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Okay, I'm stressing out like CRAZY about this, and the only way to relieve my stress would be to FINALLY know the possibilities and where I stand.
I'm 17 right now, I graduate from High School this June. I live in Philadelphia right now, but for a long time I've loved NYC more than anything; so much so that it's become the most important thing in my life, literally(Not essentially the city itself, but moving there has). I travel there very frequently, and sometimes just because I get homesick. It makes me so happy to be there, and I'm ONLY happy when I'm there. It's my whole life and world. Anyhow, I came up with an idea. I hate living here, I really do and it makes me really depressed to think about how if circumstances were reversed, I could currently live there and be a native NYer, but that's off-topic. Anyway, I figured I could move to one of the boroughs in a Studio or a 1 BR Apartment later this year, like probably Fall time when I should have about 5 grand saved up, then in Spring, enroll into one of the community colleges, and begin my new life.
Now, today I looked up minumum wage in NY and if I'm correct, I am guaranteed at the least to make $7.25 an hour and work atleast 40 hours a week. I tried the PayScale calculator, and the gross pay would be $15,080 and the net pay is $12.350.05. A 1 BR should cost between 700-1000 dollars a month, accumulating to about 12 thousand a year, which as you can see above, I would be able to afford. The extra couple thousand I would bring over of course would be for entertainment, etc. so I'd have about 2 grand for the first year for entertainment purposes and everything like that. Obviously at some point I will earn a RAISE and I'll make more than 12,300 so that's why I'm thinking I'll be fine after a while.
Is this possible? Can I do this? I can't elaborate how much my heart aches to finally move up there. And I believe that at some point, my uncle will move up there after a few years and I'd probably be able to split rent with him which would make things easier.
Can I do this? Thankyou so much. I just want to know the truth so I don't depress myself wondering if I can do this.
No. On lower paying and/or min wage jobs, you really cannot have your own apt. A cheaper way is to share an apt with roomates.
$700 is too low for a good area.
Also the rent to pay ratio is waay off. Aside from the fact no one can be that frugal to afford it, most landlords will only approve with rent being around 1/3 of your income.
Also you are not accounting for bills. $100+ a month for transportation. Food is not free. Utilities etc..
Landing an apt with just small savings will not work, you need a job or at least a much more than that in the bank
An annual income of $15,000/yr wasn't enough 10 years ago let alone now, that's reality.
Now I'll say this, I know how everyone on this board likes to discourage people from coming here b/c of the cost but I can relate to you b/c I like you dreamed of living in NY before I was 18. I visited for the first time when I was 12 and that's all it took. I loved that New Yorkers were free enough to express themselves in every way while my hometown was very uptight and conservative.
Everyone's background is different and no one on this board knows what someone is coming from and the real reason someone would want to live here, plus everyone is different along with what they can endure. With that being said if you move here after high school you will struggle so just brace yourself for that. If you have a hunger to survive you'll find a way and it doesn't always mean doing anything illegal.
Two thousand a year wouldn't be enough for you to eat let alone entertainment. I highly doubt you could get even a studio apartment on your own even if you ate Ramien noodles and rice/beans everyday b/c that's all you'd would be able to afford. You could get a room which would be a pain in the butt but at least cheaper.
Even at your age and no degree it is possible but you'd have to work very hard, working more like 2 or 3 steady jobs at one time and being smart with money, time, and effort.
It's smart that you plan to save $5,000 before moving here b/c I'll tell you I didn't have that much but God made a way for me and I didn't have to do anything illegal to live here. I didn't have any clear skills except for typing which was my ticket to better myself. God cleared a way for me by meeting people who were able to get me employment. This was the time in New York you could get a job and start work the same day but unfortunately those days are gone (unless you work under the table) so things take a little longer to accomplish now-a-days.
So all 'n all I'll say it's possible and you don't have to have a degree or an apartment in Manhattan, with an dining out budget of $10,000/yr to live here but you will have to be disciplined to survive here.
Honestly, It's my life dream and I hate it here so much that everyday I just want to cry because it's so depressing. I was hoping that it would be possible for me to execute the plan that I had. =/
Now, today I looked up minumum wage in NY and if I'm correct, I am guaranteed at the least to make $7.25 an hour and work atleast 40 hours a week. I tried the PayScale calculator, and the gross pay would be $15,080 and the net pay is $12.350.05. A 1 BR should cost between 700-1000 dollars a month, accumulating to about 12 thousand a year, which as you can see above, I would be able to afford. The extra couple thousand I would bring over of course would be for entertainment, etc. so I'd have about 2 grand for the first year for entertainment purposes and everything like that. Obviously at some point I will earn a RAISE and I'll make more than 12,300 so that's why I'm thinking I'll be fine after a while.
This may sound good on paper but it's really not a good plan. Wherever you live, they will require a month's rent and a month's security and if you go through a broker, his fee. In the outer boros, the fee is usually a months rent. So right there if you found a $1k per month studio, you'd have to lay out $3k just to get in. Most landlords run credit and if you have any blemishes or no credit at all it can be hard to secure housing. There is also the chance that a landlord will not want to rent to a young person for fear they will have loud parties or friends over drinking well into the night. Just throwing that out there. Not saying you would do that.
I would imagine even in a roommate situation, the person holding the lease would require a security deposit of probably about a month's rent.
So now you are down to having $2k (let's say) left, and no job. There are a lot of people looking for work here so it's not a shoo-in that you will get a job right away. You may have to dip into the $2k you have left to cover your rent for the following month. Now you are getting close to insolvency.
Then you get job that pays minimum wage and just about all of your take home will have to contribute to rent, utility bills, food, transportation ($2.25 each way per day on the subway if you are not in walking distance to work). You will need to buy furnishings for your room/apartment. You will need to eat lunch and dinner.
Community college (ex. Kingsboro) tuition is something I'm not sure about but I believe that schools like Brooklyn College cost about $3k per semester. You'd never be able to swing that unless you took student loans. If you do that, the temptation to use the loan money to live on (not out of malice but out of desperation) can put you in a huge hole.
I wouldn't discourage anyone from taking a shot at what they want to do, but you really need to think long and hard about this. To me it sounds way too risky.
Yeah I guess I won't because it's risky. I just despise my life here and I'm only happy when I'm there. I guess I'll hate life for 2 more years. Thanks for helping me though, guys. I would've gotten heartbroken in the end.
Don't give up. Keep your dream in front of you and just work to attain it. Save some money up with your specific goal in mind. Then get some roommates . . . can your family help you?
My parents remortgaged 3 times so they can't help, and I really unfortunately can't get any help; my backup plan was to go to college for 2 years and get the Dental Hygienist job that I want then move to NY. I guess I'll have to revert to the backup; I have no other option unless I go look for a roommate on craigslist or something.
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to live here but you will have to be disciplined to survive here.
