<p>Brooklynborndad (#160): AGREED!</p>
<p>The reason I ask is because, right now, it feels like my account is constantly bobbing around anywhere from 300-1000. This, of course, may be because of necessary fixed costs that I won’t have to re-incur such as suits, dress shirts, beds, desks, furniture, glasses/eye exams, winter clothing, the phone, security deposit, etc (I’m now finally able to start “saving” this marginal 900 about 7-8 months after moving here to NYC). It feels like even among those who earn less, they likely have well over, say, $10,000 in their accounts. </p>
<p>Like Brooklynborndad, it feels very “naked.” When your account is constantly bobbing around these kinds of levels, health insurance seems crazy. This is why I made this thread at this point in time – a fair amount of fixed costs have, now, been incurred, and I should have a fair amount of disposable income going forward. But at the same time, there are expenses I’d like to cut down on wherever possible. Rent is certainly a big one, and food is something that I think adds up pretty quickly. But, again, I think there is enough advice in this thread to handle those.</p>
<p>soozievt: Thanks for the reply and extremely detailed post. I guess my concern is the “300 in savings” part. That implies 300*12 = 3600, which buys me a month and a half should something serious go awry at work. That’s the only part that worries me. It’s this tradeoff that I’ve been struggling with in terms of decision-making, and, as BBD stated, it’s causing some nervous breakdowns.</p>
<p>nycflux</p>
<p>I think this thread is going circles. You are the one has a problem, you ask for advise, but you kept on changing targets. When some one advise on one, you try to skirt around it and move to another focus. And therefore you will never get the relief you wanted.</p>
<p>To start, you never mentioned that you have no health insurance and agreed that to retire the student debt is your first priority.
Then it turned out you do not have insurance, when ppl trying to persuade you to take some, then you think your nest egg is more important.
When ppl start advising you to move to lower rent areas, you brought up your friends/roommates.
When ppl try to make a budget for your food, you kept thinking to eat out is the trend and difficult to break.</p>
<p>and so on…</p>
<p>Well, live is harsh, you cannot have everythig and need to prioritize.
If you still want advises from this board, just list line items in your priority order and use the advises from this thread to make a proposal for yourself, a spread sheet with line items, actual vs budget and publish it on the board. We will go from there.</p>
<p>artlovers: It’s not that I’m skating around the issues – it’s that those are the struggles I’m trying to balance, and I’m trying to figure out how to best deal with those facets. The problem is that many things are high-priority.</p>
<p>I also never said eating out is difficult to break. I just said that I feel I’m spending too much and would like to optimize it. I don’t <em>always</em> eat out, but I do it more often than I’d like. Even when I do eat out, it’s usually $5-10 per meal.</p>
<p>I also did mention the loans/health insurance thing pretty early on.</p>
<p>Furthermore, I never said I was against moving to lower-rent areas. The problem was finding a decent place that was also low-rent.</p>
<p>There is also the issue of the nest-egg because I have to replace the safety net I do not have. When you lack in one area that is important/useful, you have to compensate for it somehow.</p>
<p>“Well, live is harsh”</p>
<p>It’s especially harsh for those who don’t have parents or adult family members they can turn to–even for just advice. NYCFlux seems to be an exceptionally responsible young adult, just a bit overly panicked about his current situation.</p>
<p>nycflux</p>
<p>yes, everything is priority in our lives, but if you do not prioritize, you will never get ANY Thing done.</p>
<p>So go and do it, then we will have a better idea.</p>
<p>Artlovers: I understand that, but the problem is how. Saying “life is tough so just solve it” is almost tautological. The question is how to best prioritize given certain attributes/properties of a situation, and how to mitigate the internal/idiosyncratic risks.</p>
<p>“It feels like even among those who earn less, they likely have well over, say, $10,000 in their accounts”</p>
<p>I very much doubt that is usually the case for new grads. People really don’t save as much as you think. Of course most 22 YO’s, do feel they have the parental home to fall back on in an emergency. </p>
<p>I suggest strongly, taking a deep breath and not looking at this thread for a while. Go back to work. If you have nothing to do at work for a little while, then take a walk, or just stretch and deep breathe. After you are a little calmer, review the thread and copy all the USEFUL ideas (the stuff about recipes, places to get cheaper food, etc) into a document. Ignore anything else, anything in the thread that is stressful. </p>
