How to survive NYC on a tight budget?

New York City may be one of the most famous cities in the United States, if not in the whole world. So many works of art, books, movies, and television shows take place here. It rightfully bears the name of the City that never sleeps. Wherever you go, at any time of the day and night, you are bound to meet people. This is why, with so many of them circulating around the city, it can be often hard to figure out where to go when you are moving to New York. Especially when you need to save money, like for a college move, you might be in a tough spot. The rents in New York seem to always be climbing up, and the affordable apartments are few. In this article, we give you some of the best tips on how to survive NYC on a tight budget.

Can you live in NYC on a tight budget?

Knowing just how expensive New York City can get, the natural question may be “Can I even afford to live in NYC on a tight budget?” Many people wonder if such a thing is even possible! How much would you need to earn, and how little will you have to spend in order to live in the Big Apple?

The solution to this question may appear to be quite simple, but it actually isn’t. What you need to do is to plan your budget thoroughly. However, this includes a lot of things. You will need to:

• figure out how much you will need to pay for rent,
• decide where you will live,
• find roommates that can help you live in NYC on a tight budget,
• figure out whether you need the movers,
• think about your spendings.

Only when you have gone through these problems and made a thorough plan, you will be able to afford to live in New York. Keep in mind that it’s not impossible – it can be done. However, you will need to do a lot of planning in order to achieve it.

Figure out your rent plan

One of the biggest problems people have when they want to live in NYC on a tight budget is the rent. First, you need to find a good apartment, then you should save money for down payment and only then can you think about moving. And since the median rent in New York across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens gets up to $2,500, this can seem like an impossible task to some people.

Figure out whether you can afford rent before you sign a lease.

There is a rule you should follow, though. And luckily for you, many landlords will make this rule a requirement if you want to move into their building. It is as follows: when you want to move into an apartment, you should be earning 40 times more than the monthly rent. So, if the monthly rent is, for example, $2,000, then your annual income (pre-taxes, and with annual salary and bonuses) should be $80,000.

However, keep in mind that these numbers are the average across the three boroughs. You can always exchange your location with the commute time. Just by living a bit further from the city, and traveling a little longer, you may be able to save a bunch of money. When you are hunting apartments, make sure you think about the location. It can make or break your budget.

Roommates can help you live in NYC on a tight budget

One of the things that you can do when you don’t meet the “40 times” rule, or if you want to save some money, is to find roommates. Many opt to go this root. It can be very useful to have people who will share your living costs. Some landlords will even add up your annual incomes in order to meet their requirements.

Roommates can help you ease the cost of living in New York.

However, living with roommates comes with trials of its own. First, you should look into the moving contract and decide whether you want to share the moving costs with them or not. You should also talk about how you will divide the rent, and if they want the same luxuries you do. For example, maybe your roommate will not want cable television, so they might not want to pay for it. You need to be open to discussion and aware of this. It will help you live in NYC on a tight budget in the long run.

Think about which movers to use

Then, one final thing you will need when you want to move to NYC on a tight budget is good movers, should you need some assistance with your Manhattan move. Moving is never an easy task and moving to a city as huge as New York can get even harder. This is why you need a professional moving company that can help you with this.

It is better to hire the professionals than to get hurt while you are moving on your own.

You should look into reliable movers – the people you can trust. Nobody wants to leave their belongings in the hands of strangers, right? So, you need movers with experience, like Heart Moving Manhattan NYC, for example. Then, you need a company that is familiar with the area. They are the people that will know which roads to take to evade the traffic. They will also know when the rush hours hits the worst in New York. Finally, you want movers that offer a variety of services. Whether it’s local or long distance moving, packing services or storage, a professional mover will be there for you through the whole process. So, pick carefully, because this is the final link that can help you move to NYC on a tight budget.