Intern in NYC - Summer Expenses

This summer I will join the flock of rising seniors migrating to New York for a banking internship. As someone who has never really experienced living in a city I am clueless as to how much I will spend over the summer. The only figures set in stone right now are what I will make from my internship and my rent. I've heard New York prices are ridiculous, but to someone who hasn't spent much time in the city I'm not aware to what order of magnitude.

How much does a 10 week summer intern tend to spend in the city? I'm talking mostly day-to-day expenses. To clarify: I will probably get dinner covered by work 5-6 days/week. I need to take the subway to work. I intend to go to my fair share bars/clubs/whatever. I eat a good amount of food.

Any clarification would go towards helping me plan trips in my last year of college. Thanks.

24 Comments
 
Best Response

At BB's, lunch isn't generally covered, so if you're eating out let's say $10-15 dollars a day for lunch and then another $10-15 for breakfast or late night meal. Weekend dinners probably average $20 (mix between take out, delivery, fancy restaurants, and cheap).

This is assuming you're eating out a lot. If you are very diligent and are buying groceries and preparing them to go to work, this cost will be a lot less. If you were like me, then this is not the case, so food I would say is about $900 a month.

Going to make a huge assumption, but going out two nights a week, you might spend $50-100 dollars on average per night (drinks / cover / drunk food / uber etc.). Going out will be ~$600 / month.

If you don't have the clothes already, you may spend anywhere from $500-2000 dollars to get work clothes for your wardrobe. Since you haven't done an internship in NYC banking before, I'll assume this is $1000.

I'd say not including rent, your food and going out expenses will be around $1500 a month, but more if you don't have a wardrobe for work or going out.

 

Food:

Breakfast: $5/day x 7 days per week x 10 weeks = $350 (Basically a bagel and coffee at most places)

Lunch: $15/day x 7 days per week x 10 weeks = $1050

Dinner: $30/day x 2 days per week x 10 weeks = $600 (Assuming you go out with friends to a decent restaurant on the 2 nights you don't have dinner covered)

Subway Pass: $100/month x 3 months = $300

Leisure: $75/night x 2 nights per week x 10 weeks = $1500

So expenses excluding clothes/rent for a 10-week summer internship is around: $3800 give or take.

I read the above poster's numbers after writing this...and mines match his very well.

 

Yeah I would recommend bringing bagels or cereal from home to cut breakfast costs, spending 7-8 dollars for lunch, and going out once a week. Using Yolo's budget that would save you around $1,500. Doesn't seem like too much money, but if you start living like that for full time you can have a meaningful amount of savings at the end of the year.

 

dude i'm pretty sure you can get a job serving, or doing some random thing in new york if you have banking on your resume... just make sure you talk to the owner/manager in person and explain your situation... if you can convey that you are smart and personable, they should see that you are vastly overqualified and they'll take a day to train you... waiting is rocket surgery... "So you wanted the caesar salad, and you wanted the alfredo with penne pasta... you guys good on breadsticks?"

This unnecessary contextual background brought to you by Olive Garden, "when you're here, it's because you desperately need a serving job, and would rather be doing something else with your time"...

 
rufiolovedude i'm pretty sure you can get a job serving, or doing some random thing in new york if you have banking on your resume... just make sure you talk to the owner/manager in person and explain your situation... if you can convey that you are smart and personable, they should see that you are vastly overqualified and they'll take a day to train you... waiting is rocket surgery... "So you wanted the caesar salad, and you wanted the alfredo with penne pasta... you guys good on breadsticks?"

This unnecessary contextual background brought to you by Olive Garden, "when you're here, it's because you desperately need a serving job, and would rather be doing something else with your time"...

^ on the low end, yes. I do hope, however, that this attitude never translated into mistreatment of wait staff.....

For what it's worth, banking is a lot like waiting / bartending: it's not exactly tough work, but there's a LOT of it and you have to keep track of a lot of shit while dealing with people.

PM'd you

Get busy living
 
HireUp212What bank still takes unpaid IBD interns?? I know seniors in HS who somehow got internships in banking and even they got paid.
Holy Hell, where did you grow up?
Get busy living
 

Best thing to do is to ask pops for the rent.

Serving in restaurants in NYC is not like serving in hickville or wherever you're from, Rufio. No one gives 2 shits that you have banking exp on your resume, if you don't have experience, if dont know food/liquor, you add no value - plain and simple. You could try to bus tables but even those are difficult to come by.

The BIGGEST issue is that it looks like you could only work on the weekends. Most places in Manahattan only staff FT guys. But If you really want to, fix your self up/look presentable and head out to the village between 3-430 and go up and down every block. Walk into every restaurant/bar/cafe you come across, ask for a manager, tell him your situation. Bring resume cuz theyll ask for it to be nice You might get lucky and someone might be need a busboy/dishwasher on the weekends but its difficult.

 
pingafritaBest thing to do is to ask pops for the rent.

Serving in restaurants in NYC is not like serving in hickville or wherever you're from, Rufio. No one gives 2 shits that you have banking exp on your resume, if you don't have experience, if dont know food/liquor, you add no value - plain and simple. You could try to bus tables but even those are difficult to come by.

The BIGGEST issue is that it looks like you could only work on the weekends. Most places in Manahattan only staff FT guys. But If you really want to, fix your self up/look presentable and head out to the village between 3-430 and go up and down every block. Walk into every restaurant/bar/cafe you come across, ask for a manager, tell him your situation. Bring resume cuz theyll ask for it to be nice You might get lucky and someone might be need a busboy/dishwasher on the weekends but its difficult.

^ somewhat true, but I don't think you should limit yourself to the village. Also, there's plenty of beer + shot places that don't require high end experience and need extra people on weekends. The fancy places may pay more, but money is money, and it's not hard to move from one place to another after a short time.

Just start knocking on doors and be persistent. You're not the first young person to look for a part time job in NYC......

Get busy living
 

Couchy, I did an unpaid IB internship and worked on weekends waiting tables. My case was slightly different, as I had the waitering gig before and I had previous experience. To be honest, a loan from the rents or a friend might be the better way to go, if possible. Bartending/waitering jobs in NYC can be really tough to get....they usually want peeps with previous NYC experience(and full time), let alone experience elsewhere. That said, check craigslist and go door to door. Think about busboy, cashier, deli, barista, and barback positions as well.

Or you could always pimp yourself out as an escort.

 

Et aut alias ea rerum sed quia laudantium alias. Et fugit non dolorem et. Unde ad beatae dolorem sapiente quo rerum odit quod. Incidunt dolores mollitia voluptates voluptas non dolor.

Numquam vero vel non. Id suscipit magnam excepturi quam. Incidunt quidem omnis iste maxime est dignissimos nam.

Maxime id autem sed vero debitis voluptate. Illo pariatur debitis sequi. Iste qui similique voluptatem error dolorum. At eum voluptas eos explicabo. Temporibus qui reprehenderit optio rerum soluta tempore totam. Quis consequuntur ut excepturi sint eum sit.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”