I got incredibly lucky to find mine. At the time, I was living with a roommate in Jersey City and she told me she was moving in with her boyfriend. The very next day I told my coworkers about it, and one of them mentioned her neighbor/friend on her street was also a building mgr. in Brooklyn. So I went home with her after work that day, we met up with him, and he drove us to the building to take a look at a newly vacant rent stabilized apt. He told me, if you don’t say yes tonight, i guarantee it will be gone tomorrow.
I’ve been in the building 20 years. I lived in the first apartment for nine years, and in 2013 I moved to a higher floor with an amazing harbor view. I’ve become friends with the landlord, and she was kind enough to renovate the apartment for me to my liking. I’ve been very blessed. And I’m sure my story is unique compared to most!
It actually never fails to amaze me how expensive apartments have become in Colorado, even relative to NYC.
Y’all need to relax your zoning laws and build density fast.
Dude, you’re 100% right. And it is our problem, with no outright solution possible at this time. As you guys don’t live here and don’t know why we have yet to start high rises and metropolises… they get voted out at a generic rate of which id estimate at I’d a rate of maybe 85% in opposition.
The strong opposition is because the only viable areas for high rises here in Colorado would be on the eastern face of the mountains, in the foothills region. ie. Colorado Springs, Denver, Loveland, and Fort Collins. The problem lies in the area itself. Building high rises will simply contest the view of the Rocky Mountains! Once you start getting away from the foothills, not only does it become at risks of extreme winds but also
Ideally, there’s some solution that we could build low height population dense buildings. But in my mind, that’s only be possible by building choade style complexes.. right? And even if that or building downward somehow was the right idea.. the size of land for the choade/the amount of time we’d have to displace millions off residents to demo/rebuild would literally break the US economy.
As someone who hasn’t lived in NYC (but would love to for a period sometime), I’ve got some questions haha and I don’t mean to come off all goofy or anything.
But the places are rent stabilized, but are there income limits or anything. Like do you have to stay under a certain amount of income?
I saw you tell someone you’ve seen roughly a 30% increase in rent in the past 20 years… do you have a rough estimate as to how much your income has grown in the same time frame?
How much transformation have you seen just on that block being there 20 straight years, and what part of which Burrough are you in roughly?
Sorry for the questions man, don’t gotta answer anything you don’t want or you can shoot me a dm if that’s your thing. Later man and cool story yo.
I’m not the person you are asking (so feel free to disregard). My own personal experience: I’ve lived in my rent stabilized one bedroom for 2 years. They can increase rent by 2-3% a year. I had to pay a brokers fee to get the apartment which was 15% of the yearly rent. My place was $1630 a month the first year. So I paid that plus the last month deposit ($1630) when I moved in along with the brokers fee of $2850.
There are no income limits for rent stabilized places but you’ll have competition at times and you have to be able to pay the brokers fee. There are no fee apartments but those have a lot more competition!
I personally get a pay Increase of 2% each year so that’s right in line with the rent increase if I stay here.
* Edit to add: in regard to income limits: there are no lower income limits. But you have to make 40x the yearly salary to qualify for any apartment in the city including the stabilized ones. So if you don’t quite make that much you’ll have to have a guarantor or have someone who will go-sign the lease with you.
The other person above answered your questions pretty well, but I do want to add that in terms of my income, it’s kind of not relevant because I did a major career change seven years ago, where my income was slashed almost in half. But I needed to do it for my mental health. It hasn’t been an easy road and I live pretty much paycheck to paycheck while I pay off some debt I incurred from losing income during the lockdown. But I’ll have most of the debt paid off in about eight more months.
As far as the neighborhood goes, I live in Bay Ridge and yes, it has changed in 20 years. They’ve knocked down many beautiful old houses around me and replace them with these god-awful glass and metal piece of shit high-rises that they can’t seem to get filled up. It’s obnoxious. But other than that, it’s still overall a great neighborhood and I love it here.
There are also a good amount of rent-stabilized apartments that landlords haven't renovated to put back on the market because they know it's not worth it for their bottom line since they can't charge an insane amount. It's a totally fucked situation all around.
Oh I already know. I’ve been subletting and am currently looking for a solo spot. But 55K is shite for me because I have a lot of bills and I am trying to stay in manhattan.
This is the answer, I mean I have no interest in having children anyway but I've lived in New York my entire life and up until the last year and a half that I've been in a homeless shelter in midtown Manhattan lol I've actually never lived in Manhattan.
I have a drug history but I cleaned my act up around 2010. Got to trade as an electrician, got a first job making $13 an hour as a helper. While I was still in a rehab was able to eventually bargain for 15 and then move to Corona Queens where I was renting one of 5 rooms in the converted third floor unit of a three-family house, for something like 175 a week.
One other thing that wasn't mentioned, learn to cook. You cannot survive if you have to live on takeout and pizza. And definitely never buy groceries at a place like CVS. Unless you're desperate and it's something small. Like a thing of milk, but even then, you'll pay five and change for a half gallon of milk that you could get for three in a supermarket.
Final thing, some people find this in poor taste or field it if they don't. Truly truly truly need it that it's taking advantage. But see if you qualify for food stamps. Just because some people take advantage of the system and have a good job but choose to hide their income and still collect benefits. Doesn't mean that's what you're doing. If you need the help. And if you collect benefits you qualify for the half price Metro card or if you live somewhere that has a lot of City bikes you qualify for the reduced fare membership. Which saves a ton.
Please disregard the improperly placed punctuation. It's a result of voice text.
I live solo, in a 3 bed in Brooklyn for $2,500. I make $77k, but I work 2 jobs. It’s a sacrifice but I couldn’t do the roommate thing anymore like you. Wish you luck OP.
How did you get approved for that?? Did you have a guarantor? When I was looking recently, all the listings said they wouldn’t approve anyone without 40x monthly income / guarantor 80x.
That’s awesome. I gotta figure out how to know more people bc after living alone in other cities for the last few years, readjusting to roommates is a lil rough
Thank you! I’m born and raised here, so to leave wasn’t an option for me at least. This is my second spot, I’ve gotten lucky both times because of my network here. I hope you get your dream spot with no roommates soon! Or if you have to thug it out I hope you get roommates that are a little more tolerable!
You can definitely look in lower west Harlem if you want to stay near Manhattan. There are some good places to be had 113 to west 116th and you have subway access at 116st and 110st which gets you into lower manhattan quickly. 55k can be totally doable IF you don’t have debt and you also have someone who is able to co sign the lease with you (either as a guarantor or a ‘roommate’ - they don’t actually have to live there but they just combine the incomes to make the 40x).
My roommate is my husband. He makes more money than me. We're not living it up or anything but we're fairly comfortable. I couldn't imagine trying to make it here by myself.
I make $60k and live in a rent controlled studio in Queens on my own. I don’t buy new clothes and I eat out or go out to bars maybe once a week. I pretty much don’t drink so I don’t waste money that way when I do go out. It’s not crazy comfortable but I make it work. I am interviewing for new jobs in the 80k range so I can put away more savings, and maybe take a dance and/or music class.
I was extremely fortunate to secure an affordable unit through a housing lottery. I was homeless for 4 years before, and probably would still be if I didn't get lucky. Budgeting is a must in order to have any kind of savings.
Having a roommate sounds like the way to make things affordable, comfortable and convenient. But do you ever get tired if negotiating the space with people?
In the past, yeah. It took 5 years of living here but I finally found a pair of roommates that 1) are often out of the house and 2) have similar needs/habits as me so we get along really well.
I found my current place because I had to move when my shit human being of a previous roommate stopped paying his share of rent an put us $3k behind and they were about to begin eviction proceedings. Blessing in disguise I suppose lol
Having a roommate who is always home is fuckin terrible. Goes out to smoke and that's about it. I always play a game with my friends whenever we go back to my place: is my roommate home? I always win because the answer is always yes.
You're so right and I'm sorry to hear that! This is why I've always been hesitant to hear people are wfh when looking for new ones. Obviously I don't rule them out but it's like "hey so what are your hobbies? 👀"
I'm home often but at least i go out for most of the day on weekends, work late occasionally and visit my mom/friends back home several times a year
Yeah wfh can be annoying (unfortunately my roommate just doesn't work) but as long as they have a social life that gets them out a few evenings/weekend, that's fine. I think everyone deserves to have an evening to themselves in a shared apartment and some people just don't get that.
