Ask HN: Moving to NYC, Can you help me?

[ccm6gt]

Hello everyone! I just graduated from college and accepted a job offer paying 50K in NYC as a Computer Engineer. The company set me up with someone to live with for 400/month in New Jersey. My dad unfortunately has been laid off and his unemployment pay has ended. Long story short, I told him that I will pay the mortgage while i'm gone which will be around 1,500/month so my family will not lose the house. I am trying to figure out my expenses if 50K will be enough for me to save money to possibly continue my education, save up for a car, and live comfortably. I'm really nervous about this change am looking for anyone that can give me advice or help me out. How do you comute to the city? What are your expenses with food and everything else like? Did you experience anything similar or do you currently work in the city, I'd love to talk more.

[michaelpinto]

First tip: If you can get in via PATH from NJ for get the car, that's going to cost too much. Honestly living in NYC is pretty expensive and while $50k sounds like something, after taxes it isn't. Also if you're thinking local education that's going to cost a great deal unless you are going someplace like CUNY. By the way here is some quick math:

Figure if you take out say 40% for your taxes that's $20k, so you're really making $30k.

$30k per year is only $2,500 per month.

If you're giving your father $1.5k and paying $400 on rent that gives you a mere $600 to live on per month,

Keep in mind that chances are that you'll commute in so that will cost. Also keep in mind that food costs more in NYC too. Keep in mind you'll need to pay for utilities at home. So that's going to be hard.

[ccm6gt]

My numbers almost match perfectly with yours except I didn't think NY tax would be as high as 40%. My minimum goal would be to save 1K a month to start and after calculating all my expenses that doesn't seem possible unless I ask for more money in the range of 60K. Thanks for the tips!

http://bit.ly/10ubdGY

[michaelpinto]

Keep in mind that you've got: Fed + State + City. Now if you are in Jersey your taxes will be lower, but I'm not sure how much lower they might be.

But here's some wisdom from my old professor back in art school in the 1980s:

Julie: Kids do you know how you get raise?

Kids: Work hard?

Julie: Nope: You quit your job and get a new one!

...this shocked me when I heard it, but it's true. So you may want to think about taking that job, waiting a year, getting the most valuable skills you can market, and finding a new job.

Yes of course ask for more! But keep in mind that the company may be cheap, although that's just a guess...

[michaelpinto]

PS $200 for food in NYC is not realistic unless you are just eating ramen!!!!

[ccm6gt]

$200 is pretty low for food, the host family told me that they will have dinner prepared almost every night which was included in my $400 rent so I lowered it from my original $350. I hope to freelance and make my skills more valuable while working here in my free time as well. Thanks a lot for your advice, I really appreciate it!

[jacksondeane]

Your take-home pay should be somewhere in the $2500/mo range. That leaves you with about $600,after paying your rent and parents mortgage, for everything else in life (utilities, cellphone, ect). That's not likely enough to save up for the things you mention.

Food: As cheap or expensive as you want. Typical lunch in the city will run $10-$15. Buy cheap groceries and bring a lunch every day.

Commute: Depends on where in NJ you are. Hopefully you are close to PATH, if not you will likely take a NJ Transit train/bus.

Reference: I am an iOS Engineer, working in Manhattan, living in Brooklyn. Have been here 5.5 yrs.

[ccm6gt]

The house I will be staying at in NJ is very close to the PATH transit so that looks to be my best option right now. I'll be working in Lower Manhattan so the transit looks to drop off about 10 minutes walking distance away from where I need to be which will be convenient. You've been working in Manhattan for the past 5.5 years, was it with the same company and do you like it? Thanks for your input!

[epc]

50k is low for an engineer, even fresh out of college, in NYC.

Ditch the car, you'd be frustrated as hell using it on any regular basis in the NYC metro area, and feel kind of stupid for carrying the overhead of it if you don't use it regularly.

Jersey City is fine if you're working somewhere commutable by PATH. If you're working in midtown you might consider farther north like Hoboken or Weehawken.

I moved to NYC in 1997 after trying to commute from upstate, whatever I was saving on housing I was blowing on commute time and expenses.

[ccm6gt]

I would never drive in the NYC metro area! I don't know how most people do it especially Taxi and Bus drivers. I don't plan to stay in NY because i'd like to stay with my family in the future so hopefully the company will allow me to work remotely after 1-2 years.

[dli282]

Did you come up with 50K? because that is very low salary for NYC. Tell them you need more.

[ccm6gt]

No, I was currently working at around $14 an hour and when I received the offer I didn't really think twice when I could help my family pay for the house and experience life in NY for a few years. I knew the work would be great after graduating with an Associates but my main plan was to finish my Bachelors. Hopefully I can provide the value they need quickly and ask for more or something like tuition reimbursement.

[yoster]

I don't want to sound like an ass, but all this can be found by just using a search engine. Public transportation is the way to go as that is what pretty much millions of people use in NYC. You will hate the commute, but that's life. You are at least in your 20's so act like an adult and do some research. This is not rocket science. You want to save money? Buy groceries. NYC has cheap grab and go food as well.

[ccm6gt]

Thanks for your advice and I don't mean to ask a pointless question on here. I feel like this is where I will find the most value in the response especially with people having relevant experiences as to what i'm going through. I feel like Yahoo Answers, GlassFish, outdated blogs of the cost of living in NYC, and other sites I will find through Google would be much less valuable.