PMM please help...

[anika]

Good day, I have always wanted to move to CANADA but never had the chance. I found out that now things are so difficult for regular people such as myself to move there unless you have tens of thousands of dollars saved...Well during these crisis here in the USA it's difficult for a family of 5 living under 30 grand a year to actually save up tens of thousands of dollars when we barely even make enough to live by. I do not have any family there so I can't be asked for so I can move there...I don't have a job promised over there so that won't help my chances either...I am not sure what other options there are but if anyone has any advise it would be greatly appreciated.
It has been very difficult for my family and I to really get ahead here in the USA. And I would like to have a chance at actually being able to do something you know? Something possitive for my family. We are originally from Nicaragua, entered the USA in 87 through political asylum, my family was being persecuted there by the communists, we had to flee. My immediate family consists of my parents, mother and father-2 younger brothers, and a sister. My sister is married with 2 children, one of my brothers is married with 1 toddler child and one on the way, my youngest brother is a college student. Then there is myself soon to be married, previously divorced, with 3 children from previous marriage. Even though it seems we're well off believe me we are not. Most of us work double shifted jobs to make it leaving our families behind, one of the reasons for my divorce with my previous husband...
But during this day in age it's difficult to even think we can provide food for our children let alone live well...
I wanted to continue my education, have been unable to because of the costs of education here in the USA and the lack of grants and financial aid. I have 3 years of college certificate/degree.
Hoping to earn my bachelor's in Business Administration.
I am bilingual, english and Spanish and even though it's difficult to find a job that would pay what I feel I am worth and make a fair enough living...
If anyone can help again, please, your help is greatly appreciated. I want to be able to give a better life for my children than the one I had growing up and the one my children have been having so far.
Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you...
Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Leon]

I don't think it's that much easier to make a living in Canada than in the US. I know people here in Canada who work full time but still can not make the money last to the end of the month. They do things like take a roommate, take an extra job, go to the food bank etc. I am sure people in the US have to do this too. What do you think would be different for you here?

 

[anika]

Well from everything I have researched and read about Canada the ability to afford a college education seems to be much better than here in the USA. Also depending on where you move there you can find yourself with the ability to actually be able to grow career wise. I have a couple of friends that live in CANADA and so far all they have told me is how great their families have had it from the begining. Their ability to own a home was a bit easier than how the things are here in the USA. What great jobs are available and how much easier it is to grow educationally and career wise.
I am very interested in moving to Manitoba it's a large city with small town feel, and so much room for growth. I would like to be able to make Manitoba my permanent home. I look forward to some place like that. Where you can actually find the right career and make what you deserve, where you have assistance for medical treatments, while here the only thing you have available are a year long waits to see the doctors. To tell you how much we have suffered to actually get a check up or even get ourselves treated for emergencies it's a horrible realization to know if we were deal we wouldn't have any help at all. Example: one of my closest friends, he was ill 2 years ago, told him it was bronchitis, then tuberculosis, then some other "treatable" illness, and a month ago found out he had advanced histoplasmosis and is terminally ill. He is 25 years old, with a hard working wife, a toddler and a 5 week old baby. They say his chances are extremely miraculous, for his survival any longer. They knew he was ill 2 years ago and if they had actually wanted to catch it they would have been able to treat him at the MAYO clinic in minnesota, USA, but instead they over looked it and didn't even care for him and now he's dying!!! I don't want to live like that. Being around incompetent people, or in a society where human beings mean nothing at all, it seems, just another number or just another name...nothing important...I have 3 children, I would like to actually make it you know and hopefully grow old and see grand kids...
I don't have a high living standard, most of the people I know here in USA are having difficulties because they have a high standard of living, and they make over 90 grand a year. Even with my college education the most I can get paid is about 12 dollars an hour, making it very difficult to actually afford anything especially owning a home... My difficulties are trying to make it with what I have, and if the chances of having a little more are over in CANADA, why wouldn't I be able to make it there?
I mean if anything I would like to at least be given a few months to go and see if I can even make it. Like I said I have an education, would like to continue it, and am bilingual-English/Spanish.
I don't mind working, but I do mind not even given the chance to make it...

It is something I would like to be able to do, find stability, and economical security.
I strongly feel that better horizons are in CANADA. It seems I do not have the luck to make it in the USA, and I am honestly hoping it will be in CANADA...
I mean it has been one hardship after another, never ending struggles and the difficulty of supporting a family. An opportunity is all I am asking for. I will fight and work just as hard over there,

 

[PommeDeRoute]

First of all, Manitoba is a PROVINCE, not a city.

Where in the US do you have a year long wait to see a doctor? You must mean year long waits in CANADA. Medical horror stories occur on both sides of the border. I could give you an earfull.

Yes, it must be tough for a family of 5 to live on less than 30K per year. That's why it's important to think about the implications of bringing children into the world before you do so.

