How hard is it to survive in New York City? Are there plenty of hourly jobs in NYC? (Hope: home, to buy)

[tpk-nyc]

If you want to make a living in a low-end job in New York and still have money left over you should consider bartending or waiting tables. It's exhausting work, but if you get in at the right place you can make good money (and get free food). A friend of mine worked at The Palm and came close to making six-figures (before the Wall Street crisis). The problem is that a good restaurant job is very hard to get and you must have experience. You might consider getting a restaurant job for a while before you move, preferably in a high-end or at least independent restaurant (i.e., not a chain).

Another thing to keep in mind, experience matters in New York. Not just any experience, but very, very specific experience. Many people are looking to hire people who have done exactly the same thing before. It's often not enough to have experience in retail. Employers want experience in their particular type of retail (middle-market women's sportswear, for example). The same applies to restaurants.

Another option would be to work for a large company that has outlets in New York, like FedEx/Kinkos. Even it they won't transfer you to the city (which rarely happens for service-industry jobs), they might look at you more favorably when you apply if you've worked for the company before.

[Henna]

Originally Posted by Rachael84

$240 a month for food is low? I spend about $160 a month lol.

.

Rachael, are you sure?

This works out to just about $5 for the entire DAY.

It means that you never, ever eat out - not once.
And even if you cook all your meals at home it means you are surviving on an extemely meager or unhealthy diet.

How many cookies is your landlord feeding you?

[Joe Bama!]

Originally Posted by Henna

Rachael, are you sure?

This works out to just about $5 for the entire DAY.

It means that you never, ever eat out - not once.
And even if you cook all your meals at home it means you are surviving on an extemely meager or unhealthy diet.

How many cookies is your landlord feeding you?

Have you ever looked up what a family of 4 recieves daily for food stamps, its under that per person.

[ColdMan1986]

tpk-nyc.

no i don't necessarily have a goal, except to be a New Yorker for a while. I really don't know how long I'll be there, at least for several months. If things don't work out I'll just go somewhere else. Here, we don't have any culture or diversity, I want to experience a little adventure before I settle down. Life is too short to not at least try it. I'd rather regret doing something than regret not at least trying. And I need a little 'toughening up' also, where else better than NYC?

[ColdMan1986]

Thank you all for the great advice. Keep 'em coming!

[Henna]

Originally Posted by Joe Bama!

Have you ever looked up what a family of 4 recieves daily for food stamps, its under that per person.

No, I never looked it up. Rachael is a professional and has a fulltime job.

But I did look up this article and it seems that a city councilman did an experiment last year (when food prices were cheaper) where he lived on a food-stamp budget ($28 per week) which comes out to around $130 per month. By the way, this is for a single person.

He said:
"Last year, I lasted five days and I was out of food," he said. "I had to go to a food pantry to get through the week.
"This year, I'd last three days."

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...s_food_st.html

[Rachael84]

I do my grocery shopping at Stop & shop and only buy things on sale. Sometimes I buy the store brand, sometimes not. It all depends what's on sale. I still manage to only spend about $35 a week on food when I actually go to the store shopping. I usually buy cold cuts for lunch, or bagels for work during the week. I still manage to spend $35 and eat 3 healthy meals a day. It's just that I buy everything on sale.

As far as going out, I do it probably 1-2 times a week. I get sushi every other week ($10), sometimes eggplant parm at my favorite italian restaurant ($8). So with that, along with going grocery shopping, that's about $45 a week on food total.

[newtoli]

When you say move to NYC, are you expecting to live in Manhattan? That makes all the difference for your rent budget. Are you expecting to bring your car?

[ColdMan1986]

Originally Posted by newtoli

When you say move to NYC, are you expecting to live in Manhattan? That makes all the difference for your rent budget. Are you expecting to bring your car?

Oh no, I could never afford to live in Manhattan. No, I'm taking the Amtrak up there and relying on public transit.

[Moderate Guy]

Originally Posted by Henna

Rachael, are you sure?

This works out to just about $5 for the entire DAY.

It means that you never, ever eat out - not once.
And even if you cook all your meals at home it means you are surviving on an extemely meager or unhealthy diet.

How many cookies is your landlord feeding you?

If I remember well from another thread, Rachael mentioned that her landlord provides her with a regular supply of fresh fruit and vegetables from his vegetable garden! Lucky gal, that Rachael! She got a below-market rental plus food supplied.

That, in addition to her astuteness in grabbing sales items, perhaps, is why her budget is so enviable!