(Part 2) Best products from r/nyc

(Had to repost this because I used link shorteners to stay under char limit and it got auto-deleted, so this one is finally fixed)

I'm a native New Yorker, and I'll chime in as someone who was able to buy a place in NYC (brooklyn) before turning 30. Now, the prices have exploded in my area since I bought (2010), but there are other areas that are still in the "reasonable" range.

I was by no means rich. I'm not rich, but I technically own property that has appreciated so I "have" money on paper. I can't spend that money. I am the type of person subbed to r/frugal, /r/personalfinance, and /r/churning. I grew up somewhat poor, and I think that has shaped my complete fear of going broke. For some, it may also fuel the desire to buy nice things. You have to be careful with that second one. I pay off my credit cards every month, but I also take advantage of any "no interest for 12 months" type deals on a Best Buy store card when I need a big purchase. I'm going to talk about buying, and then I'm going to talk about what I generally do financially.

"Avocado toast" really seems to be an example of a bigger underlying problem, which is that people have too many things that they spend too much money on. $14 for avocado on toast is obscene given how cheap it would be to make it yourself. And yes, I understand that they restaurant pays the rent, the servers, etc, but the point is that avocado toast and expensive coffee shouldn't really be a regular luxury. The thing is, how many other places are you basically throwing away excess money, like GrubHub and bars?

I'm not saying don't have fun. I'm saying that you should meter that stuff a bit. If you have the funds and you want to buy a Nintendo Switch, go ahead. That's a one time cost for the system, and it provides ongoing fun. But that's gotta be your thing. Your thing can't be bars AND dining out AND traveling AND expensive jeans AND tattoos AND...

Here are my personal tips for finance that may make life a bit easier. This may not lead to you buying a place, but it can lead to you getting some financial freedom. It's the same theory when it came to packing a ruck: ounces make pounds. In this case that extra money you save (or spend) adds up over time.

First off you need to plan.

I like Quicken. I used to love MS Money more, but that's gone and mint wasn't doing it for me at the time and I haven't tried it since. Don't get the new version every year. Maybe every 4 years IF you feel the new features will help you.

Quicken works best if you have steady income, but if you have income that fluctuates due to hours or tips, you should just estimate a basic income that you typically get and you can always adjust upward for actual. Better to underestimate income. So now you have an estimate of money in.

Now, you need to take control of your bills and calculate money out. Personally, I pay most of my bills weekly so they can't sneak up on me. For example, I went to the electric company website and looked at my bills for the past year, added that up, and divided by 52. That's my weekly average energy spend. It goes up in summer and down in winter. Then, for one bill I paid it off, and then the following week, I had my bank start automatic payments of that weekly amount. This does three things. First, the bills don't surprise me all at once. Second, should anything happen, I'm a month ahead of my bills, so I have some time to think. Third, with the payments going automatically, I don't have to waste time paying bills or trying to figure out what needs to be paid. And your bank send it, so you can't forget, they track it, and you don't need a stamp (if you mail it to someone).

Remember that thing I mentioned about "12 months no interest" on a store card. Don't wait 12 months and get screwed. Again, take the amount, divide by 50, send that much to the card each week for 52 weeks. So if you need a new laptop, and it's going to cost $1,300, that might really hurt your budget. However, at $25 a week, it becomes easy to manage. That's like not eating out once.

I pay for everything possible with a credit card. I could try to figure out a budget, but I'm lazy, and my spending can go all over the place. However, with the card, I just estimate what I usually spend each week and have the bank auto-pay that. This also makes it easy to track the real money in my checking account in Quicken because the output is stabilized. Just like with the other bills. Also, I get cool points and stuff that I will later use for travel or whatever, and I pay no interest.

So, in Quicken, with your general income and spending put in, you can see what your money is doing over time. And you can see if your lifestyle is going to slowly drive you to being broke. When I first got my place and needed a roommate, the area sucked. However, I could see in quicken what the minimum that I needed to charge was in order for me to not go broke. My roommate paid less than a third of the total costs were, but I was at least financially stable for the time being. Now that the area is better, it's closer to them paying half.

Save money

So let's say that you're one of the lucky people that have excess money when you look at your plan. Don't plan how to spend it. I recommend opening another bank account, setting up a regular automatic transfer, and then acting like the money isn't there.

I started doing this when I was in the military and used to get blindsided by holiday shopping. I figured out that if I could put $25 a month into another account, I would have $300 at the end of the year for gifts. That's a big chunk of money when you're semi-broke and it hits you all at once. So having that in reserve was useful.