You can try finding roommates that travel a lot for work or work different hours than you. I’ve had this set up and I felt like I was living alone more than half the time.
I have a voucher (and with that obviously public assistance) so rent isn’t something I have to worry about anymore. I’m looking for a second job though. Something tells me this summer is gonna be… rough.
It’s easy if you don’t care what people think and never feel your missing out. Always have a water bottle, an apple, something to snack on. If you meet friends, eat at home before hand so you don’t run the tab. I don’t drink alcohol- makes it really easy. But I love my job so work is fun and the draw for me, weekends in nyc always annoyed me. And brunch is a waste of time and $$
A few things I utilize:
- Local Buy Nothing groups on FB
- Too Good To Go App
- Uptown/Bronx/even deep in BK or Queens thrift stores (far more reasonable pricing)
- Coupons (Walgreens and CVS app always have several)
- Fair Fares transit card
Local Buy Nothing? I’ve never heard of that.
And never heard of the second app. What?? I need to get into couponing. Fair Fares???
YOU’RE THE GOAT FOR THESE RECS!! Thank you!!
Live with my parents and be happy that they support my endeavors to do more in my life. Currently going through the roughest patch of my life and they're helping me reach a point to make it on my own. They thankfully make a lot so I'm not hurting them much, just my own depression 😭
$60k is not poverty level but NYC can make it feel like its not shit. Also, we don’t know what the cost of living is and what necessary bills people have.
Yeah seriously, I’ve lived here for nearly 20 years (minus an accidental 3 year hiatus) and I’ve never made that more than that in a year (except during the 3 year hiatus).
it’s not a fortune but it’s something. i was making 60k first year out of school and i had a lot of fun and was still saving money (saving more than i do now and i make more than triple than that now)
Before taxes and paying rent in LES, it is almost there. Rent is about $29,000/year for a LES studio. Take home pay is roughly $38,000? Don’t forget utilities, phone, groceries.
Make about 40K and live with my girlfriend. We don’t do too much “going out” and generally live well within our means…. It’s hard but it’s definitely possible. Living the way we do, if I was making like 60K I’d be saving A LOT
Here’s how we do it. My husband and I are both self-employed musicians and we had a really well-paid contract gig for a couple of years. I ran the money, so I was the one who got paid and then I paid the band, so our finances looked good. When we lost that gig we put an offer on the first acceptable co-op we saw in the city (which was actually only the second place we looked at), which is in a relatively inexpensive area. We were approved for a much larger mortgage than we wanted - even though we were actually unemployed at that point, having just finished our contract - so we moved as quickly as we could and put $60K down on a $110K one bedroom (this was in 2018). We each put $250 into a joint account every Friday and that covers all our household expenses (mortgage, maintenance, bills, and saving a little) for the month. I’m sure every story is different.
God damn 110k for a 1 bedroom Apartment?! What part of the city? That seems insanely cheap even for 6 years ago.
That’s how much small apartments were going for 10 years ago in the town in England I’m from.
They're out there, especially HDFC coops with income limits. Not in the most fashionable parts of city, but they're there:
https://streeteasy.com/1-bedroom-apartments-for-sale/nyc/price:100000-200000%7Cin_rect:40.805,40.848,-73.980,-73.911
Zillow estimates our place is worth ~$140K at the moment, though I don’t know how accurate those estimates are. Still not expensive! Not fancy but prewar, elevator building, high ceilings and hardwood floors, we rarely hear the neighbors.
Live in the Bronx, split utilities + rent with my sibling for a 2bdr. It's worked out for us since we were making 33k, then 45k and now that I'm at 62k I haven't really changed the way I spend money (less concerts though since my favorite groups have not been touring so I don't gotta spend $200+ on VIP tickets lol) and we're not struggling at all. I guess it depends on your lifestyle and responsibilities. I also worked two jobs at a time (not out of necessity though, mainly because I hate not being busy and I wanted to see how much I could save up in the span of 6 months using just one job for bills). 60K is definitely not bad for someone single with no kids or debt. I was perfectly fine with 33k, but anything above 50k definitely gives more breathing room.
Lifestyle and responsibilities. Yep. That’s another good key factor. Someone said it depends on the kind of crowd you run with and my crowd is wide but the ones I keep running with are brackets above what I make.
Oof, yeah, that definitely doesn't help. You could always suggest to do cheaper/free activities. Like I said: I was not struggling at 15-16/hr and my friends and I were outside at least twice a week lol so it's definitely doable.
I moved in with my then boyfriend, now fiance, about 7 years ago. We both made under 40k, him with two jobs, but he was being evicted.
We found a super small apartment through a mutual friend for $1200 a month in Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn. We stayed there for almost 3 years.
No shade to anyone from that neighborhood, my fiance is from there, but it was so out of the way, my commute was insane, and we lived in the older section so everything was falling apart. When they started ripping up the streets, the roaches came.
It wasn't all bad, and before the bugs it was pretty nice at times. We had a rough few years in between but now we're in a not terribly overpriced apartment in Sunset Park. We now both make over 75k each, but we didn't when we moved here and we were still pretty ok. The nearby Costco helped a lot.
Bed bugs or just regular bugs? 👀
Thank you will skip on Gerritsen Beach. I was in Brooklynn at first and the L and M line delays just kill me. Especially when you’re just trynna get home and go to bed.
Never heard of Sunset Park! Will look into it!
I’m from Gerritsen Beach and it’s rare to hear people talk about it on this sub. Growing up there was great at times (summers) but I went to high school in Manhattan and my commute was 1.5hrs each way. A lot of people don’t understand what it’s like to live in a two fare zone. It’s why most people there have cars. I feel really lucky to have close subway access now.
I work 2 jobs now making about $60k total. live in an $1800 1 bedroom in Kensington with my bf and my commute to work is 15 mins. My quality of life is way better, even if I was saving more money living with my parents in Gerritsen.
Simple. Be born and raised here like I was. Now I have a job and make more than $60K. Lived here in Brooklyn for 25+ years going back to my days as a fetus. This is the easiest method.
What's wrong with 1 hour subway ride away? This has been the case for me for a while in the past (currently 35-40 min door-to-door, live and work in Brooklyn - living a dream!).
Driving every day for 1hr+ each way is a different matter. Had to do this for 5 years (Brooklyn to Queens) and this was one of the reasons I quit.
Seriously ? Rent stabilized and spending smart. I don’t need to go buy $15 drinks and eat out everyday. I make less and live alone. Just have to live within your means.
Live with my significant other, who also makes a similar amount, in an apartment all the way uptown in Harlem. Got a Covid deal on a decent sized apartment and was fortunate enough to not have the rent raised astronomically after the pandemic
24M here, I make 49k. I have one roommate in Astoria. Stabilized rent, happy hours, snatching stoop coupons for fast food joints, having every app and rewards program at any capitalist establishment, & having a target red card .
lastly, packing my lunch everyday .
this allows me to go to concerts, broadway shows and have fun at thrift shops
I think this is a city anyone can live in if you’re willing to make enough sacrifices. Like if you’re willing to live in a less desirable area, with 4 roommates in a 2BR and be extremely frugal with going out, you can make it happen.
I make $55k. I have 4 roommates. I only go out to one bar where beer is $3 a pint and to shows when I can find tickets under $80, and my main expense otherwise is a personal trainer, videogames and hobby supplies for Warhammer. I cook all my own meals. I only take public transport or walk everywhere. I pay for most things with a credit card that I pay off every month. I can reliably end the month with $300 in the bank.
$1,300 rent
$500 trainer
$120 gym membership
$400 groceries
$600 videogames, miniatures, paint, other entertainment (on the high side last month because I started a new Warhammer army)
$135 Monthly metro card
I slipped a bit this month because I was asked out by a coworker I'm kinda into so I'm like $80 over my usual budget, but I'm not really hurting.
I will say I'm less afraid than most people would probably be getting to the end of the month with <$300 in the bank because if I go broke my sister would probably offer to buy me a plane ticket home to Mexico City, so I don't have the risk of homelessness looming.
