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I want to become a special education teacher and they have a salary of around 50K. How expensive would be new york city in terms of living? I currently live here and I might stay here if I can afford it. Please, I need some info on this.
OP, I already shared my experiences on living under $50k under the thread with your same question regarding LA. You mention that you currently live in NYC - what is your living arrangement right now? Student dorm, roommates, parents? Will that work out for a few more years? If you are tremendously frugal for a certain number of years (while sharing a rental), you can save and buy a small condo. If you own a place, have recreational interests that cost nothing (reading, walking, running, biking), and make your own meals, $50k per year is actually plenty in any large city (I am much older than you, partly retired, and live actually in two tiny condos in prime areas of two expensive cities, ie, Boston and San Francisco. I bought my condos for cash when I was 40 and 48, respectively, but since then, living in both these cities, plus traveling quite a bit in and out of the country, has been costing me overall just about $50k per year, no more). I don't know what your other long-term plans are in life, but if your private plans include only a partner and no kids, with $50k/yr and the ownership of a small condo or coop in NYC you could be comfortably all set for life. The only question really is whether you enjoy frugality or not. There are people who have an intrinsic liking for living very frugally even if they have enough wealth to live much more expensively (I am one of them, and am giving an opinion from that perspective), and others who must have the most expensive of everything even if they are ****-poor (I cannot relate to that at all, but maybe a certain other forum contributor can tell you how he manages from that perspective). Naturally minimalistic personality will make you financially content practically anywhere, so the only real question is whether you have that personality or not.
Living in a large city to me in fact means a very rich experience for relatively little money. Just walking by all the architecture and businesses, and living around such a massive number of so diverse people - that to me is an amazing experience in itself, that can't be replaced by anything... and once you figure out the issue of housing, that additional huge experience of a large cosmopolitan city is completely free - you can have it every day just by walking down the street. To me that is priceless.
OP, I already shared my experiences on living under $50k under the thread with your same question regarding LA. You mention that you currently live in NYC - what is your living arrangement right now? Student dorm, roommates, parents? Will that work out for a few more years? If you are tremendously frugal for a certain number of years (while sharing a rental), you can save and buy a small condo. If you own a place, have recreational interests that cost nothing (reading, walking, running, biking), and make your own meals, $50k per year is actually plenty in any large city (I am much older than you, partly retired, and live actually in two tiny condos in prime areas of two expensive cities, ie, Boston and San Francisco. I bought my condos for cash when I was 40 and 48, respectively, but since then, living in both these cities, plus traveling quite a bit in and out of the country, has been costing me overall just about $50k per year, no more). I don't know what your other long-term plans are in life, but if your private plans include only a partner and no kids, with $50k/yr and the ownership of a small condo or coop in NYC you could be comfortably all set for life. The only question really is whether you enjoy frugality or not. There are people who have an intrinsic liking for living very frugally even if they have enough wealth to live much more expensively (I am one of them, and am giving an opinion from that perspective), and others who must have the most expensive of everything even if they are ****-poor (I cannot relate to that at all, but maybe a certain other forum contributor can tell you how he manages from that perspective). Naturally minimalistic personality will make you financially content practically anywhere, so the only real question is whether you have that personality or not.
Living in a large city to me in fact means a very rich experience for relatively little money. Just walking by all the architecture and businesses, and living around such a massive number of so diverse people - that to me is an amazing experience in itself, that can't be replaced by anything... and once you figure out the issue of housing, that additional huge experience of a large cosmopolitan city is completely free - you can have it every day just by walking down the street. To me that is priceless.
This is a fantastic post.
Comment for bold. I know quite a few people like this. And sadly, it's all about "Insta-cred." In this digital world, a lot of people are not only trying to "keep up with the Joneses," but outdo them as well. And for what? A couple of hundred (maybe a few thousand) likes on Instagram? And some comments? Whooptie doo!
To make matters worse, a small portion of these people make more money than me (because I am constantly reminded by how much they are earning via social media), yet, have the audacity to ask me to loan them a couple of dollars from time to time.
Uhm, no. Popping $800 bottles at the club, and now want $20 for lunch from me. No way!
Living within your means isn't rocket science. I understand some people may hit hard times, and that's okay, most of us had hit hard times. But to those that want to spend their rent money at the club? Yeah... no. #BuhBye.
Splurging once in a while is okay, but when it comes to blatant showing off, especially when you DON'T have it like that. That's what's killing people. Always worried about someone else, and what they think of them.
It hurts to see your friends and loved ones go down this path to "compete" with some irrelevant people on social media. I even had to give up on some people because of this behavior.
