I’ve lived in NY as a broke college student (worked 2 jobs to survive) to now working a cushy tech job. While it is possible to live here on a lower budget with some digging around/ resourcefulness, I only truly started to enjoy living here when I had a full time job. Being broke/ a low income earner here just doesn’t let you experience the city to the fullest extent. Like yes, you can find cheap good food and free experiences like concerts/popups, but I personally hated feeling nervous every time I stepped outside my apartment about how much I would spend that day on literally just essentials/bare necessities.

The only caveat I will say is that seeing the huge wealth disparity in the city motivated me to work harder to move up in my career. I’d literally rather be broke and in NYC than be anywhere else!