please help with info on jobs and rentals that would be available for a mom and 2 teen daughters moving to mile city round 12 of oct. mom has years of experience bartending and 2 years cage cashier in largest so. calif casino need 3 bdroom california is out of control cant survive here anymore to expensive thank you all for any help you can provide info. and info on high school there also

Um. there are plenty of casinos. Call john Goff. He rents a lot.

I have a 3 bedroom 2 bath for rent. $1200/mo. Pets neg.

Call 406-232-1054 if interested

Pretty sure $1200 rent is part of why they're moving.

$1200 rent is cheap for CA.

It is Dan, but they also make way more than we do. So it is basically 4200 a month out there. lol

I paid $1500 a month rent when I lived there in the 80's. That was for a three bedroom home in a private subdivision. The salary was no higher than it had been in Phoenix or Ann Arbor where housing costs were considerably less.

Just looked at a $1200/month Town House in Helena. Very nice. $1200/month in Miles City seems mighty high to me.

If that is the case, this 1200 a month home here in town had better be brand new, with all stainless steel appliances, wood flooring, deck, and more. All utilities included also. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH YEAH, Right, In MC? hahahah

hard to pay that kind of rent on the minimum wages they pay here!

Exactly. I make 7.25 an hour, or about 280 a paycheck. Which is 560 a month. Not even half way there. Plus I have a car to pay for, food, internet, cellphone, utilities...

Either your math is bad and you're going to find yourself 100% wealthier or you only work 20 hours a week.

josh do they pay miniunm wage at the casinos too>??????i made 22.00 hr here in my casino plus tips my cks were bout 1200.00 a payday.please say the casinos pay good

smiley how does a gal find this john goff please??

Do what I did, buy a cheap mobile home and fix it up.

http://milescity.com/foru...pid=106095

Don't expect to make 22.00 an hour here, but neither will you have to pay $1,200 a month rent. In the winter your utilities will be high, and groceries are pretty expensive. You'll freak when you see how expensive produce is here.

Try looking at the state's employment website at
http://jobs.mt.gov

Do you really have to limit yourself to Miles City?

Buck: Either your math is bad and you're going to find yourself 100% wealthier or you only work 20 hours a week.

Hit the nail on the head there. i work about 43ish hours every 2 weeks.

Also, Polly. As far as I know you may be lucky to get 9 bucks an hour @ the casino. One thing, if you don't mind it, is McDonalds. They pay 9 bucks an hour, and have full time positions open often.

Hey Polly,

You did mention that you have experience as a bartender and that would be a helluva lot better pay than McDonalds or any casino around here. If you're a great bartender the tips go up if the shifts are right. Maybe google Bars in Miles City and make a few calls to check the temperature before coming this way for the shock of your life. I'de hate to see anyone coming to Miles City without enough money to last through the winter just in case the job opportunities weren't what you thought. Billings might just be your ticket as it's the most populous city in Montana and their nightlife is way more lucrative than Miles City. If it's small town values and friendly helpful people you're looking for and a town to raise two teenage girls then i'de say Miles City would be your choice...just sayin

Having raised two teenage girls in Miles City I would recommend the job at McDonalds, asking for day shifts. Your kids will need you in a new town and new school.

There'll be no $1200 a month rent on McDonald's wages. Maybe contact the Housing Authority office or whatever it's called in MC about affordable housing.

Josh, I've spent plenty of time in CA... "they" don't get paid any differently than anywhere else, unfortunately. Some make good money, some don't. Cost of living is simply high in most metro areas and even the burbs are following suit. So, I'm just saying I'd be surprised if anybody balked at $1200 rent in MC on face value - because it's probably a number they're used to.

With MC's median income and poverty threshold, however... well, I hope *someone* is able to make $1200 on rent because they're going to need it.

How are your teenage girls taking to the idea of moving to Montana? Don't...whatever you do....tell them the only place to shop for clothes here is Walmart and Maurice's! All kidding aside, I can't imagine trying to raise teenagers in CA ~ and I've never even been there (or had kids!) Good luck to you, and I hope it all comes together!

Just think about the clean air, beautiful scenery just a mile out of town, wildlife, friendly neighbors and fact you could walk from one end of town (or bike) to the other if you desired. There's a greater chance that the person you encounter with a gun will want to tell you a hunting story over coffee than take your purse.

