Things to live independely in the USA

[lifegoeson123 3]

Hi everyone,

I am in the US for 10 months but I feel so stupid and kind of lost direction. I have social security, debit card and driving license already. I wonder what should we prepare asap to live alone at lowest cost here so that we have direction to study further.

1. Building credit

Easiest way is to open a secured card from Capital One or the bank you are having checking account?

2. Finding a job

Best source is website Indeed.com, Linked in, Career Builder

3. Buy a car and car service

If you dont have credit in the US, how can you buy a car easily? And if your car has problem, you just call towing service nearby? How to avoid rip off ?

4. Insurance

Cheapest one is Obama care and they just open for new enrolment at certain time of year?

5. Get a phone and register service

If I have a phone and want to use it, cheapest way is to buy a card in Walmart or registered with Network company like Verizon, AT&T

6. Finding a place to live

Best website: Craiglist ?

I appreciate if VJ family can add more things and helpful tips

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

1. Main thing is to have bills, and pay them on time. When I moved here, we put me on some of the bills )water, cable etc) as the sole payee, even though our bank account is a joint account. That alone started the unsolicited credit cards coming in after a few months.

2. Depends on the type of job you are looking for; don't forget to look at company's own websites. Craigslist can be good too, for entry level jobs.

3. Buy a cheap car; have your USC husband buy the car. Lease a car (do the sums first); that would also help build credit).

4. Obamacare is not an insurance, it is a way to get insurance. If you or your husband work, your employer may well offer insurance that is subsidised.

5. Verizon is definitely not the cheapest, but I am with them because they have good service even in rural areas and good extras/ customer service. Again, it somewhat depends on what you use your phone for (just for an emergency phone call/ checking with the hubby what groceries are needed? Lots of online games? Calling home, internationally?). Compare prices and plans. Walmart is fine if you only need a cheap phone for emergencies, but I have found Best Buy are great for really finding out what you need and giving you the best phone, carrier and plan for you.

6. If you are looking just for a room in a shared house, sure. But there are a lot of scams on CL too, and weirdos. You might consider staying in a hotel or with a friend for a week or two, and driving around the area; many apartment buildings have leasing offices you can just walk in and enquire. Again, if neither you nor your spouse have good credit, expect a hefty deposit.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

What visa do you have that allows you to work. Beware of craigs list it is full of scams

[lifegoeson123 3]

Thanks so much ! I am here under K1 visa, I have 2 year green card and waiting for removing condition next year to have 10 year green card.

My husband is very mean to me so I dont think I can stay with him in long-term I am very scared to live here alone since I have no friends, family here. I live in the State which has no public transportation at all and fewer chances of jobs

1. You think I can ask my husband to add my name as bill payee to build my credit?

2. Im looking for any job which has career advance really. Im wondering should I work as a waitress first to save money or I should find an office job in Supply chain/health care. My husband made me file tax together and we belong to highest tax bracket. I am working in a restaurant which pay 2000$/month fixed. He gave me W4 to the boss to deduct every 296$ out of my biweek paycheck.

3. If a job can offer healthcare plan, it would be good but the pay will be low right. If I work as a waitress, which insurance should I get?

4. For a phone, I just need 4G, call domestic, text. What is the cheapest service for it?

5. Filing tax : I am supposed to use form 1040 to file tax and submit before april 15?

Is there anything else/responsibilty I should prepare soon so that I can live alone?

Thank you so much

[Thegirl 225]

Zillow and Trulia for renting apartments. Craigslist is full of scams. Found our apt through Zillow

[Unlockable 7,315]

Sounds like you are planning an exit strategy.

[Pythos1 24]

lifegoeson123, I am so sorry to hear about your situation. Nobody should have to be scared to live with their spouse. You said you have a Driver's License. That's good. If you don't have any felonies and you don't have any DUIs, then you could check with trucking companies to possibly become an over-the-road truck driver. And they will give you the training you need to get your CDL. Many trucking companies do it on their own and ask for a 6 month to 1 year commitment to drive for them, making your training free. And the money can be good. I am an OTR driver, an independent contractor who hauls for a company that has their own training school.

35k to 60k a year in income

If you decide to lease the truck, you can build credit that way, but there is always a risk that you decide that type of work isn't for you, or they decide you're not skilled enough to drive a big truck.

Some companies guarantee hometime every weekend while others require you be out longer than that.

Since my daughter has her own family, I don't need to get by my official residence. I haven't seen it in over a year. But I have been to the Philippines (on cash) 5 times in the last 28 months.

I use my daughter's home address as my official home address. You will need an official home address for your commercial driver's license and tax purposes (and for INS), so that could be a problem if you don't know anyone else.