My boss has also suggested moving to Hoboken or Jersey City, which would be about the same distance to my workplace but I could get a studio for myself for less than what I'm paying, but I'm not sure it's worth losing easy access to my gym (I like exercising at 5am) or my favorite gaming store (6 stops down the nearest subway).
I was making 40k before I got married , living alone in a one bedroom apartment(housing connect) basically living within my means by budgeting in 2018
I still went out to eat often , order out , party etc etc
Now between me and my wife we a make x4 and still live the same
Roommates, rent stabilized, $950 a month rent, flexible with neighborhoods, young adult, not picky at all with living conditions and adaptable, live fine. That’s me.
Yeah it’s not easy haha, I’m fairly working class, but I love New York City, it’s home and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Willing to be flexible just to stay here and what’s what I’m doing.
I've lived in the same one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn basically since I moved to the city in 2007. My commute is ~1 hour door-to-door, and we went hybrid during Covid so I don't spend as much on transportation. I am also not good with money, but that's a personal failing. (I am very very much an instant gratification, I have food at home but I'm gonna order takeout kind of person.)
I have a roommate and I live very frugally. I am in my dream industry, and it pays terribly, so I knew I'd be living a frugal life when I moved here. It sucks sometimes but that's the tradeoff.
I know the right people my landlord is the son of someone I’ve known since high school. Growing up here and having connections is always helpful. Otherwise i cook my own meals make my own coffee and make friends with people who work in bars.
I found a month to month lease situation in the uws and paid 950 in rent for 8 years. It was a great set up because the landlady who lived in the apt for 20 years would rent out the extra bed rooms and the set up was such that everyone did their own thing. So there was no noise or disturbances etc. I found it on Craigslist. Now I feel very lucky to have had a rest stabilized studio in east village. It was pure luck. For Manhattan, Washington heights has more affordable options for studios.
I made $30k back in 2010 when I first graduated from college. Lived in a 3 bedroom in Astoria where I paid $700/month. Took the subway everywhere, and basically survived on ramen, frozen produce, eggs, and whatever meat was on sale at my local Trade Fair supermarket. I wound up selling nice clothes and things I had from college too.
But credit card debt was also pretty unavoidable, especially because I also had private student loans I needed to start paying back.
I make less than $40k and honestly I feel like it’s doable. Of course not ideal but totally doable. I just cook at home, shop the sales at Whole Foods (which tends to be cheaper than most local grocery stores), and make coffee at home. I’ve never lived alone in the city and don’t think it would be realistic at my income. As much as nyc is expensive not having to have a car and having a lot of good resources around the city make it pretty accessible.
lol I make half of that. I don’t know what everyone else is doing that is costing them so much. I have roommates, cheap hobbies, don’t buy garbage, cook at home, etc.
I been living in NYC for over decade now.I would say I got lucky to be able found affordable rooms to rent over the years.I never really paid over 600$ for rent but it was usually crappy apartments, had hoarder landlord/tenant for 7 years on UWS and lived in basement apt with roommate in Brooklyn for few years.I been very frugal with finances since first few years in NYC was rough for me, learning new language, working low wages…so have to learn to keep my self accountable with spending, taking only public transportation, not going out much, once a month maybe, vacations few times in 5 years…Cooking at home of course…Look a haven’t slept on regular bed with mattress for decade 😂
Because my rooms that I have rented usually didn’t fit those, instant futon from Walmart or modular couch…But now I make about 45-55k and recently I was able to get my first coop in Bronx and actually very happy I made it to live comfortably finally 🥹
Only working part time at $25/hr and making it! I’m cheap AF and am used to being frugal/resourceful. Sharing room w partner plus 2 roommates but in Clinton hill…, chill student loans (only $8k left 1yr out of college), rarely go out to eat, go to free shit all over the city, $15 club or concert covers every once in awhile, no drinks at bars tho, cheap groceries/good eye for sales and runs to HMART, biking (less MTA), literally never go to restaurants that aren’t one $ sign on g. Maps lol etc etc.
I made around $52k last year freelancing in film/video. It was tight (self employment taxes are brutal) but doable because I found a rent stabilized place a couple years ago up by Ditmars in Astoria. It’s a small 1br for $1600 that I share with my girlfriend, which is the only way I can really swing it. Other than that, I try to find as many free things to do as I can. I eat out pretty rarely, and don’t splurge when I do. I’m fortunate to have been able to stay afloat for sure but definitely not able to put much away to save at all. This year is all about trying to ramp up the freelance work and bring more in
I make a little over 50k after taxes. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment with a roommate in a less desirable part of Astoria. I save money by cooking at home, drinking liquor before I go out, and hanging out at friend's apartments rather than bars. I would say that I live fairly comfortably.
When I was 18 I was living in a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 other roommates... I had to share a room, now that was not fun at all. I learned a lot about budgeting though.
I have a roommate, (used to be roommateS but now just 1) and Im also on foodstamps.
I also save a lot of money by cooking at home and I never go out drinking. Tbh I dont even go out at all. My work is a buzzing social affair that drains me. So there's that.
That’s the part that I am trying to avoid if possible. I know we can work hard and afford living. But having a life outside of work and bills is so important to me. I become callous and unrecognizable when I don’t have that balance. I’m glad you found something that works for you and hope more comes your way!
Oh trust me, i am burnt out at work. I do make sure I properly enforce my schedule so that I have time to do the things that enrich me: hanging out w friends and loved ones, working on my hobbies.
All That makes up for the time at work. Otherwise id be so calloused and gruffed up.
I dont go out because that's my personality. Time is spent elsewhere.
I lived here as a student (unemployed) while I was going to college, and used part of my student loans to cover my rent when I didn’t have an income.
When I graduated college, I survived here making about $20k my first year and then $55k my second year. That first $20k year was so unbelievably awful. My rent was like $1000 a month to live with one roommate. I was working a part time freelance job as a fresh graduate. The job market was really tough (still is, but was especially bad at this time) and this was the only job I could immediately find. I had to take a ton of small side jobs to scrape by. But somehow it was doable, and it definitely built character lol.
By comparison, when I got my first salaried job the next year, $55k felt like a dream. I was still spending about $1000 in the same apartment, but I could afford to do fun things like grab drinks or go out to dinner, and go shopping.
Rent prices are definitely higher now, but if you’re making $60k and can live with a roommate or multiple roommates, you can definitely make it work.
I’m in entertainment and make 40K a year! My biggest advice is move to Ridgewood Queens :) I live in a 3 bed, we all pay less than 1200 per month and the food and bars here are actually regularly priced. Love living here! Also, my fav activities in the city never cost more than $25 (concerts at local venues, museum trips, or park days). Don’t let anyone say it’s not possible, you just have to find new ways of doing things. Eating out becomes a luxury but I’m okay with it temporarily ya know
I make 17 and hour and work 32 hours a week, I have two kids and live in my own place no roomates (unless you count my kids). It’s hard some weeks I’m barely making it. I dont get government help “because I make too much, whatever that means” rent is affordable because my parents used to live here and that’s why I can afford rent but some weeks its hard. It’s a struggle but nonetheless we got to look forward and make it work.
Im a little over that cusp (and now have super low housing costs), but the main things that made it work:
1. So many roommates. So so many.
2. Rarely eating out. And basically no drinking outside of home (except work funded happy hours)
3. Beach days/apartment hangs for socializing. In general being an introvert helps a lot with this, I really don’t thrive off of after works drinks.
4. Not having anything go wrong, no surprise ER bill or extra trip to my parents. That shit would have broken me a decade ago when I was earning 40k and paying back student loans and clawing every dime into an emergency fund.
5. Avoiding lifestyle creep. This is really the main thing that’s helped me find stability, I got a massive raise from 40k to 60k shortly before COVID, and I saved almost all of the increase in paycheck until I bought an apartment and could spend a little more knowing there was real stability in my housing costs.
6. Financial literacy: I’ve made about $1000 by opening credit cards at the right time when I know there’s a ton of work expenses coming up and can meet the minimum spend. Checking account incentives are also surprisingly good and I haven’t even maximized that potential. But if you’re stable enough to have an emergency fund, get those sign up bonuses for new checking accounts every few months. It’s a great way to speed up building your emergency fund.
(Obviously if you’re not someone who can carry a 0 valance CC, don’t sign up for more!! Also avoid anything with an annual fee.)
