This thread is fire. I did an entire financial plan for budgeting over the weekend, and rent in NYC costs more than half of my paycheck. I'm making decent money in a two-year development program in finance. When the program is over, I want to apply to other cities. There will be less competition for jobs, and it will be more affordable to live. Why stay here? Knicks tickets cost $500 for halfway decent seats and a losing team. I'm reading a book called What got you here won't get you there and How successful people get more successful—the part about stacking the odds in your favor that successful people do hit home. Better paying jobs in New York have an overwhelming number of applications, and on top of that, you have to deal with the stress of paying more than you can afford in rent. That's absurd. You can't get the time back and save money before retirement. It won't grow. You need to stack the odds in your favor. I'll stay with the same company, but work and live somewhere else.