<p>Get some insurance when you can. You may be young and healthy but stuff happens, if you end up in the hospital, you can be out thousands for one visit. You can check independent insurance costs (if you think your employers plan is too pricey) on essurance. Yeah, living without insurance is a gamble. I’ve been there and I was lucky. If you can get into a plan that just covers hospitalization, that would be good.</p>
<p>These are things you can make inexpensively: chili, lasagna, pasta, chicken, baked potatoes
Never inexpensive: seafood
If you like seafood, red meat - buy when it’s on sale. </p>
<p>When I lived in the city, I did like eating out, maybe once a week, we would go to Chinatown or those Indian restaurants off 2nd Ave, much more economical than midtown or uptown. You are making good money in this economy so don’t be sitting home eating beans all the time!</p>
<p>I don’t understand why a 62K employee doesn’t have a health plan sponsored by the employer, unless you are in a consulting (temp) job where it is very unstable. If so, that is an another story.</p>
<p>I was looking for insurance waivers for my DD at the school where my own insurance does not cover. I was suprised that some of the quotes I got is around $40-50/mo. For that, you get very large deductable and co-pay, but it does cover all expenses on major mishaps.</p>
<p>I do have a health plan from my firm, but again, I opted out of it because it would have required (in my opinion) hefty monthly payments that I didn’t want.</p>
<p>This is going to be a really stupid question:</p>
<p>What’s the difference between low monthly payment/high-deductible and other types of plans? All I’ve seen is that it’s all expensive and so I try to be as safe as I can in my lifestyle.</p>
<p>"The moral of the story is that a 48K student loan does bring down an ivy graduated student to his knees, just imagine some schools trouted a 200K loan to the incoming freshman? "</p>
<p>to be fair, he hasn’t been brought to his knees, he’s not saving as much as he would like, while living in Manhattan and shopping at Whole Foods. It basically confirms the rule of thumb, that debt equal to first year salary is doable, if one is moderately frugal.</p>
<p>low payment - high deductible means you dont pay as much, but you pay all your medical bills yourself until the reach a high amount (in a given year). If your deductible is 2000 dollars, you dont get any money from insurance till your bills hit $2000. That can be a good idea for a young person - it protects you against catastrophe, but is more affordable.</p>
<p>regarding paying extra on your loans - you don’t need to commit to your lender to up your required monthly payment, just send the money in when you feel like you have a bit extra to spare. The only caveat with that is make sure you look closely at your statement. I started doing this out of school and the accounting was wacky, so I had to call. I’m sure systems have improved in nearly 30 years, but you never know.</p>
<p>If you are just starting out, don’t fret too much about saving a lot of money. If you can just save $100 or $200 a month, you are doing well especially living in Manhattan. It’s commendable that you want to save, but enjoy life as well.</p>
<p>Don’t even think about buying a house now; many people don’t even start purchasing their first houses till they are in their 30’s or older. By then you’ll probably have a higher paying job, be married and have two incomes. Be patient, it took us (parents) years to get where we are.</p>
<p>I just keep reading/seeing how much cheaper it is, ultimately, to own a home… and so this high rental cost was just making me feel uneasy, is all.</p>
<p>70% of New Yorkers rent. I’m sure the % is higher in Manhattan. And, I also think that while Manhattan prices haven’t gone down as much as they have in some other communities in recent years, they aren’t going to go up much. </p>
<p>I would urge you to get at least two kinds of insurance. True catatrosphic insurance has a much higher than $2,000 deductible. You can get it with a much higher deductible. You just want to make sure that if your appendix burst or you’re in a car accident, you’re not going to be in debt for the rest of your life. Under the new law, you may be eligible for coverage under a parent’s policy. So, check that out too. </p>
<p>The second type is disability. When you are young, it’s dirt cheap. You can buy if to take effect after a long waiting period. The first policy I bought had a 6 month waiting period. If something happened to me and I couldn’t work, I wouldn’t get money for the first 6 months. After that, I would get money. As I said, it’s cheap when you are young and a long waiting period makes it even longer. But should something awful happen, your rent would be covered.</p>
<p>I would disagree with jonri about disability. You don’t have any assets or dependents to protect at this time. If you get disabled and are out of work for an extended period of time, you will likely move out of NYC. Having health insurance is a far better use of your funds.</p>
<p>It’s cheaper to own a home…unless that home needs a new roof, or the grass needs to be cut, snow shovelled, a/c breaks down, house value declines below what you owe the bank… Sometimes I wish I could just go back to the $500/mo 3 room apt in Brooklyn where you can call a landlord to fix stuff.</p>
<p>spideygirl advised not to move to Brooklyn. My kid lives two stops of out Manhattan into Brooklyn on the L subway line. In other words, this is as many stops from most Manhattan locations to some other job. You could go that many stops north or south and be in Manhattan the whole time or two stops going East, no big difference in time. She’s in Manhattan daily. It is ten min. away. They have a nice apartment in a brownstone type of building. She pays $725/month for rent for her share. Everyone in her apartment is from 22- 25, with college degrees and working. </p>
<p>The OP, after his lease is up, really could save money by living in a cheaper apartment. </p>
<p>I know lots of talk has been about “knowing how to cook.” I don’t think you have to know a great deal or do complicated recipes. My D who lives in NYC is the D who I would consider as not knowing how to cook too many things at all (unlike her sister). But she does cook, even though she doesn’t have much variation. As I wrote in another post, she makes brown rice a lot and she sautes veggies and sometimes shrimp and can make a salad and so on. It is cheaper than most restaurants. There are lots of things you can make for yourself that are very easy to make. You don’t even have to know how to cook to even make frozen foods if you really don’t like cooking. </p>