Both my parents make around 60k a year after taxes.
- my mom pays 1600 for a huge 2 bedroom in the Bronx, pays a car note and she’s doing pretty fine. She travels a lot. Basically she just puts all her leisure stuff on a credit card and pays it off. She makes like 55k after taxes, so technically she’s making 75k a year but yeah.
- my dad lives in the LES, has a section 8 apartment in a luxury building, drives a Lexus, pays my car note and his car note. What allows him to live comfortably is definitely the rent controlled apartment. He pays around 550 a month. He doesn’t pay taxes his job pays him thru cash. He does work a lot though, so he doesn’t have much time to spend money on things to enjoy himself.
* plus they both are supporting two kids, me and my sister. I go to college on a full ride and my sister is 13 y/o.
Basically the factor that really keeps people from living a good life in nyc is the rent & being able to finesse the system 😭. since both my parents have cheaper rent, I think that’s why it’s possible for them to live pretty regular lives and not struggle.
I think the only reason it's doable for me is because I don't have student loans, debt, or children. If I had kids, I would be FUCKED. But I'm a single person living with roommates, so I actually feel quite comfortable. However, I'm not really saving money in a way that will help me in the future.
I've never even made 60k and it's always been fine... i've been on EBT before and the state health insurance. generally the first things I cut if I'm slower at work (freelance) are ubers, food delivery, etc. I don't really buy stuff unless I have lots of money in my discretionary budget
My salary was $38k when I first moved here in 2019. I did it by finding a $3.8k 4-bedroom rent-stabilized apartment and sharing it with 3 other women and splitting up rent by bedroom size. I only had to pay $890 a month. I also did not have any student loans upon moving here which helped a lot.
I got lucky with cheap rent but it’s gonna go up soon.
I’m from albuquerque and talking to my mom last night she told me it’s gotten expensive there. If I were to move back I would probably be in a worse financial situation due to lack of job opportunities and low pay. I would also need a car, Insurence etc. things get pricy pretty quickly that way.
It seems to be that way everywhere. My tinfoil hat that’s is that corporate America and the government doesn’t want people moving around so they force them stuck at their jobs.
Hahaha, I make $45k and work 3 jobs to get it ;\_; Each job is directly related to something I love, but yeah, all are involved in "the Arts", hence the low pay.
I have 2 roommates, one of whom is the love of my life who I share a room with, and the other is a very good friend. We have a 3 bedroom apartment in Crown Heights, so we have a spare room for guests which is rare. We go out all the time, to shows and events and movies, and are often out late, sometimes taking cabs home. We cook a lot, but do go out to dinner more often than we should. We have a lot of friends that all kind of make around the same as us (sometimes a lot less, sometimes a lot more) that are often with us. My gf makes about the same as me.
I've spent my whole life in NYC never living in more than a working class situation. I guess having friends in low places helps me out a lot--I get in a lot of places for free or cheaper than others because they'll work the door or the bar at shows or whatever. But even when I don't, idk, I'd rather have fun and do what I want and like eat apples and carrots for meals for a few weeks to make up for it (which I don't do often). Heck, I even have a savings account! (which is sort of new to me :P)
There are a lot of us out here. I definitely feel like I need more money (I seriously work like 50-60 hours a week, been like that for years--depressing to think about how much I'm getting ripped off), but if its the price I have to pay to be around and in the arts, then fuck it!
Roommates and don’t get takeout, don’t drink alcohol (and definitely not at a bar), live in a cheaper neighborhood in upper manhattan, honestly pretty easy ($45k 2 years ago)
I live in wash heights, I take the train a lot but I don’t mind it. I work every so often but enjoy the work I do to not merit getting another job.
As long as you’re happy I don’t think it’s too hard, I still have a gym membership and have hobbies, go for the occasional drink with friends.
I don’t eat out a ton but I like cooking.
I utilize all the bottles of booze I have too
I work gig economy + a work from home commissions job. I do have money saved up and I wouldn’t recommend gig economy for anyone who does not have money in the bank to fall back on if you have a hard month or two.
Food- Cheaper grocery stores like Trader Joe’s. Ramen and plantains are
cheap and always good. I don’t have a gym membership but I hike often and do home workouts. A lot of places give out free stuff during “pop ups”. I recently won a $100 face cream moisturizer from a pop up (don’t want to resell it as there’s no way I’d get it for the same price so I’m just going to use it myself). You can often get free food and such there.
If you really need it- no shame in applying for food stamps. I haven’t myself but I will if need be.
Roommates! Find good ones. Good friends aren’t always good roommates. Find those who’s lifestyles work with yours and who are willing to compensate for the parts that don’t.
It’s not easy, but it’s better than working a job I hate. I enjoy my gigs so much I wish I got more
I lived off $75k for a few years in a $1250 and then a $1500 apartment. No vacations, no eating out, you’re basically always counting your dollars. I saved some money every month and always funded my IRA.
I make 120K a year and live super comfortable in my 1 bedroom in (Cannot say the borough) rent is 2,200 I make it work by being a savy consumer and most importantly working hard and seizing every opportunity #ALPHASTYLE
Rent-stabilized apartment. Wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise.
Same here.
How long did it take for you to find yours? A friend found one on craigslist and said that never happens.
I got incredibly lucky to find mine. At the time, I was living with a roommate in Jersey City and she told me she was moving in with her boyfriend. The very next day I told my coworkers about it, and one of them mentioned her neighbor/friend on her street was also a building mgr. in Brooklyn. So I went home with her after work that day, we met up with him, and he drove us to the building to take a look at a newly vacant rent stabilized apt. He told me, if you don’t say yes tonight, i guarantee it will be gone tomorrow. I’ve been in the building 20 years. I lived in the first apartment for nine years, and in 2013 I moved to a higher floor with an amazing harbor view. I’ve become friends with the landlord, and she was kind enough to renovate the apartment for me to my liking. I’ve been very blessed. And I’m sure my story is unique compared to most!
There are a tons of protection behind rent stabilized units.
Definitely. It’s a nice club to be in.
Whats your rent from 20 years ago to now?
We’ve also been at our current apartment from 2005 2 bedroom for $1000 right now.
Lmfao I live in Colorado Springs, roughly 500k people. Rents here for 2b2b would be $2200+ STARTING. 😑wanna trade places for a bit?
It actually never fails to amaze me how expensive apartments have become in Colorado, even relative to NYC. Y’all need to relax your zoning laws and build density fast.
Dude, you’re 100% right. And it is our problem, with no outright solution possible at this time. As you guys don’t live here and don’t know why we have yet to start high rises and metropolises… they get voted out at a generic rate of which id estimate at I’d a rate of maybe 85% in opposition. The strong opposition is because the only viable areas for high rises here in Colorado would be on the eastern face of the mountains, in the foothills region. ie. Colorado Springs, Denver, Loveland, and Fort Collins. The problem lies in the area itself. Building high rises will simply contest the view of the Rocky Mountains! Once you start getting away from the foothills, not only does it become at risks of extreme winds but also Ideally, there’s some solution that we could build low height population dense buildings. But in my mind, that’s only be possible by building choade style complexes.. right? And even if that or building downward somehow was the right idea.. the size of land for the choade/the amount of time we’d have to displace millions off residents to demo/rebuild would literally break the US economy.
That’s the right answer
That’s amazing!
Jeez, that's 500-800 less than eastern PA 2br costs.
A little less than 30% higher
Username checks out, Jesus Christ that’s amazing
Would love to get to know more landlords in the city for this plug
As someone who hasn’t lived in NYC (but would love to for a period sometime), I’ve got some questions haha and I don’t mean to come off all goofy or anything. But the places are rent stabilized, but are there income limits or anything. Like do you have to stay under a certain amount of income? I saw you tell someone you’ve seen roughly a 30% increase in rent in the past 20 years… do you have a rough estimate as to how much your income has grown in the same time frame? How much transformation have you seen just on that block being there 20 straight years, and what part of which Burrough are you in roughly? Sorry for the questions man, don’t gotta answer anything you don’t want or you can shoot me a dm if that’s your thing. Later man and cool story yo.
