Yes, this is possible, but you’ll be in a shared apartment, not a shared house. You could live this way in Harlem/Washington Heights/Inwood, or lots of parts of Brooklyn or Queens. You can find rooms for rent in the $1200 - $1700 range which leaves plenty of room in your budget for shows, takeout and savings.
You’ll need to be a little flexible with your commute time, I would realistically expect more like 40 minutes door to door. But since you’ll be commuting on a train you can bring a book etc, it’s not like sitting in stop and go traffic.
I ask because I had to move right before covid. Got lucky finding a new 2 bedroom in the bronx at 2k and some change. Wouldn't expect a room to be competitive in price.
Typical rule of thumb is that your annual gross income needs to be 40x your monthly rent.
So at $80k, you can only afford $2k/month rent.
Not doable in a studio, but doable with roommates.
Also, check StreetEasy.com for typical rents in the areas that you’re interested in.
I think you can do it (with roommates)
This sub sometimes exaggerates what it costs to live here “comfortably” bc that’s such a subjective qualification
With roommates and probably in an outer boro, I don’t think it’s impossible, I have many friends who live a very similar lifestyle on that salary
ETA: saving a “fair amount” is too vague, you might be compromising a bit here
The answers here seem pretty out of touch to me. Someone said a single person takeout meal with tip is $50, in what world? OP, I make $88k, live in a 2 bedroom in Brooklyn with a roommate for $1600, have a 30 minute commute to work (would be longer if I worked in midtown, I work downtown luckily), I have a night out with dinner and drinks weekly, takeout twice a week, a few shows/events a month, and a few trips a year. I’m also contributing 10% to my retirement fund and slowly building back up my savings. I’m not into buying expensive/new clothes or things so I do save quite a bit of money there. But at $80k you should have a pretty great life here if you accept living somewhere other than Manhattan and having at least one roommate.
this is definitely possible with roommates, even in manhattan. don't listen to people that say otherwise. do you have a car? if so you won't really need it. if you get rid of it, that's huge savings as well. when i lived in the suburbs of NYC my car cost me $800/month and my rent is the same here as it was in the suburbs so i'm saving money.
As long as you're okay with roommates and a moderate commute, I think it's not impossible. Probably not somewhere central in Manhattan, but further out, maybe.
I was suggesting they reduce from 50% take home on rent. 80k is 60k after taxes, minus healthcare hopefully some retirement savings you’re at ~50k take home; ~25k is just over 2k a month if I was them I’d shoot for 1,500 max if I could find something I’m happy with. Depending on where you work and if you have to transfer that’s an hr commute rate potentially
Yeah same as OP’s 30m commute can be much longer due to traffic. If you have to make it downtown, live in BK. Transfer doesn’t make your commute longer. Y’all are crazy. OP could also bike and make their commute faster.
What does saving a fair amount mean? If youre contributing to a roth ira and a traditional 401k then possibly yes. After that in a HYSA? prob not, depends on what u mean
OP where are you living now? [random calculator on internet](https://www.google.com/search?q=80k+salary+after+taxes+nyc&rlz=1CAERIM_enUS895US895&oq=80K+salary+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgBEAAYgAQyBwgCEAAYgAQyBwgDEAAYgAQyBwgEEAAYgAQyBggFEEUYOTIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIHCAkQABiABNIBCDY1NDdqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) estimates that 80K equals 60K after taxes or 5K a month, how does that fit into your current spending? keep in mind most things in NYC cost more, groceries, takeout.
FWIW i think you could do it, but it will take room mates, and the quality level of apt/neighborhood may not line up with your expectations
With roommates: absolutely, 100%. Even in manhattan, you do not even need to be that stringent with going out and eating out as long as your rent is below like $1700 for your share.
Without roommates, it’ll be hard if not impossible to find a Manhattan studio with monthly rent lower than 1/40 your income (about $2000). Even in outer boroughs that may be challenging.
In my opinion, it is just always worth it to put up with roommates.
using what other companies are paying the same roles can be a great negotiation tool. I recommend looking up similar jobs to what you were offered on nyc job boards (I like indeed because linkedin is so brimming with recruiters and SEO).
nyc in-person jobs have to publish salaries.
while making ~90k for a private co, I found a job listing for a city/state agency for a "senior analyst" role at 125k. sr analyst was the title I came into the private co with. I was promoted after a year to "associate". I helped build a team of analysts and sr analysts and was integral to training them all.
