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I'm not sure why people are making such a big deal out of the differences in taxes. Sure, they will be different but there is really no reason to guess. Just use a take home pay calculator like this one:
Renting an apartment, the most I have ever paid for electric is around $100 in the summer months when the AC is on non-stop. You should never pay have to pay for water when you rent and sometimes you may have to pay for gas. For that I would budget around $30-$50 a month.
Free water would be a big change from watering a yard. Summer bills are 150-175. Summer electric bills are about 300 for us but some people pay up to 700 if they want to make it snow in July in Texas
The question for you sounds more like not whether you can afford it, but whether you are willing to give up space and flexibility (Car, home ownership) for a very different lifestyle where you will get less for your money. If you prefer a city lifestyle and don't mind paying more or the same for a bit less, then you have your answer.
cellphones and data plans (same as elsewhere)
gym memberships (much more expensive in NYC)
taxs are add to the cell phones bill here in the city ..when i paid my Verizon cellphone bill i was charge taxs on top of the payement compared to another state where they did not charge taxs on top of the bill that you payed to the company ..
it about beening nickeled and dimed on something that hurts liveing up there .
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adhom
I'm not sure why people are making such a big deal out of the differences in taxes. Sure, they will be different but there is really no reason to guess. Just use a take home pay calculator like this one:
Renting an apartment, the most I have ever paid for electric is around $100 in the summer months when the AC is on non-stop. You should never pay have to pay for water when you rent and sometimes you may have to pay for gas. For that I would budget around $30-$50 a month.
running the ac 24 hours a day at my old place dureing the summer months was at $200.oo total for the month
also state taxs are a big thing when you come from a state that does not tax the liveing crap out of you compared what the state of NY takes out of you paycheck here ...
what i paid for my place in the city was what i paid total a month in other state for my basic monthly cost of liveing tha also had a car and insurance and monthly gas bill for the vehicle and beening able to go out and have fun without breaking the budget for the month .
right now i'm looking at a cracking a monthly nut of $3170.oo a month before i can play with anything extras like dateing and eating out a couple times a month
yes i can afford to live here but it still a tough nut to payout more money than you want for the same basic services that you have somewhere else in the country that is cheaper ..
If you don’t a kids, the real cost of living issue is housing. Everything else is a wash: food is more, transportation is less, etc.
Related to cost of housing is also quality of neighborhood. You can find a one-bedroom for $2000, but it’s not going to be in a prime neighborhood and will have a long-ish commute. That’s also something to take into consideration.
Of course, you could get a studio for $2000, but a lot of couples have a hard time living in a studio.
Awesome, thanks for the input. I pay 120 for cable right now so that will stay the same. There is a lot of yard upkeep and expenses in mantaining a house that I am not including here as well. When you start factoring in all of the costs of home ownership and driving and maintaining cars NYC doesn't seem like a bad deal at all if you can deal with living in a smaller space.
Definitely. The real cost of home ownership (ie; a single family home out in the burbs) is never limited to the fixed payments and fees that appear in a monthly budget. Typical houses are bottomless money pits to most people, and are by definition a high maintenance existence. Cars...on a smaller scale but not too much different; even if you're okay driving an older non-fancy car, they're costly for the relatively basic service they provide. (If you want a cool/toy car like a new Porsche or M3 it of course gets exponentially worse.)
To most people, giving up these suburban comforts and distractions for crowded city living in smaller spaces and using public transportation more than twice a year is an unthinkable and bizarre idea, which is why most people live in the suburbs.
So you'll make more, but you'll be paying higher taxes and losing some write-off, but losing the car(s) and expensive house upkeep. Lot's of moving parts there, but it sounds like you can afford it and have a rough idea of what you'd be in for.
Where exactly where you planning on living? You could find a decent apartment for that price in Inwood, or any of the outer boroughs. My guess is that you will not want to live in a studio, but at least on decent size one bedroom. Astoria is a great neighborhood to look into and is not to overpriced.. yet.
Gas is about 15-20 a month, unless if you heat is powered by gas, like mine. For the winter, my total bill was around $130 for four months. Electricity is about $40 for me and I live alone and water is included in most rentals.
And a word of warning: NYC (not the city itself, by hypothetically speaking) has a nasty habit of sneaking in surprise bills and things you have to pay for every month that are not about of your budget, and I would put aside some rainy day money just in case.
NYC is a very walkable city, the amount of driving you -won't- do shaves a lot of car costs of your expenses. 3 miles (~45 min. walk) in ANY other place in the US passes you by like 3 or 4 stores, in NYC it's literally more like 200.
Be careful about using the subway too much, $2.25 adds up real quick and at $104/month the infinite ride monthly metro card is not as great a bargain as other cities (e.g Boston infinite T for $59)
Rent and Groceries though, are so much higher than the rest of the country it almost makes my eyes bleed just thinking about it. Assuming standard cheapo neighborhood rent of "only" $1100 and a little eating out plus like $4 Milk Gallons and $3 Egg Dozens, you're looking at $2000/month for JUST food and shelter...
Utilities, there's way to shorten those anywhere and, cell phones, Metro PCS beats the big 3 by a -Long Shot- Yea that's right F-U Big 3!! (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile)
Clothes and stuff are pretty cheap cuz' of the ChinaTown sweatshops (groan all you want, they'll still exist). The 9% sales tax is a kick in the teeth but, electronics are a litle lower than some other places and the selection is Much wider...
Y'know you got your plus and minus to alomost any place...
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