A week in New York

https://youtu.be/yVGchXjo-Bc

Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel!

Today I want to share with you How much I spend in a week living in NYC

I Can see how money can be touchy subject(敏感话题)

But the truth is, New York is an expensive city.

I cann't just show yu how fun and glamourous it is without telling you, How the living cost in this city is absolutely ridiculous(夸张).

Also, a while ago, I saw shelby Church's video What I spend in a week Living in NYC.

I love how informative and realistic the video was, and I wish I saw that video before I visited New York.

So I decided to make my own video.

Let's get into it.

First off, I want to start with rent.

Rent is really skiy-high in Manhattan, the median rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in New york is $3150.

The rent for my Airbnb was $3381.

I cann't believe I'm saying this, but it's actually really standard.

Also, becasue there's a gym on the rooftop of my Airbnb.

I don't need to pay extra for a gym. But I actually didn't pay the full price for my rent.

I had a $1920 coupon from Airbnb.

So what happended was I booked a long-term stay on Airbnb, but the host cancelled on me last minute.

That really caused me a lot of hassle, so this was the compensation I received from Airbnb aside from my refund.

So for this apartment, I ended up only paying $1461.

Again, this is only because I had that coupon.

Divide that by 4, it comes down to $365 per week.

For transportation, you can pretty much get around just by subway. So I bought a monthly-unlimited metro card, which cost $127. That's $31.75 per week.

As for groceries, I just did grocery shopping the weekend before I started recording my expenses. I spent $44.79 at Trader Joe's. That usually lasts me a week-ish

Now, let's get into my daily spendings.

Monday

I started off doing a live stream, and then I went and grabbed my favorite bagel. The bagel was $4.95 and it was pretty filling.

After that, I went and did laundry, I ended up spening $9 on laundry. Because I wanted to wash my sheets. So I had to choose the giger washers that cost $7.

Then I went to Times Square, My friend recommended me this secrect hotel bar that can oversee Timesquare. I got the corner seat all to myself. (独享)

I ordered a Gin and Tonic, and the total came down to $18.

I ended up working for the rest of the night. And make some food at home

Tuesday

I went to Greenwich village, I grabbed a coffee and a sandwich, and it cost me $18.

I mean... really? That's so expensive!

Then I got a hat that I absolutely adore. You can see me wearing it in almost all of my videos.

It was $72 but honestly, it was such an investment piece. I got so many compliments and it was kind of a conversation starter (聊天开场白）.

I also got a necklace. At first, I wasn't proud of this purchase, 'cause I basically got it just to start a conversation with the store owner.

But a couple of weeks later, I grew to like it. I think it looks really good pairing with another chain, but anyways, the necklace was $15.

Another purchase that I'm not so proud of is a bottle of whisky and it was $56. Whenever I travel, I always like to try some local small-batch whisky or beer.

My friend and I did finish it before I left, so I guess it was kind of worh it?

As for dinner, I just cooked at home, and did some work.

Wednesday

was museum day, I woke up and made some food.

Then I headed to New Museum at SOHO. I spent the shole afternoon there. The ticket was $20. I think it was pretty standard.

In New York, some museums have pay-as-you-wish days which means you can pay whatever amount you like.

If you're trying to save money, that's the way to go.

For dinner, I got a slice of pizza. This place is called Prince Pizza, and it's pretty famous.

But $6 for slice of pizza...uhh...

I mean, pizza is just pizza, you know. Having just one slice of pizza, of course is not enough, so i heated up some leftovers(剩菜剩饭) form the weekend before.

I totally forgot that I had curry left.

It's not that fresh but it cost me $0.

Thursday

was an eventful day.

It's not that fresh but it cost me $0.

Thursday

was an eventful day.

I filmed the video How to go through customs in English, then I made some food, I got the sort ribs from Trader Joe's. It was delicious.

I spent the afternoon editing, and right before sunset, I visited The Edge. It's an observatory(观景台) that I'd always wanted to go to. The ticket was $52.

It's definitely on the pricier side (的确比较贵)

But I'd say if you're visiting New York, it's definitely worth seeing.

It makes you feel like you're on the top of the world, and everything is just under your feet.

For dinner, I got Shake Shack. This is something I've been craving for a while. I'm not a vegetarian, but the Shroom Burger was so delicious. Look at the cheese.

Also, I got the Brooklyn-brewed beer, 'cause um... it's local brewed...

and I am a sucker for locally brewed whatever.

And at night, I booked a ticket to a musical called "The Office! A Music Parody".

It was my first time watching a musical In New York.

I didn't end up going to Broadway 'cause I am not that into musicals, but I am very, very into The Office.

It si my favorite show of all time, and the musical was basically, all the classic scenes adapted into music.

And I got all the references, so I was really pround of myself! The ticket was $63.

After the show ended, it was already 10:00 PM. So for safety reasons, I took a Uber back, it was $15.

I spent quite a lot on Thursday, but the experience was just incredible. I would totally do it again!

Friday

was pretty much just a workday, I made some food at home for lunch.

For dinner, I went to this udon place that I've heard good things about.

I had the chicken udon.

But honestly, it was just alright...

uhh, the total turned out to be $21

uh um, yeah.

I reserved a seat at comedy show last minute. It was a 1.5-hour show with 5 comics. I think I literally laughed to tears.

I've always loved standup, and getting to see it live instead of on Youtube was so much fun.

But the comedy shows are expensive. It's a $25 cover, plus 2 items o the menu, plus tips.

In total, I think I paid almost $70 after tips.

That's way more than I expected 'cause I thought it was just a $25 cover.

But honestly, in hindsight(事后看来), I would totally do it again.

It was one of the greatest nights I had in New York.

Weekend

Saturdays and Sundays are normally my workdays, I don't like leaving the house on the weekends, because it's usually really crowded outside.

On Saturday, I worked all day, and got Katsudon around the evening, 'cause I was craving for some warm rice and soup. That cost me $28.

On Sunday, I went to Brooklyn to shoot the mid-roll ad that you probably saw a couple of minutes ago.

And after the shoot, I got a chocolate chip cookie, and just sat there and watched the sunset.

I think the cookie was 4 dollars? I paid by cash so I don't really remember.

So for this whole week, I ended up spending $930.84

At the end of the day, New York is still very very expensive to live in.

I'd say the living cost is at least 3-4 times higher than in Taipei.

I'm glad that I was able to spend a month here, just to get the taste of it, instead of committing to a long-term lease or a job here...

Overall, the verdict is ... New York is fun to visit, but I really didn't see myself living here long term.

Unless the connections you make in the city help your career.

I don't see how anyone can justify the price.

Let me know in the comments below `would you ever want to live in New York? And what's your strategy when you travel, do you spend more on food, experiences, or shopping?"

Anyways, that's it for this video, and I'll see you in my next one!

Living cost:

Airbnb
Metro card
grocery
bagel
laundry
gin and tonic
sandwich + coffee
hat
necklace
whisky
pizz
the edge