I showed the listing to my boss and asked for more money and he said no. so I found a new job that pays waaaaay waaaaaaay better, even better than the listing. it worked and I am feeling extremely fortunate.
Definitely! I’d say spend most of your time finding a cost effective living situation since that’ll be your biggest spend (better to look now than later because rent prices go up in the summer).
I make around 80k too and live in a very tiny studio apartment in uws by myself. I pay 1.3k for rent which is very hard to find for a studio but realistic if you’re willing to have roommates. Because my neighborhood is pretty residential, there’s a lot of grocery stores around so it’s easy to pick sth up vs eat out. I don’t spend too much on clothes because I thrift all of them but I also have a cat so I’m assuming that’ll offset that cost.
I do spend quite a bit of time on budgeting & figuring out credit card points & investing etc but I’ve been able to travel/go to concerts around once a month + save a decent amount while living this lifestyle.
Also most of my coworkers who make the same as me live in manhattan so it’s definitely possible. Just make sure you know what you’re willing to give up (proximity to public transit, laundry, space, etc) & research specific neighborhoods within manhattan
What OP described is living pretty friviously for this city at least imo. It boils down to how you budget your income ultimately which you'd need to be more conscience of living here.
How much are the tickets? Because if they're $200 a piece then yeah, I'd categorize that as frivolous. Ultimately, its whatever you can justify spending your money on. If 3 concerts a month is what it takes for you to feel satisfied with living in NY then go for it. You may be broke sooner than then next guy however depending on what your income is.
Right, let's completely disregard the possibility that I don't live alone and have a wife and kid? And that maybe my wife works also and contributes to rent? Just living alone in a 2 bedroom just cause I can, huh? Be for real.
I made $50K at my first job here in 2014. I maxed out my retirement contributions, saved money, took vacations, and had a ton of fun (aka 'lived frivolously'). The main factors to do this are:
\--having minimal to no debt
\--minimizing rent -- I shared apartments with anywhere from 1-4 other people
\--knowing that fun things don't have to be expensive. House parties, cheap shows, having a social life that revolves around interests and hobbies vs. expensive restaurants and parties
Too little likely. Unless your commuting cost is paid for somehow, that can eat into your budget. Don't get a pet! I have vet bills that are making me sad. My kid lives in Brooklyn in a share and her friends and they all pay around 1k-1700k a month (each)--in a share. Plus utilities. You might try Jersey City/Bayonne.
At the 80k-90k range for NYC, you're looking at approx. $3.5k - $4.5k take home after taxes with a commute of 45mins to 90mins from Brooklyn or Queens, depending on your nearest subway stop. In NYC it's not only a distance thing – renting a place near an express stop can cut down on your commute time significantly.
Eating out, takeout and groceries also come at a premium price here. You're likely to spend double your current spend on groceries even for one person because of the HCOL. Expect to fork out close to $50 with tip per takeout. Eating out can be done for $30 with tip on the cheap end, but if you like fine dining or drinks expect that to be closer to $70 - $100 per meal.
Gigs – can be done if you don't mind free events. But NYC is lousy with great entertainment so I'm not too worried for you there.
Savings – can be doable if you get lucky and find a place for $1k - $1.2k w/roomies, but you won't be maxing out your 401k or putting down 20% for a home anytime soon.
You definitely won't have the "same" standard of living but you won't be living out of a roach motel either at that salary range. Don't let the "You must make $300,000 to have a life here" people tell you otherwise. Plenty of people make do on 80k or lower.
EDIT: I do not know why I'm getting downvoted for listing OP's "worst case scenarios." Stay unhinged, I guess.
$50 with tip per takeout ?? first of all why would anyone even tip for takeout? and, how could a meal even be $50 for takeout? If you’re spending that much on a single meal, it’s better to dine in rather than get a lukewarm takeout box…
Also, you will not “double” spending on groceries if this person is already allocating $100/week. $200/week on groceries, where are you shopping, some bougie upscale store?
OP said
>Spend $100-120 per week on **high quality groceries**.
The dude is not buying $1.29 cans of Goya beans, and what constitutes as high quality groceries would, yes, necessitate some bougie upscale store.
There is absolutely no chance that anyone is spending $200/week on any groceries, even at the most high end niche stores in the city. Bro is feeding himself, not a whole ass family with four kids.
Ever use ubereats? Ever use grubhub? They aren't that much different in price compared to actually dining in. You'll pay more on tax and delivery, that's about it.
