Tonight's internet surfing led me to this article = InstaOutrage
Really, you are going to ask other people to pay for you to move to NYC? And what are you going to do once you get here? Oh, that's right, realize it's not going to work and leave
(Or move in with your boyfriend)
After college I wanted to come to NYC, all my friends moved her instantly. They got jobs or went to (more) school and they lived here. They constantly asked me: "Why don't you live here?"
Simple truth: I couldn't afford it, so I didn't do it. I waited.
When I was looking for jobs (and getting close) my lease in White Plains ran out. I had two options, move to NYC then and there, rough it out with a low salary and a dreadful commute and no money in bank account or wait until I actually got the job.
I got my midtown marketing job weeks after the lease signed. I could have broken it. I probably could have found other people to take over my lease but I had a great friend who let me stay frequently and then met my boyfriend and spent an unreasonable amount of time at his place (insert angry roommates here.)
Then, I had had my NYC job for a year. And it was time. I found a great apartment. I pay a lot of money every month, and it sucks, but I don't have to worry about whether or not I'm going to be able to afford the next rent check. Do I get to write? Create? Be? Sure. Sometimes. Not exactly full time. But I get vacation days. If I want to be productive and "vision" with that time then, I can do that. I might go drinking with friends instead...
But that's just it. It's easy to have a dream. Living a dream, isn't easy.
I like my life. I finally have everything I want (Okay, not those awesome Stuart Weitzman riding boots I saw on HauteLook the other day) But I worked for
it. Really hard. I slaved at a miserable job for two years (at one point
I made $10 an hour). I worked a second job: opening a gym at 4:30am.
Okay, so I was also going through a breakup and working 4:30am - 5pm
seemed like a good idea at the time.
Look, don't get me
wrong. In a lot of ways, I'm a spoiled brat. I don't have college debt.
My only credit card is that one time when I was 18 and got my first card
at Victoria Secret and didn't realize that I had to actually pay it (I
thought it would magically deduct from my bank account) but on my own salary I can afford NYC.
I have to be careful. My rent is high but my place is great- for the first time i my non-living-with-parents life, I don't share a bathroom (I have my own half bath) and there's laundry in my building. It's awesome! But I do try and be good about how much money I spend on things (Seamless anyone?)
Life here in NYC can suck. It's lonely, crowded, dirty. aggressive, heartbreaking, and maybe a little soulless. You have to fight for every inch. Is it an amazing battle? Absolutely. Is it worth it?
I don't know. How do you feel about closet space?
My point is, if you can't afford to live in one of the five boroughs. Go somewhere else. Please. I hear NJ is cheap.
