<p>I'm excited for NYU but my parents had been bugging me for a long time on how much I would need just to live there. Besides tuition and stuff, how much would I need in my wallet for just one semester?</p>
<p>I'm curious as to what fellow NYU students are doing about this. Are you guys saving up or using parents money to help you (my friend had a debit card that had access to a bank account her parents put money in), or are you guys planning to work and live off? Isn't it expensive?</p>
<p>I'm just curious to know how much:</p>
<p>Train transport
Taxi (if needed- trains break down, miss a train, etc)
Food
Emergency money
Etc?</p>
<p>I just want a rough estimate for a semester and would like to know how you guys are planning to deal with this. I have several options but my parents threw the number $4,000 for a semester at me for all of these expenses. Isn't that too high? Sorry if I seem a bit clueless but I know NYC is pricey, but exactly how pricey?</p>
<p>I’ve been living in NYC for the past year attending Marymount Manhattan College (transferred in to Gallatin for Fall '09). Anyway, between having a job as a personal assistant and a little bit of money from my parents, I gave myself about 1000$ a month to live on (the rest of my job money went into savings). It was tight sometimes when I went on the occasional splurge (theatre tickets, shopping, etc.), but that for me was a comfortable amount of money to live on. I have friends who do okay on about 100$ a week but they can’t go out and socialize much (movies, show tickets, etc.). There’s a lot to do for free, but if your parents can afford to provide you with $4,000 for the semester, I think it’s a perfect amount for you to be comfortable and take care of all your expenses while still having some money left over to enjoy the city. </p>
<p>And New York is always pricier than you think it’s going to be, and there is ALWAYS going to be an unexpected expense that’s gonna almost blow your budget, trust me.</p>
<p>Also, don’t get reliant on taxis or eating out. Eating out and taxis are the two biggest drains on my bank account.</p>
<p>Haha, sorry, when I said “eat out” I kind of meant “take-out.” Sorry I didn’t clarify.</p>
<p>The thing is, I don’t WANT my parents to give me $4,000 per semester ($1000 a month!). I want to be easy on my parents and want to be responsible with my money. If some people can live off of $100, great! I’m hoping I can budget myself to $200 a week at most.</p>
<p>I just saw the other thread “how much does NYU REALLY cost,” I guess that’s more relevant but I just wanted to know the average. Would cutting down $4,000 a semester to $2000 still let me live off decently? That’s at least $500 a month or close to around $125 a week.</p>
<p>im an incoming freshman, and im going to be getting $100 a week. it’s more than alot of my friends are getting. of course i’m gonna have a meal plan, so that money is just for spending.</p>
<p>I know eating out is costly but, I applied for an apartment style dorm so if I get a reduced meal plan would eating out often still be unaffordable for me if the only income I’m bringing in is from potential jobs.</p>
<p>if by “eating out” you mean the falafel guy, quiznos, au bon pain, maybe the sushi lunch special or an indian food lunch buffet, no, it wouldn’t be out of the question. there’s a lot of ways to eat out cheaply. </p>
<p>my favorite trick is getting sushi during the lunch special hours (usually the x amount of rolls of your choice + soup + salad), eating the soup and salad in the afternoon and refridgerating the sushi to eat for dinner. pizza is always cheap. there’s a TON of cheap places to eat on st. marks, which is near third ave. north.</p>
<p>whether or not you can get a part time job is the question. i would start looking around for a part time job ASAP.</p>
<p>that’s actually around what i get a semester, $2,000. i’m a rising senior and my parents don’t want me to work (i have a full scholarship from NYU) so they just cut me a check at the beginning of the semester. (“school is your work!” and i’m also trying to get an unpaid research position, so. . .i’m being exploited either way, lol.)</p>
<p>2k a semester covers, for me: groceries, some clothes, books, a metrocard (i was living far from campus but i never sprang for the monthly) and ahem, drinking. my roommate and i would always go out together and we would either split the cab or one of us would buy the last round and the other would buy the cab. it also covers the occasional movie and train tickets to NJ to see my bf.</p>
<p>i only mention drinking and the extra stuff because it illustrates that if i can live off of 2k a semester with all of those extra expenses, you can as well. considering the fact that you’ll have a meal plan and you won’t be going going out to bars, you should be fine.</p>
<p>you’ll have some surprise expenses the first semester, believe me. it takes some trial and error to learn how to budget and how to shop smart.</p>
<p>do NOT buy the montly metrocard unless you will take the train more than 3 times a day. (you won’t, so don’t.) you will not use it enough to justify dropping all that money at the beginning of the month.</p>
<p>Sheeet, I’m getting 50/week. I am, however, on a 14 meals/ week plan. I was planning on just like getting a box of cerial and not eating out often at all. I was thinking $10/ week on groceries, $7/wk for subway fare, coffee an other misc. Costs $15, the rest on partying, clubs are like 10 bucks cover charge If you get there early. It will be a challenge, but I think it’ll be fun, in a weird sort of way. Teaches organized spending.</p>
<p>there’s a good sushi place on 1st ave and. . .11th, i think? new ashiya. 50% off all rolls and sushi all day every day. it’s not “omg amazing” but it’s good enough. if you eat a lot, they do a 25$ all you can eat option. i go there because for $30 they do all you can eat and all you drink. </p>
<p>there’s a ton of cheap but okay sushi on st. mark’s.</p>
<p>i could go on and on.</p>
<p>(yay 600th post! damn, i spend too much time here. . .)</p>
<p>There is (or at least there used to be) this fantastic place on St. Marks where it was like a giant vending machine full of hot, DELICIOUS food. Of course I was maybe 11 when I ate there, but I have fond memories. Everything was super cheap. </p>
<p>So there are certainly cheaper ways to eat in Manhattan. Go to Chinatown and explore a bit. One of my favorite places to eat in the city is this dumpling place in Chinatown that sells 6 outrageously delicious dumplings for 1.25 total.</p>
<p>I am a complete shopaholic. Diesel, Armani, J Crew etc. I am thinking 750 dollars a month should hold me just fine. I mean, I used to go to the city every single weekend from 1st grade to 8th grade, so I basically lived there on the weekends. The prices are not THAT BAD, but I guess I am used to it.</p>
<p>I’ll be giving my son 150 a week for 15 weeks each semester for food and whatever. I will also pay for his books this year. He will do his work study for extra money. </p>
<p>I, his mom, lives on <$50 a week for grocery and whatever.</p>
<p>If it makes anyone feel any better, I, a law student without a meal plan and amongst students who tend to drink their worries away (don’t judge us until you’ve lived through 1L) spent only $3000 the entire year. No joke. It’s very doable, if you’re willing to be proactive and creative.</p>
(but it still has to be good)</p>
</p>