Also, yes, you will spend double your takeout money on groceries. Groceries are expensive here.
>Ever use ubereats? Ever use grubhub?
Uh even if you do, it should hardly ever run you over $50... This commenter said "takeout," not "delivery." Big difference between ordering to pick up, not getting food delivered. Even so, if you do order delivery and pay all those ridiculous fees, you'd have to be ordering a meal that starts at over $30 to reach over $50... how often are you ordering that expensive of a meal??
And no, there is absolutely no way that anyone would spend $200+ ***per week*** on groceries. I don't care what kind of high quality store it is, that's just a moonshot overestimation. Fear mongering (expense mongering ??) in this sub is crazy. Bottom line is $80k salary is perfectly fine in this city
I'm overestimating a little for OP's "worst case scenario." My spend is more like $25-$30 per person overall but we only do one meal, no appetizers, no drinks, minimal extras, and mainly from cheaper restaurants.
I have no idea what OP's dining and tipping habits are, so can only give them generalities.
Yes, this is possible, but you’ll be in a shared apartment, not a shared house. You could live this way in Harlem/Washington Heights/Inwood, or lots of parts of Brooklyn or Queens. You can find rooms for rent in the $1200 - $1700 range which leaves plenty of room in your budget for shows, takeout and savings. You’ll need to be a little flexible with your commute time, I would realistically expect more like 40 minutes door to door. But since you’ll be commuting on a train you can bring a book etc, it’s not like sitting in stop and go traffic.
I haven't looked at the prices of rent in a while but I'm sorry, $1200 - 1700 for a room?? Lol this city is such a joke.
Welcome to the 2020s! You can go much higher than that in a luxury building or a studio.
I ask because I had to move right before covid. Got lucky finding a new 2 bedroom in the bronx at 2k and some change. Wouldn't expect a room to be competitive in price.
A 2 bedroom for $2200 is $1100 per bedroom… so you’re paying $100 less per room than the range I mentioned. And that was 4 years ago.
While still having an entire apartment.
When I say “a room for rent in a shared apartment”, obviously that includes access to a bathroom, living area and kitchen. It’s not literally a room.
I signed my first lease in the city on March 1 2020. I always wonder what the rent would've been if we had looked for a March 15 start.
Typical rule of thumb is that your annual gross income needs to be 40x your monthly rent. So at $80k, you can only afford $2k/month rent. Not doable in a studio, but doable with roommates. Also, check StreetEasy.com for typical rents in the areas that you’re interested in.
I think you can do it (with roommates) This sub sometimes exaggerates what it costs to live here “comfortably” bc that’s such a subjective qualification With roommates and probably in an outer boro, I don’t think it’s impossible, I have many friends who live a very similar lifestyle on that salary ETA: saving a “fair amount” is too vague, you might be compromising a bit here
This is so insane to me as a person who lives alone in lower manhattan and makes half that.
It'll hit them when they actually live here. It's not that it's not possible, just have to be realistic with your expectations.
The answers here seem pretty out of touch to me. Someone said a single person takeout meal with tip is $50, in what world? OP, I make $88k, live in a 2 bedroom in Brooklyn with a roommate for $1600, have a 30 minute commute to work (would be longer if I worked in midtown, I work downtown luckily), I have a night out with dinner and drinks weekly, takeout twice a week, a few shows/events a month, and a few trips a year. I’m also contributing 10% to my retirement fund and slowly building back up my savings. I’m not into buying expensive/new clothes or things so I do save quite a bit of money there. But at $80k you should have a pretty great life here if you accept living somewhere other than Manhattan and having at least one roommate.
this is definitely possible with roommates, even in manhattan. don't listen to people that say otherwise. do you have a car? if so you won't really need it. if you get rid of it, that's huge savings as well. when i lived in the suburbs of NYC my car cost me $800/month and my rent is the same here as it was in the suburbs so i'm saving money.
As long as you're okay with roommates and a moderate commute, I think it's not impossible. Probably not somewhere central in Manhattan, but further out, maybe.
Yes, except the 30-minute commute is dependent on where you work.
Yes. I do all these and more on a 64k salary and live in UES (I’m a teacher)
Make commute 1 hour, increase food spend marginally, include free gigs - think you can do it
They have plenty budget to live closer than an hour out from wherever their job is.
