Re:
To add more clarity to the housing situation, it's possible my apartment is rent stabilized (I don't know, I just pay my half to the guy who was already living there, he's been in this apt for 7 years). The interior of my apartment is not really very nice, but this is something that's not important to me. What mattered:
1. A true 2 bedroom with a room big enough to fit a queen bed.
2. The neighborhood is just wicked cool and close to everything.
3. No lease or broker's fee.
While it is a good deal, it's not as though this is earth-shattering. During my search I found a huge, nice two bedroom for $925 each in Greenpoint (right next to Williamsburg), a couple bedrooms for $700 in Bushwick, and bedrooms for $675 and $725 in Astoria. I'd have done the $675 except it had a lease/fee double whammy, but I like Astoria as well.
The key is to just see a lot of places. I had 5 days to find a home when I got to NYC, and I saw at least 4 places a day. Go on Craigslist and set your max budget and you should be able to find something if you're flexible.
Splitting a 700 sf 2 BR apartment for $800 each sounds crazy expensive compared to what I'm accustomed to (in North Carolina).
Well yeah. This is obvious. Again, space is not important as long as I have a minimal amount. I have a friend that splits a 3 BR townhouse for $330 each in Raleigh, so I don't doubt I could save a bunch on rent. But wouldn't a car give most of the savings back? There's no way I could go carless there, and that area is a pretty big drop in QOL right now.
$300 on food and dining out seems steep, but maybe that's a lot of bar tabs?
I spend ~$100 per month on alcohol. That's $25 per week or just 3-4 drinks. It's common for people my age to spend $100 per week, but fortunately I don't get much utility out of alcohol.
I also spend ~$30-40 month on coffee, because I do many of my meetups/networking/dates at coffee shops. It's about the cheapest way to hang out with someone indoors.
So food is pretty close to $150.
