It is crazy how 4 months can change you whole life! 4 Months ago, I was at home in Texas, doing my normal day to day things. Then BAM like a ton of bricks Valentin was offered a job in Utah. If you have been following along you know that my husband decided to do a career change 2 years ago. If you are new here, keep reading for the cliff note version! He went to school for a 2 year program and graduated in May of 2020. When he started this program, he was told that it was in high demand in our area and that most of the people in this program had jobs before they even graduated. Well due to the horrible no good year of 2020. That all changed!
He applied for jobs, posted his resume on job boards, and networked like a mad man for 6 months. It took a month before he even got an interview. After that he would get about one interview a week. Sometimes he would get the second interview with a company. But it always came down to we wish you had experience. We are really looking for someone with experience in this field. Which was extremely disappointing to him. His thing was how am I going to get experience if no one gives me a chance.
Mid November 2020 he got a call from a recruiter after chatting with him for about twenty minutes she scheduled an interview for the next day. This company was located in the middle of Texas. It wasn’t home but close enough. He really wanted to a job close to our house. The plan was for him to get a small apartment and travel back and fourth. Then if the kids didn’t have school we would go with him. But primarily stay at our home. The next day during the interview he found out the job was in Utah. They asked if he would be willing to relocate. He told them as long as the pay was right he was willing. They set up the next interview for two days later. After that interview they set up a third for the next day. During the third interview they offered him a job. We talked about it and decided to go for it!
They wanted him in Utah 2 weeks from the day he accepted the offer. It was like a mad dash to get everything ready for him to go. He got to Utah 11/30/20. The kids and I arrived Jan. 1st, 2021. It was a whirlwind of craziness for those last few weeks in Texas. Since Utah is so far away (almost 2,000 miles) to rent a U-Haul and move our things it is extremely expensive. The plan is to only be here for a year or two. Until he gets experience and can get a job back in Texas. For those reason’s we didn’t bring much with us. Only what would fit inside his truck. He drove up here. The kids and I flew here with whatever could fit inside our 2 suitcases each.
We bought what we needed right away. The rest we have been just buying used things off Facebook Marketplace, and from thrift stores. I am planning a whole series on how to relocate and furnish a new home on a budget. It will include tips and tricks to finding the best deals. I am super excited to share my new found knowledge with you all! Since getting here in January I have been a mad woman hunting deals. In order to not miss out on the best things you have to be checking daily a few times a day.
I am finally to a point where I don’t need anything else. Of course, I have wants but needs are met. The kids are enrolled in school. We have established new doctors, a church, and everything else that goes with moving. I am finally getting back to normal. Along with that comes saving/earning money for the extras in life. Whatever I had left in my Disney fund previously went towards moving here and starting over with all the things including a new to us car. That brings my Disney fund to a whopping $0.00.
What will I be couponing towards:
Nico (my 7 year old) was diagnosed with dyslexia back in late November 2020. In Texas, the school provides a dyslexia lab teacher. Here in Utah that is something not offered in schools. You have to find a tutor and pay the fees yourself or just have your child do without services. Dyslexia tutoring services are not cheap. In the area I am in it runs about $50.00 an hour. Until we go back to Texas I will be couponing to dyslexia tutoring services.
We are viewing our time in Utah as a sort of long term vacation. There is lots of new to us things to do. It is a beautiful area with lots of walking trails, and national parks close by or within a days drive. We are budgeting for fun in our main budget to cover the outings. The good thing is for the national and state parks it is rather inexpensive for a year membership. It is one of those things we just pay one time and can go as many times as we want. I will be sharing our outings and mini vacations with you all along the way.
Glad your getting all settled