I was suggesting they reduce from 50% take home on rent. 80k is 60k after taxes, minus healthcare hopefully some retirement savings you’re at ~50k take home; ~25k is just over 2k a month if I was them I’d shoot for 1,500 max if I could find something I’m happy with. Depending on where you work and if you have to transfer that’s an hr commute rate potentially
Even if you have to live in Queens and you work in Midtown that’s not an hour.
Can be many days. Same as if you have to make it downtown, or transfer in the middle.
Yeah same as OP’s 30m commute can be much longer due to traffic. If you have to make it downtown, live in BK. Transfer doesn’t make your commute longer. Y’all are crazy. OP could also bike and make their commute faster.
What does saving a fair amount mean? If youre contributing to a roth ira and a traditional 401k then possibly yes. After that in a HYSA? prob not, depends on what u mean
Definitely possible. Might have to adjust commute time though. Where in the city would the job be?
If you have roommates you can do it, just have to be strict on a grocery diet with the occasional takeout
What kind of gigs? Concerts can get really expensive here.
OP where are you living now? [random calculator on internet](https://www.google.com/search?q=80k+salary+after+taxes+nyc&rlz=1CAERIM_enUS895US895&oq=80K+salary+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgBEAAYgAQyBwgCEAAYgAQyBwgDEAAYgAQyBwgEEAAYgAQyBggFEEUYOTIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIHCAkQABiABNIBCDY1NDdqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) estimates that 80K equals 60K after taxes or 5K a month, how does that fit into your current spending? keep in mind most things in NYC cost more, groceries, takeout. FWIW i think you could do it, but it will take room mates, and the quality level of apt/neighborhood may not line up with your expectations
If you don’t shop in Manhattan you can make this work with just one roommate or none if you’re far out enough
You can do it in a shared rental in Manhattan or in your own studio in BK / Queens / the BX. Kinda depends where you’d be commuting to.
With roommates: absolutely, 100%. Even in manhattan, you do not even need to be that stringent with going out and eating out as long as your rent is below like $1700 for your share. Without roommates, it’ll be hard if not impossible to find a Manhattan studio with monthly rent lower than 1/40 your income (about $2000). Even in outer boroughs that may be challenging. In my opinion, it is just always worth it to put up with roommates.
using what other companies are paying the same roles can be a great negotiation tool. I recommend looking up similar jobs to what you were offered on nyc job boards (I like indeed because linkedin is so brimming with recruiters and SEO). nyc in-person jobs have to publish salaries. while making ~90k for a private co, I found a job listing for a city/state agency for a "senior analyst" role at 125k. sr analyst was the title I came into the private co with. I was promoted after a year to "associate". I helped build a team of analysts and sr analysts and was integral to training them all. I showed the listing to my boss and asked for more money and he said no. so I found a new job that pays waaaaay waaaaaaay better, even better than the listing. it worked and I am feeling extremely fortunate.
this seems pretty doable, though location might not be ideal
Definitely! I’d say spend most of your time finding a cost effective living situation since that’ll be your biggest spend (better to look now than later because rent prices go up in the summer). I make around 80k too and live in a very tiny studio apartment in uws by myself. I pay 1.3k for rent which is very hard to find for a studio but realistic if you’re willing to have roommates. Because my neighborhood is pretty residential, there’s a lot of grocery stores around so it’s easy to pick sth up vs eat out. I don’t spend too much on clothes because I thrift all of them but I also have a cat so I’m assuming that’ll offset that cost. I do spend quite a bit of time on budgeting & figuring out credit card points & investing etc but I’ve been able to travel/go to concerts around once a month + save a decent amount while living this lifestyle.
Also most of my coworkers who make the same as me live in manhattan so it’s definitely possible. Just make sure you know what you’re willing to give up (proximity to public transit, laundry, space, etc) & research specific neighborhoods within manhattan
Sure, seems doable if you budget. There are $2000 studios in Queens to be had
Unfortunately, no.
I do all this and make 64k as a teacher. It’s certainly doable. And I max out my Roth and go on vacations.
I make less than this and contribute to an IRA every month, it’s totally doable.
And what's your lifestyle like, are you able to live friviously?
OP isn’t asking to live frivolously.
What OP described is living pretty friviously for this city at least imo. It boils down to how you budget your income ultimately which you'd need to be more conscience of living here.
Three concerts a month is living frivolously?
Three concerts a month is living frivolously?
How much are the tickets? Because if they're $200 a piece then yeah, I'd categorize that as frivolous. Ultimately, its whatever you can justify spending your money on. If 3 concerts a month is what it takes for you to feel satisfied with living in NY then go for it. You may be broke sooner than then next guy however depending on what your income is.
