4 Things You Can Totally Live Without in NY

When you lose your job, or you simply have to make some serious cuts in your current lifestyle to be able to continue to live or save up for something, it can be tough to think about what you’ll need to axe out of your life (like the lady in that photo!). Having recently seen the other end of a financial crisis, I have some authority to assure you that you can totally live without the following:

1) Gym
This was one of the biggest drains on me financially. You can really fuck yourself up with this monthly amount automatically being taken out of your checking account. A totally reasonable alternative is to download or even buy a few workout series you can do at home, while mixing in some yoga or other sorts of classes you can pay per class.

Though I thought I’d never be able to do it coming from running in ideal Southern Californian temperatures, I started running outside in almost all seasons just last year– which is entirely free. Sometimes snow can be intimidating– but as long as it’s not terribly windy or below 20 degrees, I can assure you that you will not die. The smug sense of superiority is an added bonus.

2) TV
I think I’ve only technically had a functional TV with cable in one of my apartments, and it was my roommate’s. Honestly, with netflix, netflix instant, Hulu, and the wealth of the world wide webernet, TV seems like a ridiculous thing to spend money on.

3) Crazy Amounts of Traveling
Maybe you’ll save money on rent if you live in Toledo, Ohio, but you know what? You’ll always be traveling because, you know, it’s about 5 billion times more boring in nearly every single other city besides New York. Even if you don’t think NY has everything, you can 9 times out of 10 (I took a pretty scientific poll just now) find what you’re looking for just a short trip away that very likely wont cost tons of money. Which brings me to…

4) Expensive Transportation
OK, so it’s no picnic paying for your monthly Metropass, but, isn’t gas like $20 per gallon right now? If you’re a freelancer and don’t need to go to an office everyday, you can feasibly stay in your neighborhood and never even have to take the subway or a cab, which means you’ll just have to take good care of your shoes. Also, since things like Fresh Direct and Drugstore.com, you can just have your items to come to you– though there’s tax and shipping fees to consider, you’ll be paying probably less if you have a regular non-monthly pass than if you had to bounce from one specialized store to another from Brooklyn to Manhattan, etc etc.

Photo courtesy of allposters.com