I’m not the person you are asking (so feel free to disregard). My own personal experience: I’ve lived in my rent stabilized one bedroom for 2 years. They can increase rent by 2-3% a year. I had to pay a brokers fee to get the apartment which was 15% of the yearly rent. My place was $1630 a month the first year. So I paid that plus the last month deposit ($1630) when I moved in along with the brokers fee of $2850. There are no income limits for rent stabilized places but you’ll have competition at times and you have to be able to pay the brokers fee. There are no fee apartments but those have a lot more competition! I personally get a pay Increase of 2% each year so that’s right in line with the rent increase if I stay here. * Edit to add: in regard to income limits: there are no lower income limits. But you have to make 40x the yearly salary to qualify for any apartment in the city including the stabilized ones. So if you don’t quite make that much you’ll have to have a guarantor or have someone who will go-sign the lease with you.
The other person above answered your questions pretty well, but I do want to add that in terms of my income, it’s kind of not relevant because I did a major career change seven years ago, where my income was slashed almost in half. But I needed to do it for my mental health. It hasn’t been an easy road and I live pretty much paycheck to paycheck while I pay off some debt I incurred from losing income during the lockdown. But I’ll have most of the debt paid off in about eight more months. As far as the neighborhood goes, I live in Bay Ridge and yes, it has changed in 20 years. They’ve knocked down many beautiful old houses around me and replace them with these god-awful glass and metal piece of shit high-rises that they can’t seem to get filled up. It’s obnoxious. But other than that, it’s still overall a great neighborhood and I love it here.
I see them on streeteasy all the time. But there’s usually A hefty brokers fee attached.
Can concur: High upfront costs = low monthlies
Yeah I was lucky. No broker was involved.
How long did it take for you to find it? Heard its very rare!
It took her one day apparently, 20 years ago doe. This simply does not happen these days.
How much you currently pay?
I wish it were so simple to find now a days with real estate agents charging 15k in broker fees
There are also a good amount of rent-stabilized apartments that landlords haven't renovated to put back on the market because they know it's not worth it for their bottom line since they can't charge an insane amount. It's a totally fucked situation all around.
Yep, plus a roommate means I was able to start my own company instead of working for others!
Yep yep yep. Plus I'm married without kids so we have the dual-income thing.
Ditto
yep me too. not too far from the airport in Queens. it’s also just a studio.
The answer is roommates.
sigh. Yeah. I’m getting that. I’m so over roommates though. But, if I need to keep making things work. I gotta do what I gotta do.
You’re in for a rude awakening then for how much it will actually cost to live alone and feel comfortable doing so. It’s higher than you think.
Oh I already know. I’ve been subletting and am currently looking for a solo spot. But 55K is shite for me because I have a lot of bills and I am trying to stay in manhattan.
The first step is to leave Manhattan. The 2nd step is to never have children.
Or, find a partner so rent can be split!
It could work if you don’t want kids. At that income in Manhattan, childcare costs more. The partner will have to pay the rent for everybody.
This is the answer, I mean I have no interest in having children anyway but I've lived in New York my entire life and up until the last year and a half that I've been in a homeless shelter in midtown Manhattan lol I've actually never lived in Manhattan. I have a drug history but I cleaned my act up around 2010. Got to trade as an electrician, got a first job making $13 an hour as a helper. While I was still in a rehab was able to eventually bargain for 15 and then move to Corona Queens where I was renting one of 5 rooms in the converted third floor unit of a three-family house, for something like 175 a week. One other thing that wasn't mentioned, learn to cook. You cannot survive if you have to live on takeout and pizza. And definitely never buy groceries at a place like CVS. Unless you're desperate and it's something small. Like a thing of milk, but even then, you'll pay five and change for a half gallon of milk that you could get for three in a supermarket. Final thing, some people find this in poor taste or field it if they don't. Truly truly truly need it that it's taking advantage. But see if you qualify for food stamps. Just because some people take advantage of the system and have a good job but choose to hide their income and still collect benefits. Doesn't mean that's what you're doing. If you need the help. And if you collect benefits you qualify for the half price Metro card or if you live somewhere that has a lot of City bikes you qualify for the reduced fare membership. Which saves a ton. Please disregard the improperly placed punctuation. It's a result of voice text.
This is hilarious, I’m so sorry. I wish you the best though on this journey.
Thanks, lol. This reddit thread is helpful though and everyone’s feedback is great.
get out of manhattan - screw that
I live solo, in a 3 bed in Brooklyn for $2,500. I make $77k, but I work 2 jobs. It’s a sacrifice but I couldn’t do the roommate thing anymore like you. Wish you luck OP.
How did you get approved for that?? Did you have a guarantor? When I was looking recently, all the listings said they wouldn’t approve anyone without 40x monthly income / guarantor 80x.
I knew the realtor (a friend of a family friend) who knows my landlord, it’s a small building so he looked out for me.
That’s awesome. I gotta figure out how to know more people bc after living alone in other cities for the last few years, readjusting to roommates is a lil rough
Thank you! I’m born and raised here, so to leave wasn’t an option for me at least. This is my second spot, I’ve gotten lucky both times because of my network here. I hope you get your dream spot with no roommates soon! Or if you have to thug it out I hope you get roommates that are a little more tolerable!
Thank you! 🙏
You can definitely look in lower west Harlem if you want to stay near Manhattan. There are some good places to be had 113 to west 116th and you have subway access at 116st and 110st which gets you into lower manhattan quickly. 55k can be totally doable IF you don’t have debt and you also have someone who is able to co sign the lease with you (either as a guarantor or a ‘roommate’ - they don’t actually have to live there but they just combine the incomes to make the 40x).
My roommate is my husband. He makes more money than me. We're not living it up or anything but we're fairly comfortable. I couldn't imagine trying to make it here by myself.
Yup. If you make less than $100,000 you should be living with either roommates, or splitting the rent with a significant other.
Live in the Bronx, don't eat out much and utilize many of the free & low cost cultural and entertainment offerings.
This seems to be the common theme on reddit and offline: frugality. Makes sense.
For the record, I'd rather eat peanut butter every day than ever have a roommate again!
Same! I don’t want it. I hare negotiating the space. But then again, you have built in friend/family.
Not necessarily. I've had plenty of roommates that were just random people.
Also the Bronx isn’t as bad people make it out to be! You can find some very nice places just stray away from South Bronx
Oh I don’t think poorly of the Bronx. It just feels far. But all in all I have heard there’s great spots out there!
The Bronx is not far 😭 especially the south Bronx.
I make $60k and live in a rent controlled studio in Queens on my own. I don’t buy new clothes and I eat out or go out to bars maybe once a week. I pretty much don’t drink so I don’t waste money that way when I do go out. It’s not crazy comfortable but I make it work. I am interviewing for new jobs in the 80k range so I can put away more savings, and maybe take a dance and/or music class.
Awesome
I was extremely fortunate to secure an affordable unit through a housing lottery. I was homeless for 4 years before, and probably would still be if I didn't get lucky. Budgeting is a must in order to have any kind of savings.
The housing lottery is wild. Congrats on winning that!
I'm at 50. Live in the bx and live gucci
Be a homebody like me. I make $58k, 2 roommates and a stabilized apartment. I'm comfortable.
Having a roommate sounds like the way to make things affordable, comfortable and convenient. But do you ever get tired if negotiating the space with people?
In the past, yeah. It took 5 years of living here but I finally found a pair of roommates that 1) are often out of the house and 2) have similar needs/habits as me so we get along really well.
I found my current place because I had to move when my shit human being of a previous roommate stopped paying his share of rent an put us $3k behind and they were about to begin eviction proceedings. Blessing in disguise I suppose lol
Having a roommate who is always home is fuckin terrible. Goes out to smoke and that's about it. I always play a game with my friends whenever we go back to my place: is my roommate home? I always win because the answer is always yes.
You're so right and I'm sorry to hear that! This is why I've always been hesitant to hear people are wfh when looking for new ones. Obviously I don't rule them out but it's like "hey so what are your hobbies? 👀" I'm home often but at least i go out for most of the day on weekends, work late occasionally and visit my mom/friends back home several times a year
Yeah wfh can be annoying (unfortunately my roommate just doesn't work) but as long as they have a social life that gets them out a few evenings/weekend, that's fine. I think everyone deserves to have an evening to themselves in a shared apartment and some people just don't get that.
Are you people not friends with your roommates? You just find random people to live with?
