[gregshap]

The author said they were in college. In their defense its not uncommon to have loans or parent funding for the expensive apartment, but limited discretionary income and limited ability get money from the 'college' bucket to the discretionary bucket.

[vineyardmike]

> limited discretionary income and limited ability get money from the 'college' bucket to the discretionary bucket

He did say he was funding college from a margin loan on his stock portfolio, however.

[gregshap]

Ha, didn't read that part. I wanted to attest to the experience of being a low budget student in a high cost-of-living city. The author might not necessarily be that!

[vineyardmike]

He does go to school at UCLA, and said he was in NYC for the test, so he may be just a frequent traveler to high COL areas.