| A clean two bedroom apartment in Manhattan easily can go for $3500/mo. If you want a view of Central Park in the Upper East Side (by no means the very high end, but still a high-end neighborhood) then you could be looking at over $17k/mo! (see manhattanapts.com ) If you decide to move out of Manhattan and commute from say Queens, then a good two bedroom averages around $2500/mo and anything bellow $1600/mo is not something that you'd be happy with. Right there you are looking at $30k-$40k/yr in rent for a two bedroom. Daycare in Manhattan is between $18k and $30k/yr. In Queens you may be able to find it for $14k/yr, but you'll have to be in waiting list for a long time and in the mean time pay the high prices. Car will run you about the same amount. Average fast lunch anywhere in Queens/Brooklyn/Manhattan runs you $10 and dinner goes for $15. Say you eat lunch at the local greasy spoon and make dinner at home. So food will cost the family around $16k/yr. A typical, and by no means extravagant, dinner for two will run you $100. Movies and whatever, add another $50. So going out once a month with your wife will cost you about $2k/yr. If you also want to take the kids out once a month, then double that. After work drinks will cost you at least $8 each. Add all these up and allow for phone, electricity, travel, a little night out once in a while, as well as cloth, books, medical care, etc etc and you'll see that at least in NYC, a middle class family of 4 needs to spend over $100k per year. Add in the taxes and you'll be able to relate to your friend. $50k/yr in the tri-boroughs is being poor. |
