MemberHi Bees,
Just out of curiosity (and boredom), how much do you pay to live in NYC? What does your money get you? If you want to share how much you make, that would be helpful.
I have no plans on moving to NYC…I am just curious about how much people who actually live there pay. A lot of TV I watch takes place in NYC, so I think that is where this curiosity is stemming from.
Thanks!
MemberIt is horrendous. We own but in a coop so mortgage + 800/month in maintenance fees (thats considered a very low fee). If you rent youre probably spending 2500 – 5000 for a ONE bedroom. Maybe closer to 2k for a studio (if its not in a primo neighborhood). Thats for manhattan and the accessible to downtown parts of Brooklyn and Queens. Then 120/month for subway. And everything is more expensive… groceries, restaurants, drinks etc. So the low end 500/month for two people (if you never eat out, or get drinks etc). Sky is the limit on that spending…. On the plus side most people dont own cars? If you do you get to pay a ton to park it and on tickets. Also a few hundred a month on cabs happens easily.
My friend with a baby in daycare…3500/month. For daycare! THen you get to pay for their private prek and schools up to college unless youre lucky enough to fight for a spot in a decent magnet school.
Obviously you can scrape by with roomates, live ultra frugally, but ive never been able to pay under 1000/month rent.
Cant wait to move! Its fun while youre young, but no thanks for raising a family here.
MemberI paid $1600 to live in a 200 sq. ft. studio apartment in downtown Manhattan. This was from 2010-2012. When I moved out, I heard the real estate agent tell a woman looking at my place that rent would be $1800! I’m sure sure rent for that apartment is now at least $2000!
MemberMrsBuesleBee : Wow $2,500 atleast for a one bedroom?! That is nuts. And those daycare prices are crazy. Makes you wonder how people on TV are able to live in NYC in decent-sized apartments while going out on the town every night. LOL Very unbelieveable. Thanks for sharing! Hopefully your move will be nice to your bank account. 🙂
Memberkaz15 : Wow how does anyone have any money in NYC? lol
Memberkawood0618 : Yes atleast. That would be the ultra low end, 600 sq ft apartment (but in a desriable neighborhood). Watching carrie in sex in the city… that upper east side huge 1 bedroom, that wardrobe… on a freelance writers pay LOL.
MemberDepends. It varies dramatically depending on where you live in NYC and what your priorities are.
For example, my partner and I live in north central Bronx (close to where he works) and have a gigantic one bedroom with tons of storage space for $1350 a month. We have the biggest/nicest apartment of all of our friends, but we’re the only ones that live in the Bronx. Everyone else lives in Manhattan or Brooklyn and either lives with roommates (which I would HATE) or pays a lot more for a much smaller space. I love reading this column, which gives you a good idea of what people get for their money in different neighborhoods: https://www.nytimes.com/column/the-hunt.
The cost of groceries and going out also depends on where you are and what you like. In general, where we are is very affordable for NYC but products that aren’t in demand are either unavailable or very expensive (think almond milk, bourbon, and other stuff young white people like.) It took me a long time to figure out the right places to go and to adjust the kind of things I buy, but now our grocery budget is not that much more than it was before. But grocery shopping–and pretty much everything, really–is so much more of a pain. It’s really easy to get into the habit of getting takeout and delivery, which adds up.
Subway rides and tolls also add up and gas is expensive. If you have a car, you either pony up for parking or spend a lot of time moving the car (and some money when you inevitably mess up).
i don’t know–it all depends! If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.
MemberOh! I do want to note that where we are is very accessible to Manhattan. We’re close to both the 4 and D trains, so I can get to midtown in about 35 minutes in the morning. When I lived in NC, I had a horrific, much longer commute.
MemberMrsBuesleBee : LOL Exactly!
invinciblesummer : Thank you! I’ll check out that column. I definitely take for granted my living arrangements!
Member$1800/month for a 300 sq. foot studio on the top floor of a 5-story walk up in not a primo neighborhood, and there’s always something broken in the apartment. The cheapest I’ve ever lived in was a 2 bedroom in the waaaaaaaay north Bronx (as in, last stop on the subway line) for $1200, but it took me about an hour and a half on the subway to get to work. Subway costs $120/month for an unlimited.