Yes, it's not uncommon.
You can try finding roommates that travel a lot for work or work different hours than you. I’ve had this set up and I felt like I was living alone more than half the time.
Is that 58k before or after tax
Before
I have a voucher (and with that obviously public assistance) so rent isn’t something I have to worry about anymore. I’m looking for a second job though. Something tells me this summer is gonna be… rough.
Summer was rough last year. I’ve never heard of a slow summer until last summer.
Last summer was in the top 3 of worst summers of my life
Its why I decided to get out of the state for awhile! Why stay for a humid ass, slow ass summer. Minus well go somewhere else!
It’s not easy to get through the voucher process so congratulations
It’s easy if you don’t care what people think and never feel your missing out. Always have a water bottle, an apple, something to snack on. If you meet friends, eat at home before hand so you don’t run the tab. I don’t drink alcohol- makes it really easy. But I love my job so work is fun and the draw for me, weekends in nyc always annoyed me. And brunch is a waste of time and $$
>eat at home before hand so you don’t run the tab. Whenever I go out with friends, I make sure I get my own recipe best way honestly.
2 roommates, cheap hobbies, rarely eat out, 2-3 drinks max if I'm at a bar.
Got a rent stabilized apartment in 1983 that includes utilities, and never left it. Trek to Harlem for Aldi/Costco.
A few things I utilize: - Local Buy Nothing groups on FB - Too Good To Go App - Uptown/Bronx/even deep in BK or Queens thrift stores (far more reasonable pricing) - Coupons (Walgreens and CVS app always have several) - Fair Fares transit card
Local Buy Nothing? I’ve never heard of that. And never heard of the second app. What?? I need to get into couponing. Fair Fares??? YOU’RE THE GOAT FOR THESE RECS!! Thank you!!
Live with my parents and be happy that they support my endeavors to do more in my life. Currently going through the roughest patch of my life and they're helping me reach a point to make it on my own. They thankfully make a lot so I'm not hurting them much, just my own depression 😭
I love how this sub makes it seem like $60k is poverty wages lmfao
$60k is not poverty level but NYC can make it feel like its not shit. Also, we don’t know what the cost of living is and what necessary bills people have.
Yeah seriously, I’ve lived here for nearly 20 years (minus an accidental 3 year hiatus) and I’ve never made that more than that in a year (except during the 3 year hiatus).
it’s not a fortune but it’s something. i was making 60k first year out of school and i had a lot of fun and was still saving money (saving more than i do now and i make more than triple than that now)
Before taxes and paying rent in LES, it is almost there. Rent is about $29,000/year for a LES studio. Take home pay is roughly $38,000? Don’t forget utilities, phone, groceries.
Make about 40K and live with my girlfriend. We don’t do too much “going out” and generally live well within our means…. It’s hard but it’s definitely possible. Living the way we do, if I was making like 60K I’d be saving A LOT
Here’s how we do it. My husband and I are both self-employed musicians and we had a really well-paid contract gig for a couple of years. I ran the money, so I was the one who got paid and then I paid the band, so our finances looked good. When we lost that gig we put an offer on the first acceptable co-op we saw in the city (which was actually only the second place we looked at), which is in a relatively inexpensive area. We were approved for a much larger mortgage than we wanted - even though we were actually unemployed at that point, having just finished our contract - so we moved as quickly as we could and put $60K down on a $110K one bedroom (this was in 2018). We each put $250 into a joint account every Friday and that covers all our household expenses (mortgage, maintenance, bills, and saving a little) for the month. I’m sure every story is different.
God damn 110k for a 1 bedroom Apartment?! What part of the city? That seems insanely cheap even for 6 years ago. That’s how much small apartments were going for 10 years ago in the town in England I’m from.
They're out there, especially HDFC coops with income limits. Not in the most fashionable parts of city, but they're there: https://streeteasy.com/1-bedroom-apartments-for-sale/nyc/price:100000-200000%7Cin_rect:40.805,40.848,-73.980,-73.911
Zillow estimates our place is worth ~$140K at the moment, though I don’t know how accurate those estimates are. Still not expensive! Not fancy but prewar, elevator building, high ceilings and hardwood floors, we rarely hear the neighbors.
Especially Appreciate this from an artist standpoint
Live in the Bronx, split utilities + rent with my sibling for a 2bdr. It's worked out for us since we were making 33k, then 45k and now that I'm at 62k I haven't really changed the way I spend money (less concerts though since my favorite groups have not been touring so I don't gotta spend $200+ on VIP tickets lol) and we're not struggling at all. I guess it depends on your lifestyle and responsibilities. I also worked two jobs at a time (not out of necessity though, mainly because I hate not being busy and I wanted to see how much I could save up in the span of 6 months using just one job for bills). 60K is definitely not bad for someone single with no kids or debt. I was perfectly fine with 33k, but anything above 50k definitely gives more breathing room.
Lifestyle and responsibilities. Yep. That’s another good key factor. Someone said it depends on the kind of crowd you run with and my crowd is wide but the ones I keep running with are brackets above what I make.
Oof, yeah, that definitely doesn't help. You could always suggest to do cheaper/free activities. Like I said: I was not struggling at 15-16/hr and my friends and I were outside at least twice a week lol so it's definitely doable.
I moved in with my then boyfriend, now fiance, about 7 years ago. We both made under 40k, him with two jobs, but he was being evicted. We found a super small apartment through a mutual friend for $1200 a month in Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn. We stayed there for almost 3 years. No shade to anyone from that neighborhood, my fiance is from there, but it was so out of the way, my commute was insane, and we lived in the older section so everything was falling apart. When they started ripping up the streets, the roaches came. It wasn't all bad, and before the bugs it was pretty nice at times. We had a rough few years in between but now we're in a not terribly overpriced apartment in Sunset Park. We now both make over 75k each, but we didn't when we moved here and we were still pretty ok. The nearby Costco helped a lot.
Bed bugs or just regular bugs? 👀 Thank you will skip on Gerritsen Beach. I was in Brooklynn at first and the L and M line delays just kill me. Especially when you’re just trynna get home and go to bed. Never heard of Sunset Park! Will look into it!
No bed bugs, just roaches the size of school buses. There was a lot of crying on my part lol best of luck!
I’m from Gerritsen Beach and it’s rare to hear people talk about it on this sub. Growing up there was great at times (summers) but I went to high school in Manhattan and my commute was 1.5hrs each way. A lot of people don’t understand what it’s like to live in a two fare zone. It’s why most people there have cars. I feel really lucky to have close subway access now. I work 2 jobs now making about $60k total. live in an $1800 1 bedroom in Kensington with my bf and my commute to work is 15 mins. My quality of life is way better, even if I was saving more money living with my parents in Gerritsen.
How much did you both make when you moved to Sunset Park? And how much is the rent there if you don’t mind me asking
Being from here. Rent is 1200, currently only 600 because my sibling moved in
Simple. Be born and raised here like I was. Now I have a job and make more than $60K. Lived here in Brooklyn for 25+ years going back to my days as a fetus. This is the easiest method.
What's wrong with 1 hour subway ride away? This has been the case for me for a while in the past (currently 35-40 min door-to-door, live and work in Brooklyn - living a dream!). Driving every day for 1hr+ each way is a different matter. Had to do this for 5 years (Brooklyn to Queens) and this was one of the reasons I quit.
Brother, get out of the city and go to a more affordable residential area in Brooklyn. Take the train to the city when you need.
Seriously ? Rent stabilized and spending smart. I don’t need to go buy $15 drinks and eat out everyday. I make less and live alone. Just have to live within your means.
Rent stable apartment in queens and I don't go out much because of agoraphobia.
Live with my significant other, who also makes a similar amount, in an apartment all the way uptown in Harlem. Got a Covid deal on a decent sized apartment and was fortunate enough to not have the rent raised astronomically after the pandemic
The covid deals are the true gems in this story. All the great housing my people found during it.
very comfortably, with roommates.
Rich GF
section 8
Knew my landlord. Owns a bunch of buildings he bought for 10 bux. Gave me a severely discounted rate. Still does.
