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That's stupid. People can share, or live in slightly less desirable areas. No one needs to live in a central, prime area.
I made 50k the first year I moved to NYC, and I was fine. Never had any money problems.
Exactly. You do not need to make 150K to live comfortably in a decent area of NYC. I just moved here, but I have one roommate, live in Nolita, and with my new job I'm going to be making enough money to afford my rent/bills/food, and also have extra money to save and do fun things - and it's nowhere near 150K. Not even six figures. It can be done, and it really irritates me that people are so quick to be negative and say that it can't.
Is it though? I budget $80/mo for laundry 'cause I'm lazy and drop off service is nice and $300/mo for food to essentially say $10/day. I've been doing that since I made $65k living in SoHo and while I make much more than that now, my expenses haven't really changed, or in fact have lowered since moving to the Lower East Side.
My girl and I make well above this estimate and these days, the very last place I'd ever want to live are the "trendy" downtown areas. SoHo, the Village are waste lands of what they once were. Fanny pack wearing tourist traps and stores for Eurotrash wealth (massive empty apartments). Uptown is my stomping ground and will remain so no matter how much I make.
My girl and I make well above this estimate and these days, the very last place I'd ever want to live are the "trendy" downtown areas. SoHo, the Village are waste lands of what they once were. Fanny pack wearing tourist traps and stores for Eurotrash wealth (massive empty apartments). Uptown is my stomping ground and will remain so no matter how much I make.
District 2 has some of the best public schools in Manhattan. In addition to having a quick commute to work.
Posts like these exaggerate the costs of living in New York City.
It's all about how a person chooses to live. If someone decides to eat out most meals in trendy, nice restaurants, must live in the nicest areas of the city (Tribeca, Soho, Financial District, West Village, Williamsburg, etc), buys pricey clothes, goes on trips often, bars it up several times a week, has pricey gym membership at Equinox (200/month), on and on, then Yes, $120k is barely cutting it.
But for MOST educated, budget-minded and responsible people, they can make $50-60-70k in New York City easily livable and sustainable.
In my experience people who think you MUST make this to survive or live here, live well beyond their means and/or are used to many luxuries on a daily basis.
Or, they do NOT live in New York City. Many friends I have or relatives who do not live here, always think "everyone in NYC must be millionaires." Nope, not even close.
Trust me, I get that living on and having that kind of money is amazing here in NYC--or anywhere else. But those amounts are BY NO MEANS a "MUST" to live here. Sort of ridiculous, really, to think that way. lol
I know people in the above salary ranges who have PURCHASED HOMES in NYC.
Spending lots of money on rent (and not purchasing) shows you as an idiot who simply blows away his money. Scenarios like the OP are the fantasies of people moving here and living a certain lifestyle.
There are a lot of ridiculous assumptions being made here.
401k contributions are deducted from gross income before taxes are applied. The federal tax contribution here is pre 401k.
Health insurance at $160/month? If someone is being paid 120k, you better believe that they don't pay $160/month for health. Maybe more like $40/month, if that.
I don't make anywhere near 6 figures (but some of my coworkers do) and our health insurance is about $160 a month. Company pays 80% and we pay 20%. Our insurance that the company offers is $800 a month for a single person. It's going up 15% next year according to a notice I just received from Oxford in the mail.
I work in HR and if you have a company under 50 employees, you pay a lot more if you want a decent plan unless you join a PEO, which my company won't do.
Posts like these exaggerate the costs of living in New York City.
It's all about how a person chooses to live. If someone decides to eat out most meals in trendy, nice restaurants, must live in the nicest areas of the city (Tribeca, Soho, Financial District, West Village, Williamsburg, etc), buys pricey clothes, goes on trips often, bars it up several times a week, has pricey gym membership at Equinox (200/month), on and on, then Yes, $120k is barely cutting it.
But for MOST educated, budget-minded and responsible people, they can make $50-60-70k in New York City easily livable and sustainable.
In my experience people who think you MUST make this to survive or live here, live well beyond their means and/or are used to many luxuries on a daily basis.
Or, they do NOT live in New York City. Many friends I have or relatives who do not live here, always think "everyone in NYC must be millionaires." Nope, not even close.
Trust me, I get that living on and having that kind of money is amazing here in NYC--or anywhere else. But those amounts are BY NO MEANS a "MUST" to live here. Sort of ridiculous, really, to think that way. lol
I agree, I know people who are making $75K and are living comfortably as well as those making $250K but are drowning in debt/having to budget - A LOT of the figures in this thread aren't factual it's based off of preferences and lifestyles.
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