My parents also live in NYC, they own a 2 bedroom apartment in a coop that is now valued at $750,000+. They are paid off on the coop, but have monthly maintenance fees of nearly $2000.
Groceries are more expensive too, plus things like eating out, going to the movies, or grabbing a drink are all more expensive as well.
MemberDear Fiance and I pay $2,800/month for our 1br in Manhattan. We live in a “nicer area”, but honestly chose the apartment because it was the nicest one we found four our budget, but I love the area we ended up in! Very neighborhood like, but with young (we are 25) and fun places nearby and great transportation options. We also have our 6 month old dog living with us.
Our apartment is I think right about 300 sqft. Teeny Tiny! Laundry in basement but it is still kinda expensive and a hassle, so we usually use a wash and fold service which charges by weight. Our kitchen is really just a nook with no counter space, but we do have a full fridge, dishwasher, oven, stove and microwave… some people might find it weird that I called that out, but DFs last apartment had refigerated drawers (no freezer) and no oven- just a 2 burner stovetop…
We do have my car in the city with us because we travel a lot and it is easier to do that with our dog. We generally find parking (alternate side parking, so you have to move it every few days) and if we can’t or don’t feel like it, we will park it in a garage for $20. We probably use that option about 1x/week so its not terrible. Metrocard is around $120/month
Groceries are horribly expensive (we only have a “fancy” grocery store nearby), and we have actually found that it is cheaper to order on Seamless for dinners since we would only be cooking for 2 people. We probably cook 1-2x/week.
I work for an ad agency and also as a travel agent specializing in Disney (I used to work there. Let me tell you how much I miss the cost of living in Orlando!!! haha) and make around $55k/year before taxes (which are crazy high because NY state and there is a NYC tax too). DF works in “finance” which is a super broad term, but sales & trading is I guess more accurate and makes about $150k/year before taxes.
I also still have student loans, but luckily he doesn’t. I have virtually no savings and actually commuted from Central Jersey (2hr commute in each direction!!) for 2.5 years becase I couldn’t afford to move and my commute cost over $1,000/month so it was difficult to save then too.
The plan is to live here until after our wedding (June 2018) and then buy an apartment in North Jersey somewhere.
It is insane! Worth it if you can swing it for a few years though. The experience is great and I do not miss my commute one bit!
ETA: The leasing company actually quoted us the wrong price as the agent was leaving for vacation when she showed us the place and was kinda frazzled. It was actually supposed to be listed at $3k
MemberWe live right outside of the city, in Queens (I work in Queens, Darling Husband works on LI). We have a large 1BR and 2 parking spots in the building and pay $2500. Between the 2 of us, we make a little under $200k for the year.
We will be purchasing an apartment in the area when our lease is up (as we just got married and feel it is a good time for us to own rather than rent), and we have been looking at 2BR in the area. It should run us between $550-$650k for a 2BR. *facepalm* With what we’re going to be spending on a tiny sliver of a building, we could be purchasing a house on Long Island (where we both agree we will end up eventually, when we have children)… but we are still young and not quite ready to “settle down in the suburbs.”
ETA: We are an express stop on the EFMR subway (2 blocks from apt.) (20 min from downtown) and a LIRR train station (also 2 blocks from apt) (15 minutes to Penn Station). The area we are in is very young and “trendy” I guess. I don’t really see a LARGE difference in grocery prices, but eating out is expensive for sure. We do have laundry in the building, as well as a small convenience store and a gym (that is extra if you would like to use per month). There is a cleaner, and housemaid services offered as well for a fee.
Memberkawood0618 : I have no idea! You really have to be well off to live there permanently. I know a few people who live in rent controlled apartments because their families lived there long before prices skyrocketed, but the day to day living expenses are high enough to still require a fairly decent income.
Memberinvinciblesummer : thanks for sharing that link! So interesting! It’s like House Hunters (but real!) Now I just have to be careful not to waste my whole afternoon browsing the stories. 😜
Memberkawood0618 : I paid $2500 for a 400 sq ft studio in Chelsea, and our two bedroom on the UES was about $3500/month….
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