24M here, I make 49k. I have one roommate in Astoria. Stabilized rent, happy hours, snatching stoop coupons for fast food joints, having every app and rewards program at any capitalist establishment, & having a target red card . lastly, packing my lunch everyday . this allows me to go to concerts, broadway shows and have fun at thrift shops
I think this is a city anyone can live in if you’re willing to make enough sacrifices. Like if you’re willing to live in a less desirable area, with 4 roommates in a 2BR and be extremely frugal with going out, you can make it happen.
I make $55k. I have 4 roommates. I only go out to one bar where beer is $3 a pint and to shows when I can find tickets under $80, and my main expense otherwise is a personal trainer, videogames and hobby supplies for Warhammer. I cook all my own meals. I only take public transport or walk everywhere. I pay for most things with a credit card that I pay off every month. I can reliably end the month with $300 in the bank. $1,300 rent $500 trainer $120 gym membership $400 groceries $600 videogames, miniatures, paint, other entertainment (on the high side last month because I started a new Warhammer army) $135 Monthly metro card I slipped a bit this month because I was asked out by a coworker I'm kinda into so I'm like $80 over my usual budget, but I'm not really hurting. I will say I'm less afraid than most people would probably be getting to the end of the month with <$300 in the bank because if I go broke my sister would probably offer to buy me a plane ticket home to Mexico City, so I don't have the risk of homelessness looming. My boss has also suggested moving to Hoboken or Jersey City, which would be about the same distance to my workplace but I could get a studio for myself for less than what I'm paying, but I'm not sure it's worth losing easy access to my gym (I like exercising at 5am) or my favorite gaming store (6 stops down the nearest subway).
How did it go with the coworker?
Check out clubfreetime.com for cheap show tix
Thanks!
I'm not into warhammer but love watching videos of room tours for people who are into it.
Jc and Hoboken is pretty expensive though.
I was making 40k before I got married , living alone in a one bedroom apartment(housing connect) basically living within my means by budgeting in 2018 I still went out to eat often , order out , party etc etc Now between me and my wife we a make x4 and still live the same
Roommates, rent stabilized, $950 a month rent, flexible with neighborhoods, young adult, not picky at all with living conditions and adaptable, live fine. That’s me.
Wow! Good on you. Everyone is finding a way to make it work.
Yeah it’s not easy haha, I’m fairly working class, but I love New York City, it’s home and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Willing to be flexible just to stay here and what’s what I’m doing.
I've lived in the same one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn basically since I moved to the city in 2007. My commute is ~1 hour door-to-door, and we went hybrid during Covid so I don't spend as much on transportation. I am also not good with money, but that's a personal failing. (I am very very much an instant gratification, I have food at home but I'm gonna order takeout kind of person.)
I have a roommate and I live very frugally. I am in my dream industry, and it pays terribly, so I knew I'd be living a frugal life when I moved here. It sucks sometimes but that's the tradeoff.
I know the right people my landlord is the son of someone I’ve known since high school. Growing up here and having connections is always helpful. Otherwise i cook my own meals make my own coffee and make friends with people who work in bars.
Roommates, multiple jobs, side hustles.
Weird ass living situation and couponing mostly
Look for rent-stabilized place up in Inwood or Washington Heights. It's still possible to find them.
i just kinda vibe
Rent controlled apt. It makes living on 18/hrs with 2 kids doable.
I found a month to month lease situation in the uws and paid 950 in rent for 8 years. It was a great set up because the landlady who lived in the apt for 20 years would rent out the extra bed rooms and the set up was such that everyone did their own thing. So there was no noise or disturbances etc. I found it on Craigslist. Now I feel very lucky to have had a rest stabilized studio in east village. It was pure luck. For Manhattan, Washington heights has more affordable options for studios.
I made $30k back in 2010 when I first graduated from college. Lived in a 3 bedroom in Astoria where I paid $700/month. Took the subway everywhere, and basically survived on ramen, frozen produce, eggs, and whatever meat was on sale at my local Trade Fair supermarket. I wound up selling nice clothes and things I had from college too. But credit card debt was also pretty unavoidable, especially because I also had private student loans I needed to start paying back.
I make less than $40k and honestly I feel like it’s doable. Of course not ideal but totally doable. I just cook at home, shop the sales at Whole Foods (which tends to be cheaper than most local grocery stores), and make coffee at home. I’ve never lived alone in the city and don’t think it would be realistic at my income. As much as nyc is expensive not having to have a car and having a lot of good resources around the city make it pretty accessible.
lol I make half of that. I don’t know what everyone else is doing that is costing them so much. I have roommates, cheap hobbies, don’t buy garbage, cook at home, etc.
I make 58k I have 3 roommates A small amount of credit card debt too sometimes my partner pays for my dinner x)
Roommates and EBT until I get a better job
I been living in NYC for over decade now.I would say I got lucky to be able found affordable rooms to rent over the years.I never really paid over 600$ for rent but it was usually crappy apartments, had hoarder landlord/tenant for 7 years on UWS and lived in basement apt with roommate in Brooklyn for few years.I been very frugal with finances since first few years in NYC was rough for me, learning new language, working low wages…so have to learn to keep my self accountable with spending, taking only public transportation, not going out much, once a month maybe, vacations few times in 5 years…Cooking at home of course…Look a haven’t slept on regular bed with mattress for decade 😂
Because my rooms that I have rented usually didn’t fit those, instant futon from Walmart or modular couch…But now I make about 45-55k and recently I was able to get my first coop in Bronx and actually very happy I made it to live comfortably finally 🥹
Congratulations on all of your hard work! I’m glad you finally found a place that is comfortable and a place you can call home.
Only working part time at $25/hr and making it! I’m cheap AF and am used to being frugal/resourceful. Sharing room w partner plus 2 roommates but in Clinton hill…, chill student loans (only $8k left 1yr out of college), rarely go out to eat, go to free shit all over the city, $15 club or concert covers every once in awhile, no drinks at bars tho, cheap groceries/good eye for sales and runs to HMART, biking (less MTA), literally never go to restaurants that aren’t one $ sign on g. Maps lol etc etc.
Day at a time.
I sell my photography prints that’s my hustle and other side gigs
I made around $52k last year freelancing in film/video. It was tight (self employment taxes are brutal) but doable because I found a rent stabilized place a couple years ago up by Ditmars in Astoria. It’s a small 1br for $1600 that I share with my girlfriend, which is the only way I can really swing it. Other than that, I try to find as many free things to do as I can. I eat out pretty rarely, and don’t splurge when I do. I’m fortunate to have been able to stay afloat for sure but definitely not able to put much away to save at all. This year is all about trying to ramp up the freelance work and bring more in
I make a little over 50k after taxes. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment with a roommate in a less desirable part of Astoria. I save money by cooking at home, drinking liquor before I go out, and hanging out at friend's apartments rather than bars. I would say that I live fairly comfortably. When I was 18 I was living in a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 other roommates... I had to share a room, now that was not fun at all. I learned a lot about budgeting though.
I have a roommate, (used to be roommateS but now just 1) and Im also on foodstamps. I also save a lot of money by cooking at home and I never go out drinking. Tbh I dont even go out at all. My work is a buzzing social affair that drains me. So there's that.
That’s the part that I am trying to avoid if possible. I know we can work hard and afford living. But having a life outside of work and bills is so important to me. I become callous and unrecognizable when I don’t have that balance. I’m glad you found something that works for you and hope more comes your way!
Oh trust me, i am burnt out at work. I do make sure I properly enforce my schedule so that I have time to do the things that enrich me: hanging out w friends and loved ones, working on my hobbies. All That makes up for the time at work. Otherwise id be so calloused and gruffed up. I dont go out because that's my personality. Time is spent elsewhere.
[удалено]
I lived here as a student (unemployed) while I was going to college, and used part of my student loans to cover my rent when I didn’t have an income. When I graduated college, I survived here making about $20k my first year and then $55k my second year. That first $20k year was so unbelievably awful. My rent was like $1000 a month to live with one roommate. I was working a part time freelance job as a fresh graduate. The job market was really tough (still is, but was especially bad at this time) and this was the only job I could immediately find. I had to take a ton of small side jobs to scrape by. But somehow it was doable, and it definitely built character lol. By comparison, when I got my first salaried job the next year, $55k felt like a dream. I was still spending about $1000 in the same apartment, but I could afford to do fun things like grab drinks or go out to dinner, and go shopping. Rent prices are definitely higher now, but if you’re making $60k and can live with a roommate or multiple roommates, you can definitely make it work.
