charlotte rn's, how do you do it?????

I never worked in Charlotte but I went to school there. I rented an apartment in Pineville which is outside Charlotte but still has a charlotte address. The rent was $565 for a 1 BDR apt. I have no idea how much houses are though. There are few people that live in the actually downtown area b/c it is so pricey. Many people commute but the traffic can be horrible. Where I lived though, I could take backroads and get to CMC-Mercy in 20 min and Main in 25-30 so that wasn't too bad. And CMC-Pineville was down the street of course. CMC has a million different locations so if you were hired at one of them then you wouldn't have to commute as far and housing would be cheaper b/c you were not directly in the city.

Yeah! It was a little depressing at first!!! But I finally found a private physicians office, where I do IV therapy and they pay more than cmc and presby. You need to get away from those 2 big affiliates to make money.

I have been a nurse since 1992, and yes, made more money as a new grad THEN, than what some places want to pay me now, 16 1/2 years later!!!

Wow this kind of scares me, as I'm am looking to move the Charlotte in 2011

I know this is old but I'm bumping this for some feedback. When I decided a couple months ago that I wanted to pursue something different I applied to two positions, one 45 minutes away in Toledo OH and one at Levine Children's in Charlotte. Toledo has offered the position and pays $23 with $1 shift diff and you can get a decent apartment for $500-600 in easy commuting distance. Now, for Levine I was told $4 shift diff but base pay could be just $21. So really just a buck more than here and the cost of living seems astronomical. HOW do you get by making that much in Charlotte when $500-600 looks like you'll be living in the hood? I've worked for the last year while living at home so I have a good amount of savings and I do know that the opportunities in Charlotte are so much more than Toledo but holy moly.

I know this is old but I'm bumping this for some feedback. When I decided a couple months ago that I wanted to pursue something different I applied to two positions, one 45 minutes away in Toledo OH and one at Levine Children's in Charlotte. Toledo has offered the position and pays $23 with $1 shift diff and you can get a decent apartment for $500-600 in easy commuting distance. Now, for Levine I was told $4 shift diff but base pay could be just $21. So really just a buck more than here and the cost of living seems astronomical. HOW do you get by making that much in Charlotte when $500-600 looks like you'll be living in the hood? I've worked for the last year while living at home so I have a good amount of savings and I do know that the opportunities in Charlotte are so much more than Toledo but holy moly.

I live with my finacee :) But you can look on craigslist and find roommates who are willing to split the rent. Also, Fort Mill, SC isnt that far from Levine, about a 40 min drive. I here there are lot of cheap places to like in down there. Gastonia had alot of cheap places and its about 30 mins away.

I need me one of those (fiance)! haha I'm not trusting enough for Craigslist...I have a friend that lives in Huntersville with her parents and there is a POSSIBILITY she could live with me if she is able to get a job in Charlotte, but I can't plan on it. And living 40 minutes away (plus traffic), when all is said and done with gas costs, I almost feel like I might as well pay the higher rent in Charlotte.

It's all relative: we moved to Charlotte 12 years ago from southern CA and we were shocked--and thrilled--and how much cheaper Charlotte was! There are plenty of outlying areas that offer very reasonable housing rates. If you don't mind driving 30-40 minutes, you can find some really nice, safe, reasonably priced places to live.