I'm not sure of the prices in Dublin, but this I found that the cost of living in NYC is a bit over exagerated compared to other places in the NYC metro area.
I live about 2.5 hours from NYC and I pay $1400 a month for rent. I also pay $120 for car insurance, $20-50 a month on average for car maitenance, and around $300 a month on gas. Excluding car payments (I have a relatively old car that I have paid off). So my total cost of renting + a car is around $1850. I absolutely can get an apartment in Manhattan for that price that I would like, I've been in several. Obviously in Manhattan, I wouldn't own a car so thats why the comparison holds.
(I assume that utilities, TV, internet are basically constant no matter where you live).
Food is the big X factor. I can't quite figure out what the cost difference is. When I worked in Manhattan I ate out for lunch and it was generally around $10, sometimes more and sometimes less. My lunch now is around $7. Should I extrapolate that across my food budget? That makes me think it is going to be an extra $200 a month. I really don't know.
I think the cost of living gets so skewed because people try and compare price for a square foot. Right now I live in a 3 bedroom condo with a garage, a dining room, a laundry room, 2.5 baths, etc. I pay $1400 for that. But if I moved into NYC I'd have a 1 bedroom or a 2 bedroom and a roommate. Obviously if I wanted the same interior space I'd pay an enormous amount. But I don't need all that room. I don't even use it all now. So you have to compare lifestyle not the physical dimensions. In my current house, my family room is enormous and has a fireplace (that I never use). Do I need to be 15 feet from my TV? Of course not. It probably would look better if it I was closer. If you put me in the typical NYC family room, my couch will be 3' from the TV. I've lost a lot of space, but functionally the room is exactly the same. I still get the same enjoyment out of the place and the same utility.
A lot of people walk into a tiny NYC apartment and say, this is so SMALL! How do you even live here! But frankly, it just doesn't matter.
A lot of people walk into a tiny NYC apartment and say, this is so SMALL! How do you even live here! But frankly, it just doesn't matter.
Right now I live in 634 square feet in the Bay Area -- not a tiny apartment by any means, but the smallest place I've lived for a long time. It has a view, which makes it feel more spacious, but I still find that the small size makes it slightly depressing after a while. I miss the idea of going for a walk around my house, or of going to sit in a completely different part of the house.
That's not to say that it's terrible, just that size does matter. My next place definitely needs to be bigger.
Maybe one thing is the sense of property in NYC. Outside the city, I completely understand the idea of walking around 'your property'. In NYC, outside the door, is 'your city'. Manhattan is built for walking, no 'true native' owns a car here.
20 sqm (about 215 sq ft) is probably the size of a lot of studios in manhattan that you'd find for $1800/month or so if you were lucky. You'll obviously get a lot more in Brooklyn for the same price (mine is about 450 sq ft).
You just have to be creative about your use of space in the city. It doesn't end up being all that hard, you end up just pairing down.
My boyfriend and I live in a studio, large enough for the both of our "startup lifestyles", and we pay less than that in a safe neighborhood in Manhattan, close to a subway line that can take us practically anywhere in the city. This isn't a particularly rare gem, you just have to know where to look.
I live about 2.5 hours from NYC and I pay $1400 a month for rent. I also pay $120 for car insurance, $20-50 a month on average for car maitenance, and around $300 a month on gas. Excluding car payments (I have a relatively old car that I have paid off). So my total cost of renting + a car is around $1850. I absolutely can get an apartment in Manhattan for that price that I would like, I've been in several. Obviously in Manhattan, I wouldn't own a car so thats why the comparison holds.
(I assume that utilities, TV, internet are basically constant no matter where you live).
Food is the big X factor. I can't quite figure out what the cost difference is. When I worked in Manhattan I ate out for lunch and it was generally around $10, sometimes more and sometimes less. My lunch now is around $7. Should I extrapolate that across my food budget? That makes me think it is going to be an extra $200 a month. I really don't know.
I think the cost of living gets so skewed because people try and compare price for a square foot. Right now I live in a 3 bedroom condo with a garage, a dining room, a laundry room, 2.5 baths, etc. I pay $1400 for that. But if I moved into NYC I'd have a 1 bedroom or a 2 bedroom and a roommate. Obviously if I wanted the same interior space I'd pay an enormous amount. But I don't need all that room. I don't even use it all now. So you have to compare lifestyle not the physical dimensions. In my current house, my family room is enormous and has a fireplace (that I never use). Do I need to be 15 feet from my TV? Of course not. It probably would look better if it I was closer. If you put me in the typical NYC family room, my couch will be 3' from the TV. I've lost a lot of space, but functionally the room is exactly the same. I still get the same enjoyment out of the place and the same utility.
A lot of people walk into a tiny NYC apartment and say, this is so SMALL! How do you even live here! But frankly, it just doesn't matter.