For those of you, who live outside the city wonder why New Yorkers have to earn so much money, this NY Daily News article says it all. According to the article, earning $123,322 is the equivalent of making $50,000 in Houston (assuming the same standard of living).
My family consistently asks me why I live here and yes, it takes a lot of money to live here but I like living here and it works for me. I have thought through other cities I would like to live and only 2 come to mind, San Francisco and London. Both with cost of living expenses higher than NYC.
2 of the biggest expenses are for education/child care and rent/mortgage. I live in a one-bedroom (but I own it dammit) and I am pretty sure that my apt has increased in valued since I bought not decreased like some many areas in the U.S.
- $2000 for preschool/babysitting. Even if you choose the public school option you still have to spend which is about $9,000 for afterschool/babysitting and summer camp.
- Monthly mortgage/maintenance - $2,800
But the pluses are:
- Monthly commuting is $84 for subway. I don't own a car or need one so that saves on monthly car payments, insurance and gas.
- Walking distance to the parks.
- Access to museums (The MET, Natural History Museum, Forbes Museum) which we go to 1x month
- Access to Central Park Zoo - great playdate choice
- Walking distance to our doctors
- 10 block radius to the Gap, Old Navy, Bed Bath and Beyond, K-Mart, Trader Joes, supermarket, Whole Foods, Banana Republic, Zara, H&M, Ann Taylor, Barnes and Noble
- Other single moms by choice like me. In the suburbs, I would be the weird one, Alex would feel odd that she does not have a dad but here she does not feel like she is the only one.
- Delivery, Delivery, Delivery - you can pretty much have anything delivered to your home (food, dry cleaning, drop of laundry, barnes and noble and bed bath and beyond )
- Doorman - need I say more
- Great restaurants - I don't get out as much as I used to for obvious reasons but 4x a year I go to really fabulous trendy restaurants to celebrate
- my friends
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