What can I afford.... with 130K income ? (New York, Congers: sales, apartment)

[Kirill]

Hi to all NYC gurus.

My wife and I are considering moving to NYC from Toronto Canada and I need a bit of help here.I am designated CPA accountant and my job offer came at 90K, she has undergraduate degree in physiology and spent 3 years working with autistic kids here in Toronto, so far she has not looked for a job however she feels she can land one around 40K (that's what she makes now). We have a newborn boy and nobody else in NYC. I read a lot about cost of living, however I cannot figure out if it's worth moving for us. Here is my monthly costs in Toronto that I would like to compare to NYC. I assume all other costs such as vocation and retirement savings, barber shop, hockey tickets are very similar to onces in TO and just not worth mentioning.

Car Insurance 400
Cell Phone 90
Food (between 400 to 600) 500
Entertainment 500
Child (diapers and other stuff) 300
Day Care (estimate) 800
Rent 1200
Ban Fees / Odd Interest 20

Are there any city specific expenditures that I should be aware of.

I am just trying to figure out where I will be able to afford a better lifestyle. As I mentioned before we do not know anyone in NYC, how easy is it to get to know people.

Thanks a lot for your replies.

[NickL28]

Originally Posted by Kirill

Hi to all NYC gurus.

My wife and I are considering moving to NYC from Toronto Canada and I need a bit of help here.I am designated CPA accountant and my job offer came at 90K, she has undergraduate degree in physiology and spent 3 years working with autistic kids here in Toronto, so far she has not looked for a job however she feels she can land one around 40K (that's what she makes now). We have a newborn boy and nobody else in NYC. I read a lot about cost of living, however I cannot figure out if it's worth moving for us. Here is my monthly costs in Toronto that I would like to compare to NYC. I assume all other costs such as vocation and retirement savings, barber shop, hockey tickets are very similar to onces in TO and just not worth mentioning.

Car Insurance 400
Cell Phone 90
Food (between 400 to 600) 500
Entertainment 500
Child (diapers and other stuff) 300
Day Care (estimate) 800
Rent 1200
Ban Fees / Odd Interest 20

Are there any city specific expenditures that I should be aware of.

I am just trying to figure out where I will be able to afford a better lifestyle. As I mentioned before we do not know anyone in NYC, how easy is it to get to know people.

Thanks a lot for your replies.

Rent for $1,200?? Not in Manhattan. With a child & wife -- Try $4,000 a month or more for an apartment with an adequate amount of space. Don't forget that you need at least 15% of the annual rent anywhere in the 5 boros to pay for a brokers fee which is standard for most rentals.

$1,200 may get you an apartment in some parts of Brooklyn or Queens like in Canarsie, Flatlands, South Ozone Park or near JFK near the Belt Parkway. The trendier areas are well in the $2,000's these days.

As you will find out $130,000 for even one person is not alot especially given confiscatory taxes in this region -- Federal, State & Local + 8.35% sales tax. For some region, people don't care that 30% of a paycheck gets withheld in payroll taxes.

[Kirill]

NickL28,Thank a lot for your reply.

150K combined salary will give us 8,300 in after tax cash. An equivalent job in Canada gives us combined income of 100K or 5,600 after tax, so I am looking at an increase on disposable income of 2700 per month, but if you are saying rent will be around 4K, it really erodes all the savings considering everything else stays the same. So far NYC sucks

[penny18]

130k is not that much for a family of 3 in NYC. Let's go down your list....
Car insurance... full coverage will cost you less then $200 a month/car but.. you may need to pay for parking which is not cheap. In Manhattan, it can costs you about $500/month. However, if you live and work in NYC, you may not need a car at all.
Cell phone will be about the same
Food and Entertainment is a bit low... unless you are planning on cooking at home every night and bring lunch to work. It's easily going to cost you $8-12 just for regular lunch.
Can't comment much on baby stuffs cost. But I think it will cost more then $800 for day care. Also... if you plan on staying here for a longer time... public schools in many areas may not be your ideal choice for you kid.
$1200 for Rent... you may be able to find a 1 bed room in Queens or Brooklyn (in a somewhat decent area); definitely not in Manhattan.
NYC is great but it's very expensive to live here. I don't think you will have much problem to meet people.
Good luck!

[Kirill]

Thanks Penny18,

My boy was just born 7 weeks ago, so I'm safe with schools and kindergarten for at least another 3 years. I guess NY does not offer a lot higher disposable income right now, but on a long term there is many more opportunities there. At least I feel my lifestyle will not be lowered dramatically.

[Viralmd]

You do NOT need a car in NYC, so you can do without that expense. Nobody I know spends that much for lunch every day. And I work in midtown Manhattan. These two posters are living in some fantasy world where people go out to dinner every night and live the high life. That is not reality.

[Kirill]

The place of work is somewhere in Congers NY, is it in Manhattan ? What would be my rent there ?

[Henna]

check google maps. Congers is a long way from Manhattan.

[mead]

Yeah thats up in Rockland county. Not even close to Manhattan. How do you plan on commuting there from Manhattan on a regular basis? Seems like a fairly difficult task to me.

[reppin_the_847]

If you're going to be working in Congers, NY, then my suggestion would be to probably look at properties in Rockland County, NY (the county where I'm pretty sure Congers is located). Your money will go a lot further in Rockland, you'll be able to afford a decent amount of space, and you can always ride a train (NJ Transit from Rockland County or Metro-North in Westchester County if you choose to drive to Westchester and then park n ride at a station) to get to Manhattan when you need your city fix. If you insist on living in the city, be prepared for a struggle. You'll have a hard time finding a crime-free, spacious apartment in New York City (any of the 5 boro's) for a decent price, where you can reverse-commute it all the way to Congers and not go insane. I'd consider living in NYC (the city) only if your job is in NYC somewhere. If it's in Congers, forget about it and start looking in Rockland County, NY (relatively affordable although it's still in the fringes of the NYC metropolitan area), Bergen County, NJ (expensive) or Westchester County, NY (pretty expensive for a decent place).

Originally Posted by Kirill

Hi to all NYC gurus.

My wife and I are considering moving to NYC from Toronto Canada and I need a bit of help here.I am designated CPA accountant and my job offer came at 90K, she has undergraduate degree in physiology and spent 3 years working with autistic kids here in Toronto, so far she has not looked for a job however she feels she can land one around 40K (that's what she makes now). We have a newborn boy and nobody else in NYC. I read a lot about cost of living, however I cannot figure out if it's worth moving for us. Here is my monthly costs in Toronto that I would like to compare to NYC. I assume all other costs such as vocation and retirement savings, barber shop, hockey tickets are very similar to onces in TO and just not worth mentioning.

Car Insurance 400
Cell Phone 90
Food (between 400 to 600) 500
Entertainment 500
Child (diapers and other stuff) 300
Day Care (estimate) 800
Rent 1200
Ban Fees / Odd Interest 20

Are there any city specific expenditures that I should be aware of.

I am just trying to figure out where I will be able to afford a better lifestyle. As I mentioned before we do not know anyone in NYC, how easy is it to get to know people.

Thanks a lot for your replies.