The other day I met up with my good friend, Tracey. These days we always seem to talk more about our careers and financial
matters. Tracey and I are in the same
career field but have different kinds of responsibility. My job, for a large
government agency, requires spending long hours on my feet and travel to
many locations. Glamorous it’s not but it allows me a lot of autonomy. Tracey works on a yearly contract for a university in Manhattan. I
live in Brooklyn with a roommate. Tracey lives in Manhattan with a roommate.
Tracey complained about her lack of autonomy and job
security. Tracey, like many people,
feels that she is underpaid for the lifestyle that she wants to live. I
mentioned several times in this blog how totally uncool I am. I don’t hang out
in trendy coffee shops and don’t spend long hours queuing to get into the hottest
new restaurants. I don’t have a gym membership. Instead I take great pleasure
in finding free and inexpensive things to do around the city. Whether it be
attending the local spa, free wi-fi at Grand Army Plaza Library or jogging
around Prospect Park. I am a very low-key kind of girl. I don’t want to waste
my income paying enormous rent each month. I buy what I can afford. Tracey is
the opposite. Tracey grow up in California, she wants to live the
New York lifestyle so often showcased on Sex and the City and Friends. Tracey wants
to go to the latest coffee shops and queue at restaurants. She wants to buy designer
clothing and live in a glass enclosed patio-ed high rise. I mean there is nothing wrong with that, if
you can afford it. But, Tracey can’t afford it. As we spoke she told me how frustrated
she was that some of her other friends were living this carefree New York life
that she always wanted to live. One friend she noted lived in a nice loft
apartment in Downtown Brooklyn for which he was paying $2700 per month rent.
$2700 per month in rent is absurd to me. That’s more than my future mortgage
payments I tell her. Then she says, “What’s the point of living in New York, if
you can’t live that way”. Another friend
she noted lived in a small one bedroom doorman building, also Downtown Brooklyn
and also paying a large amount of rent each month.
Tracey shared how she feels that she is “missing out”. I tell Tracey that if she lived the New York lifestyle
portrayed on tv she would be completely broke.
A few years ago, I felt similar to Tracey. But that feeling had lasted for several weeks.
At the time, I lost out on the 2-bedroom cooperative apartment that I was in contract
to purchase. It was Fall 2013. I was
angry. And my anger only grew when I
found out that I lost out on the property because the coop board didn’t think I
was credit worthy, simply put they wanted a cash buyer. At the time I had just
completed grad school and had over $40,000 in student loan debt (though it cost over $60,000 for the degree). And to make
matters worse, the work promotion that I longed for and was promised never materialized.
I was gutted. I felt that I was missing
out and that everyone else had it easier than me.
But after the initially anger and hurt, I
became motivated. I worked hard and applied for every job that came across my
computer screen. I saved money. Most importantly, I paid my student loans consistently. I took stock of my life. I asked myself what I needed
right now and in the future. What are my values? That self-assessment told me
that I valued being a home owner. Sure, at
times I would like to go on a frivolous spending spree or a trendy restaurant
and pay $30 for an entree but all of that frivolousness will only delay me
getting to my goal. I want to buy a apartment in Brooklyn. And the only way I can do that is if
I am careful with how and when I spend my money. I’m not perfect. There are days when I am too lazy to pack my
lunch and end up purchasing up to $20 a day on food (Brooklyn is expensive). But
I always have my goal in mind.
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