How do you balance it all?
Hey all, I’m in incoming FT An1 starting in July. For context, none of my family is in finance, my parents are not well off, and life as a kid was certainly not easy at times from a financial standpoint. I worked my ass off to break into IB and feel very fortunate to have a solid first job out of school.
That being said, I’m having some difficulty figuring out how I’m going to balance all my financial obligations. Firstly, I’m going to be moving to NYC and from what I understand I won’t be able to live in a decent place without spending around 2k a month (with roommates). Additionally, my parents didn’t help me pay for school and I have a load of student debt hanging over my head which I’ll need to start paying off. Although I did work while I was in school, most of what I made was put towards my living and food expenses and I have very little to no savings. On top of all that, I will still need to pay all other monthly expenses such as food and maintenance (like heat, hot water, electric, Wi-Fi, commuting, etc.) with no assistant.
All things considered, I’ve started to worry that the cost of living in NYC on top of my student debt will make it extremely difficult for me to save money and break out of financial cycle that I grew up in at home. How have others been able to manage this all? I’m eager to start building a solid life for myself and my future family but I’m not sure the best way to begin going about it all.
Any guidance and perspectives would be greatly appreciated - thank you!
A lot of substance abuse to forget sacrificing my twenties.
I mean you’re in the same situation that countless of others have been in lol. You’ll be alright
No lifestyle creep and long-term toughing it out. If you go to NYC with the attitude that you “made it” and get a nice apartment, spend a lot of money going out and basically just try to live like all the kids with rich parents and zero student loan debt, then you’re going to be long-term fucked. Focus on living humbly until you’ve paid down all the debt and then saving aggressively thereafter.
Live below your means and have a budget. Mentally (or literally) set aside a certain amount of money for things like food/clothes/entertainment each month. It helps you to not overspend on things. It's really easy to overspend on things like food and transportation here
Born and raised in nyc and working in banking. I got a full ride to college because of my financial situation so I don’t have student loans but I am on my way to saving $40k this year and I go out a lot with friends etc. My biggest advice is try to save money on the BIG things instead of pinching coins on the small things. For example, I went hard looking for a great affordable room to rent and now I pay $1k a month meaning right off the bat I’m able to put that extra $10k I might be spending on rent into my pocket. Also, try to meal prep your lunch or buy cheap lunch on weekdays - that will save you around another $5k . That’s basically it. Then from there, I actually save 20% of my salary after taxes which is insane but my rent is so cheap and I work so much during the week that I don’t really feel it. The weekends are when I spend the most (I can easily spend $300 on weekends). I also went ham and spent my whole signing bonus on furniture for my apartment which I would not recommend. Go on Facebook marketplace and furniture thrift shops. You will be fine, we make 6 figures which is a lot more than most people make in the city.
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