Again, using quicken, you can see what you can put aside without completely depleting your checking account.

Also, any pay raise you get, just don't increase your standard of living, and set that money aside. It will be a great emergency fund.

Buying stuff.

I was STUPID when I got out of the military. I lived in a place that was furnished when I was in, so when I got out and had money, I bought some nice furniture. I think I blew around $8K thanks to Raymour & Flanigan. It was basically Afghanistan deployment money. I bought a nice table, chairs, a mattress and some other stuff, all for way too much.

You know where you can also get some nice stuff? Craigslist, which is where I'm currently trying to sell that nice table for a lot less than I bought it for. $200 Ikea bed frames in very good condition are going for $50. $150 for a solid table and 4 chairs that someone else paid 800 for, and they may be in great condition.

Unless there is no way to get it cheaper, I don't by anything that's not on sale, and even then it's usually what I need.

There are some places where you usually don't want to go cheap, like shoes or a mattress, or tires if you own a car.

Buy things that will last but you don't need to do it all at once. You can always upgrade stuff later, but just make sure that you don't spend a lot on the placeholder stuff.

Eating

We all need food. And we all feel like there's no time. Cooking is not that hard. Yeah, you may screw up a recipe at first, but you will get better. Most meals you can make in 30 minutes, and if you want to get really efficient, you can do things like taking a day for weekly meal prep (I don't. I should but I haven't really gotten to it).

You can cook scrambled eggs like Gordon Ramsey in under 5 minutes. Your cost: 40 cents. The cost of a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich is maybe $1.25 if you do it yourself.

Buy cookbooks geared toward simplicity.

This was my first cookbook: Cooking Outside the Pizza Box. For many of us, it's aptly named. Other ones that I have and would recommend: Healthy Cooking for Two (or Just You) and Easy Menus for Dining In.

If you want to be really cheap, just go to http://allrecipes.com/ or some similar website.

I also invested in a good chef's knife (over $100), but a mediocre one for $30 will be okay, just realize that you will need to sharpen it a little more frequently (like every 3 months), so maybe invest in a whetstone and learn a skill. Sharp knives make cutting so much easier.. A dull knife means you use more force, and are more likely to cut yourself if it slips.

Most of your meals you can make for a fraction of the cost that you pay for it outside. Coffee is the easiest. Yes a coffee maker is pricey, but if you get one that has something like an automatic function, you can get one that you can set up to make you coffee in the morning so you can save time on your prep.

Something like this and a thermos will be invaluable.

Hanging out with friends

I like to be social. Unfortunately, there are few places in NYC that you can hang out, and most of them serve food and drinks, and it's going to cost you. Bars are just convenient. Also, you can meet new people there.

However, if you or a friend have a nice space, maybe try hosting gatherings. You could even do a potluck. The drinks are cheaper, people can bring food, and if it's your place, when the night ends everyone leaves and you're right next to your bed.

> but that site (and the multitude of others like it) accept money from brands and rank them accordingly. Casper is lower on that list because Casper does not give them money.

Not sure about that, but /u/sleepopolis can answer that himself if he wants to.

> but if you bought a mattress because of where it is ranked on that site then you got played :O

Sleepopolis was instrumental in my choice. I also looked at other sites - primarily SleepSherpa and Mattress Underground (which has a fantastic discussion forum as well). And Amazon reviews, of course.

I ended up buying a Brooklyn Bedding mattress which we absolutely love. Highly rated on all the sites I mentioned, and great comments from users in the Mattress Underground forum. And 5 Stars on Amazon after 218 reviews - (https://www.amazon.com/Brooklyn-Bedding-Latex-Mattress-Medium/dp/B00XZO2O6Q). Probably the best rated mattress on Amazon.

$712 for everything, and also included two pillows and a sheet set, and a 120 night free trial. I tried a Casper at a friend's place for a few nights before I bought the Brooklyn Bedding. Much prefer BB, but Casper is a great mattress too (just too firm for my liking, even with the topper). Highly recommend either if you are in the market for a mattress.

If getting a great deal on a product I love means I got played, I hope I get played more often! Thanks for your concern though. :)

You're very welcome! I learned most of what I know about New York City history by reading as much as I could about it. It started off as an interest, became a passion, and over the past few years I've been able to turn my love of city history into a career.

