Until I graduated as a graphic designer, I lived my entire life in the small desert town I was born (the nearest city was Tucson, Arizona). Besides farming and cattle, there were few career opportunities… let alone ones for an aspiring designer.

This is why after a couple of months working for a local magazine, I decided to pack up and find a bigger city with greater employment opportunities—specifically in the tech industry. My choice to move to Austin, Texas was easy. But my next four decisions to move (in the same year) were all a bit harder.

How to Survive if You Have to Constantly Move

Due to job changes, living conditions, and other needs, I had to move over five times in one year, and each one of them had their level of difficulty. It forced me to learn many things, from finding suitable roommates, to knowing when to buy your first pieces of furniture. 

There’s still a long road ahead of me, but I want to share with you what I’ve learned about continually moving with limited resources and big aspirations. 

Make finding friends an immediate priority

Foregoing possessions, I had to focus all my energy on establishing myself. I had to keep the packing as light as possible and only brought these bare necessities to start my new life in Austin:

• Important legal documents and every government-issued ID I had (passport, driver’s license, etc.)
• My computer
• A few essential clothing items: five shirts, two sets of pants, a hoodie, and undergarments

Lucky for me, I had a few friends who didn’t mind housing me for a few weeks while I got settled in the city. As a lucky break, after seeing my work, my friend gave me a job referral that helped me land my first job at the startup where he worked! 

So here’s my first piece of advice: Know how wide your friend and acquaintance network goes, and especially who might help during your first few days. You might not know someone that lets you crash on their couch, but maybe a friend of a friend can point you in the right direction for the safest places in town to find a room or a hotel. 

If you don’t have a job lined up yet (like me), do what I did and start combing through your contacts on LinkedIn that might provide you recommendations. I was able to find Austin recruiters who showed me open positions in my field. (Job listing websites such as Glassdoor or Indeed can work well, but I’ve come to find that the best way to get a quick answer is by reaching out directly via LinkedIn.) 

Finding Decent Living Arrangements on a Budget

I’ve lived alone before, but now in a larger city and with a limited budget, it was necessary to find a place where I would live with roommates.

I’ve learned to identify potential red flags in a home or roommates with every move. After living with six people in five different places, here’s my ultimate list of the most consistently important things when looking for good living arrangements (aside from the typical “find somewhere close to work”).

How do you find a good place to live?

A lot of things won’t be perfect when you’re starting out, but in my experience, these were the worst things I dealt with while finding my own way.

• How old is the apartment/house? Unless you’re okay dealing with your roommates and landlord over leaky pipes or moldy cupboards, I suggest finding a place that has less than 10 years on the market, or at least looks like it’s been diligently looked after. Living in newer homes means you’ll be less likely to have any issues with the infrastructure—trust me.
• Learn the room space to rent ratio. I was so inexperienced that I never realized I could negotiate rent with my roommates, so I ended up splitting the rent equally. Later, I moved in with people who broke down the rent according to room size, and everything just made more sense! Why was I paying the same rent as someone with a bathroom and walk-in closet? Talk openly to any potential roommates and negotiate rent for fair pricing.
• Don’t settle when it comes to pets and household cleanliness. An irresponsible pet owner (ahem) can be a nightmare when sharing a reduced space. If there are resident pets in the place you’re considering, check out if they are potty trained or where the litter box/puppy pads are located. Ensure that the smells that may arise won’t be a source of inconvenience for you (accidents happen, but hopefully, it won’t be near your room!)
• Avoid places with pests and infestations. You won’t get a complete picture with only one visit, but it’s always a good idea to ask how long has it been since the last fumigation and how do they keep dangerous bugs or vermin at bay (I once lived in a place where I couldn’t open a kitchen drawer without seeing a cockroach running around and I ran out of there as fast as I could).

How do you find roommates?

Moving in with strangers as a foreigner is sometimes intimidating. It was for me. But after living through some rough experiences, I finally have a pretty good idea of what topics to discuss before picking a roommate.

• What’s their lifestyle? Social butterflies and introverts aren’t always a good mix for sharing a living space. While one may choose to have friends over every weekend, the other might find it overwhelming. There’s nothing more awkward than spending the night cooped up in a room while knowing more strangers are outside (been there). All I’m saying is to make sure your future roommate’s activities and behaviors are compatible with yours.
• Share electronic payment responsibilities. The most pleasant places to share are those with clearly defined responsibilities. It’s usually a good sign if you see that household tasks are divided among the rest of the roommates. For example, someone pays the electrical and gas bills, while the other pays for internet and water bills. 
• Cleaning help truly helps. As responsible adults, it’s ideal that everyone cleans up after themselves… but as crazy as it sounds, I highly recommend pooling together and setting aside a budget for cleaning help at least once a week, especially for the common areas that are bound to get dusty or dirty. It will save you and your potential roommates a lot of emotional frustration. 

Furnishing (When You Move a Lot)

To avoid a furniture dilemma, seek furnished rooms during the first months of your arrival. My first three places were furnished rooms before finding a cozy loft where I could live by myself. Only until that point did I start frantically looking for a mattress, box, and desk, which were the bare minimum I needed to live and work comfortably. 

How do you constantly deal with furniture?

Whenever I needed a piece, this is the moving timeline I used for organizing all my furniture shipping (so I didn’t get stuck sleeping on the floor for days):

• Three weeks in advance: Seal the deal with the new landlord of your place. This depends on each property, but this usually includes dropping a security deposit, one month’s rent, and all legal paperwork. It usually takes over a week to get it all in place and finally have the keys in your hands.
• Two weeks in advance: Once you have an agreement in writing, start measuring up the place to know how big your furniture needs to be. After putting down a deposit and rent, there tends to be little wiggle room for impulsive buying (at least for me), so I recommend creating a layout of the stuff you need with measurements, and shopping accordingly.
• One week in advance: Once you carefully select all the furniture for your place and have the keys, leave a one-week delivery window for your stuff to arrive. If you’re given the opportunity, plan to receive most of your things on the same day; otherwise, you’ll have to be coming and going all week long. 

By the way, I learned the hard way to keep your new stuff packed and sealed until you are fully moved in to avoid getting dust and dirt all over it. This will make the moving day far easier.

How to Move (Quickly)

Forget about sparking joy until you think you’re even close to settling down. Here are some tips.

Don’t obtain much to pack

Packing will get more complex as you grow in your new life and feel the new city like a second home. 

I try to keep my stuff easy to transport, but for my fifth and final move, I had to hire a truck and a couple of movers to help me with all the furniture, books, clothes, and even plants. I used this last-minute moving checklist to help with those small details I never dealt with before, since I was moving so often and so quickly. (Here’s a hint: keep things light!)

Search for hourly movers

Finally, when you’ve finally accumulated enough stuff, you might need some muscle for a quick turn-around.

Though I didn’t know the first thing about hiring movers, two weeks before my move I Googled and was able to find movers by the hour, then I booked them online almost immediately. All I had to worry about was finding enough boxes, though a couple of trips to the supermarket solved it (if you’re getting your boxes from a supermarket, remember to clean them first). Also, since I don’t own a car and mainly use my bike for transportation, this post on keeping it safe in a moving truck saved my life. 

Earlier on when I was moving so much, everything was as simple as picking up my clothes, getting in an Uber, and arriving at the new apartment during my first few moves. Yet even as it got a little more complex, getting a couple movers was a little bit rewarding, as I got to see the fruits of my new life I had finally made.

Moving is an unavoidable part of growing. And if you’re anything like me, be prepared to grow a lot. If you’re going through a similar journey, I hope my experience helps you find a great place to live with awesome roommates. Good Luck!