Starting a new life

[The Robinsons 0]

Hi everyone

We very just wondering if anyone had any good tips for alternative ways or programs or whatever to starting your life here. This includes getting:

A decent paying job

A house/apartment with no credit and limited income

Health insurance - for those who can't afford Blue Cross & Blue Shield

A car - again no credit, limited income

Does anyone know what your options are if you get pregnant and have no healthinsurance (and can't pay it all out of pocket)

Any ideas, suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

Thanks!!

[Dan J 277]

Hi everyone

We very just wondering if anyone had any good tips for alternative ways or programs or whatever to starting your life here. This includes getting:

A decent paying job

A house/apartment with no credit and limited income

Health insurance - for those who can't afford Blue Cross & Blue Shield

A car - again no credit, limited income

Does anyone know what your options are if you get pregnant and have no healthinsurance (and can't pay it all out of pocket)

Any ideas, suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

Thanks!!

Health insurance - You can get insurance with a very high deductible. $2000-5000. Thats probably your cheapest option. You may not qualify for any state assistant.

Pregnancy can be expensive here. There may be some state programs that can assist you with the costs, but those vary from state to state. I would suggest that you wait on that if you can, at least until you are settled.

Car, you may be limited to purchasing a car with just cash for now, If you look around you can probably find one for really cheap, but maintenance could get expensive. If you live in a city, you may have access to public transportation. Some cities have programs like hour car were you rent a car when you need one.

Most people get their jobs in the US through networking. Join professional organizations or volunteer in positions that are related to what you do.

[Mononoke28 135]

Hi everyone

We very just wondering if anyone had any good tips for alternative ways or programs or whatever to starting your life here. This includes getting:

A decent paying job

A house/apartment with no credit and limited income

Health insurance - for those who can't afford Blue Cross & Blue Shield

A car - again no credit, limited income

Does anyone know what your options are if you get pregnant and have no healthinsurance (and can't pay it all out of pocket)

Any ideas, suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

Thanks!!

A decent paying job - It depends on your skills and experience. Try looking in Monster.com or Careerbuilder.com to see what's out there.

A house/apartment with no credit and limited income - It depends on which part of town you want to live in, the kind of place you want to rent, the condition of the property, the size of it, etc. Try searching in the classifieds of your local newspaper or Apartmentguide.com As far as credit, you should call each rental office to find out what they require from you.

Health insurance - for those who can't afford Blue Cross & Blue Shield - This is a tough one. The best way to get health insurance is through your employer. It's faster, easier and less expensive. All other places can cost you up to $300-$400 per month. If you're pregnant you can try places like http://www.maternitycard.com where you can use their network of affiliated doctors and get discounts on doctor visits and hospital stays. I think you also have the option of payment plans but I'm not sure. According to them your costs can be cut by 50%, so you should check them out.

A car - again no credit, limited income - The best way to get a car is buying a used, inexpensive car to get around until you get more established. Make sure is in good running condition and you might luck out. You can also finance it through the banks the dealership works with but the interest rate will be outrageous, so it's not a good idea.

Diana

[EmilyGrace 0]

Hi everyone

We very just wondering if anyone had any good tips for alternative ways or programs or whatever to starting your life here. This includes getting:

A decent paying job

A house/apartment with no credit and limited income

Health insurance - for those who can't afford Blue Cross & Blue Shield

A car - again no credit, limited income

Does anyone know what your options are if you get pregnant and have no health insurance (and can't pay it all out of pocket)

Any ideas, suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

Thanks!!

Hi Robinsons-

There are programs that provide health care for low-income families, particularly if you are pregnant or have young children. Medicaid is the government-provided insurance program: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidGenInfo/.

You do have to apply and have certain criteria, but the application process is pretty easy. Many community clinics have applications and can help you through the application process.

There's also CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program), which I believe is run by the state governments. You could also find out about this at a community health clinic, which I'm sure would be listed in the phone book

Good luck!

Emily

[bettenan 1]

Hi everyone

We very just wondering if anyone had any good tips for alternative ways or programs or whatever to starting your life here. This includes getting:

A decent paying job

A house/apartment with no credit and limited income

Health insurance - for those who can't afford Blue Cross & Blue Shield

A car - again no credit, limited income

Does anyone know what your options are if you get pregnant and have no healthinsurance (and can't pay it all out of pocket)

Any ideas, suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

Thanks!!