In an earlier post you stated that you have not finished your education. Then you say that you're making $12/hr with a college education. If you haven't completed your degree, you don't have a college education. The average stating salary for college grads in the US for those who are just out of college is around 50k per year. That's $25/hr. It is wise to finish college before marrying and having children.

The cost of a college education and grants? Are you a convicted felon? Have you been convicted of drug possession? If not, you are eligible for subsidised education loans from the US government. These normally more than cover the cost of attending a state institiution of higher education.

If you have not had any "luck" making it in the USA, you will not have any "luck" making it in Canada. Both countries are lands where opportunity abounds. You just have to be smart about it....and live with the consequences of your choices.

 

[Leon]

Yeah, Canada does have public health care but it's expensive to run and starved of cash always. Say you need surgery that is not a life or death matter, odds are that you would be waiting for months. I know a guy who is in chronic pain because of a fused shoulder. He has already waited 2 years for surgery and said the last thing they told him is that he will get it within the next 2 years. He said if he had the money, he'd go to the US and pay and get his surgery right away. Also it's hard to find GP's in some cities. If you can't find a GP, you can go to a walk in clinic where you may in some cases be waiting for up to 3 hours to see a doctor and you would likely not be seeing the same doctor every time. Even when you do find a GP, the way the system works, they get paid per visit so many of them will try to solve your problem in 5 minutes so they can get on to see more patients. It's quite common for them to just tell you to take an advil and see if you're better in a week.

I don't know how the pay translates between the US and Canada. $12 an hour means nothing unless you add the cost of living, cost of housing etc. You also have to look into your earning capabilities before you pick what you plan to study. Some professions pay better than others. Why not go into a trade? You can get on apprenticeship and get paid while you learn the trade. In 3 or 4 years, you could be making more than many college graduates.

I immigrated to Canada and I have had a pretty easy time making a good life for myself, then again I am single and have no kids. My brother immigrated to the US and he also had a pretty easy time making a good life for himself. He got married there but he and his wife already bought a house before they started having children.

I think you are having a case of grass being greener on the other side. I think you need to make yourself a plan of how you can increase your income, maybe by changing career. When you have more money, you can either have a better life in the US or if you still want to go to Canada, you will have an easier time to save up the money for your move.

 

[promise]

Great advice,

You guys are indeed great. i really like how you help and give other around good avvice.

 

[Leon]

If she was my sister or my best friend, I would say exactly the same thing. It's not easy to get started in a new country. Most people do not walk into an awesome well paying job right away. Having money saved up for the move is something to fall back on if times get tough and definitely the responsible thing to do when you have kids to feed.

 

[anika]

First of all, Manitoba is a PROVINCE, not a city.

Where in the US do you have a year long wait to see a doctor? You must mean year long waits in CANADA. Medical horror stories occur on both sides of the border. I could give you an earfull.

Yes, it must be tough for a family of 5 to live on less than 30K per year. That's why it's important to think about the implications of bringing children into the world before you do so.

In an earlier post you stated that you have not finished your education. Then you say that you're making $12/hr with a college education. If you haven't completed your degree, you don't have a college education. The average stating salary for college grads in the US for those who are just out of college is around 50k per year. That's $25/hr. It is wise to finish college before marrying and having children.

The cost of a college education and grants? Are you a convicted felon? Have you been convicted of drug possession? If not, you are eligible for subsidised education loans from the US government. These normally more than cover the cost of attending a state institiution of higher education.

If you have not had any "luck" making it in the USA, you will not have any "luck" making it in Canada. Both countries are lands where opportunity abounds. You just have to be smart about it....and live with the consequences of your choices.

First of all excuse me for being so ignorant about CANADA and not knowing that MANITOBA ISN'T A CITY BUT A PROVINCE....SECOND:
I said I hadn't finished my college education meaning my BACHELOR's degree, I have an Associate and a certificate, 3 years worth of college education that is certified and degree, and I have taken an additional course of college that just gives me a certificate of completion that was it...
No it is true, I have been waiting for over a year to see my doctor and another year to see my dentist, I get to finally go next month!!!
Really of course you are absolutely right, because you know the whole plan was to you know get married, have a bunch of kids and live in poverty!!! You are being very rude...
Obviously even the wealthiest families can have problems as well...While my exhusband was making over 5 grand a month, I was taking care of my children at home, trying to earn an education and working on the side...Obviously being a woman, it's not easy to get paid what you deserve. My ex and I were both assistant supervisor's, he got paid 5 grand a month and I got paid 1300 a month...And we both worked in similar companies...
So no it's not that I am struggling because I feel like it, and the costs of babysitting and the lack of major assitance doesn't help me either to find 2 full-time jobs to try and make it better.
Excuse me if I would like to find better opportunities and grow in another country...
Obviously I felt that with the friends and people I have met in Canada that have sang praises about it, have made me believe I would have a better life over there with my children...
I am not trying to take over your world or your country!! Not trying to deny your rights or take them from you...Excuse me for believing there might be a better chance of actually being able to live well in another place...
Thanks for the advise obviously I am not welcomed there...Excuse me for actually trying to do something positive for my family...without having to kill myself working 2 full-time jobs and a part-time over the weekend..I would like to spend time with my family as well..
About the grants and loans for college education, no I am neither one, and guess what I am in debt to my eyeballs with college loans that I can't afford to pay...thank you very much! Well like I said thanks for your help and thanks for letting me feel as if I would be very welcomed in another country...
And no that's not true, some people move from one state to another, from one country to another, until they find stability, security and their family's well being...obviously there wouldn't be immigrants...
Like I said excuse me for trying to find what my friends have helped make me believe would be a good place to live...

