Irresponsible apartment spending
So I currently live in a 2 BR (flex 3 BR) /1 bathroom with two of my friends. I'd say right now I am just ok with my living situation. The location is good, with decent building/amenities...but the sharing of a bathroom and constantly being in each others' way has gotten frustrating this past year.
With my base salary and the current market, it feels irresponsible to splurge on a studio/1BR but using my bonus to compensate for the delta YoY would make it more bearable on a month-to-month basis.
Am I thinking about this the right way? Should I just suck it up for another year and put away more of my bonus?
What price range are you thinking?
3400-3500
I would not be comfortable spending that much - its well above the 40x rule so you would need a guarantor but that is also ~60% of your take-home not even including 401K contributions assuming a $110k base
We need some numbers to really help. Bonuses can be much lower than expected, so I wouldn’t put too much confidence in that. Generally, 1/3 of base would be the ideal max, but recognizing how expensive NYC I could see maybe doing 40%? 50%+ I would strongly advise against.
right now I pay ~2500...would jump to 3400-3500 all in (utilities, etc)
Assuming your base is $120-$125, I think thats ok - you would definitely need to be frugal in other ways but I think it’ll be fine
Here’s what I learned after my analyst time. I spent the first year in a shit, flexed out apartment, no window in my room, 5 roommates for $1550. Next, I was in a nicer, flexed studio with one roommate for $1700. After this, my pay bumped and I got an apartment for myself (I actually switched cities/jobs but was going to go solo regardless).
Takeaways: your spending can sneak up on you. Before I sat down and looked at my budget, I thought I was saving a bunch. Turns out, there were many months where I was in a deficit. You don’t have to (always) live in luxury. Sure it’s nice too, but make sure you’re taking care of yourself and your future. One tip is to do your budget based off only your base salary, ignoring bonus, and still budget in monthly savings (don’t do this spend the base, bank the bonus; bank some base and bank the bonus). I’m all for getting your own place, but you can start with a less nice place before upgrading.
appreciate the feedback/perspective and I agree. Right now I am saving a good amount monthly towards my retirement. Just have been feeling frustrated at times with the roommate living set up and wasn't sure if it was justified to throw money at the situation
Understandable. The price range you mentioned seems steep—I would see if there’s something below a 3-handle. I don’t even pay that currently ($2875). But being a little frugal until my income stepped up served me well. I was able to save up ~$450k before bschool
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