We Arrived – Now What? Part 2

We arrived in Atlanta, GA early June and spent the most of our first month here getting our new life started. 

We were waiting to move into our new rental property, and just received our new GA Driver’s Licenses.  If you missed the previous post, you can go back to We Arrived – Now What?  Part 1.

Next on the List – a Bank Account

With our new licenses in hand, a copy of our passports and a signed lease agreement, we were off to the bank.  It took a bit of paperwork but overall, went rather smoothly. We opened a regular checking account, and off we went. Getting a credit card right away was not possible, but we were soon able to apply for a secured card.  This was a first and important step in building our credit history.

Moving into our First House

Moving day arrived, and we loaded our suitcases into David’s car and drove off to our new home.  Just around the corner (really, we were actually within walking distance of David’s house where we were currently staying).

They had a couple of extra furniture pieces that were brought over and so we had beds to sleep on and a table to eat at. We found some more bedroom furniture at a consignment store (highly recommend this when shopping for “new” stuff), and headed to Walmart for the rest, in our borrowed car.  

I haven’t shopped at a Walmart again quite like that day. You can just imagine: Multiple carts loaded with kitchenware, electronics, bedding, towels… the list goes on and on. We squeezed it all into the car and headed home to unpack.

Getting our Own Car

By this point, we knew we couldn’t hold off on our own transportation any longer.  We did not have any credit history, so the only option was to buy a second-hand car with the savings brought over from South Africa.  I have to say – I was not a fan of the whole car buying process (and I’m still not one today), but we picked out a huge SUV (we’re in America after all), signed a lot of paperwork and off we went.

Next item on the list – find a job!  Hmmm, no, scrap that.  We need a vacation to celebrate making it this far!  It was time for a road trip to New Orleans to celebrate surviving the first month and enjoy the Fourth of July holiday at the beach.

Read more about how we Furnished our Rental House after moving from South Africa.