Introductions

Introductions.  Often the first and last post of bloggers-come-lately.  But I am determined to make this one work.  I am your average 20-something-girl-in-the-big-city.  I work in an office in the industry I love, but can't get over the career hump that separates "barely getting by" and "going away for the weekend because I can".  I have been a hustler my entire life.  I moved to NYC in 2005 as a 19 year old baby from a suburban midwest town.  New York 9 years ago was a different city.  We didn't make much more, but you could afford a life in the outer boroughs.

These days, even the newspapers are talking about what we all saw coming: Manhattan is cheaper than Brooklyn! I've gotten myself priced in and around and eventually out of Astoria,  The rise of a combo of wealthier professionals seeking studio and one bedrooms combined with the yuppies still getting mommy and daddy money while they intern for pennies (and will eventually be able to surpass the rest of us smucks in clerical and administrative positions who couldn't afford such a hit) are ruining the entire financial structure.  But look:  that ain't gonna change.  It's the way the city is going.  So we now have to adapt.

The city can be a cruel bitch.  It will break your heart and taunt you with places and things you can't afford.  After graduating night school (from a city university, no less. Not NYU or Columbia.  Just a 4 year CUNY education in theatre) I realized just how much those loans I signed each year were amounting to.  I had never really watched my money before.  I don't live an extravagant life and spent most of my free time in class and writing papers.  Having more free time in the city somehow instantly became more eating out, more theatre, more shopping. MORE CREDIT DEBT.  When I realized I was charging roughly each month what I spent on my student loans, I realized something had to change.  I don't make enough money to live as I had been and cover my living costs.  And I do have one of the greatest luxuries you can have in the city: my own apartment.

My 400 square foot studio in Woodside, Queens might not seem like a big deal to out of towners or people not in such situations, but I'll lay it down like this:  For 2 paychecks a month, I get my OWN apartment.  I have a FULL kitchen, 3 closets, a 25 minute commute, facing a park, and am 6 blocks from the train.  My previous studio in Astoria was $925, had zero closets, no sink in the bathroom, and the kitchen was in the living room space.  It was 300 square feet.  So while times are tough, I have peace and quiet.

So I am now paying back Bank of Mommy who graciously loaned me money to pay off my credit card, in exchange for me promising to not carry a balance.  This has proved harder than I had hoped for, but it just has to be so.  NY is a city where you live and die by credit.  But I've been 4 months balance free.

This blog is going to be my struggles, triumphs, suggestions, and victories of living in New York (and enjoying it!) on a budget.