Not Starving in NYC

I'm trying to figure out how my wife and I will budget our money if we move to NYC. I want to go out regularly (meaning biweekly, tell me if I'm too conservative/liberal, with going out from what you've seen, not politically). I don't plan on having/currently have kids. My wife is not the finance type; she's more the English Comp type, so she's not going to be 50% of the income, even when I'm just an associate. I will live in Manhattan, otherwise I might as will be in Charlotte, so please don't recommend Williamsburg/DUMBO as a cost saving measure.

I've estimated the following monthly expenses:
$2600 Soho apartment where I won't be robbed
$1500 student loans
$1200 groceries (two people)
$800 going out
$400 for transpo
$500 for health insurance
$200 for clothes (replacement cost, bonus = shopping for real)
$200 cable
$200 two iPhones
$150 dry cleaning/laundry

I figure this covers monthly expenses and yearly expenses can be handled by my bonus. I've figured in taxes and think that as long as my wife can get a decent job this should be workable. Let me know where you figure in payments I forgot or think I overestimated anything.

 

are you an analyst? have u gone to b-school? that is $8k a month for round #s. for you to be able to have that, you need to be making CASH, at least $145k a year, assuming a 35% tax rate. unless you're coming in as an associate, no way could you ever afford that.

 

You're spending $400 a month just on cable and a cell phone? Good god...

And $1200 on groceries? Me and my girlfriend used to live on less than half of that (but then again we usually ate ham sandwiches and cereal).

Hi, your cable wont come to $200 a month, it would be closer to $50-$60, groceries do not cost $1200, groceries typically will cost you $600, going out will cost you about $500-$600, if you are carefull, and $500 a month for insurance seems a bit wierd...doesn't your company pay some of the premium? if it does, im guessing it won't cost you more than $300, and $200 for iphones...that cant be possible because the monthly payment for an iphone of $59.99 with AT&T. So in total, you should actually be saving an approximate additional 1000$ a month...

 

How on earth are you going to find an apartment in Soho for only $2600 a month? It's tough to find a decent one bedroom for under $3k - especially in that area. And I'm not even talking about a doorman building.

your wife must not buy as many clothes as I do...$200 isn't much at all.

I think you will be find with the going out allowance. Working a lot, you probably won't be boozing every night.

I don't think you need that much for transportation if you buy a metro card and take cabs when you go out at night.

I think dry cleaning/laundry is about $50 a week for one person. There seem to be a lot of dirty New Yorkers though. I don't like to rewear clothes like they do.

 

Agree with HerSerendipity. Cheap ties are easy to spot. All of my good ties are Brioni, $150-$180 each. I'm not one for expensive clothes but the ties make even a cheaper suit look great.

Also, you can definitely find a $2600 one-bedroom is SoHo. A colleague of mine pays $1400 for a room in a really nice apartment.

And $800 a month is EASILY doable if you make it out twice a week.

 

1BR apt $2,600 $3,000 Loans $1,500 $1,500 Groceries $1,200 $600 Going out $800 $600 Transpo $400 $200 Insurance $500 $150 Clothes $200 $200 Cable/internet $200 $150 Phones $200 $120 Laundry $150 $75 Total $7,750 $6,595

Remember, If you work at a bank you get free rides home every night, and food every night if you work "past 8". Also, they will cover most of your cell phone (usually 50-75%), and you won't have time to go out spending $800. Health insurance comes with the job as well (at quite reasonable rates).

This should be much more reasonable, but still on the high side.

--There are stupid questions, so think first.
 
rswf:
I'm trying to figure out how my wife and I will budget our money if we move to NYC. I want to go out regularly (meaning biweekly, tell me if I'm too conservative/liberal, with going out from what you've seen, not politically). I don't plan on having/currently have kids. My wife is not the finance type; she's more the English Comp type, so she's not going to be 50% of the income, even when I'm just an associate. I will live in Manhattan, otherwise I might as will be in Charlotte, so please don't recommend Williamsburg/DUMBO as a cost saving measure.

I've estimated the following monthly expenses: $2600 Soho apartment where I won't be robbed $1500 student loans $1200 groceries (two people) $800 going out $400 for transpo $500 for health insurance $200 for clothes (replacement cost, bonus = shopping for real) $200 cable $200 two iPhones $150 dry cleaning/laundry

I figure this covers monthly expenses and yearly expenses can be handled by my bonus. I've figured in taxes and think that as long as my wife can get a decent job this should be workable. Let me know where you figure in payments I forgot or think I overestimated anything.

I am really confused being that you posted this in another topic:

rswf:
I'm in the military and want to transfer into finance. I do nothing financially related in the military. My question is, how much help would it be to take the CFA exams? (Assuming I pass through level 3, which I have the time to do) I won't have the charter because I'll lack work experience, but I'll be able to show interest that way.

My background: I've taken classes in accounting, finance, statistics, econometrics, and the like (all A's). I graduated in the top 5% of my school (a military academy). I double-majored in Economics and Chinese. 760 GMAT. I led a socially responsible venture capital firm while in college that brought two successful products to market (and led to three patents for the volunteer engineers). I've been consistently rated top of my peers in the military and selected to run high level projects affecting thousands of people.

