References?

[Sam Adams]

Summer is a good time to come. The tourist trade provides lots of jobs, though they may be menial. I doubt if they get references from the illegal immigrants they're hiring out of desperation. You might even get housing included. Check the Lakes Region want ads (Laconia, etc.), and the White Mountain area (North Conway).

Once you get here and are surviving, you can better explore options, while you are building your network of friends and associates. References don't have to come from employers and may be more valuable coming from local community members of good repute who can vouch for your character.

[EJinCT]

Thanks Sam, I will keep that in mind while I try to sort out the logistics of a move.

[error]

If you want second or third shift work, you have to show up at 1 pm. Or maybe 2 pm. I forget. Maybe it's 1:30. It's been a long while. But for those who need to make a quick buck, it's definitely an option. I worked at Labor Ready as a second job for a few weeks.

[EJinCT]

Just get here.

lol  I'm working on it.

Car broke down = loss of job = losing apt. =  yada yada yada

Slowly getting back on track and I could possibly move now; but I would have to put all my expenses on plastic and that's something I'm trying to avoid.

[lildog]

I've worked in Rest. kitchens and coffee houses, ( dishwashing, prep-cook) / landscaping / farming / gardening / live sound reinforcement / child-care / light industrial ( warehouse / stock / assembly-line / packing-shipping-receiving) the list goes on...

You seem to have a wide range of experience.  Why not take a shot starting off your own business?

There's a family that runs a landscaping business that lives across the road from me and they make really good money.  Granted you'd need to buy your own equipment.  But as was already suggested here, if you work a gig at another job like say Murphy's, you can save up and purchase what you need.  Heck, you might even find someone who may not be willing to do all the work but who has the money to buy the equipment willing to partner with you... you'd supply the labor and they supply the up front cash for equipment.  And if things take off like my neighbors business, you turn around and eventually hire people to do all the work and the both of you would sit back and collect cash while looking for more business and managing the employees.

[EJinCT]

Why not take a shot starting off your own business?

That's the plan.

Saving up funds to relocate and pay for housing/utilities, food, etc. is going very slow atm due to my cost of living being rather high for my current means.

Thanks for the consideration though. 

[lildog]

going very slow atm due to my cost of living being rather high for my current means.

That's because you are in CT.  I know I lived there for about 3 years.  You can't sneeze in that state without them taxing you to do so.

As soon as my wife and I had an opportunity in NH we jumped at it and I've been thrilled ever since.

By the way, I think it's Realtor.com that has it but on line they have a salary calculator which you type in how much you make and your current zip code then you type in the zip code you want to move to.  It will tell you how much you'd need to make to come out at the same standard of living you are currently at in your current zip.  I moved from Waterbury, CT and used Nashua, NH as the NH zip and at the time I could have taken a $20k a year pay cut and still been at the same level I was at in CT... and that didn't even account for my wife's pay.  So don't feel that if you make X amount you wont be able to afford to move until you get something else lined up for the same X amount... you may find you can actually find a job paying less yet come out far ahead over all.

[anarchicluv]

going very slow atm due to my cost of living being rather high for my current means.

That's because you are in CT.  I know I lived there for about 3 years.  You can't sneeze in that state without them taxing you to do so.

As soon as my wife and I had an opportunity in NH we jumped at it and I've been thrilled ever since.

By the way, I think it's Realtor.com that has it but on line they have a salary calculator which you type in how much you make and your current zip code then you type in the zip code you want to move to.  It will tell you how much you'd need to make to come out at the same standard of living you are currently at in your current zip.  I moved from Waterbury, CT and used Nashua, NH as the NH zip and at the time I could have taken a $20k a year pay cut and still been at the same level I was at in CT... and that didn't even account for my wife's pay.  So don't feel that if you make X amount you wont be able to afford to move until you get something else lined up for the same X amount... you may find you can actually find a job paying less yet come out far ahead over all.

Here's a calculator like that, though I can't vouch for its accuracy: http://www.bestplaces.net/col/

[KBCraig]

Here's a calculator like that, though I can't vouch for its accuracy: http://www.bestplaces.net/col/

Not very. It says cost of living in Berlin is 28% higher than Texarkana, and I know that's just not true. It's probably pretty close when it says Manchester/Nashua is 45% higher, but I don't think it's quite that bad.