What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[Gucci]

You’re way under-estimating your required rent. $800 won’t get you anything. That said, I’ll defer to the current NYC crew to weigh in.

All I’ll say is $800 is barely half of the bare minimum. Rent, utilities, food, transportation costs, medicine and toiletries, so on and so forth. $11k a year to live in any of the five boroughs is impossible. And that’s not even factoring in rainy day situations.

Most people are going to want so many things from you: income verification, credit history and credit check, background checks, proof of income. Anyone who doesn’t ask for any of that stuff is going to be shady as hell and you run the risk of something bad happening if you move into a situation like that.

I don’t mean to be a dick but the ain’t the 80s and 90s anymore. Someone can’t just hop on a bus from some part of the country and move to NYC to roll the dice and hope for the best. You need a shit ton of cash, the ability to make even more cash right away, and a good background to plant roots in NYC if you’re coming from the outside.

I don’t mean to sound harsh but I’m a realist. I just have to say it like it is.

Edit: I’m looking at random listings on that site. Most of the ones that I’ve been seeing are listed by people who are professionals: accountants, portfolio managers, paralegals, IT consulting. So right away they’re probably gonna be looking for someone in those related fields. The reason why I think that’s important is stability. A couple of listings even wanted 40x salaries. Meaning you need to be making at least $36k annually for a $900 room (I thought the rule was 30x but maybe something changed).

[REPO Man]

Isn't the minimum wage $15/hour in NYC? Even working 40 hours a week still averages out to be over $30,000 a year before taxes. How much gets taken out for taxes? I think I heard 30% but that was years ago.

[Gucci]

I can’t think of a single job that’ll give out 40 hours on a consistent basis to achieve $30k a year.

Edit: Let me clarify: from my understanding, you’re background consists of super market stocking and working at a fast food chain correct? While there are positions available in those fields that provide full time hours, there’s competition for those slots, mostly from internal employees who want to transition from part time to full time. I worked at a local Staples during college as a part timer and the competition, even internally, was fierce.

[o.pwuaioc]

I can’t think of a single job that’ll give out 40 hours on a consistent basis to achieve $30k a year.

I know guys and girls alike who do well in the restaurant/bar industry. One upwards of $50k and much of it under the table (to my chagrin). One thing they all have in common is that it's not easy, and most of the time you'll have to work your way up to that level (Duck Donuts won't cut it, I'm afraid). Otherwise he can try to get in at Trader Joe's?

One issue with the restaurant/bar route though is that the paychecks won't be enough to get into housing: you'll need either a roommate (and good luck going that route!) or a lot of cash up front, but brokers are often skeptical of those people. My super well-adjusted, very innocent-looking friend got accused of drug dealing, which is mind-boggling because she's just super frugal and likely never did anything illegal in her life.

[Note]

Edit: I’m looking at random listings on that site. Most of the ones that I’ve been seeing are listed by people who are professionals: accountants, portfolio managers, paralegals, IT consulting. So right away they’re probably gonna be looking for someone in those related fields. The reason why I think that’s important is stability. A couple of listings even wanted 40x salaries. Meaning you need to be making at least $36k annually for a $900 room (I thought the rule was 30x but maybe something changed).

Yeah, having income at 40x the rent seems to be standard. When I moved out of my family's place in 2009, and got an apartment with an acquaintance, my income was just 40x for my half of the rent.

I've had friends in roommate situations where the place is like 4-5 bedrooms, and the apartment is only in one or two people's name. Sometimes in a situation like that, you can get a cheaper room ($800 - $900) and not have to make the 40x, since your name is not on the lease. But there's a lot of negatives that come into that type of living arrangement. Sharing a kitchen, bathroom, and living space with 5-6 different people isn't the easiest situation. And if something goes wrong and you're not on the lease, there's complications that come with that too.

[Gucci]

I can’t think of a single job that’ll give out 40 hours on a consistent basis to achieve $30k a year.

