<prompt> Human: Hi, Im putting up my budget. I saw that other post, so thought to put up mine as well... for the benefit of people who want to move to NYC. I live in a nice part of Brooklyn. Salary- about 5600 monthlyMortage - 2600 monthly when I rented I was paying 1750 for a 1 bedtravel - monthly unlimited metrocard 116groceriesmeat - 150 weekly 2 people I get meat from a bucherelectric - 120 monthly summer ac when its not summer its like 80water - 50 monthlygas - 35 monthly winter is like 150 monthlycell phone - 141 monthlyNetflix - 30 monthly internet - 40 monthlyhome insurance 100 monthlyrandom things like toleltries, drycleaning, eating out - 600 variesJust FYI, if you rent, you can find a nice 1 bed for 1500 monthly. you just have to LOOK outside of manhattan, and outside of places like Williamsburg. A lot of people I work with are recent college graduates from midAmerica and choose to live with 4 roommates in a 2 bed in manhattan, so they can go home and say I live in manhattan. You dont have to live like that.Additionally, groceries, shopping here is a bit cheaper than places like upstate NY. There are always sales and discounted things due to competition, because you can literally cross the street and there is another supermarket. Just FYI I dont drink so didnt include that.I grew up here, there are people who live with families, who make like 3k a month, and they survive. The great thing about NYC is that a majority of museums, zoos, libraries, parks, are free or have a suggested fee. If you dont want to pay, you can say im just putting in 1 and get in. I did that when I was a student. I didnt put things like going out everyday or something like that because its your choice, if you want to live a dream or if you want to live reality. I mean, going out every night, its not normal, they may show that on TV, but its not real, if you choose to live out of your means thats your call, but dont cry when your 60 and cant afford to retire. If you go to the movies, its about 50 for 2 people. Dinner is about 50 to 125 depending on where you go. You do not need a car if you live in NYC. there are some rare exceptions, if you live in some areas of queens or Brooklyn. But 99 of the time you have a train or bus near you. If you choose to get a car, it is expensive. I rent out my garage for 200 monthly. A ticket is usually 50 to 100 and you WILL get one a few times a year if you have a car. Cops have quotas they have to meet. The one thing that is cheap is CUNY. Baruch, Hunter, Brooklyn college are all about 3k a semester, and even if your middle class you usually get discounted about 600 a semester atleast I was back in early 2000s. These are good colleges that are well known. The choice is on you if you want to pay 3k for cuny vs a lot more for st johns, or Fordham or pace... I agree pace or nyu maybe better, but I feel that if you cant afford it, better to go to cuny as you can still get a proper education and a good job maybe not in IB Look I just want to say, NYC is what you make of it, there are people with 6 figure salaries that save nothing, and there are people who make 50k a year and manage to save something. Its on you. Another thing about NYC is that you can usually always find a job, it might be a minimum wage job, or crappy job, but you can find something. I hear stories about small towns where like one restaurant closes down and the employees cant find something else. The only thing I will say as a negative is that buying a house or renting is really hard in nyc. Average house or condo, coop is usually over 500k, you can find some coops over 250k but the maintenance is high or its not in a good neighborhood, or the coop is in like a used to be rental building. Rental, say 1500 for a one bed, and 1900 for a 2 bed. I think the city is set up so that 2 people have to work if they want to be middle class if they have kid.TL;DR: In NYC rent is really expensive, everything else is what you make of it. Dont eat steak if you can only afford chicken.  <response>: Your spending is unrealistic. I drink a lot more than you, so you should drink more. Your life must be boring. Its impossible to spend so little to live in NYC.jkThanks for being brave enough to follow yesterdays post with more evidence that there are many ways to live affordably in NYC if you make the right choices. 