I have a general, perhaps slightly more existential question when it comes to frugal living....so I will try to be clear and specific while still asking for general advice, and hopefully it won't be maddening. Hope this is the sort of question that fits in this sub.
I am debating a move to a HCOL area, Williamsburg BK specifically, for a short-term lease takeover (6 mos). The rent is a little bit more than I would ideally like to spend for a room with roommates ($1475/mo) esp knowing rents are going down all over the city, and a few neighborhoods away I could save $300-400 probably. Or I could not move at all and stay where I am, where I am comfortably saving more than 20% of my paycheck each month, can budget in my sleep, and know exactly what it costs for me to survive day to day.
But that's all I am doing - I am surviving. I am living each day waiting for it to end so I can mark off what I did or didn't spend, so I can tally up my savings for the month, so I can pat myself on the back for the surplus and happily move it over to savings. Repeat the cycle the next month. And I certainly am not unhappy to be saving over spending....but I am generally very unhappy. I don't have a life here other than a few local friends (most are in the city), and maybe the gym, and Netflix and my savings. I don't meet people. I am very isolated even pre-Covid (working from home doesn't help the isolation). I feel like my days, weeks and years are wasting away in a hole. I have built up a decent savings luckily with an emergency fund, and I have my work still even through the pandemic (knock on wood), and am max contributing each year to retirement and playing around with stocks here and there, so that's all good I think? But otherwise I feel dead inside. Williamsburg offers the activity and distraction I am looking for, with roommates I have met and really enjoy, in a place I have visited and instantly felt like it could be home. I plan to budget like a mad woman once I know better what daily living costs will be (not knowing has me very nervous rn) but I also want to enjoy spending reasonably. I guess my question is if it's possible to still be frugal and responsible while knowingly spending a little bit more than you "need" to (I make 40x the rent plus bonuses so it is technically affordable), and if prioritizing experiences has its place sometimes. Especially short term. Or if I should really just try to find the cheapest place for what's essential and go with that. Does that make sense? lol I hope so, otherwise I just babbled for the entirety of this post!
Also if anyone reading happens to be a Brooklynite and has advice for living in the area on a budget, I am all ears. Thanks!
September 14, 2020 at 08:54PM
