My girlfriend and I make a combined $235,000 per year...need advice about NYC.

Don't lock yourself in mentally too early in the process of adapting to NY. You will learn more about what trade-offs you are willing to make after the first year or two of living in less space than you are probably used to. A lot of people in that age group move to Brooklyn/LIC/NJ to get a nicer place once you're not eating out (or at work) constantly. I lived in Battery Park, Financial District, UWS, and JC for many years before settling on the UES once we needed the schools.

Kids can be a blessing or a curse. Get a golden retriever and life is good.

Nah my coworker has a golden retriever and then he got a Australian shepherd and boom now his wife is pregnant and he doesn't know wtf to do with those beasts.

Also, one more thing. Based on the fact that she’s only getting a $10k increase, it sounds to me like you are the breadwinner? What is her salary? $60k?

If so, how nice of you to fund her UWS lifestyle. I don’t mean that sarcastically. You just brought her from low-income housing in Harlem/Queens to some seriously nice accommodations. I hope she’s grateful for that.

NYC native here. Not for everyone. How much have either you been to NYC? "Dream to live there" really makes me suspicious of not actually knowing what it is like there.

Some people love it. Great! There are some cool qualities to NYC, but it's a unique place. I moved away and def couldn't live there again. Your qol will go down bc it's so expensive. So consider it as taking a major pay cut to go to NYC. If you're okay with that, cool.

fyi The subways smell like piss. All the time. I don't want to smell gross piss every day. That was enough for me to let it go. But there's other reasons.

Good luck regardless. I second the don't bring anything advice. Minimalism in your living space is your friend as every time you go out you'll be bombarded with stimuli

I lived in NYC for a decade before moving out to the suburbs with kids. It's a great experience and definitely doable with your salaries if you don't have kids. You can typically get the best value for a 1-bedroom apartment - rent is typically lower on a per square foot basis relative to larger apartments (multiple bedrooms actually rent for a higher rent per square foot because there's more demand). I'd look at older buildings on the UWS, UES or midtown -these neighborhoods are all near Central Park which is great for running. If you live on the upper west side you can reasonably priced groceries at Trader Joe's!

Thanks for all of the comments. We are looking at UW/UE this evening as she had good feedback from her first interview round. It sounds like she's moving on to round two.

As for her salary, it's based on a grade scale, so $61K not including benefits. My salary will definitely assist with the preferred location.

He could also surgically reverse his vasectomy ..

I've been to NYC five times. Three vacations, including one with her. Twice for work at my old job.

Natural recanalization of the vas deferens happens in about 0.08-9.00% of vasectomies. That is probably around the same probability of being murdered in NYC.

I'll take $235k in Michigan. Crank up your retirement savings rate and get a nice place on the water where you can retire at 50. NYC for a 10k raise (lol).

Something about this post sounds fishy tbh. My wife and I make a similar amount, and there's no way a measly 10k bump would make us upend our lives. Do people really move to NYC in their 30s? Idk just seems weird to me.

I understand why it seems fishy. But she's been wanting to work/live in NYC her entire life and just never was able to pull it off. She had a boyfriend for six years who had no desire to live anywhere but Michigan. I don't see us breaking up, but I knew this was her goal.

I lived pretty frugally and we've lived together for two years now. If it doesn't work out, well it's not like we can't move back to Michigan or somewhere more affordable.

I'm not about to tell her to not go after what she wants to do. If kids were in the picture or I had a job that kept me here I don't think NYC would be a possibility.

The obsession with kids in this thread is pathetic.

NY’s most violent neighborhood (a square mile of public housing) has a significantly lower murder rate than my entire former city.

Who’s obsessed?

NY’s most violent neighborhood (a square mile of public housing) has a significantly lower murder rate than my entire former city.

Why do other people have to live exactly like you? You sound like a MA.GA hat redneck

It seems like people either love or hate NYC and they decide pretty quickly. I’ve only vacationed there a few times but I love it. Good luck to your girlfriend.