Saving in HCoL
I'm in New York and plan on moving into NYC once I start working FT. I didn't come from much, so saving and investing to generate wealth is important to me. Do any of you have tips on being frugal/financially savvy in a HCoL city like NYC? What should I expect in terms of monthly expenses based on your experience?
From my experience, going out less, cooking more, and having roommates are good places to start. It's so easy to burn money in NYC- I learned the hard way this summer at my internship! Look at these examples:
Friday night beer: Some midtown bars you get a beer for $10 but you can buy that same beer for $2 at a corner store. If every Friday you drink 1 les beer at a bar and instead buy a can and "pregame" with 1 beer before hand, you save 8*50=$400.
Sunday brunch: Imagine you can cook breakfast for $4 but brunch costs $16. If one weekend day/year you cook breakfast yourself, you can save $12*50=$600/year.
Lunch at office: If lunch is $12 but you can spend $4 packing a quality lunch, you can save $8*5days/week*50weeks/yr=$2,000
Public transit instead of Uber: This one is harder to estimate/calculate because the cost of an uber may vary, but taking a $3 subway trip vs spending $25 on an uber can save an insane amount of $. If every week you make that choice, you can save $22*50=$1,100
My favorite- no soda/juice at a restaurant. Last weekend my friend spent $5 on orange juice at brunch. If you cut that every week, you can save $250/year. Ask yourself- do you really need that Orange Juice?
Obviously my numbers are not perfect, but I just saved you $4500/year by cutting the excess amount of times you eat out. That doesn't include housing, where you can definitely save a ton by living with roommates.
So regarding pregaming and buying expensive drinks at bars. Idk if OP uses nicotine or is open to it etc. But I'll get ripped at pregames and just throw in Zyn pouches once I'm out and nurse a drink or two. The Zyn's are just pouches of nicotine salt and can give/sustain a killer buzz if you take them after you've been drinking a while.
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