I know guys and girls alike who do well in the restaurant/bar industry. One upwards of $50k and much of it under the table (to my chagrin). One thing they all have in common is that it's not easy, and most of the time you'll have to work your way up to that level (Duck Donuts won't cut it, I'm afraid). Otherwise he can try to get in at Trader Joe's?

One issue with the restaurant/bar route though is that the paychecks won't be enough to get into housing: you'll need either a roommate (and good luck going that route!) or a lot of cash up front, but brokers are often skeptical of those people. My super well-adjusted, very innocent-looking friend got accused of drug dealing, which is mind-boggling because she's just super frugal and likely never did anything illegal in her life.

You are absolutely 100% correct about the restaurant industry. I looked at probably over 250 PPP loans last year when the pandemic started. A good portion of them were restaurants. What the owners reported they paid their workers was small compared to what they actually got paid. So when they applied for the PPP loan, they got such a small amount (amount was based on 2.5x monthly reported wages since we used tax returns and W2s for verification). Really screwed over those workers.

Trader Joe’s might be an option but I think my edited post sums up how difficult it can be to get full time work in places like that. I was thinking Costco and Ikea but those would not be easy (especially Costco).

[o.pwuaioc]

I can’t think of a single job that’ll give out 40 hours on a consistent basis to achieve $30k a year.

I know guys and girls alike who do well in the restaurant/bar industry. One upwards of $50k and much of it under the table (to my chagrin). One thing they all have in common is that it's not easy, and most of the time you'll have to work your way up to that level (Duck Donuts won't cut it, I'm afraid). Otherwise he can try to get in at Trader Joe's?

One issue with the restaurant/bar route though is that the paychecks won't be enough to get into housing: you'll need either a roommate (and good luck going that route!) or a lot of cash up front, but brokers are often skeptical of those people. My super well-adjusted, very innocent-looking friend got accused of drug dealing, which is mind-boggling because she's just super frugal and likely never did anything illegal in her life.

You are absolutely 100% correct about the restaurant industry. I looked at probably over 250 PPP loans last year when the pandemic started. A good portion of them were restaurants. What the owners reported they paid their workers was small compared to what they actually got paid. So when they applied for the PPP loan, they got such a small amount (amount was based on 2.5x monthly reported wages since we used tax returns and W2s for verification). Really screwed over those workers.

Trader Joe’s might be an option but I think my edited post sums up how difficult it can be to get full time work in places like that. I was thinking Costco and Ikea but those would not be easy (especially Costco).

Nah, I wouldn't try Costco. Turnover is super low. NY is also not doing so hot right now. Downtown still is miserable, despite the tourists. Plenty of midtown places are still boarded up and won't come back. Fairway and Target are emptier these days. The Pret on Park was still closed last time I went. It's become an anemic city.

[Gucci]

What are your thoughts on working at the Amazon warehouses? Amazon deliveries?

Edit: I was in the city Monday. Soho area and near Cooper Square. Lots of vacant store fronts. Haven’t been north of 23rd since before the pandemic but Rossmann’s videos of him doing night time biking tells me it’s the same thing up there.

[o.pwuaioc]

What are your thoughts on working at the Amazon warehouses? Amazon deliveries?

Edit: I was in the city Monday. Soho area and near Cooper Square. Lots of vacant store fronts. Haven’t been north of 23rd since before the pandemic but Rossmann’s videos of him doing night time biking tells me it’s the same thing up there.

Yeah, that's my neighborhood. It's not bad right around 28th and 3rd where the bars are, but it's not like a few years ago by a long shot. East Village is poppin again on the weekends, but the NYU crowd was all remote, so that's why it's dead during the daytime.

No idea about Amazon warehouses or deliveries. I don't think I know anyone who does/did that. But the horror stories from delivery workers nationwide means it's already suspect here, too. Probably an overworked and underpaid lot.

[REPO Man]

I've also been a custodian at Disney World, and a lot of that is more or less what I do as a QA at Food Lion (emptying trash, cleaning bathrooms, sweeping and mopping up messes).

Also, I've got killer frickin calves, so I might not rule out being a bike messenger or do deliveries.