How to live in New York on a budget?

Have always wanted to move to New York to fulfill your long-time desire, but you have always feared that you would not be able to afford the life here? However, there are many ways to achieve to live in New York on a budget. You just have to be a little bit creative, resourceful, and smart with your money. To help you with that, we have come up with a list of useful tips on how to save as much money as possible, but still be able to live in a city of your dreams, especially if you are relocating to NYC from a smaller town where prices are probably a lot lower. That is why we invite you to read our article. It will, hopefully, inspire you to come up with some of your own methods.

First of all be aware of where you are moving to

This is a zero step to take when thinking about changing a current residence to a city such as New York. Actually, the same, or very similar situation is with every other major city. Costs of everything, starting with purchasing or renting a real estate, food, bills, etc. are very high. Even though these cities offer endless possibilities and amazing opportunities, it can still backfire you if you do not learn how to handle all those costs. Therefore, in order to live in New York on a budget, or any other huge city you should always have in mind where you are. In accordance with that, plan your expenses as much as possible.

What will you spend the most your money on?

Well, this depends largely on the lifestyle, but we can still single out a couple of things that will cost you the most while living in New York City. Let us see which one are those.

Renting/buying real estate

It is a well-known fact that New York has one of the highest rates when it comes to renting or buying an apartment or a house. On the other hand, it seems that these apartments and houses, no matter how expensive they are, always find their buyers. This, in a way, can be a bad news for you if you are having a hard time to decide which apartment you would like to choose. Now, we do not say that you should decide on an apartment/house just for the sake of buying or renting.

What we do want to suggest is that you should decide quickly if you like something. Of course, it should also fit your budget. A reliable moving company from New York could help you select a couple of good options based on your desires and budget. That way you could save a lot of time searching further while you still have something good to choose from.

How to know if you will be able to pay for an apartment/house?

Well, this is surely one of the most important questions for you to ask yourself. At the same time, it is a question that urgently needs to be answered. If you decide to go for renting a property, a rule says that you should not settle for an apartment or a house which surpasses 30% of your total income. Whether this will be a huge problem or not, depends on the amount of your earnings. If this means that you will not be able to afford to live somewhere near the center, then you should consider moving to the suburbs. You can be sure that costs, including renting, will be much lower than in The City.

One more thing, it is quite usual that landlords will ask for a document with which you will confirm your income. In other words, do not be suspicious if they ask you this. They just want to make sure that you will be able to afford to live in that house/apartment. It serves them as a guarantee that you will not flee after a month or two living there. One of the ways to live in New York on a budget is to think about renting an apartment with a roommate. This way you will probably be able to afford a bigger apartment in a more favorable location. We also know that moving your belongings could cost you a lot, but there is also a way to perform a cheap move.

Buy yourself a monthly pass for public transportation in order to live in New York on a budget

Since New York is a huge city it is likely that you will have to use some way of transportation during a day. We suggest you get yourself a MetroCard for public transportation. This way you will save so much money on weekly and monthly bases instead of buying daily tickets. Besides, you won’t ever have to be in a situation that you are in a hurry to buy a ticket. Or that you have forgotten to buy it and a ticket control requires to check your card. With this, you really do not have to think much. Just put it in your wallet. You do that it with you all the time, right?

Skip eating out from time to time

We know it is tempting to eat in restaurants, and diners, but think about the budget. It won’t kill you to try to cook something every now and then. If you can’t cook, this is a right time to start dealing with that. Therefore, take this into consideration the next time you start planning the budget.

As you can see, it is possible to live in New York on a budget. It only takes a bit of a planning and thinking a few steps ahead. Other than that, we are quite sure you will enjoy your new life in the Big Apple.