Also try Craig's List for your job search. Other places to look for lower cost health insurance are SamsClub or try your local insurance agent, they often have some options that you don't have access to. My daughter was out of work and her insurance agent found her a "reasonably" priced policy....it was much cheaper than anything she found on her own.

Often if a person has little or no credit (rather than bad credit) the landlord will accept an extra month's security and let them rent the house/apartment. It's something you can suggest if it comes up.

As for a car I'd go with either a cheapie (for the time being) or a place near public transport and build up your credit.

I helped build up hubby's (non-US citizen) credit and he is self-employed...he now has a super high credit rating (on his own). It mostly takes buying what you can afford and paying on time

NOT TO JUDGE - BUT EXPRESSING MY OPINION Unless you guys are pregnant now, you may want to wait until you are better established for that....sounds like you have plenty of other stuff to deal with.

Good luck....

Bette

[aidan80 9]

Hi everyone

We very just wondering if anyone had any good tips for alternative ways or programs or whatever to starting your life here. This includes getting:

A decent paying job

A house/apartment with no credit and limited income

Health insurance - for those who can't afford Blue Cross & Blue Shield

A car - again no credit, limited income

Does anyone know what your options are if you get pregnant and have no healthinsurance (and can't pay it all out of pocket)

Any ideas, suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

Thanks!!

Our experience was basically…

Jobs:

These where impossible to find without an EAD or the GC at first.. we didn’t have the cash to apply for my AOS right away. A year later with my GC in hand I finally managed to get a job although 99% of those applied for didn’t respond. The 2 places that did respond, one gave a thanks but no thanks. The other was only interested in my “citizenship” and if I’d be able to stay in the country.. I didn’t get that job as they didn’t know ####### an EAD was! I did finally get a job, not doing what I did back home but it brought in cash and I’ve progressed in this new job since.

Accommodation:

I moved here with my K1 (no EAD stamp) in hand to get married. We basically had no where to live (apart from the mother in laws garage). No where would even touch us as I had no credit and no job my wife had very little credit herself. She at that point didn’t make enough money for us to overcome the credit/renting issue. All looked lost as the only place for rent was quite latterly the ghetto. We ended up renting a place by pure and utter luck it wasn’t in the ghetto (looked like it belonged in the ghetto back then) the slumlord is of course is ghetto material. We patched it up and made the best of it… shocking what some paint, bombs (for the insects), foam in a can, duct tape and some sticky tiles will do to what was then a $hit hole.

Health Insurance:

At the start we both had none for the first 4 or 5 months. My wife’s job at that point didn’t offer any at all and if it did it’d have ate up so much money we wouldn’t have been able to make it. It wasn’t that long till she got a new job, better pay.. benefits and a thing called annual leave!! Now is a different story, we both got very lucky and found very good jobs and have health insurance, dental and all that craic.

Car:

This was easy we saved the cash before I moved and my wife found a very nice, dependable used car. She bought it before I got over and found a job. The car is still running well today and was one of the best things we bought. I didn’t get a car until last October (been here since Nov 2005). We saved up the cash and bought it. It took a long time to find something good; inexpensive that didn’t have a million miles on it. I was previously riding my bike (the kind without an engine) in what felt like 100F temperatures during the summer!

Overall it’s not been easy starting out; it’s been difficult at times. In the end things are working out well for us. We both ended up with good jobs, good benefits and are planning on moving out and onward to another state ASAP.

Good Luck!

[The Robinsons 0]

Hi everyone

We very just wondering if anyone had any good tips for alternative ways or programs or whatever to starting your life here. This includes getting:

A decent paying job

A house/apartment with no credit and limited income

Health insurance - for those who can't afford Blue Cross & Blue Shield

A car - again no credit, limited income

Does anyone know what your options are if you get pregnant and have no healthinsurance (and can't pay it all out of pocket)

Any ideas, suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

Thanks!!

Also try Craig's List for your job search. Other places to look for lower cost health insurance are SamsClub or try your local insurance agent, they often have some options that you don't have access to. My daughter was out of work and her insurance agent found her a "reasonably" priced policy....it was much cheaper than anything she found on her own.

Often if a person has little or no credit (rather than bad credit) the landlord will accept an extra month's security and let them rent the house/apartment. It's something you can suggest if it comes up.

As for a car I'd go with either a cheapie (for the time being) or a place near public transport and build up your credit.

