I was wondering; i have ВЈ8000 in the bank, could i runaway to America and survive?

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beanofdoom

age and transportation issues aside it entirely depends on where you want to live. Larger cities with a higher cost of living like NY, Chicago, SF, etc. 12 grand wouldn't last you very long however if you don't mind living someplace where there's less going on like Indianapolis or Albuquerque where the cost of living is lower you could probably make out okay for a while at least.

You'll have difficulty getting a job, no credit to speak of which means you won't be able to get a lease on a place (they will not rent you a flat if you're under 18 years of age without a cosigner) but unless you look like a baby you can get around that by finding a roommate on craigslist and lying about your age (the fact that you can afford to pay for the whole year would definately be a plus). Most potential roomates will never ask you to see an ID and typically if they don't say anything about a credit check in the ad you're in the clear.

Here's a breakdown of what you should expect to pay for rent per month in the above referenced cities: New York: $2000. if you want to live in Manhattan but you could probably find a safe place in Brooklyn for a grand, especially if you go the flatmate route; Seattle: $500 - $700 a month with a roommate, Chicago is just a little cheaper than that. In Seattle most potential roommates will be forced to submit your info for a credit check, simply explain that you are prepared to pay for the entire length of the lease. Seattle is a credit preoccupied town, other cities however are less so. San Fran is almost as expensive as New York; In Indy or Albuquerque you could get your own fairly nice place in the middle of town for less than $750. Between the two I'd recommend Indianapolis over Albuquerque.

Finding some kind of 'under the table' work won't be too hard provided you are an extrovert. If you develop or have a special set of skills you could also try getting freelance work via craigslist. You could get babysitting gigs or something of the like. Rich people in the states love for their babysitters and nannies to have European accents. Otherwise you'll end up busing tables or doing something menial. Right now is a bad time for procuring employment in this country. But with a year to look I'm sure you could find something.

You can live for about year on how much you have as long as you don't mind living somewhere with a low cost of living. If you are social and you go to shows you'll make friends fast because people will dig your accent. You'll find all ages shows in most cities. You will want to make as many friends as possible as quickly as possible. If you happen to get in with some decent roomates this shouldn't be too hard at all. You have all their friends to draw from and they'll know about parties and stuff. The more people you know the better your chances.

Ultimately I wouldn't suggest coming here though. It'll be too much work and stress on your part for very little payoff. When I think 'America" I envision a sprawling shopping mall, mono-culture, South-Park. Everything is mass produced, all the structures are new, relatively speaking. The really cool institutions and ideas in your part of the world have, some of them, developed over hundreds of years, they are defined, exclusive, indicative of thought, individualism and creativity. Here when a group of people come together and create something truly interesting the trend immediately drives whatever it is toward accessibility, mass production, mass consumption, until whatever it was can be easily stamped on lunchboxes or fit into a 30 second advertisement. It, whatever it was is always reduced to drivel in a very short span of time. So most of what this country has to offer are increasingly specialized and expensive goods and services. as these items become popular, they are mass produced and cheapened opening the door for new, specialized goods and services, you get the gist. This is to an increasingly greater extent becoming a planet wide phenomenon but it is worse here than it is where you are and even worse in Japan than it is here. But Japan is a very old culture and its take on capitalism is interesting at least. The US is nothing but shiny trinkets and religion (and don't even get me started on religion). Once you've visited all the different stores you'll be bored with this country, believe me. its cities are incresingly becoming the same, crappy, expensive city. Most of these stores will be opening near you soon enough anyway.

My suggestion would be to stay where you are, invest your money in education so that you can sell your knowledge and expertise. Once you don't have to rely upon your labor to make a buck you will be geographically free to explore the planet and not get stuck anywhere that sucks. If you come here now it'll be a lose/lose situation: you'll either fail and be forced to return or you'll succeed and be forced to stay.

mrs cullen <3

no. that's a stupid thing to ask on Y!A.
you need a visa in america to work, you need a place to live, all these things.

Ms Minger

You'd never get in - their customs officers are fearsome.

biggestanafan

lol after hearing the price of a 1 week school trip definately not!!!

Lucia.

Not with the pound as it is against the dollar!

kawsue

Think you should wait until you are older.... i moved to england when i was 20 years old. It was a struggle cause i had to fend for myself.

Shannon

Well, you probably could if you got very very cheap accomodation and a job straight away but the chances of this happening are close to zero. What is wrong with your home at the moment?

Dean Legbetter

YOU WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO FLY THERE WITHOUT PARENTAL PERMISSION. WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE 18 THEN YOU CAN GO WHERE YOU WISH! AS THEN YOU ARE LEGALLY AN ADULT

Soylent

It would run out much quicker than you'd think.

You could go somewhere like Burundi and do it, probably not the best idea though.

Helen

No but if your responsible enough to keep hold of ВЈ8000 in the bank you could very easily create a new life for yourself in America .

Citizens advice would be a good place to start i would think .

You need employment agencies in the U,S , if a job can be found a work permit should not be a problem .

Once you have a job set up you can look for accommodation .

The ВЈ8000 you have should be kept hidden it is your safety net if things go wrong and if you let it be known you have many unscrupulous people would prey on you for the money .

Above all accept you are 16 and therefore very vulnerable , make your plans through respectable agencies and trust nothing on face value .

This is why a say discuss the possibilities with Citizens advice as they can gain nothing from you money wise , even if they can't help they should be able to point you in the right direction .

Hope this helps Good Luck

kittysue2000

If you are under 18, you cannot legally travel to the US without parental permission. You would be stopped at immigration and returned to the UK if you could not prove that your parents allowed you to travel, you have an adult waiting for you in the arrivals hall, and you have a relative or family friend to stay with in the US.

You are too young to get a hotel room or rent an apartment, so where would you live even if your parents let you travel?

You also would not be able to stay for more than 3 months without a visa, and you couldn't get a visa at your age unless your parents enrolled you in a boarding school in the US (but ВЈ8000 wouldn't even cover your tuition)

Eat Bananas

The age thing is what makes it hard. Could you get fake ID?

One option is to do a TEFL course. It'll cost about 1000, but after that you can run away to most countries in the world (though not America or Canada). And 7000 would easily be enough to start up in lots of places, as long as you have ID.

Good luck!

*baileyr*

I wish i could tell you otherwise, but i don't think you would survive for very long. i'm not saying like

da_nu_inspekta_04

it depends on what part of the US you are going to. by the conversion rate 8000 will be about 11,236.40. also u have remember how much you wanna spend on getting over here if u fly plane on spend at least 1,200. then after that ur place to stay, food transportation etc. so i would say unless u get a job here with that much money u would last about 3 to 5 months.

leo/ferrari

hey babe i got 10 000 in the bank and im about to do to same move to one of california's beautiful coast ,if u are intrested call me and we can go together

Sugar Lips! xx

that would depend you need food money,a place to go ,transport money and tax money it would depend where you are flying from! let us know how it goes! xx

interstellar

well I'm not condoning you running away.. but yea.. that would be nearly $16,000 US.. so you could get a apartment.. and HOPEFULLY get a job.. or go back and finish school.. but it wont get you far.. if you lived on a extremely tight budget you could make it on that much for a year..

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