Tips For Moving To NYC
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Moving to, and living in, New York City is an adventure. From learning how to get around in the city, to tasting foods prepared in styles from all over the globe, to finding ways to balance your budget and lifestyle, there’s a lot to grasp and adapt to when relocating to NYC. Get ready to get your apartment hunting on, become accustomed small space living, and take in all that the city has to offer, both good and bad!
Here are vital things to know and do when moving to New York City!
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Explore first
For those who have never lived in New York City before, or any city for that matter, moving to “The City That Never Sleeps” is going to be a big change. Familiarize yourself with the various neighborhoods before choosing where you want to reside. You may find that NYC isn’t the right place for you, and that’s something you should figure out well before you sign any lease.
If you’re relocating to the city for a new job and need to find a place to live immediately, do not sign a long-term lease. Instead sign a short-term sublet (6 months or less!) to figure out if the building, neighborhood and environment you’re living in is right for you. Take that time to check out other areas too. Also, don’t be afraid to ask your new co-workers and city friends what their opinions are, and what their experiences have been. You can learn a lot from the experiences’ of others, that way you don’t make the same mistakes they did!
Budgeting is key
Create a realistic budget for yourself and stick to it! Allocate just enough cash as you need and leave credit cards at home if you feel you’ll be tempted to over-spend. Pay attention to what you’re spending money on and track it. This will give you insights into how you spend your money and enable you to see where you can make expense adjustments.
Stay away from convenience stores where prices tend to be jacked up. Instead do your grocery shopping at places like Trader Joe’s and get enough food to last you for breakfast, work lunches and dinner for the week. You’ll save money by cooking at home over going out to eat. The same goes for going out with friends. Get comfortable with saying, “no” when you can’t afford to grab brunch or enjoy a night on the town.
Don’t think that because you’re on a budget you can’t go out and do things. There are parks, museums, outdoor movie showings and other fun activities that are free to do or discounted.
Learn your way around public transit
Dealing with and using public transportation is a must when you live in New York City. Traffic is a nightmare, there’s always construction going on, and pedestrians are ready and raring to jaywalk in front of your car at a moment’s notice. Become familiarized with the subway system and where the closest subway entrances are to your typical haunts—i.e., home, work, your favorite dive bar, etc.
There are handy phone apps available to help with navigating the NYC subway system.
Secure storage space somewhere else
It’s no secret that NYC apartments are notorious for being expensive and lacking in square footage. With little room to live, there’s also minimal places to store your belongings. While you can purge some of your things, and get creative with storage spots, you’re most likely going to find that you still need more space for your stuff.
Once that realization hits, go for the most convenient storage solution available. Zippboxx provides on demand storage service to NYC residents which means you never have to rent a truck, try to navigate the busy city streets, hire movers or drive back and forth from a self-storage unit.
Prepare to take the good with the bad
New York City is a vibrant, exciting and culturally rich place, but it’s also at times overwhelming, over-priced and obstacle ridden. Know going into your move to New York City that there will be things you love about NYC, and there will be things you hate about it, and then maybe (hopefully!) you’ll learn to love those aspects of city life later on. Coming to terms with the good and bad parts of living in New York City is all just a part of the assimilation process. Everyone has to go through it!
Ready to make the move to New York City? Then check out these other helpful relocation tips!