<p>Now that you are largely done with some big start up expenses, take a month or two to actually see how much you save that way. Then compare it,not to what you think someone else is saving, but to your own savings goal. If you are saving at rate you are comfortable with, congratulate yourself, and keep on track. If you are not, then use some of these tips to reduce your expenses. Also look into ways to reduce your rent earlier (like subleasing) or ways to increase your income (can you freelance on the side?) </p>
<p>Be brave. Don’t panic.</p>
<p>Bbd,</p>
<p>Great advice.</p>
<p>“The problem was finding a decent place that was also low-rent.”</p>
<p>In brooklyn - Kensington. Windsor Terrace. Bay Ridge.</p>
<p>Queens - lots of places, but I dont know it well enough</p>
<p>Bronx - lower Grand concourse area</p>
<p>Try City Data forums for ideas on cheaper but decent places in NYC. </p>
<p>Finding cheaper wont be as hard as getting out of your lease/making it for 12months till the lease ends.</p>
<p>Thank you for that post, BBD.</p>
<p>And yes I can freelance on the side (I’ve got a perfect SAT and used to tutor it – but only in an official capacity when I was a college student. I’m not sure how to freelance it other than doing craigslist or something. Back before I moved here to NYC, I wasn’t able to find many tutoring gigs). I’m not sure how most freelance workers operate, I suppose. I could do side-programming gigs or something. I figure, though, a lot of money can be found in tutoring academic subjects such as math, physics, writing, etc.</p>
<p>bbd said it right. You need to think and calm down a bit. You cannot solve everything at once. so tackle on the big items first, using the amount of money as a guide.</p>
<p>For example a list like the following would be helpful.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Increase revenue: can you make more money by working on the side? Even one tutor/freelance job can give you much needed funding for a LOT of things. Clean offices or bathrooms after work is another, don’t be shy and bashful.</p></li>
<li><p>Opt in for insurance, we need not to talk about this any more, just do it.</p></li>
<li><p>Reduce rent… you have to talk to yourself about it.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>4.</p>
<p>5.</p>
<p>6…10</p>
<p>Once you have the list then work on solutions. Some you cannot find solutions so you cross those out.</p>
<p>Once you have the solutions, prioritize them and make a spread sheet, actual vs budget.</p>
<p>I think I am clear on this.</p>
<p>Be creative. </p>
<p>You’re a tech dude right?</p>
<p>Surely somewhere in NY there is a restaurant or grocery store that could use some help with their computer system and would rather give out food than cash? </p>
<p>Or find one of those trade schools that teaches low level tech stuff (ads all over the subway, right?) , and try to get a job teaching.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys.</p>
<p>You honestly could make some extra cash tutoring. Last spring, my other daughter needed to make extra money. She was 23 at the time (about your age) living in Cambridge, MA. She called many tutoring companies and found a job going into the homes of low income families tutoring little kids. It wasn’t as lucrative as an SAT tutor or as much as some other companies, but it was OK. You could find SAT or other HS tutoring companies in NYC and make a resume (you said you did it before) and see what you can find. If that doesn’t work, you could attempt to solicit business for tutoring clients independently. My younger D who is 22, is not a tutor, but she is a private coach in her own field and gets paid a nice hourly amount (that is just one of her many jobs).</p>
<p>I bet in NYC, you could get $40/hour as an SAT tutor and do it for five hours every Saturday and there you have $800/month for savings.</p>
<p>"I bet in NYC, you could get $40/hour as an SAT tutor and do it for five hours every Saturday and there you have $800/month for savings. "</p>
<p>This is roughly what I am thinking as well. An extra $800/month would solve a lot of problems.</p>
<p>A few words on buying clothes (including belts and ties):
TJMaxx
Marshall’s
Famous Brand Shoes, or FamousFootwear, etc for shoes (also TJs (may not carry men’s shoes) and Marshall’s have good prices on shoes)
Hear that Century 21 is also good (not familiar with them, don’t have that store where we live)</p>
<p>These are your very best bets.</p>
<p>Macy’s CAN be good if you shop their clearance items, or their big sales, especially if you have a 15 or 20% off coupon (get their charge card, so you get lots of these offers. Pay it off in full each month.)</p>
<p>NEVER pay full price for clothes, shoes or accessories. Shoot for at least 50% off - 75-80% off is not hard to find. Sales and clearance racks are your VERY good friends.</p>
<p>Soozievt…In Manhattan he could make upwards of $100 an hour for SAT tutoring and in subjects such as math, physics, chemistry and CS.</p>
<p>When you meet a potential new client always look like you have many clients and are in great demand.</p>
<p>What, $100/hr?</p>
<p>No freaking way – people pay that much here for tutoring?</p>
<p>momma-three…I believe that is true for Manhattan. I was just being conservative. And he is just starting out.</p>