I helped build up hubby's (non-US citizen) credit and he is self-employed...he now has a super high credit rating (on his own). It mostly takes buying what you can afford and paying on time

NOT TO JUDGE - BUT EXPRESSING MY OPINION Unless you guys are pregnant now, you may want to wait until you are better established for that....sounds like you have plenty of other stuff to deal with.

Good luck....

Bette

Hi Bette,

I was more asking in general terms. Both my husband and I are employed - not the best paying jobs but we do well enough to have some extra cash left over each month. My husband has health insurance through his job....my job doesn't offer any so right now I'm still looking for something affordable. We had a car but since we can't win for loosing we were in a hit and run accident and GMAC is refusing to pay to have our car repaired. Despite the fact that we are covered.

All though we do not have any credit my husband's parents are willing to co-sign for an apartment when we decide we have enough cash saved up to get our own place. (whatever we had saved up is now going towards buying the cheapest running car we can find.)

But thank you so much for your input. We really appreciate it

[lirachadsbaby 0]

TRy crossAmerica health plan or NAPA. It will just cost you less than 250$ a month. I used it for a check-up prior to pregnancy and it's very helpful to us since I got pregnant.

[T_and_A 3]

Both my husband and I are employed - not the best paying jobs but we do well enough to have some extra cash left over each month.

Extra money left over each month? With over 20 years of work history, I have learned that it doesn't matter how much money you make, you are still $20 short at the end of the month.

It is hard starting out in America...hard to get a decent car, housing without credit....getting harder to find employment that offers decent benefits..

A previous reply mentions using craigslist in your job search, it is also great for looking for a car and housing.

[bettenan 1]

Hi everyone

We very just wondering if anyone had any good tips for alternative ways or programs or whatever to starting your life here. This includes getting:

A decent paying job

A house/apartment with no credit and limited income

Health insurance - for those who can't afford Blue Cross & Blue Shield

A car - again no credit, limited income

Does anyone know what your options are if you get pregnant and have no healthinsurance (and can't pay it all out of pocket)

Any ideas, suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

Thanks!!

Also try Craig's List for your job search. Other places to look for lower cost health insurance are SamsClub or try your local insurance agent, they often have some options that you don't have access to. My daughter was out of work and her insurance agent found her a "reasonably" priced policy....it was much cheaper than anything she found on her own.

Often if a person has little or no credit (rather than bad credit) the landlord will accept an extra month's security and let them rent the house/apartment. It's something you can suggest if it comes up.

As for a car I'd go with either a cheapie (for the time being) or a place near public transport and build up your credit.

I helped build up hubby's (non-US citizen) credit and he is self-employed...he now has a super high credit rating (on his own). It mostly takes buying what you can afford and paying on time

NOT TO JUDGE - BUT EXPRESSING MY OPINION Unless you guys are pregnant now, you may want to wait until you are better established for that....sounds like you have plenty of other stuff to deal with.

Good luck....

Bette

Hi Bette,

I was more asking in general terms. Both my husband and I are employed - not the best paying jobs but we do well enough to have some extra cash left over each month. My husband has health insurance through his job....my job doesn't offer any so right now I'm still looking for something affordable. We had a car but since we can't win for loosing we were in a hit and run accident and GMAC is refusing to pay to have our car repaired. Despite the fact that we are covered.

All though we do not have any credit my husband's parents are willing to co-sign for an apartment when we decide we have enough cash saved up to get our own place. (whatever we had saved up is now going towards buying the cheapest running car we can find.)

But thank you so much for your input. We really appreciate it

I wish you the best of luck...it is difficult getting starting, especially when stuff like the car thing happens. I would file a complaint with your State insurance commision....every State has one (they will investigate) or your locate consumer protection agency. It's not right that you pay your premiums and they don't honor their committment.

It seems like you have a good plan , take it slow and I'm sure things will work out for you guys

Bette

[Marry American 0]

Hi everyone

We very just wondering if anyone had any good tips for alternative ways or programs or whatever to starting your life here. This includes getting:

A decent paying job

A house/apartment with no credit and limited income

Health insurance - for those who can't afford Blue Cross & Blue Shield

A car - again no credit, limited income

Does anyone know what your options are if you get pregnant and have no healthinsurance (and can't pay it all out of pocket)

Any ideas, suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

Thanks!!

You may have to go to your free clinics or hospitals. In chicago there is a place called the Cook County Hospital. now they call it Stroger County Hospital. It is free and they offer the very good service. I've been told by several people.