 

[anika]

Yeah, Canada does have public health care but it's expensive to run and starved of cash always. Say you need surgery that is not a life or death matter, odds are that you would be waiting for months. I know a guy who is in chronic pain because of a fused shoulder. He has already waited 2 years for surgery and said the last thing they told him is that he will get it within the next 2 years. He said if he had the money, he'd go to the US and pay and get his surgery right away. Also it's hard to find GP's in some cities. If you can't find a GP, you can go to a walk in clinic where you may in some cases be waiting for up to 3 hours to see a doctor and you would likely not be seeing the same doctor every time. Even when you do find a GP, the way the system works, they get paid per visit so many of them will try to solve your problem in 5 minutes so they can get on to see more patients. It's quite common for them to just tell you to take an advil and see if you're better in a week.

I don't know how the pay translates between the US and Canada. $12 an hour means nothing unless you add the cost of living, cost of housing etc. You also have to look into your earning capabilities before you pick what you plan to study. Some professions pay better than others. Why not go into a trade? You can get on apprenticeship and get paid while you learn the trade. In 3 or 4 years, you could be making more than many college graduates.

I immigrated to Canada and I have had a pretty easy time making a good life for myself, then again I am single and have no kids. My brother immigrated to the US and he also had a pretty easy time making a good life for himself. He got married there but he and his wife already bought a house before they started having children.

I think you are having a case of grass being greener on the other side. I think you need to make yourself a plan of how you can increase your income, maybe by changing career. When you have more money, you can either have a better life in the US or if you still want to go to Canada, you will have an easier time to save up the money for your move.

Thanks for the advise...and perhaps you are right...my case of the grass is greener on the other side might have been influenced by the people I have met over there that live there...but that's fine...
It's obvious anywhere with money you get what you want...or so you say...my friend the one that's been diagnosed as terminally ill, well he's pretty well off, that man works 16-18 hours straight a day, so he and his family have pretty good income coming in, and his wife works as well so they are not going through hardships...And has one of the best care from their health insurance companies....and he still he's going through what he is going through and may not make it after the surgery...so I guess it's just my hopes of finding the right place to actuallly be able to live well...
I will not change careers because I will not be stuck working in someplace I will end up quitting from....I am sorry..I can not do that...Millions of people suffer from depression, and other healt problems because they are sufficated working in jobs they hate just to make ends meet. I can't put my children nor myself into that...I have already had too many problems to add more to it.
Besides what would be the point of that? For me to be like my best friend who worked 2 full time jobs and a part time for 7 years only to end up going to see a shrink every day, taking tons of pills to feel better, and be afraid of even going outside? She has 4 kids, 2 ran away before they were 15 and have a bunch of kids themselves, and the other 2 are trying to fight against her to release them to their father who has no psychological problems...
I don't think so...
Or be like my sister who after 6 years of constant overworking herself she was stuck in the hospital over a breakdown and anxiety problems for about a month?
Or an aunt of mine whom after 10 years in the same job, found herself trying to hurt herself because she couldn't take it any more?
I know many people who have been working for over 15, 20 years in the same job, and they wished they could retire already, they are taking meds to make themselves make it through a day's work..
My father being one of them...
It's not easy here at all, and the lack of help for education, hurts a lot of us who are not rich, nor wealthy, nor are trust funds babies, nor have the ability to pay back loans for the education needed...
Grants are not offered in every state, and the ones that are offered are a minimum, if you think about it, major universities charge 75 thousand for the course, the assistance given from grants and government loans barely adds up to about 20 thousand dollars, the rest need to be put in private loans which require perfect or near perfect credit, or for you to pay monthly which is around 500 dollars a month...that my friends is my car payment... it's a 2000 oldsmobile, and I am paying that much a month...
It's not a luxury to have a car unfortunately running back and forth day care, home, job, and before school was included the car was an emergency...
So unfortunately it's not an easy life obviously, and many people do make it perfectly well, but as stated, I haven't had the luck here, from all I have been told the best place to start over would be over there but now I see that I am just fooling myself and sorry for even thinking about trying out a different point of view for my life...thanks

