Hi there!
I would say that you should definitely first get a feel of where you want to move to. Once you find out where you want to move to, then you need to do an aggressive search for teacher jobs for your wife. I would suggest having everything worked before you move, just to make sure that your plans work. Best of luck!
Lyndsay
Jeez, a teacher job canoe.
Anyway, I agree: don't use your savings to pay off the CC debt, at this point that wouldn't really help you. I'd do my best to roll them all into one, though. It's not going to happen instantly. Like eating an elephant, you do it one bite at a time.
The job market may reek for things in her specialty, but what about outside it? I'm talking convenience stores, etc. Sure what she finds might not be the most prestigous thing or have great bennies but if she can bring in a few hundred a week and you can use that to pay down the CC debt while making preparations to bail for a better area in the long run it would be worth it.
Heck, one of my brothers moved to South Florida with nothing but a $600 pressure washer and he has built that into a small contracting company which is doing okay.
SVreX
SuperDork
9/11/11 10:20 a.m.
Search for fulfillment in your work and personal situations. The rest will follow.
Try "What Color is your Parachute" It does a good job of framing a job hunt into something that encompasses all the dynamics and facets of what is important to you, not just the job or the money.
fyi a great resource for scoping out new places:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/#u-s-forums
We've ended up staying put, at least for now. My wife is substitute teaching, and I'm working at the call center. She's had a few interviews, but the positions keep getting filled by the county. Right now, each school needs at least 2 or 3 teachers, but they have to find the money for them first. For some reason, our student numbers went up from the end of last year to the start of this one.
So for right now, we're making what we have now work for us. Money is tight, but we can deal with that.
Paul, I'm going to go buy a copy of that book, as it sounds like something I need to read for myself. My wife is convinced she has a good bead on things, so there's no changing her career path.
jrw1621
SuperDork
9/11/11 4:34 p.m.
Do not buy the book, all libraries have multiple copies of it - for free!
It is a good book.
Hang in there.