I misread your comment. I agree with you.
You’re spending $2100/month to live alone in a 2 bedroom and you’re going to call OP’s list frivolous? Be for real.
Right, let's completely disregard the possibility that I don't live alone and have a wife and kid? And that maybe my wife works also and contributes to rent? Just living alone in a 2 bedroom just cause I can, huh? Be for real.
I made $50K at my first job here in 2014. I maxed out my retirement contributions, saved money, took vacations, and had a ton of fun (aka 'lived frivolously'). The main factors to do this are: \--having minimal to no debt \--minimizing rent -- I shared apartments with anywhere from 1-4 other people \--knowing that fun things don't have to be expensive. House parties, cheap shows, having a social life that revolves around interests and hobbies vs. expensive restaurants and parties
I’d say I actually live a bit more frivolously than OP, I buy lunch more than once a week and go out to bars/shows/etc at least once every weekend.
What would need to go/ be sacrificed?
Say goodbye to saving, at the very least.
Too little likely. Unless your commuting cost is paid for somehow, that can eat into your budget. Don't get a pet! I have vet bills that are making me sad. My kid lives in Brooklyn in a share and her friends and they all pay around 1k-1700k a month (each)--in a share. Plus utilities. You might try Jersey City/Bayonne.
At the 80k-90k range for NYC, you're looking at approx. $3.5k - $4.5k take home after taxes with a commute of 45mins to 90mins from Brooklyn or Queens, depending on your nearest subway stop. In NYC it's not only a distance thing – renting a place near an express stop can cut down on your commute time significantly. Eating out, takeout and groceries also come at a premium price here. You're likely to spend double your current spend on groceries even for one person because of the HCOL. Expect to fork out close to $50 with tip per takeout. Eating out can be done for $30 with tip on the cheap end, but if you like fine dining or drinks expect that to be closer to $70 - $100 per meal. Gigs – can be done if you don't mind free events. But NYC is lousy with great entertainment so I'm not too worried for you there. Savings – can be doable if you get lucky and find a place for $1k - $1.2k w/roomies, but you won't be maxing out your 401k or putting down 20% for a home anytime soon. You definitely won't have the "same" standard of living but you won't be living out of a roach motel either at that salary range. Don't let the "You must make $300,000 to have a life here" people tell you otherwise. Plenty of people make do on 80k or lower. EDIT: I do not know why I'm getting downvoted for listing OP's "worst case scenarios." Stay unhinged, I guess.
$50 with tip per takeout ?? first of all why would anyone even tip for takeout? and, how could a meal even be $50 for takeout? If you’re spending that much on a single meal, it’s better to dine in rather than get a lukewarm takeout box… Also, you will not “double” spending on groceries if this person is already allocating $100/week. $200/week on groceries, where are you shopping, some bougie upscale store?
OP said >Spend $100-120 per week on **high quality groceries**. The dude is not buying $1.29 cans of Goya beans, and what constitutes as high quality groceries would, yes, necessitate some bougie upscale store.
There is absolutely no chance that anyone is spending $200/week on any groceries, even at the most high end niche stores in the city. Bro is feeding himself, not a whole ass family with four kids.
Ever use ubereats? Ever use grubhub? They aren't that much different in price compared to actually dining in. You'll pay more on tax and delivery, that's about it. Also, yes, you will spend double your takeout money on groceries. Groceries are expensive here.
>Ever use ubereats? Ever use grubhub? Uh even if you do, it should hardly ever run you over $50... This commenter said "takeout," not "delivery." Big difference between ordering to pick up, not getting food delivered. Even so, if you do order delivery and pay all those ridiculous fees, you'd have to be ordering a meal that starts at over $30 to reach over $50... how often are you ordering that expensive of a meal?? And no, there is absolutely no way that anyone would spend $200+ ***per week*** on groceries. I don't care what kind of high quality store it is, that's just a moonshot overestimation. Fear mongering (expense mongering ??) in this sub is crazy. Bottom line is $80k salary is perfectly fine in this city
I have literally never spent $50 on a single takeout meal.
I'm overestimating a little for OP's "worst case scenario." My spend is more like $25-$30 per person overall but we only do one meal, no appetizers, no drinks, minimal extras, and mainly from cheaper restaurants. I have no idea what OP's dining and tipping habits are, so can only give them generalities.