Moving to California to Work

interestedman

Hello All,

I am a young Irish engineer with 3+ years experience. I have the chance to move to Glendale California and work for an Irish engineering company who have offices in California, Boston and a few other places in the USA. I have been told my salary will be $70,000 US plus visa is paid for, as well as $2,500 per diam for 2 months and a car. My question is about the cost of living over there, and the lifestyle. I will be learning a completely new system of engineering so I imagine I will be working a lot of hours for the first year. But when I'm not working, what past times are common? Are the people friendly? Can I expect to save monthly and afford to live on the salary figure mentioned? I am in a full time job in Cork, Ireland at the moment and I am saving 1000 EURO each month and living comfortably. The reason I am looking around for a new job is that I am not getting any opportunities to learn new systems in my current company. I have spoken to a friend who works for my possible new employer and he is certain the kind of experience I will get will be great for my career. I don't have to move abroad to find work, but it does interest me.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated....

cena

Is 70,000 enough for California. Have you looked to see what price of renting is or are you going to house share.

Liverpool are meant to have a good bit of work. I know they plan on building a new hospital in the city. 5min walk from the city. Maybe you could look there.

cnocbui

Well if the average Salary in Glendale is $63,000 I'll go out on a limb and say you might just scrape by.

http://www.indeed.com/salary/Glendale,-CA.html

interestedman

Thanks, very helpful idea to look up average salaries. It was interesting reading.

Keep the advise coming....

iusedtoknow

I live in California, albeit in San Francisco so can't comment on expenses etc in LA. But some general thoughts about California.

I'll be honest, 70000 is mid range for salary here in California. Once you remove 1/3 for state, federal tax and social security - you'll have 49000 more or less.

If you are going into a house-share, you should be OK. The general rule of thumb here is that you should spend no more than 1/3 of your income on housing. Housing is plentiful in LA, so take a look on Craigslist.

You'll need a car in LA, no two ways about it. We insure ours for 100 a month. We did get a loan for it, but we recently paid it off due to high interest (no credit rating in the US). Gas is currently running at around $4 a gallon. Just cos you work in Glendale, doesn't mean you HAVE to live there. I know people that live in Venice and work in Pasadena, commuting each way as they like to live by the ocean.

Eating out can be cheap, depending on where you go. The same with food. We go organic with meat, but use trader joes - two of us can feed ourselves at home for around $200 a week.

lil_lisa

I'm also an engineer here in Southern California. I think you should be able to live comfortably if you can budget well. The fact they're giving you a car is fantastic. Will they cover insurance or is that up to you? If they don't, try to bring insurance records from Ireland. The insurance company here asked me for the equivalent of their DMV (Department of Motore Vehicles) driving record but we don't have anything like that in Ireland. So, I presented a Quinn Insurance letter stating my years of clean record and the insurance accepted that. I saved a couple of hundred.

As mentioned, food can be bought very cheaply or very expensively, depending on your choices and lifestyle.

You will be moving to one of the greatest places in the US for hobbies. The beach is close by and there are lots of water activities to do year round. There are some great camp grounds east of you too. You're also a short drive from Big Bear if you're interested in skiing or snowboarding during the colder months. One thing I did when I moved here was I looked up some local schools and colleges and took some evening classes. Fun things like woodwork, photography etc. are very accessible and is a great way to meet new people outside of your job in a new country.

Rent in Glendale is about $1000 a month. (Check out this garage!!) but keep in mind that most rooms and places are rented unfurnished. So you'll have to buy your own bed and anything else for your room. If you're renting an entire unit on your own, you'll have to provide your own couch, tv, dishes, almost everything. I have never come across a place without a fridge but I'm sure its possible.

Dave1442397

That part of CA is not cheap - http://www.bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/city/california/glendale

Zillow and Craigslist are handy places to look to see how much an apartment will cost you - http://www.zillow.com/glendale-ca/rent/

As with anywhere, you have to balance the cost of living where you work vs the price you'll pay in time/gas/insurance to live somewhere cheaper. Personally, I hate being stuck in traffic, which is why I work 6am-2pm.

$70k is not bad, but CA taxes are high. You can save a lot by finding cheap places to eat, or just eating at home.

InTheTrees

You'll probably use Craigslist to find somewhere to rent (and furnish!). Worth noting Apartments in the USA are usually unfurnished (they'll have a fridge and a stove). It actually works pretty well, you dont end up with crappy rental furniture. It does mean you'll have to buy everything though.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/