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Is it just me or is living in New York prohibitively expensive. I am interested in advice from anyone who has done it.

I went on vacation to NYC once for a few days with my family. I don't know if it's that I'm from the south and things are very different here but it seems like in New York they find a way to nickel and dime you however they can. I was just surprised at all the little extra fees on everything there. You can't even get a refile without asking for it then having to pay extra for it. As far as straight up living there I don't think I'd never do it. Not enough money or patients.

Where do you want to live and what do you want to do for work and what sort of lifestyle are you looking for?

Plenty of working class people live in New York, rarely on Manhatten but will commute there each day.

I holidayed there last year and found compared to Brisbane in Australia (just over a million people).... Manhattan rental and property prices are insane.
Food is really cheap.
Clothes are as cheap as anywhere else (at least comparable)
You can get alot of stuff you will have more trouble finding elsewhere- I went to a comic store on times square and bought a huge x-men poster that I would never have found in Oz)
I think a real killer is the touristy things to do like MOMA, the other museums etc. To live there and not go there would be a poor choice. When I lived in Lodon for a year I was off to tourist sites every weekend and that is where most of my disposable income went (after miniatures )

I checked a website, basically what I am looking at is about 1.5 or maybe 1.3 times the salary but about twice the cost of living. That was considering Ottawa to be the same as Buffalo.

I do not think it is worth it, at least not until I am a little more adulty. Furniture, car, I probably want to buy new clothes, etc.

Coming from London, I find New York to be very cheap (even the manhattan hotels are not too bad), but the one thing that really does bug me is the tipping. Why cant taxis and services there just charge what they need rather than rely on tipping. Tipping 15%-20% in taxis still got occasional groans or comments on a lack of a tip when I was there which was really starting to get on my nerves by the end of the holiday. Every little action from any member of staff in the hotel seems to require a tip too. I would sooner pay more and stay in a hotel that paid staff properly rather than have to put up with constant begging from the whole staff every day. Probably why I prefer no-tipping-ever Tokyo or tip-only-when-you-get-good-service London over New York. The large number of caramelised peanut vendors almost make up for it though

man I want a New York hot dog now. First paycheck is miniatures, second paycheck I am visiting my brother. Why can't he live somewhere cool?

It can be done, I was a humble clerk/grad student with a place in Queens for 3 years.

You don't need a car, so there's a lower cost of living in one area.

But no car = public transport everywhere. And if you are using it frequently the cost would rack up fairly quickly.
Also having to wait for public transport can be a bugger (although admittedly very frequent in NYC)

Agree + 1 with legoburner on cost of living in London vs NYC. I still think rents are as overpriced as in NYC but everything else is so cheap in NYC.

Also agree +1 with legoburner on the tipping tirade however that is a rant for another thread...

Well, I've lived in NY for 40+ years. Left it two years ago. It's expensive. Your electric bill is high. Your car insurance is high. And that's a big contributor to why if you live in NYC, more often that not, it's cheaper to take mass transit. Never mind the car payments, the insurance will make you crazy. And while a car makes things more convenient, PARKING that car is not. Depending on where you are, alternate side of the street parking, meters, and the "thrill" of hunting down a space make cars a nuisance. Not to mention the $$$ that parking garages want....

BTW, in regards to the tipping, I'm pretty sure that most of those guys are TAXED on the expected tips, whether they get them or not. That kind of makes getting the tips important, hence the extended palms.....B)

legoburner wrote:Coming from London, I find New York to be very cheap (even the manhattan hotels are not too bad), but the one thing that really does bug me is the tipping. Why cant taxis and services there just charge what they need rather than rely on tipping. Tipping 15%-20% in taxis still got occasional groans or comments on a lack of a tip when I was there which was really starting to get on my nerves by the end of the holiday. Every little action from any member of staff in the hotel seems to require a tip too. I would sooner pay more and stay in a hotel that paid staff properly rather than have to put up with constant begging from the whole staff every day. Probably why I prefer no-tipping-ever Tokyo or tip-only-when-you-get-good-service London over New York. The large number of caramelised peanut vendors almost make up for it though

Yeah that is pretty much the entirety of the states. I absolutely hate it. Especially when you get bad service. People here have been so ingrained with that "Need to tip everyone all the time" mentality. I've been to restaurants with friends and been completely ignored by the staff for at least an hour, but yet my friends still give me a dirty look when I put a big fat zero on the tip line.

Well you could sell drugs . But NYC is pricey plus TOO MANY PEOPLE it gets under my skin having to living in an area with people stacked on top of one another
but it is a cool place to visit thats it. I live the back woods of PA. I'll sit in my trailer and paint my little men .

While I was job hunting I was told that in the Northern part of the state the cost of living was only slightly higher than where I live now.

New York City on the other hand...from what little I've researched....Well, I'm able to live comfortably where I am, but there I would be below the poverty line if I were making the same money there. Of course I'd probably be making more and wouldnt need to drive as much.....*shrug*

it's not happening, at least right now. It's just too much of a weird change when coupled with the expense. I do appreciate everyone's input I bookmarked the page .