<p>Under the new law, you could be on your parents health insurance. If they have a family plan, and dropped you, they didn’t save any money by doing so (if they still have another kid on it) and putting you back on until you are 25 won’t cost them more than they were paying before for the family plan (I do not know what they were doing before though).</p>
<p>soozievt: If I may ask, what kind of apartment is it? Something in the 725 range would save me enough to start putting some serious dents in my student loans (I could double my payments and still be saving an extra $200/month). </p>
<p>Of course the problem is finding new roommates/moving/etc all over again. I’ve moved probably 12 times in my life already and it’s a massive drain.</p>
<p>I’d ideally like for my girlfriend (who lives in Jersey) and I to live together at some point – but I’m not sure how realistic this is.</p>
<p>NYCFlux…many people say you can get more for the money if you are in say, Brooklyn, etc. Her apartment is in a brownstone that is just three stories tall. It is a walk up. There is no doorman. I don’t know the total number of units in the building, but I’ll guess six. The neighborhood, Williamsburg, has undergone great gentrification. Some buildings on her street look very expensive and then mixed in are low income people. It’s a mix. </p>
<p>The interior of their apartment is completely modern. They have three bedrooms (but 4 live there as two are a couple…my D’s best friend is the female in the couple and my D and this girl used to have another apartment that was just two bedrooms together in Williamsburg before this but moved into D’s friend’s BF’s apartment). My D has her own bedroom and has her own AC unit. They have a full modern kitchen including a dishwasher. Then they have a pretty large living/dining area and also a bathroom and a hallway as well. The laundry mat is across the street. A major supermarket is several blocks away and she walks to the subway which is the L and in two stops is in Manhattan. My D has several different jobs and is in the city constantly day and night. She can be in Union Square in ten minutes. Many of her friends have apartments in Brooklyn and some live in Astoria in Queens. They get more apartment for less money. My daughter’s boyfriend also lives in Brooklyn with roommates and their apartment is many more stops out of the city. My D is so close that it is not really any different than going from some subway stop within Manhattan a few stops. Look on a subway map…my D is off the Lorimer stop on the L. Lots of young people live in that area of Brooklyn. She doesn’t make as much money as you and so could not afford the rent you are paying. When we visit her, we stay at her apartment as she has a sleep sofa. We also can park our car for free on her street, unlike lots of Manhattan. Take a look on craigslist at apartments in that area and many have photos and that will give you an idea. Moving doesn’t have to cost a great deal. You can rent a UHaul and have friends help you move your stuff.</p>
<p>soozievt, I think your D has lucked into a great deal! It isn’t easy to find a decent apt. for what she is paying in her neighborhood. But it is possible to find a cheaper place than where you are, OP. My S’s share is $900, and he has his own bedroom in a very nice, spacious 2 Br. apt. in Manhattan. </p>
<p>I know this isn’t the kind of advice you’re asking for, but you will be much happier if you stop comparing yourself to your Ivy friends. There are all kinds of people making a go of it in NYC, in all kinds of ways. There is no rule that says you have to own your own home by a certain age. I have known many, many people who have happily raised families in rental apartments! I think it might help you to broaden your circle of friends a bit. Aside from working on the peculiar logistics of getting by in NY, that will improve your outlook and also plug you into a network, so when that great deal is out there, you’ll hear about it.</p>
<p>^^^ You can get meat pretty cheap in Chinese supermarket. Those are called Chinese Dumplings, or Pot Stickers, it comes with all sorts of fillings, including pork, veg., fish and sea food. Easy to cook, just dump into hot water. One bag for around $3 can last you whole day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. </p>
<p>When I was single, long time ago, friend of mine called me up and offered me half of his wholesale load of dumplings. Without thinking, I said yes. When he arrived, it turned out to be half a car trunck, 50 bags. It was cheap, but I really got tired of it after 2/3 of the stock…:)</p>
<p>Ironically, this is a quote from an email I received from my D1 this week. She earns more than the op (a bit over 12% more). She will also most likely get a bonus in Dec. She also has health and other benefits and no student loans. And she is still struggling a bit! </p>
<p>We told her when she moved that NYC is very expensive and she had a money illusion. But this seemed like so much money her first yr. out of college. And with her signing bonus she may very well earn in the 6 figures her first year out of school. But Manhatten is Manhatten!! No place like it in the world, but not cheap to live in–unless you know where to look.</p>
<p>You can get some really good deals (accept with maybe real estate) on many things in Manhatten. You just have to have the time to look. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, my D does not have a lot of time. She has to be at work at 6:30 am and not at home before 6 or 7 and often much later.</p>
<p>She loves NYC and would only live in Manhatten(see previous work schedule). But she is learning what real life is all about.</p>
<p>NYCFlux: With that salary i’d say you are probably in banking, so part of the problem may be that you are comparing yourself to those around you…</p>
<p>Living in NY-noone really “cooks” per se at your age, but I can almost guarantee a huge chunk of your food bill is coming from 2 places: Lunch and Drinks. (If you don’t drink, my bad) I figured it out that lunch was costing me on average $12/day for just a salad and a water or a sandwich and snack at pret. Bringing your lunch could free up money that could be spent on enjoying evenings/weekends out with your girl. </p>
<p>GET INSURANCE…honestly do your parents know you are wandering around without it?? You may think you don’t need it but i’d rather you not contribute to a 401K and have insurance than the other way around…personally i’d like to see you do both but don’t go without insurance. Period.</p>
<p>Beyond that just enjoy being young and free in NY. Live it up because all those kids and cars and houses in the burbs can sneak up on you pretty quick…you’re going to need to build up your arsenal of stories to tell back in the day when you were young and living in NYC.</p>