New York is not only “Jewish Boys Gone Bad.” It’s also “LA Girls Gone Broke.”
I moved to New York City 6 months ago.
It’s easy to romanticize your life. New York City is a gorgeous city to have negatives in your bank account.
People talk about the toxicity of New York; mostly about the piles and piles of garbage, the rats that believe they’re residents, and the cramped closets disguised as studios.
But no one tells you exactly how expensive it is to live here, and exactly how hard it is to keep a budget.
When there are unlimited food options, drink options, and people options, the options pile up to the top. A pretty penny goes a very, very short way.
I grew up never having to budget. My college was paid for. My laundry was cleaned.
Now I live in a studio where the walls are paper thin and I’m constantly in a telenovela with my upstairs neighbors, chattering away in Spanish. My washer/dryer takes about 4 hours to complete a third of my laundry.
(Yes I know I’m privileged to even have laundry in my own apartment)
My studio in New York is nice; 400 square feet separated by a flight of stairs.
Every day, I meet someone who works at CNN, The New Yorker, Yelp, Salesforce, who seems to understand how to live here.
I’m over here being a teacher, managing money from my ESL job, and from gracious donations from my best benefactors, my parents.
During the day, I teach adults English to give them a bountiful life in the United States and I’m trying to sell New York City like it’s a used car.
Stay in the US! Stay in New York! It’s great! You’ll be successful!
So many of them complain to me that it’s actually the opposite.
An “abusive” relationship, one may call it.
Thank you so much, kind New York man, for hitting me with your taxi!
But I’m constantly yearning to be more financially independent and to learn how to budget the money that I have.
Hopefully, whoever reads this, you can hold my hand. Because living in New York City, as beautiful, enthralling, tantalizing as it is, is difficult.
Relationships are important, but the relationship you have with yourself and your bank account is more important.
20-Something With A Blog 