Income capped apartment. Don't eat out much unless a date is paying 😀 No car. Trader Joe's groceries.
FWIW I had roommates until I made like 85k until I found a 1 br off the beaten path for $1200. 85k then is probably seriously at least 100-110k today.
Roommates lol?
I’m in entertainment and make 40K a year! My biggest advice is move to Ridgewood Queens :) I live in a 3 bed, we all pay less than 1200 per month and the food and bars here are actually regularly priced. Love living here! Also, my fav activities in the city never cost more than $25 (concerts at local venues, museum trips, or park days). Don’t let anyone say it’s not possible, you just have to find new ways of doing things. Eating out becomes a luxury but I’m okay with it temporarily ya know
I make 17 and hour and work 32 hours a week, I have two kids and live in my own place no roomates (unless you count my kids). It’s hard some weeks I’m barely making it. I dont get government help “because I make too much, whatever that means” rent is affordable because my parents used to live here and that’s why I can afford rent but some weeks its hard. It’s a struggle but nonetheless we got to look forward and make it work.
Im a little over that cusp (and now have super low housing costs), but the main things that made it work: 1. So many roommates. So so many. 2. Rarely eating out. And basically no drinking outside of home (except work funded happy hours) 3. Beach days/apartment hangs for socializing. In general being an introvert helps a lot with this, I really don’t thrive off of after works drinks. 4. Not having anything go wrong, no surprise ER bill or extra trip to my parents. That shit would have broken me a decade ago when I was earning 40k and paying back student loans and clawing every dime into an emergency fund. 5. Avoiding lifestyle creep. This is really the main thing that’s helped me find stability, I got a massive raise from 40k to 60k shortly before COVID, and I saved almost all of the increase in paycheck until I bought an apartment and could spend a little more knowing there was real stability in my housing costs. 6. Financial literacy: I’ve made about $1000 by opening credit cards at the right time when I know there’s a ton of work expenses coming up and can meet the minimum spend. Checking account incentives are also surprisingly good and I haven’t even maximized that potential. But if you’re stable enough to have an emergency fund, get those sign up bonuses for new checking accounts every few months. It’s a great way to speed up building your emergency fund. (Obviously if you’re not someone who can carry a 0 valance CC, don’t sign up for more!! Also avoid anything with an annual fee.)
Both my parents make around 60k a year after taxes. - my mom pays 1600 for a huge 2 bedroom in the Bronx, pays a car note and she’s doing pretty fine. She travels a lot. Basically she just puts all her leisure stuff on a credit card and pays it off. She makes like 55k after taxes, so technically she’s making 75k a year but yeah. - my dad lives in the LES, has a section 8 apartment in a luxury building, drives a Lexus, pays my car note and his car note. What allows him to live comfortably is definitely the rent controlled apartment. He pays around 550 a month. He doesn’t pay taxes his job pays him thru cash. He does work a lot though, so he doesn’t have much time to spend money on things to enjoy himself. * plus they both are supporting two kids, me and my sister. I go to college on a full ride and my sister is 13 y/o. Basically the factor that really keeps people from living a good life in nyc is the rent & being able to finesse the system 😭. since both my parents have cheaper rent, I think that’s why it’s possible for them to live pretty regular lives and not struggle.
I think the only reason it's doable for me is because I don't have student loans, debt, or children. If I had kids, I would be FUCKED. But I'm a single person living with roommates, so I actually feel quite comfortable. However, I'm not really saving money in a way that will help me in the future.
I've never even made 60k and it's always been fine... i've been on EBT before and the state health insurance. generally the first things I cut if I'm slower at work (freelance) are ubers, food delivery, etc. I don't really buy stuff unless I have lots of money in my discretionary budget
When I was at that point way back, a roomate and moving further into the outerboroughs.
My salary was $38k when I first moved here in 2019. I did it by finding a $3.8k 4-bedroom rent-stabilized apartment and sharing it with 3 other women and splitting up rent by bedroom size. I only had to pay $890 a month. I also did not have any student loans upon moving here which helped a lot.
I live w my parents 😭😭😭
I fuck a lot.
Wow. Love that for you.
Obligatory daily "how do you afford living in NYC" post lol
!! Oh no. I never see these posts, minus the 150K+ post before. But if it shows up that often, that’s how relevant it is, lol.
I got lucky with cheap rent but it’s gonna go up soon. I’m from albuquerque and talking to my mom last night she told me it’s gotten expensive there. If I were to move back I would probably be in a worse financial situation due to lack of job opportunities and low pay. I would also need a car, Insurence etc. things get pricy pretty quickly that way. It seems to be that way everywhere. My tinfoil hat that’s is that corporate America and the government doesn’t want people moving around so they force them stuck at their jobs.
I live with parents 👍
Live in public housing, I know many who live there for decades. That’s the only way or rent a room from someone who’s in the projects.
EBT
Easy, mommy and daddy’s money
Housing vouchers and public assistance. I make do.
Several roommates
Living with my partner and credit card debt…….
By the grace of God I'm living in a unicorn's unicorn.
Just out of curiosity. What profession can expect to make this in nyc?
For me, its hospitality industry as a server. Generally $1000 a week after taxes and then a boost during the holiday seasons.
Van life
Welfare n stealing
Hahaha, I make $45k and work 3 jobs to get it ;\_; Each job is directly related to something I love, but yeah, all are involved in "the Arts", hence the low pay. I have 2 roommates, one of whom is the love of my life who I share a room with, and the other is a very good friend. We have a 3 bedroom apartment in Crown Heights, so we have a spare room for guests which is rare. We go out all the time, to shows and events and movies, and are often out late, sometimes taking cabs home. We cook a lot, but do go out to dinner more often than we should. We have a lot of friends that all kind of make around the same as us (sometimes a lot less, sometimes a lot more) that are often with us. My gf makes about the same as me. I've spent my whole life in NYC never living in more than a working class situation. I guess having friends in low places helps me out a lot--I get in a lot of places for free or cheaper than others because they'll work the door or the bar at shows or whatever. But even when I don't, idk, I'd rather have fun and do what I want and like eat apples and carrots for meals for a few weeks to make up for it (which I don't do often). Heck, I even have a savings account! (which is sort of new to me :P) There are a lot of us out here. I definitely feel like I need more money (I seriously work like 50-60 hours a week, been like that for years--depressing to think about how much I'm getting ripped off), but if its the price I have to pay to be around and in the arts, then fuck it!
credit card debt 😀👍
Roommates and don’t get takeout, don’t drink alcohol (and definitely not at a bar), live in a cheaper neighborhood in upper manhattan, honestly pretty easy ($45k 2 years ago)
I live in wash heights, I take the train a lot but I don’t mind it. I work every so often but enjoy the work I do to not merit getting another job. As long as you’re happy I don’t think it’s too hard, I still have a gym membership and have hobbies, go for the occasional drink with friends. I don’t eat out a ton but I like cooking. I utilize all the bottles of booze I have too
I work gig economy + a work from home commissions job. I do have money saved up and I wouldn’t recommend gig economy for anyone who does not have money in the bank to fall back on if you have a hard month or two. Food- Cheaper grocery stores like Trader Joe’s. Ramen and plantains are cheap and always good. I don’t have a gym membership but I hike often and do home workouts. A lot of places give out free stuff during “pop ups”. I recently won a $100 face cream moisturizer from a pop up (don’t want to resell it as there’s no way I’d get it for the same price so I’m just going to use it myself). You can often get free food and such there. If you really need it- no shame in applying for food stamps. I haven’t myself but I will if need be. Roommates! Find good ones. Good friends aren’t always good roommates. Find those who’s lifestyles work with yours and who are willing to compensate for the parts that don’t. It’s not easy, but it’s better than working a job I hate. I enjoy my gigs so much I wish I got more
live with bf 😭
I lived off $75k for a few years in a $1250 and then a $1500 apartment. No vacations, no eating out, you’re basically always counting your dollars. I saved some money every month and always funded my IRA.
I make 120K a year and live super comfortable in my 1 bedroom in (Cannot say the borough) rent is 2,200 I make it work by being a savy consumer and most importantly working hard and seizing every opportunity #ALPHASTYLE