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Seems like it can be done.. if one makes 7.25/hr and works say 45 hours a week, that leaves them with about 1,350/mo to spend.
With an apartment at 500/mo, I feel like this can relatively comfortably be done.. but that sounds absurd to me, I must be missing something in this budget?? I've heard NYC is stupidly expensive to live in so I must be off somewhere.
1,350/mo - 500 rent =
850/mo - 300 food =
550/mo - 200 internet and cellphone =
350/mo - 100 metro card =
250/mo.
I doubt I'd spend more than 100/mo on having a life, so that leaves me with 150/mo for the spending machine. Seems plausible to me.
Last edited by isthispossible; 12-16-2011 at 04:07 PM..
What about utility bills, electric, gas, water plus what kind of apartment can you get for $500 PCM, seriously?
On craigslist there seem to be a good amount of apartments in Brooklyn for that price, even some for 400, would need 2 to 3 roommates but that's no problem. How much do people in NYC pay in bills?
On craigslist there seem to be a good amount of apartments in Brooklyn for that price, even some for 400, would need 2 to 3 roommates but that's no problem. How much do people in NYC pay in bills?
room (http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/roo/2745820985.html - broken link) 500/mo, Brooklyn 60 st 14-15 Av
SHARE THIS APARTMENT WITH YOUR OWN ENTRANCE (http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/roo/2745755419.html - broken link) 400/mo, 1 block from Norwood Ave
That's the first three I saw. I figure there'll be certain times in the year where the prices will drop a little more ( or maybe this is that time ).
I didn't factor in utilities because I was hoping to find a place with utilities payed, I don't think it's impossible - I see a few with half utilities payed, etc.
Sounds good if all you're doing is multiplying hours by wage, but you haven't deducted federal, state, and CITY taxes as well as SS, unemployment, medical, etc. If you're lucky, you're left with $1000 a month and we're not taking into consideration that most employers these days are not offering overtime, so your 45 hours a week is a pipedream.
If you live in one of the outerboroughs and work a "normal hours" work week, you will need to take an express bus - at least the folks I know do that - and those are $50/week. Otherwise, your commute time could be as long as 2 hours - and the folks who don't get home from work until 7 or later generally grab something to eat at the local bodega. That throws out your food budget. Then, if you're getting home that late, you probably won't be up to making a bagged lunch for the next day, so you'll again, grab something at the bodega. Woops, there goes the food budget again. Add to that the horrors of trying to grocery shop without a car at stores that have no parking anyway, so you wind up paying for delivery or hiring a car (there are no taxis outside of Manhattan, they are called "car service"). Then, the local supermarket does not double coupons so you don't get much savings there so you'll opt for the convenience of having your groceries delivered (oops, food budget again) and most times you're too tired from all the schlepping, so you'll shop at the local bodega where the prices are just a "wee" bit higher than the supermarkets.
Add to that, you haven't calculated the cost of laundry. Because of the amount of time you're spending riding the local buses and waiting for the next train or bus, you'll probably opt to send out your laundry, even having it picked up and delivered. So your $150 "spending machine" has just been spent down to maybe $50, if you're semi-frugal.
But you haven't even considered that working involves donating to "stuff" at the office, a lunch out; drinks after once a month; gift for a new baby, retirement, promotion. Hmmm, $50 leftover didn't go as far as you thought it would - you're down to nothing, saved nothing, and are probably apt sharing an efficiency for $500/mo.
Yeah, that's living!
Besides, we haven't even added in your utilities - and no, they are not going to be included in a $500/mo apt. So you're in the hole, by at least $500 every month and you're sharing a 4th floor walk-up efficiency.
room (http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/roo/2745820985.html - broken link) 500/mo, Brooklyn 60 st 14-15 Av
SHARE THIS APARTMENT WITH YOUR OWN ENTRANCE (http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/roo/2745755419.html - broken link) 400/mo, 1 block from Norwood Ave
That's the first three I saw. I figure there'll be certain times in the year where the prices will drop a little more ( or maybe this is that time ).
I didn't factor in utilities because I was hoping to find a place with utilities payed, I don't think it's impossible - I see a few with half utilities payed, etc.
The links don't work, although I managed to find addreses for the last 2, google map them, the first one looks like a complete dump and the second one, well let's just say that the neighbourhood is not the best!!!!!
You get what you pay for, when you don't pay much.............
Okay, so living in NYC on minimum wage is not feasible. I thought NYC's subway system was all over the place, I need to read up. What about 1 full time and 1 part time job? 60 hours a week at 7.25 = 1,900. Take out 300 for taxes, or is it more than that? And how much are utilities?
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