There's a heck of a lot of other stuff you'd have to ignore, yes, but if you and your teenagers can focus on the many other things - you'll enjoy the small town life a lot.

In order to make $22.00 and hour in a Miles City bar/casino you need to be able to steal $15.00 per hour, maybe you need to re-think the move. Not to mention the casino's are about to loose a good portion of their best clients come October 1 when the new smoking laws come in.

And just to beat Wendy to the punch It's California's and it's too hard.

You mean casinos and lose.

Not to mention MILES CITY and CAN'T.

I new you'd catch me. You are the bomb when it comes too the monitoring of this hole site.

[This message has been edited by Chuck Schott (9/29/2009)]

why doesn't anyone ever mention the use of anyway vs anyways....that happens to be one of my pet peeves...

I use "anyhoo" -- just to cover the bases.

I shoot people who say "anyhoo".

[This message has been edited by Wendy Wilson (9/29/2009)]

Anyhoo... I say Anyways way to much... Anyhooo......

Wow, if your last discussions over verbiage and spelling don't make her re-think her move, nothing will. One thing in Montana is that "Casinos" aren't really casinos. They're many times a bar with a bunch of machines. The bartender serves as the cage person, bartender, waitress, re-stocker, and janitor during business hours. Most day shifts only have one person doing all this. Night shifts maybe two unless there's a kitchen in which case there's some poor person in back standing over a deep fryer. The best pay for her sounds like either a night bartender in a popular bar or a waitress in a popular restraunt. I know neither is condusive to raising two teenage daughters but moms have to make tough choices for survival, so my heart goes out to the poor gal.

I guarantee you will not make 22/hr here in Miles City. However, rent usually isn't 1200/mo. Depends on what you are looking for. To my knowledge, you won't be finding "new" appartments or houses for rent. Most places are older, some fixed up, some run down. If that does not matter then you can keep researching. The weather can be rather harsh in the winter, electricity can be pricey (before you rent a place call MDU to find out average heating/cooling cost for the place) As someone mentioned before, only place to really buy clothes is at Walmart & Maurices, otherwise it's a 2 hour drive to Billings for other choices such as..Costco, Target, Ross, the mall, airport (though there is a small port in town) ect. ect. Not sure what you pay for car insurance there, but I found it was double the price here due to hail storms. Groceries are higher because it is in a more rural setting. There are advantages and disadvantages, I would do more research before you fork out a bundle to move. You may find that you won't get any farther ahead than where you are now. If you are looking to get your teens out of the big city, this is definately as far away as you can get. Good luck.

Just curious -- what is the cost of milk there? I find that that tends to give a big clue as to the rest of the cost of living.

Normal rent here is around $4-500 a month for a nicer 2 bedroom house or apt, and $5-700 a month for a 3 bedroom. Don't let some insane person who wants to rip someone off and take advantage of their income by trying to charge 1200 a month scare you away. 1200 would be reasonable for a 5 bedroom, 3 bath, excellent condition house!
As far as wages go here, its difficult to find much above minimum wage. Your best bet is going on https://jobs.mt.gov/jobs/...etType=all this website, it has many local jobs listed. Walmart pays about 8.50 an hour. One thing that you can do is become a CNA. The class lasts about 2 months, costs about 700$, and when you're done you make about 12-14 an hour. They are in demand. Secretaries, bank tellers, etc make 9+ an hour.
Electricity is expensive, depending on the place i guess, and how well insulated it is.

https://jobs.mt.gov/jobs/...etType=all

Sure, get a government job. When all else fails, Uncle Sam will provide.

What, in your opinion, constitutes a government job? Are you talking only federal jobs or do you include state and local government positions in your insult?

Geez, lighten up. Josh gave the link to job service which has ALL jobs listed (not just government jobs)

heath would rather starve on the street than take a government job. heath is better than you or me, who might, in a moment of weakness, take what little scraps of employment the Leviathan throws our way.

That job website is a positive thing provided by the State. For example this lady might be interested to know there is a casino manager position open in Kalispell.

Sure, get a government job. When all else fails, Uncle Sam will provide

-----------

Heath:

Last time I checked, being in the military (active duty or civilian) is a "government job."

How could such a patriotic American as yourself insult our military personnel? Move to France.

[This message has been edited by Bob L. (9/29/2009)]

Maybe we are the same person.

I should have viewed the link before posting. Please excuse my pitiful attempt at being facetious.