I'm not the most financially savvy person on Earth (I don't have any investments aside from retirement funds), but at the least, everyone should know the value of saving a dollar or two. It's imperative to have some kind of fallback in a time of need, but I guess a Gucci belt is more important to some people. Learning to let it go. I can't control someone actions, even if they are close to me.
Back to the $50,000. All I'm trynna to say, it's not a terrible salary. I don't think anyone is trying to paint it as the greatest on Earth, but there is potential (raises and bonuses come to mind.) It's far from the worst. OP has received great advice already. Not sure what else to add.
I will note how it seems odd that many threads of this nature generate only one post from the OP... the original post. Do they ever come back? lol
Comment for bold. I know quite a few people like this. And sadly, it's all about "Insta-cred." In this digital world, a lot of people are not only trying to "keep up with the Joneses," but outdo them as well. And for what? A couple of hundred (maybe a few thousand) likes on Instagram? And some comments? Whooptie doo!
To make matters worse, a small portion of these people make more money than me (because I am constantly reminded by how much they are earning via social media), yet, have the audacity to ask me to loan them a couple of dollars from time to time.
Uhm, no. Popping $800 bottles at the club, and now want $20 for lunch from me. No way!
Living within your means isn't rocket science. I understand some people may hit hard times, and that's okay, most of us had hit hard times. But to those that want to spend their rent money at the club? Yeah... no. #BuhBye.
Splurging once in a while is okay, but when it comes to blatant showing off, especially when you DON'T have it like that. That's what's killing people. Always worried about someone else, and what they think of them.
It hurts to see your friends and loved ones go down this path to "compete" with some irrelevant people on social media. I even had to give up on some people because of this behavior.
I'm not the most financially savvy person on Earth (I don't have any investments aside from retirement funds), but at the least, everyone should know the value of saving a dollar or two. It's imperative to have some kind of fallback in a time of need, but I guess a Gucci belt is more important to some people. Learning to let it go. I can't control someone actions, even if they are close to me.
Back to the $50,000. All I'm trynna to say, it's not a terrible salary. I don't think anyone is trying to paint it as the greatest on Earth, but there is potential (raises and bonuses come to mind.) It's far from the worst. OP has received great advice already. Not sure what else to add.
I will note how it seems odd that many threads of this nature generate only one post from the OP... the original post. Do they ever come back? lol
I'd go further and say that it's a good salary, especially if you can keep your housing costs under control. You can still save and enjoy life.
Comment for bold. I know quite a few people like this. And sadly, it's all about "Insta-cred." In this digital world, a lot of people are not only trying to "keep up with the Joneses," but outdo them as well. And for what? A couple of hundred (maybe a few thousand) likes on Instagram? And some comments? Whooptie doo!
To make matters worse, a small portion of these people make more money than me (because I am constantly reminded by how much they are earning via social media), yet, have the audacity to ask me to loan them a couple of dollars from time to time.
Uhm, no. Popping $800 bottles at the club, and now want $20 for lunch from me. No way!
Living within your means isn't rocket science. I understand some people may hit hard times, and that's okay, most of us had hit hard times. But to those that want to spend their rent money at the club? Yeah... no. #BuhBye.
Splurging once in a while is okay, but when it comes to blatant showing off, especially when you DON'T have it like that. That's what's killing people. Always worried about someone else, and what they think of them.
It hurts to see your friends and loved ones go down this path to "compete" with some irrelevant people on social media. I even had to give up on some people because of this behavior.
I'm not the most financially savvy person on Earth (I don't have any investments aside from retirement funds), but at the least, everyone should know the value of saving a dollar or two. It's imperative to have some kind of fallback in a time of need, but I guess a Gucci belt is more important to some people. Learning to let it go. I can't control someone actions, even if they are close to me.
Back to the $50,000. All I'm trynna to say, it's not a terrible salary.l
It's not a terrible salary by any means. It's a respectable middle class professional salary.
But you can't live alone on it really in NYC in 2018. That's sadly the reality of the situation.
It depends on your lifestyle choices. I recommend exploring the possibility of buying a small, cheap co-op or condo in the outer boroughs (or even some Manhattan neighborhoods), maybe a foreclosure. Get yourself on waiting lists for Mitchell-Lama co-ops around the city. Owning something is a great hedge against inflation. Disproportionately high housing costs are the stumbling block, IMO, to ever getting a foothold in life, especially in NYC.
That said, if living in NYC is not the be-all and end-all for you, I recommend that you look all around the country and see what's out there. Once you get out of NYC (or California), the overall cost of living vs. quality of life goes way up (provided, of course, that you have that good-paying teaching job). Make a list of your priorities and go for it. Best of luck!
It can be done. I lived on 50k (or less) for about 6 years.
We live on much less. We live on one Social Security check and bank the other. It all depends on your housing deal.
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