There are definitely some fabulous blogs and websites about NYC that are a good place to start if you're interested in learning more, such as Forgotten New York, Daytonian in Manhattan, Untapped Cities, Ephemeral New York, and The Bowery Boys, to name a few. The New-York Historical Society, The Museum of the City of New York, The Brooklyn Historical Society, and The New York Public Library are all great places to visit, and their respective blogs (here, here, here and here) have a ton of valuable information. Other organizations and groups have websites and social media feeds that are worth checking out. Here is a list with some amazing websites and resources to check out.

In terms of books, I recommend starting with Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace. It is comprehensive, informative, and incredibly well written. I have read it numerous times over the years, and I reference it constantly. Empire City: New York Through the Centuries by Kenneth T. Jackson and David S. Dunbar is also a good introductory book to get yourself up to speed. I have compiled a list of books for /r/nychistory, which you can view here, and it has plenty of other good choices to pick and includes different categories.

In the event that you enjoy what I do and want to learn more, feel free to check out my Twitter page (you don't need an account to view it), where I have shared over 7,000 unique historical images and photos from the city's history. I also have an Instagram account, where I am able to provide more in-depth stories about the events, buildings, views, and people that have helped make New York City the place that it is today.

Oo, that is a good deal more than I thought the budget would be! Well, okay, what comes to mind to me anyway are the little toys from Think Geek, so here is their gift guide for <$50. Even if you don't get anything from them, it might at least give you some ideas? I personally like the chargers (solar, multi-USB, etc.) on the list, but it doesn't give you that multiple gifts in a box thing. Also, bucky balls are also surprisingly fun.

So these are my only further ideas as far as brick-and-mortar stores:

• Kinokuniya -- 1073 6th Ave., at 40th-41st St (Bryant Park). This is a really cute Japanese bookstore, with CDs, clothes, manga, toys, and random things. I could spend hours there.
  
• The Evolution Store -- 120 Spring St, off Broadway. I've not been here myself, but I have friends who sing its praises. Looking at its website, they at least sell a tote bag for $10, which I have to say is the most reasonably priced tote bag as I've ever seen. Not much really fitting "11 year old who's into electronics, games, music, and food" though.
  
  If by "food" she means sweets, there is
  
  
• Dylan's Candy (two locations -- 1011 3rd Ave. at 60th St. and 1095 6th Ave. at 41st, again at Bryant Park)
  
• M&M store -- 1600 Broadway at 49th St.
  
• Hershey store -- 1593 Broadway at 48th St.
  
• Economy Candy Market -- 108 Rivington (in the lower east side) for retro candies. Candies from your childhood! Candies from before she was born!
  
  If savory or offbeat snacks is more her thing, I'd suggest some Japanese snacks because they transport easily and can be quite interesting -- try:
  
  
• Sunrise Mart, 4 Stuyvesant St. (off 3rd Ave.) or
  
• M2M, 55 3rd Ave. at 10th St.
  
  (If you're coming from New Jersey, however -- and I only gather that it may be a possibility because you're coming into NYC via Penn Station -- there are basically the same snacks to be had at Mitsuwa in Edgewater.)
  
  As for the gift(s), I had a few ideas as well -- unsolicited perhaps, but what the hey:
  
  
• external USB charger, like a backup battery, such as this. I use mine all the time.
  
• gloves for using touch screens, like these. It's not the right season though, and she may not live in an area that gets cold though.
  
• Nutella (because)
  
• a Pandora One subscription ($36 for a year)
  
• cable clip/organizer for the desk, like this (I love these)
  
• box of googly eyes (because)
  
  Hope some of these ideas help.

Thanks for you input, but it's hard group you are trying to convince. Maybe developers had good intentions at one point, but they blew. Now, probably 99% of New Yorkers think these guys would throw them out into the street if they could make a dime. Just a dime is all it would take.

As a developer, when you walk by storefronts they have been empty for years, bringing down the entire neighborhood, do you call those guys up and say:

Hey, you are destroying the neighborhood, rent the damn place out already? I'd be super impressed if you said you did that. :-)

Developers (maybe not all, but from my experience) are ruthless, soulless and heartless. 9-5 that is. After 5 PM, probably great guys/gals to share a beer with. But from 9-5, only it takes is a dime. Just a dime, and out in the street you would go.

Maybe sometimes development is not always good? Seems to have ripped the soul out of Crown Heights.

We're just now a city of empty storefronts, Duane Reade's, CVS drug stores, and banks. The heart was ripped out of the city. Many times over. Acres of hunched over Javascript coders is not what I would call "creative energy" helping in any way, shape or form. Can't buy that one.

