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How a Family of 3 Lives on $500,000 on the Upper West Side

⁨45⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨return2ozma@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨aboringdystopia@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/03/23/nyregion/nyc-budgeting-affordability-gossai.html

archive.ph/xg8X2

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Comments

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  • KaChilde@sh.itjust.works ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    What the fuck am I reading here? Is NYT trying out satire?

    This feels like a sob story about a family tightening their belts in the current economy. But these fuckers are saving more in a month than most couples earn!

    They talk about living in a one-bedroom like they couldn’t spend more than 10% of their income on a larger space, and still save an entire minimum wage’s worth of money a year without breaking a sweat.

    When you can pay for zoo memberships and museums, and still be saving over 100K a year, you are not like the rest of the world.

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    • HubertManne@piefed.social ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      100k is a whole lot more than minimum wage. or did you mean like a years worth of minimum wage per month?

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      • KaChilde@sh.itjust.works ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I meant that they could break into that 100k a year, find somewhere bigger, and still have enough leftover to cover a minimum wage. But you are right, they could probably cover it a couple of times over.

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  • pressedhams@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Fairly well I imagine? $500,000 and you’re going to be pretty comfortable most anywhere.

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  • deathbird@mander.xyz ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    They spend $3,900/mo on rent for 800sqft, but on $500k/year that’s about 9.4% of their income. The recommendation is no more than 30%, or for them $13,888/mo. That’s close to the $10k/mo they say they try to save. And of course at this level food cost is no object.

    And there are plenty of large condos in this area that they could afford right now.

    They’re winning.

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  • stinerman@feddit.online ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Interesting. I mean, “don’t live on the upper west side” seems like good advice, but they also aren’t really complaining about anything. It’s a different story if they were complaining about how tough it is.

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