifically LA and San Diego.

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Your problem is quite similar to mine. I have a boyfriend in Huntington Beach, California (surfer town in Orange County) and have spent quite a bit of time out there lately. For example, I was in Laguna Beach, Carlsbad, and Huntington Beach last weekend in my shorts and tank top. Every day really is beautiful. The best summer days in Minnesota are like every day in the OC.

I also have an abusive stalkerish ex-husband who terrorizes me.

I live in and am from Minnesota, and I don't want to move, but almost feel like I need to in order to escape the stalker ex who has vandalized my house, garage, car, etc, costing me a few thousand bucks in the last 6 or so months, but I can never catch the bastard red-handed. I own my house and my mom has even offered to buy it from me so I can 'escape'; it's that bad. It's not like I can just move across town.

I've been poking around online looking for OC nursing jobs for the ER, and they're all 12 hour shifts! I have a 6 year old son who'd be coming with me, and I'm not sure how to swing a 12 hours shift with respect to daycare. Sure, the boyfriend'll pick him up from daycare, but what happens if we break up? In Minnesota, anyway, there's no such thing as a daycare that's open past 6 pm. What the Hell?

Anyway, I'd recommend Huntington Beach for living. It's a young town, lots of action all the time, and a good night life on a couple of main streets if you get bored. Random people say 'hi' to us when we're walking the dog, and everyone just seems relatively happy most of the time.

If you're single, just be a roommate with someone; you won't have to pay a deposit and you'll get to have some people to hang out with and show you around. You'll pay around $500-$750 to rent a room, but remember, you won't be paying high heating costs in the winter and all that.

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My grandma moved to the San Diego area in the 1940's and our family has lived here ever since. I'm a second generation California native and have never lived anywhere else, or worked anywhere else. So I've got nothing to compare it to. Everytime I think about moving somewhere else I visit and the weather or area sucks so bad I don't think it's worth it.

However, it is expensive and IMO the wages in San Diego are not in line with the housing costs by comparison. They need to catch up to LA and SF where housing is comparable but wages are higher. It can be done, especially if you are a two income household and your spouse has a decent job.

I bought my house years ago when it was still cheap to live in my area, my house has since tripled in value. I may get a bigger house someday but not looking forward to property taxes and a huge mortgage. I'll stay where I'm at for now.

Hi luv2shopp,

I am in a similar situation b/c I keep getting the same negative feedback. I am deciding now what I am going to do after graduation. I will definately keep this thread in mind b/c the advice is great!!! I hope people keep posting about Southern Cal, b/c that is the area I am looking into. Specifically LA and San Diego.

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If you are looking for a job in LA that won't be a problem at all. There are lots of jobs there. Orange county too. I see ads all the time for new grads. Try some of the job sites like Ihire, career builder and monster.com. Post your resume. I have an interview this morning as DON in santa ana. I have another interview Monday and one pending so I am getting there.

I love Huntington Beach. I was also abused and almost killed by an ex husband. That was why I left CA before. He lives in Texas now. The money here is better so it kind of compensates for the higher cost of living. I have not found food to be that expensive and as someone else said, the climate is great. There are also so many things to do here. I love to just go and lay on the beach. It only costs the gas to get there. I have not found people to be unfriendly at all. I was told they are but I moved here from Arkansas.

I thought they were a bit unfriendly there. Here anything goes. My daughter has had a much better time at school since she is 1/2 hispanic. That was an issue in Arkansas. My son is renting a room in another guys house for 500 a month. He is happy there and can still afford to go to school.

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