Polly,

Lest it change your mind, please keep in mind that none of the people who are about to turn your thread into yet another political fight actually live in Miles City.

I love it here BUT jobs are scarce, housing is even harder to find than a job, the weather can be harsh and shopping sucks.

On the other hand, people are, for the most part, great and welcoming, there is a true sense of community and, in spite of what some whining teenagers say, there are lots of things for people to do! Plus our murders are few and far between.

Yeah, we have drugs. Who doesn't? Ismay, maybe. We have bad people and lazy people and crazy people but we also have some of the best people, most caring people I ever met.

And one heck of a good coffee shop! Who needs shoes when you can buy quality pastry.

[This message has been edited by Amorette Allison (9/29/2009)]

thanks richard how nice and reason have close friends who live there and am a cowgirl so mile city seems to fit ranch wise you are so helpful thanks so much

lol 5.95 a gallon yea it sucks

Ahem, Jobs are not scarce. If you don't mind working fast food you are in the clear, also there are usually help wanted signs popping up.

Anyhoo *haha*, Kafe Utza is the coolest coffee shop for 200 miles. The only other good coffee shop that is about equal in awesomeness is Off The Leaf in Billings. Other than that...

you dont find this much real honesty in ca lol thanks to all for the input it truly helps god bless you all thanks again polly and the girls

Milk in the Dallas area is as low as $2/gal. All the major chains have a bottom shelf milk at that price. Name brand milk goes up to 4-5$.

Yeah, we have drugs. Who doesn't? Ismay, maybe.

Out here in Ismay we are high on life....and sometimes Budweiser...but mostly life.

Levi:

Nice.

Is there anything like a continuing education program, i.e., fun stuff like cooking classes, art, languages, or computer classes?

Miles City Community College is excellent and has many programs like that...

http://milescc.edu/

Hi, I know some people who have told me that where they live has apartments open and they go off of your income you might want to give them a call sorry though I only have there Name and Address. I hope you find something it is really beautiful here and you don't have the crime thats in the cities.

The Cornerstone
310 N. Jordan

The Art Center also has classes and I think they have adult as well as kids' classes.

For the record it's Miles City.

I think you may want to do more research before you pack up and transplant yourself from southern California to eastern Montana, or anywhere else in the high plains or Midwest for that matter. You likely will not get the kind of pay you've mentioned earning; housing is often lower, but don't be fooled- taxes, energy, insurance, food, the cost to commute/travel, and the other expenses of life can be substantially higher. We do not have mass transit, if you live in town it's not much of an issue. We don't have much for school busing. The high school does not have a breakfast or lunch program. Regardless of what anyone says the weather can be miserable- I've been here in Miles City 17 years, and in Montana 23; when it's 20 below zero or lower it's damned cold and keeping any house warm isn't cheap, especially the older housing stock prevalent in MC. In the summer, most summers anyways, 90-100+ is pretty normal. Did I mention we occasionally get 100 degree temperature changes in a 24 hour period- it happen, rarely, but it happens.

Not to burst anyone's bubble or discourage anyone from taking up residence here, but those are just facts of life in eastern Montana.

Chad grew up in Carmel and has hilarious stories about the cold setting off his pickup horn in the middle of the night.

The Cornerstone is administered by the Miles City Housing Authority, which deals with several apartments and helps low income home owners with improvements. I think the Cornerstone if fully rented. It does require an application process. Nice place if you can get in.

I lived in the SF bay area for 10 years and trust me, it is FAR easier to pay rent/buy a house in Montana than it is in California. I am not going to look up statistics but I am pretty confident that the average Californian puts a larger percentage of their salary into housing than the average Montanan does and by a large margin in the urban areas. I was making a very good professional salary and couldn't afford to buy a house in a suburb far from the center of the metro area. In MC you won't see someone with a college degree and a professional job struggling to afford even a starter home. I was paying $1200 a month for a 1-bedroom apartment that was nothing special (although probably better than most apartments in MC) and a mortgage payment would have been well over twice that for just a condo or a townhouse. I couldn't even think of getting something with 4 walls as someone who had been working as an engineer for 10 years and was completely debt free.

I have looked at Townhouses as well in Helena for $1200 that were nice. The only thing with a townhouse is that there is NO YARD or any patios. Also, the garages were small and your neighbors are right on top of you.

I have found a very good source for this information for nearly any city in the US is the city's Chamber of Commerce