“I quit my tech job in Seattle because I was miserable — here’s how I moved to Los Angeles and started over as a freelancer and content creator”

• Dayana Sabatin was working in tech in Seattle and feeling miserable with her career.
• She decided to make a major life change — so she moved to Los Angeles without a clear plan.
• Sabatin started as a waitress and then was able to grow her freelance writing work to full-time.

Four years ago, I was a financial specialist at a tech company in Seattle — in a cubicle for eight to 10 hours a day, and beyond miserable. I decided I wanted to change my life. 

I always dreamed of living in a city like Los Angeles. So I made a plan and left my life in Seattle behind to move there.

Since then, I’ve made a life for myself in LA — I’m a writer, blogger and YouTuber — but getting here was a journey. I’ve heard the stories of people moving to LA with less than $200 in their bank account, and I applaud them — but I wasn’t one of those people. I spent three months trying to pay off school debt and save at least $10,000 for my move.

I set a specific amount of money aside for rent, car payment, phone bill, gas, and groceries from every paycheck. Everything else went into savings. The goal was to move with enough money in my bank account to feel comfortable until I could get another job. I didn’t give myself the option to spend money on unnecessary things. I’m not a saver — I’m strictly a spender, so it was challenging.

What helped was knowing I was moving towards something that would radically change my life. Mostly though, what got me through was knowing that I was doing this purely because I wanted to. It was exhilarating.