NYC is pretty big, Amazon is just a drop in the bucket. Think what bugs most people is, the locals had very little input, seems like none. No one asked me, or a soul in LIC.


Thanks for your write-up. It's always interesting to follow the wild and crazy world of NYC Real Estate.

Required reading I guess? How a Great City Lost Its Soul:

\> One hopes that this book is widely read, and shakes people up to motivate them to do something collectively to stop the furtherance of the losses that are making New York lifeless and devoid of the creative energy that made this city vital. Spread the word, and make this book the focus of discussions of what is to come in the next few years, and afterwards. Collectively, we can make a difference.

https://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-New-York-Great-City/dp/0062439693/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542135554&sr=8-1&keywords=how+a+great+city+lost+its+soul

​

The last excellent work of fiction I read was City of Dreams by Beverly Swerling. The book that I feel best captures the feeling of New York City, however, is Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin.

I mostly read nonfiction books about New York City history, and I'll share a few of my favorites with you. The definitive tome, of course, is Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 by Mike Wallace and Edwin Burrows. Another favorite of mine, as I love the history of New Amsterdam, is Island at the Center of the World:The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America by Russell Shorto. One of the most fascinating subjects I have been learning about is Native American history at the period of first European contact, and I really recommend checking out Adriaen Van Der Donck's A Description of New Netherland (The Iroquoians and their World), which many scholars agree is just as much of a significant work as William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation, and would be the definitive guide to the new world if it had been written in English. Evan Pritchard's Native New Yorkers: The Legacy of the Algonquian People of New York also offers an incredible look at native culture.

If you are interested in the subway system, check out Stan Fischler's fantastic Uptown, Downtown. One of the most underrated books I have picked up recently explores the construction of the amazing Grand Central Terminal, and I learned an incredible amount from it: Grand Central's Engineer: William J. Wilgus and the Planning of Modern Manhattan. If you are interested in urban planning, I would also suggest The Measure of Manhattan: The Tumultuous Career and Surprising Legacy of John Randel Jr., Cartographer, Surveyor, Inventor.

At this point I've read a ton of nonfiction books about the city, so if you have any questions or want any other recommendations, feel free to ask!

Great photo.
I love being a NY'r and doing 'touristy' things. I bought this book and have promised to do at least one thing a day from the book:

For anyone that liked this, I suggest you take a look at the book Mannahatta by Eric W. Sanderson. It's really fascinating.

Four Foot Eleven, a mini-doc about Chris "The Angry Bagel Guy" Morgan's rise to fame hit Amazon yesterday. It covers the lead up to the fight and the aftermath. A percentage of proceeds go directly to help Chris. It's free for Prime and a buck to rent for everyone else. https://www.amazon.com/Four-Foot-Eleven-Chris-Morgan/dp/B081G6Q792/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=%22Daniel+La+Barbera%22&qid=1573868630&s=instant-video&sr=1-1

We have this one on our office coffee table. Very popular with guests. https://www.amazon.com/New-York-Air-View-Above/dp/1419717898/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=nyc+from+the+air&qid=1558718171&s=gateway&sr=8-3

the kill-a-watt meter is your friend. http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU

OK, how about this:

https://www.amazon.com/Mannahatta-Natural-History-York-City/dp/0810996332/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=manahatta&qid=1558622924&s=gateway&sr=8-1

There's a book I've meant to read called Mannahatta that's a natural history of the island. The cover's a wild photo with 1/2 of Manhattan built-up and the west 1/2 is all trees.

I used to be a big fan of box fans, but they can use more power than you'd (I'd) expect.

http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU

24/7 boxfan usage can be easily calculated. AC is more difficult since it cycles on and off. The description for the $20 kill-a-watt says that it can handle 15A. Maybe I have an older one, but mine overloads above ~900W. Not a problem for smaller ACs.

Get one of this and find out how much electricity your appliances are using. I recently replaced my old refrigerator with a new one and saved about $10 a month. Your bill is high, but no so high that it couldn't be accounted for if you have old appliance or energy hogging light bulbs.

I hope you're not being ironic/sarcastic because that's a great question. You can use a Kill A Watt. Plug it into the wall and plug his electric eater or whatever on the other side and you can measure electricity usage in kilowatt hours. Then look on your bill for the kWh rate you're charged by Con Ed (or alternate supplier) and calculate the cost. The Kill a Watt might even do this automatically for you.