 

[anika]

Well thanks to everyone for your help...and just to let you know, since it takes a while to even get approved to move to CANADA by then I would have been able to have the necessary income to move, and not have to depend on the aid or whatever you guys think I was trying to get from over there? Perhaps I was foolish to consider the health care assistance since I can't afford it here in the USA...
It was a question of how would I be able to apply for residency or how to move over there or what is needed and how I could move there...that was all...thanks for all your help and hope you have a great day...and sorry for thinking I might actually be able to make it better over there than here...I know the move to a different place is difficult, I have moved around all my life from one country to another from one state to another and still to this date I am unable to find stability and security for my family...Perhaps the grass isn't greener on the other side but I can tell you there is no grass at all on this side...so my hopes was to at least find the grass no matter what color it is...
Thanks again...have a great day!

 

[olusolalekan]

PommeDeRoute, Leon, Promise and Anika,

I agree totally that PommeDeRoute was rude while trying to help Anika. Bringing kids to this world without adequate planning is not a smart move but what has happened has happened and we must agree that reminding Anika of that issue was insensitive. At least she has the determination to correct whatever form of mistake or problem she is facing. We must encourage her and salute her doggedness.

It is better for Anika to have all the information you provided her but the fact that you hurt her feelings and ego in the process overshadowed the great info PoomeDeRoute provided. I have seen both Canada and US and I can tell you they are similar. It is tough to make it big time in both countries but opportunities abound.

Anika - you must agree to one thing; your objective is to make a better life for you and your family. That translate to money in North American language. If your current job can't pay you more than 30K in the US, the best that will happen for you in Canada will be 40k (I am being generaous) in Canada. For a family of 5 kids!? That is still below the survival line. The point I am trying to make is that I agree with Leon that you should either change career to make more money or find another job you are qualified for that will pay more money. It is very important to note that no employer will pay you more than what you are qualified for, no matter how hard working you are. The type of work you do also contribute to the kind of stress and mental issues you mentioned might be the consequence of going this route Leon recommended. You need to raise your income, but Canada wages is not so different from US wage rate.
If you are thinking of Medical insurance in Canada as a way to save some cost, you should also think about the higher taxes in canada and the quality of the health care is better in the US. I support you moving to any part of the world if it makes your life better. The issue though is that 50K in Canada will not solve the bigger problem.

Anika - nothing is too late in life. i encourage you to do whatever is necessary (legal) to raise your income. That may involve moving to canada. however you must verify the "stories" your friends tell you about Canada and also admit that raising your income may mean changing career or changing the type of job you do. I agree student loans are bastards (I have some myself and two kids. I make 6 digits and we are just on the line)....but student loans are necessary evils! After two graduate degrees from two of the best schools in the US, I will never worry about doing hard labor, which I do not have the skills/ability to do and which usually leads to the kind of stress and medical issues you mentioned. I PRAY GOD GIVES YOU THE STRENGTH AND GREATER WILL POWER TO SURVIVE THE CURRENT MOUNTAIN.

My friends, let us be sensitive to people in problem even as we suggest great ways for them to improve their lives.

Good luck people. Love you all in the spirit of God......all of you...PommeDeRoute ,Leon,Anika and Promise

 

[rgvinson777]

Just a thought...Have you ever considered opening your own business? The right business can pay you much more money for your time. Perhaps you have some skill or talent that you could turn into a service that others might benefit from. Use your imagination. It may be a small start, but here in America, anything can happen.

 

[Leon]

I think a career change is the best idea although I would think a training program or apprenticeship would be more suitable than opening a business because you do need startup capital to open a business and if it doesn't work out, you could end up worse off. I don't remember if Anika said what her job is but I find it hard to believe that she can not even think of doing any other job (that might pay more).

I agree that you could have stress and mental or health issues if you were forced to do a job that you truly hate but you can still change careers and find something you like. I am pretty sure that there would be more stress and health issues from doing a job that doesn't pay living wage and either have to spend all your free time worrying about how to put food on the table or work 16 hour days to make ends meet.

 

[rgvinson777]

Right. She might fail, so she better not try. It costs too much and she would probably fail anyway and then end up with a big debt. Geeez!

Opinion: It is far more risky to work for others in the long run. Whoever gives you a job today can take it away tomorrow. I can think of several business that Anika could start for no more cost that $120.00 that could net her $50,000.00 a year. I don't know where you live, but Anika lives in America. Regardless of world opinion, America still affords the greatest opportunity to all. Oh, it does require 2 more things....."Courage and hard work!"

 

[olusolalekan]

I am with you rgvinson777 . Good job.