Moving Alone Across U.S

Hi,
Anyone wanna help someone who is actually desperate for it? Figured this would be a good place to at least start.
So, I'm 19, and have never lived on my own. I live in the SF Bay area. For personal reasons, I need to move across country to New Jersey specifically, and find an apartment and work and what have you. This also has to happen by late October. I have a small dog and he needs to come with me.
I need any bit of advice anyone can offer. I have little to no idea what I'm doing. I know this sounds stupid and the obvious thing is to wait until I'm in a better situation but that isn't an option, I promise you. Also, I have 2 jobs, a year's worth of grocery experience and a few months warehouse experience

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Job first, then apartment, then moving van. Then drive for three days to the east.

Ah, finally someone who cares enough to respond, thank you seriously.
Any ideas on how and when to apply to a job that is a thousand miles away? I mean, do you fill out an application online and when they call you do you just go, "Um actually I can't I live way out here" and they'll just be cool with that?

Well you could get a job at a big box store locally and then transfer to a location in New Jersey. (Then look for something better if you wish).

It sounds like you’re looking for entry level non-college jobs. You’ll need to go out there for your job search honestly. You might need to stay in a residential hotel for a couple weeks while you do interviews. No place is going to pay your plane ticket for an interview for warehouse or grocery jobs.
The trick is to look for work and carpet-bomb applications. And I mean carpet-bomb; you should have 100 apps or resumes out, maybe more. Say you’ll be available for interviews the weeks of September X through Y. Get the room and get your plane ticket. Give time for responses. If you don’t get enough interest, cancel and try again.
If you can afford to move out there ahead of time, it’s something you can try, but it’s risky and you could wind up spending a lot of money just to wind up coming home. That you have a dog makes it even more complicated.

The ideal is to have family you can crash with for a few months, but obviously that doesn’t work for everybody.

If you can’t even afford airfare out there though, you can’t make it work. You need to be able to get there on your own dime at your level. Nobody will pay your relocation expenses.

Hm, that's an idea. At the moment, I need more of those. Thanks a bunch.
Please more people contribute I am in desperate need of advice

Online. Tell them you can start on whatever day you move in. Make it clear that you're moving across the country. Of you have sufficient funds, you can take the risk of getting the apartment first and then finishing the job search, but this is very risky and requires the apartment deposit and two months rent at least.

This is tough though. Especially if you’re finding your job through Craigslist. They are super skittish of nonlocals on there because of advance fee fraudsters.

Yes, entry level jobs are ideal not because I love those but because I'm not qualified for much else. The hotel idea is interesting- risky and scary but I may have no other choice to be honest. I'll definitely end up doing the carpet bomb thing. The dog makes things astoundingly more complicated I know, but it was out of my hands. God I should have payed more attention in school. Anyway, thanks for your advice, every bit helps

Never really knew you could that. I'll definitely give that a try, while keeping this in mind, thank you both

There are always ways to stay someplace on the cheap, provided you’re willing to deal with the risks and problems that entails. It all depends on what money you have and how hard you can do the job search.

Well I plan on staying here until late October to accumulate as much as I can in the way of funds, so hopefully that will be enough to stay somewhere long enough to job hunt. I don't need to stay in the Hilton but it has to be pet friendly because I was cursed with a furry little shit which makes thing even more complicated. Anyway thank you for that bit of advice

Please more people contribute I will respond to any and all posts regardless of how idiotic or silly they may be. Any bit of advice will be appreciated please

Don't sweat it. I'm Canadian and school did nothing to prepare me for life. I learned how to do taxes more thanks to the accountant who did mine this year than I have anywhere else. School did not teach me what to look for when voting and most certainly did not tell me how to move cross-country.
As for prospects, you'll need post-secondary and two years (assuming you graduated HS at 17) won't get you any further than a winning smile and the cut of a good jib will.
Rather than thinking of what you can't do focus on jobs you can and doing everything to stand out in those. Better an ass kisser than shit.

As for actual advice, sweep for what pet availability is going to do for you. See if it's a huge increase in rent/travel time/inconvenience, and measure what you can do to mitigate that.

I went to a California public school, so it was absolutely useless in terms of any sort of useless information. All I learned there was that high school security guards are equal to broken pen caps in terms of usefulness and that brunettes with nice legs are probably the only reason I bothered to stay alive. But it would have been nice getting accepted to some uni. Sure I'd be in debt for the rest of my life but I least I'd have a place to bum around and I might even get some cushy office job afterward. But, too late now.
The dog is a complete and total burden, and I know the smart and logical thing would be to ditch the fucker but for reasons I will not share that is not an option for me

Also, thanks for your advice

When I say residential hotel I mean one of those places with weekly rates. I don’t mean like a SRO; I don’t think those even exist outside SF anymore. You might be able to find a pet-friendly place, but I really don’t know.

What you might do is get a place for a week and find a more permanent rental on Craigslist since you’ll be local. You’re gonna have a lot to do at once though if you have less than four to six months rent on hand when you move.

You might also be able to find a temp rehoming for the dog in NJ on Craigslist or something if you’re up-front about it and your dog isn’t a pit.

I knew you were talking about one of those places, don't worry. I gotta have a sense of humor about all this or I be very depressed and anxious about my situation and it'll be a whole thing. Really appreciate your advice, very illuminating considering I had little to no ideas about what I was going to do before I made this thread, so thank you

No, I have a 6 month old Chihuahua puppy mix that is terrified of larger dogs and loud noises. As far from a pit as you can probably get. I probably will not end up doing this as the dog belongs to me and someone else and that someone else is VERY protective of her baby, but thank you very much anyway though

>SF Bay area
every
fucking
time
wherever you're going does not want you there. stay your ass in california where it belongs.