There is always a need for more OTR (over-the-road) truck drivers, so there will always be an opportunity for someone with no experience.

The job isn't for everyone, so the pay is good for someone with only a high school education, maybe not as good for someone with a STEM degree.

Depending on the type of person you are, there are a lot of down-sides to driving OTR. But there are lots of positives, too.

If you are interested, I can talk to you more about it. I am not a recruiter. I do not get paid any money to bring in new drivers. And I have several negative opinions about my own company, but I do have some good opinions about it, too.

[lifegoeson123 3]

lifegoeson123, I am so sorry to hear about your situation. Nobody should have to be scared to live with their spouse. You said you have a Driver's License. That's good. If you don't have any felonies and you don't have any DUIs, then you could check with trucking companies to possibly become an over-the-road truck driver. And they will give you the training you need to get your CDL. Many trucking companies do it on their own and ask for a 6 month to 1 year commitment to drive for them, making your training free. And the money can be good. I am an OTR driver, an independent contractor who hauls for a company that has their own training school.

35k to 60k a year in income

If you decide to lease the truck, you can build credit that way, but there is always a risk that you decide that type of work isn't for you, or they decide you're not skilled enough to drive a big truck.

Some companies guarantee hometime every weekend while others require you be out longer than that.

Since my daughter has her own family, I don't need to get by my official residence. I haven't seen it in over a year. But I have been to the Philippines (on cash) 5 times in the last 28 months.

I use my daughter's home address as my official home address. You will need an official home address for your commercial driver's license and tax purposes (and for INS), so that could be a problem if you don't know anyone else.

There is always a need for more OTR (over-the-road) truck drivers, so there will always be an opportunity for someone with no experience.

The job isn't for everyone, so the pay is good for someone with only a high school education, maybe not as good for someone with a STEM degree.

Depending on the type of person you are, there are a lot of down-sides to driving OTR. But there are lots of positives, too.

If you are interested, I can talk to you more about it. I am not a recruiter. I do not get paid any money to bring in new drivers. And I have several negative opinions about my own company, but I do have some good opinions about it, too.

Thank you. Im a woman, still scare of driving though so I dont think this job works for me lol. Maybe I just work as a waitress.

So I guess T-mobile is the cheapest one right? Or you can buy a card in Walmart I think with about 40$ to cover the internet and 3G.

How about car insurance ?

[Pythos1 24]

There are lots of women who drive trucks, but if you're still scared of driving, then you're right. Trucking is probably not for you.

If you only need a cell phone for very limited activities, such as having a call-back number for potential employers and things like that, the pre-paid phones work. I used a TracPhone for about 3 years when I had next to no money. It worked for me because I never actually used it. The low-cost pre-paid phones have very small limits for text/talk/data. You run out fast and have to spend more money.

My own phone service now has multiple lines, very very high data, unlimited calling and texting, and special rate calling to the Philippines. It also has very few places inside the US where the cell goes dead, which is very important to me since I'm all over the US. And it's expensive, so I can't say which post-paid plans are the most affordable.

As far as car insurance goes, Geico and Progressive have seemed the most affordable in my circumstances when I needed car insurance. But that's not true for everyone. You can check locally with an independent insurance agent or shop the different insurance companies online and check out the different rates.

I hope that helped.

[RKandGC 1]

I used to live in the states with a very small salary so I had to find a cheap phone contract.

For a 2016 use of phone ( social media, music, calls and texts) I had the 40$ T-mobile plan you're mentioning.

It's a decent plan. I would only check the coverage in your area as T-Mobile isn't as good as At&T and Verizon.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

For things like phone you can "shop around" or compare prices online. There are low cost cell plans that are like 10¢ a minute or you could get unlimited for something like $30/month if you buy the phone (you can get a simple phone for $20 or something; it won't have internet). You could also get a landline which is cheap and regulated. Depends what you need.

Add monster.com to your list for job searches, also your local paper and craigslist.

Regarding craigslist, there are a lot of scams on there because it's free to post. But if you find something legitimate then it can be faster/easier because you generally are dealing with the person directly. But you have to keep a skeptical eye out for scams. Each time I do a search on there I need to learn what the current scams look like because it changes. If it's too good to be true, then it is. But you can find jobs and apartments there.

Add hotpads.com to your list for apartments. If you want to rent you could just find a real estate agent and have them do the work for you. Generally you have to pay them a fee (like one month's rent) but sometimes if you find the apartment yourself you still have to pay a fee to an agent to close the deal. Sometimes the landlord will offer to pay the fee (this will be advertised as no fee to you). If you want a roommate, craigslist is good.

Paying utility bills won't get you a credit score. You will need to get a credit card of some sort. Secured card if that's all you can get.

You have the internet so you can just google "cheapest X your town" and see what pops up.