Anyone else feels underpaid? Like I can’t even take a vacation and pay bills with this little paycheck? Cost of living is crazy.

Time to take a good hard look at spending and reprioritize. Yes- NYC is expensive, but there have to be areas where you are overspending without full realizing it: Eating out, going out for drinks, shopping for unnecessary stuff, subscription services you don’t use/under use, not planning your grocery list, etc. I overspent on ALL of these things when I got my first real job and then wondered why I was broke. I told myself that I worked hard/worked a lot (true) and deserved it (false), or that I didn’t have time to do the errands/planning/cooking/cleaning myself (sorta true, but mostly false). When I took a hard look at where it was going, the changes I needed to make were obvious.

Lots of comments on budget here. Lots of wisdom. Put money away, let’s say half of your lunch/drinks/dry cleaning/Uber/etc. if you don’t know what that spend is then that’s half of the problem. Put it away and deal in cash with the rest. Want to go out with friends or eat out? Look in your wallet. That’s what you got. Feeling like you want that money for something else? Spend it there. Prep your lunches, do your laundry and plan ahead on your commute. Don’t waste money on bad planning. Soon you will have money for vacations, etc.

If you aren’t married, find another person in your office that you tolerate and get a roommate. Cut that rent in half. Save that money for something fun or big.

Live your life by your own goals, don’t live it by default.

I feel overpaid. Age 25. Living in SF. Just get roommates and minimize your rent. Rent is the biggest eater of money.

Original post read entitled, responses confirmed.

Live with parents, live with roommates, eat out and drink less, cook more, buy less stuff, etc. $70k is not bad. Out of grad school, 7 years ago, I was making 25k at age 24. Still made it work

Underpaid is different from not having enough money - underpaid implies you aren’t getting paid for the value you bring, but your complaints are all around what you take home at the EOD which isn’t at all linked to the value you’re bringing

Honestly, forgive me, I’m a few drinks in, but 70k out of school is a dream for 3/4 of graduates. I made 56k out of college and lived in Boston with a few roommates. I struggled for a few years until I found my place. Sure, it’s hard, but I don’t have much pity for you not having roommates. Welcome to modern society. $2300/mo was out of my range. Do you have loans/any other costs?

Let’s all live with 9 other people

The key is to still live like a college student as long as you can. 70k will take you far. If you’re comparing yourself to others who have been working much longer or people who spend their entire paycheck to eat out and try to flex that insta-life - don’t. There are levels to adulting. You at level 0.

"According to U.S. Census Bureau's 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the median individual income in New York City is $50,825. The median household income in New York City is $57,782." --Mar 4, 2019

You make 70k. That's well over the national average and it's your first job lol you are fine dude.

How much do you make?

I think it’s time to relocate to a cheaper city. Or move to New Jersey border of New York

Not sure if you are just trolling or actually entitled

You were looking for sympathy but you didn’t get it. Making $70k out of undergrad is good. I got my masters right when the recession hit and took a job that paid $45k in NYC. It can be done if that’s where you choose to live.

Graduated undergrad with 120k in student loans and have already paid off 70k in 1.5+ years. Still live a pretty great life. Don't like going out though. Don't think I really did anything special but do live in TX (saves 30k/yr compared to NY I'd estimate)

Bro $2300 on rent at 70K is not reasonable at all. I was paying like $1200-1300 at 68K. Everyone fuckin has a roommate here at a young age. If you think you’re too good for that then quit your bitching. In NYC I wouldn’t spend all my money on rent. The social aspect eats up your money and I’d rather pay for those experiences. Unless you’re fine not doing shit, but in that case why would you live here. My share of the rent with my SO is $2300 and I’m at $235K. Sometimes I feel like I don’t have enough money cause doing stuff here can add up.

How much do you pay in rent?

I work in India and make less than $10k a year. So far below the market average that I can barely afford to survive.

My bg: MSc from Uk uni, boutique consultancy for 1.5 years, transferred from advisory (2.5 years CorpFinA) so they locked my salary to that. Current working in Strategy consulting for daddy D. Waiting for them to equate my salary to consulting standards but pretty sure HR will fuck that up too and just give me a minor adjustment. Interviewing with Standard Chartered for a switch back to IB just as they’ll respect me and pay me properly.

I’m not gonna lie, I think this everyday. Then again, I’m a family of four on 80k in a SC role down in Miami. Wife will start working as a teacher in August, but I feel so massively underpaid.