How much money should I have to move to LA?

This is a direct response to a google search term that drove traffic to my blog (thanks google analytics!).

How much money should you have to move to LA?

I can't tell you exactly how much you will need. I can only tell you what I had.

In short, I saved about $4800 for our (which constitutes me, my wife and a 20 lb crazy dog) move from Denver to Los Angeles. I rented a truck (and a trailer for the car) and tossed everything we didn't/couldn't sell into the truck and then headed off west on June 22nd, 2008 (my 25th birthday).

It just so happened that during the very last week of June in 2008 the US happened to see some of the highest gas prices of all time. We stopped at numerous desert locations to fuel up and paid around $5.00 per gallon (for 85 octane!). It did help that we received about $200 in shell gas cards from friends and coworkers before we left (not added in to the $4800).

One thing we really lucked out on was that we found our apartment in Koreatown and they were desperate to have as high of as an occupancy rate as possible (because they were trying to sell the apartment building) so they were offering sick move-in specials. We moved into our 700 SF studio apartment for $99 plus July's rent of $890 (we got the last of June for free) plus the dog deposit of $500. In total that added up to $1489 (which is a great deal in LA).

Then came all the DMV business of getting the car and scooter registered, getting CA drivers licenses, getting Nicole's last named changed and a smog test (which our car failed because of the catalytic converter). We had to get a new cat converter that ended up costing us $1600 (that we charged to a card) plus another $300 for the regular DMV (and name change) stuff. I shouldn't forget to mention that we had expired plates when moving out of Denver because our plates expired the week we were moving and we didn't want to pay the registration fees twice but ended up getting ticketed while parked on the street for expired plates (another $50). Also, you might want to think about all the time you're going to lose if you're paid hourly by waiting in line at the DMV.

The most important thing I want to note is that I did have a job before moving which required a flight to LA before the move that cost $280 for a ticket, $300 for a hotel plus another $250 for a rental car and gas and then food expense (I think I ate lunchables almost exclusively).

To sum it up:

$905 for job interviews
$800 for the rental truck
$450 for gas
$1500 to move in
$300 DMV
-----------------------------------
$3995 Total

I would recommend you have at least $3000 when you hit the road for LA and be prepared to slum it in the hood for at least six months.

It's all a small price to pay for a fantastic adventure.