gypsygirl

Id love to We lived in NJ for a few years, some of it is beautiful but you need a car! Hope everything goes well.

Bob

Baking supplies, fresh fruit/veg, dairy...you'll still be spending more than that.

And regarding school fees. I was presuming your kids would actually want to do shit, outside. That costs a lot...gymboree gym, play group etc...it all adds up very quickly...very little free for older kids.

gypsygirl

Well Im basing that on what it cost us for 6 a few years ago, so its not a number I picked out of the air I would only be buying fresh food from teh city most of the time, unless I run out of something.
We have the kids covered, so I just need to know about the current basic living costs.

Jerseygirl

I'm surprised you are moving back...you seemed to hate living in the US 3 years ago.

gypsygirl

Didnt hate it, we had no money and hadnt seen family since we moved over. Plus having a baby right away it was all to much.

tht

Rent seems a bit low for a doorman building, but you might get a 2 bed converted to a 3 for that (i.e. little or no living room, or very small bedrooms). As an example I have a 2nd floor walk up in the East Village (no doorman or other amenities), its a wing 2 bed, I use the tiny room as a bedroom (only fits a bed) and the larger one as the living room, thats $1,950 a month (i signed the lease last year, if I rented it today they are asking for about $2,400 for similar ones), its at least 7 blocks to a subway.

Also utilities probably won't include internet, phone or cable if you need them (think 50-150 depending what you want/get).

As others have mentioned Zip car is OK, but not cheap, once they add the tax etc think about $140 a day+, but they are convenient as long as you book in advance (and very flexible), you can cancel up to 24 hours before for a longer reservation, or sooner for a short one with no penalty.

If you are not all traveling together consider less subway cards (share them) and pay for other rides per use. I mostly walk and spend very little on the subway.

For groceries stores like key foods are not to expensive, but the produce is not great.

Good luck, enjoy,

tht

Untitled 3

You've budgeted way too low for rent in a doorman building for those neighbourhoods. You'd be doing well to find a decent 2 bed for less than $4k in Midtown/Union Square. You'll looking at $6k for something that you'd actually want to live in.

Bob

Don't know about in NY, but in Boston, if you've got a Charlie Card, the T travel card, you can get a discount on Zipcar if you show the card...maybe you've got something similar?

gypsygirl

Ok thanks for the help with this I appreciate it. We are looking at a 2 bed apartment now and Im trying to budget so we can afford to get home often as Ill be leaving 2 kids here. This also brings down the food and metro bills slightly.
I could start off with the top up metro cards, I just like to be able to get about, last time we did walk alot but now we have a 5yo who doesnt like to walk lol.
They have offered us the job with a good wage Im just concerned its not enough to live in the city. We lived out of the city last time and none of us are interested in doing that again. I really want it to work this time, last time we were so broke it was all a disaster and we ended up coming back to the UK. I dont know if we should hold out a bit longer, but I think the rents etc will only continue to rise, where our wages do not!

christmasoompa

If you are most concerned about the money side of things and the kind of lifestyle you'll be able to afford, is it maybe an idea to tell people what kind of salary you are talking about? Then those living in NYC can tell you if it's realistic or not?

penguinbar

There is a Costco in Harlem.

penguinbar

Why do you want to live around midtown or Union Square? $100 for dining out? That would probably cover a dinner for two of you. I do quite a bit of shopping at Costco. They have a car service right there as well. It's on 117 and the FDR. It costs $10 plus tip to the East 80's. Are you using a broker? $100 a week on groceries will tough. I do save a lot of money with coupons. I'm also lucky enough to get 5 meals a week for free since I work in a restauant which is a big savings. Restaurant prices have gone up a lot since 2004. You should check out restauranat.com. With coupon codes I have gotten many $25 certificates for $2.

As mentioned there would be phone, internet and utilities. Have you looked on Craigslist for apartments?

Would your kids be going to private school? That's around 30K per year per kid.

I live on the Upper East Side. It's quite a nice area and more reasonable than midtown.