I want to go to HBS, work in a BB IB firm, and transfer to PE (to get back to those days of raw capitalism at its finest in my venture firm, since I'm well aware entrepreneurial VC's and bureaucratic ex-military don't get along). I've done a lot of things I can argue are financially related, but most will be from undergrad. After several years in the military, I'm thinking I'll need to show some recent financial work, even if I can only show it after work hours.

Thoughts? Mainly I'm looking for thoughts on why I shouldn't pursue the CFA. My wife says I'm qualified enough and wants to spend the CFA money on landscaping....

There is not that much landscaping in NYC so tell your wife to relax. Therefore, if you are doing this as a futuristic analysis let me help being that I use to live in NYC.

Apartment: Why SoHo? That is my only question and my only advice, if you need SoHo, is it will be around $3,000.

Loans: If you went to a military academy then all of the loans you are paying is your wife’s' and there is no way it is $1,500 a month. This is because most student loans are about 20 years, and should be paid off slowly due to the favorable conditions of the loan. If you are trying to pay them off quicker it is not a smart move. Let's assume that though that you are doing a 10 year plan, and just started paying them. $1500 means that the total loan is $150,000 (assuming 5% interest). That means she fully funded her college experience with loans. This would also mean that she went to a school which cost about $40,000 a year and she got NO financial aid, very unlikely. However, this would mean that her parents have a good amount of cash and do not like her so they did not help pay for college. In conclusion, if you are pricing in MBA loans which are 2-3 years away then you are trying to conclude conditions for the future which is of no use to you.

Groceries: This number baffles me. I dinners paid for and probably spent $200 a month. Adding a wife to the mix the total should not exceed $500-700. $1200 would mean you, your wife, and your pets eat filet mignon for lunch and dinner while drinking Bling H2O.

Going Out (should be the first expense reduced): $800 is reasonable I guess if you mean dinner and a show for a date with your wife. If you mean going to the club and getting table service and the likes then guess what you’re married and trying to make it in NYC that shit can wait. The only first years that do that be it an analyst or associate are just single tools that are trying to be cool and get laid. And what happens is they either get the clap or go home and whack off.

Transportation: Where the fuck are you going for $400 a month? If you are not talking about a plane ride to visit family where do you plan on going? Nightly cab rides with your wife up and down the west end? You can get anywhere on the subway which will cost like $8 a night for your wife and yourself. This would total about $250, and I really hope you do not go somewhere every night and also if you work for a BB you can get car service pick up your wife and go somewhere.

Health Insurance: $500, are you self employed? No, then it will be about $1600 a year for two people which is about $150 a month.

Clothes: $200 is an okay figure. However, it will average to be that not be that a month. Also, I heard this bullshit about $200 for a tie and people picking on people. I worked at ML, no one made fun of anyone. Some people came to work poor and were living on only their current paycheck. Therefore, to belittle someone for their choice of attire is really low class. As long as they are wearing clothes for the situation I don’t care if they are wearing a Armani wso/">suit and Hermes wso/">shirt and tie with Ferragamos or a men’s warehouse wso/">suit. I always dressed on the higher end because I liked to but no one in my group said shit to anyone, and most BB and reputable groups wouldn’t. If senior bankers and junior bankers had enough time on their hands to be so worried about fashion they probably did not have too much deal flow.

Cable/Internet: $200 is just wrong. I had Comcast triple play with HBO, HD, DVR, etc and it was about $110-120. Also, all BB will pay your internet, so there goes $20-30.

Phones: Your cell should be paid 100%, especially as an associate so 86 your Iphone. That brings the bill to $100.

Dry Cleaning: This is all wrong. You will spend probably like $70-100 and also most senior people when they travel will have more clothes than they wear dry cleaned, it is a little gangster but it is done.

Stuff you forgot: Water, electric, and gas.

Revised Monthly Expenses: $3000 Soho apartment where I won't be robbed $1500 student loans (should be less) $700 groceries (two people) $600 going out $200 for transpo $150 for health insurance $200 for clothes (replacement cost, bonus = shopping for real) $100 cable $100 two iPhones $100 dry cleaning/laundry

= $6,650 (savings of ~$1,000)

PS – After 401(K) your salary should cover all of this. You should use your wife’s, which will hopefully be at least $40,000-50,000 and save it adding it to any of the monthly bills if needed.

PPS – Your company will cover CFA expenses though you wont have time to do it.

 

saying get a whole collection of nice ties, but I think every guy (esp. in this industry) should have at least one or two nice ones. I guess that's group dependent/bank dependent. For example, I recognize that many of the S&T guys in the bank like to wear nice shirts with nice cufflinks. that's their thing. The banking guys often go for the nice shoes and the nice tie.

Ties are easily the one piece of 'clothing' on a man that is discernable and quickly judged. I've seen some pretty ugly ties before, and trust me, they're not a good look.

 
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