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Hey, all!
I'm sure this will come as a surprise to most, but I've been unemployed since June of this year. I was notified that my contract with the University of Florida wouldn't be renewed, and while this was most definitely not a firing, I am unemployed nonetheless. :(
That said, Becca and I have been living primarily off of savings ever since, and those have run dry. For the first time in my life, I've had to apply for unemployment, and Becca and I have been living off of that while I continued to submit job applications all over North America.
As time has progressed, I hadn't yet found a job... until just a couple days ago. As of Monday, I've been offered a work-from-home job that meets our needs! The catch? I'd need to relocate up into Canada, and very soon. Edmonton, to be more specific, is our destination.
The costs of such a move looked initially impossible - we have expended the financial reserves we had, and moving so many miles is sure to cost a lot! Yet, as this was my first real offer since June, we felt like we had to give it a fair chance. We started looking into the costs of renting a moving truck for the trip, but acknowledged that we simply wouldn't be able to afford one - U-Haul, as the cheapest option, wanted $2,500 for the move (not including the cost of gas). We agreed that downsizing was our next step, in an attempt to reduce the size of the vehicle we need, and I'm sure that you'll see many 'Facebook Marketplace' listings for most of our furniture over the next day or two. We also agreed, as this new job is work-from-home, that we likely could sell off our van. It's rather old, though, so we don't expect much.
As we continued to have conversations like these, we've noticed that many pieces of this puzzle are 'conveniently' falling into place. We've found an apartment that looks promising, directly next-door to a grocery store, that has offered rent-free living for the remainder of the year. This gives us a chance to recreate a small nest egg, once we're up and settled, which we're very excited about. It also confirms that we'd be able to make it without a vehicle for a few months, which would reduce our costs of both moving and living by a dramatic margin.
Our only remaining hurdle, then, is the cost of the move itself. We've been able to reduce our costs by downsizing dramatically and through opportunities that are surely gifts from God, but there is still a 'chunk of change' that we will need to pay out. Some of these include a security deposit, the cost of renting a vehicle, gas/food/lodging for the 2,879 mile drive, and many smaller costs such as initiating electrical and internet service for the apartment (and passports!). We believe that we can raise a portion of this money through sales of our van and furniture, but we're not sure that we can raise enough.
I've been very hesitant to create a GoFundMe for this, as I hold strongly to the belief that I should be able to financially meet our needs on my own. Even before we were married, I told Becca this: "I want to provide for us, so that you don't feel obligated to. If you want to work, work! If you want to stay at home and write or fill your time in other ways, I'll enable you!" It's a hard pill to swallow, but right now, I'm not sure that I can meet our needs. So, at the recommendation of some people we care about a lot, I'm sharing this around. We know that the pandemic has been hard on so many families, so please don't feel obligated to donate, but we've come to realize that it's time to ask.
So, to break it all down... I've got a job offer, but it's a long move, and we're recognizing the need for financial help - especially since we're anticipating needing to move within the next 2 weeks.
Thank you for reading!
I'm sure this will come as a surprise to most, but I've been unemployed since June of this year. I was notified that my contract with the University of Florida wouldn't be renewed, and while this was most definitely not a firing, I am unemployed nonetheless. :(
That said, Becca and I have been living primarily off of savings ever since, and those have run dry. For the first time in my life, I've had to apply for unemployment, and Becca and I have been living off of that while I continued to submit job applications all over North America.
As time has progressed, I hadn't yet found a job... until just a couple days ago. As of Monday, I've been offered a work-from-home job that meets our needs! The catch? I'd need to relocate up into Canada, and very soon. Edmonton, to be more specific, is our destination.
The costs of such a move looked initially impossible - we have expended the financial reserves we had, and moving so many miles is sure to cost a lot! Yet, as this was my first real offer since June, we felt like we had to give it a fair chance. We started looking into the costs of renting a moving truck for the trip, but acknowledged that we simply wouldn't be able to afford one - U-Haul, as the cheapest option, wanted $2,500 for the move (not including the cost of gas). We agreed that downsizing was our next step, in an attempt to reduce the size of the vehicle we need, and I'm sure that you'll see many 'Facebook Marketplace' listings for most of our furniture over the next day or two. We also agreed, as this new job is work-from-home, that we likely could sell off our van. It's rather old, though, so we don't expect much.
As we continued to have conversations like these, we've noticed that many pieces of this puzzle are 'conveniently' falling into place. We've found an apartment that looks promising, directly next-door to a grocery store, that has offered rent-free living for the remainder of the year. This gives us a chance to recreate a small nest egg, once we're up and settled, which we're very excited about. It also confirms that we'd be able to make it without a vehicle for a few months, which would reduce our costs of both moving and living by a dramatic margin.
Our only remaining hurdle, then, is the cost of the move itself. We've been able to reduce our costs by downsizing dramatically and through opportunities that are surely gifts from God, but there is still a 'chunk of change' that we will need to pay out. Some of these include a security deposit, the cost of renting a vehicle, gas/food/lodging for the 2,879 mile drive, and many smaller costs such as initiating electrical and internet service for the apartment (and passports!). We believe that we can raise a portion of this money through sales of our van and furniture, but we're not sure that we can raise enough.
I've been very hesitant to create a GoFundMe for this, as I hold strongly to the belief that I should be able to financially meet our needs on my own. Even before we were married, I told Becca this: "I want to provide for us, so that you don't feel obligated to. If you want to work, work! If you want to stay at home and write or fill your time in other ways, I'll enable you!" It's a hard pill to swallow, but right now, I'm not sure that I can meet our needs. So, at the recommendation of some people we care about a lot, I'm sharing this around. We know that the pandemic has been hard on so many families, so please don't feel obligated to donate, but we've come to realize that it's time to ask.
So, to break it all down... I've got a job offer, but it's a long move, and we're recognizing the need for financial help - especially since we're anticipating needing to move within the next 2 weeks.
Thank you for reading!