New York City has the second highest cost of living in the country, so you'd be excused for freaking out about how expensive it is here.
Still, we are money saving professionals. We've been at the game so long, we know all the tips and tricks.
For instance, you'll never catch us paying an ATM fee, or drinking at a bar with a cover; we would never take a taxi when we could take the subway, and we'd never buy a cocktail when there's a beer-and-shot-deal.
Do we sometimes do shady stuff to save money? Yeah, but we'd never admit it. Also, we never skimp on tips because that's just lame.
Want to know how we do it? Well, you lucked out. We're offering up our infinite wisdom below, and all you have to do to learn it is to keep reading.
1. Drink in your apartment
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The best way to blow an entire week's paycheck in NYC? Go to a bar. Or better yet, go to a club with a cover. You'll have to pay to get in, pay to check your coat, pay to get drinks, and then pay to get home.
That's way too much paying, if you ask us.
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If you stay home to party, you'll save hundreds. We're not even exaggerating. Plus, it's not even like you have to venture into the world and purchase alcohol at a liquor store.
You can just use Minibar to get your drinks delivered to your door while you chill. MiniBar doesn't even charge a delivery fee. Holla at holding onto your money! Download the Minibar app here.
2. Drink at happy hour
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Okay, sometimes you don't want to drink in your apartment. You want to hit the town and meet people.
First of all, you should drink in the East Village, on the Lower East Side, in Crown Heights or in Bushwick. These are areas that are a blast to party in, but are notorious for not draining your bank account.
Second of all, you should definitely deal hunt. If you pay attention, there are bars doling out happy hour deals that allow you to get blasted while holding onto your money.
Like, if you drink at Full Circle Bar from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, you can get a hotdog and a beer for $4.
If you drink at Drop Off Service between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., you can get buzzed on $3 beers, and if you drink at The Penrose between 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Fridays, you can drink craft beers for $5. See what we mean?
3. Don't hire a broker
This is probably the biggest waste of money in the world, and yet, every day plenty of New Yorkers spend thousands of dollars on broker's fees.
We've said it before, NYC, and we'll say it again: you do not need to spend 10% of your yearly rent, and thousands of your hard earned dollars paying a broker. We repeat: you do not need to pay a broker.
Yes, finding roommates on social media for free is great, but that doesn't always work out. Luckily, there's this free app called Oliver which solves that problem.
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With Oliver, you can browse apartments on your phone, and arrange them according to your criteria. You can look at apartments that are actually in your price range, without a broker breathing down your neck, trying to upsell you.
So yeah, Oliver is the best thing that ever happened to apartment hunting in NYC. Download the Oliver app here.
4. Ride the subway
Okay, just suck it up and walk to the subway. Don't take cabs. If you live far away from a subway stop, learn the bus's schedules.
The bus's are more convenient than you'd imagine, especially once you become pro at knowing where they stop and when.
More importantly, buy 30-day MetroCards. It definitely feels a lot to throw down $116.50 at the beginning of every month, but if you ride the subway every day it's absolutely worth it.
Plus, not having to stress about whether or not you've run out of money on your MetroCard throughout the whole month is probably worth the price on its own.
,5. Cook
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Going out to eat is really expensive. When you go out to eat you're not just paying for your food, you're also paying the restaurant's rent and its employees' salaries.
When you stay home and cook for yourself, all you're paying for is the food.
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You know how they say time is money? Well, if you order your groceries with Blue Apron you'll save the time it'd take you to go to the grocery store, and you'd save the money you would've spent at a restaurant.
Also, Blue Apron sends you pre-measured ingredients for delicious recipes, so you won't wind up wasting all those extra mushrooms you bought, or opening your refrigerator after four days to find your spinach went bad.
So, yeah, that's a lot of saving. Check out Blue Apron right here.
6. Drink coffee from coffee carts
Okay, there are few things in this city that are actually inexpensive, but when we do find those inexpensive things, we've got to grab onto them and use them for all they're worth.
Coffee carts are one of these things. There is absolutely no reason to spend $7 on a Starbucks latte when you could spend $1 on a coffee cart coffee. Especially since the coffee cart coffee is delicious, and gets the caffeine jolt done.
It's the same thing with dollar slices. When money is tight, you can live on dollar slices. Trust us, we've done it.
7. Get that hot tax refund
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Okay, maybe this isn't necessarily a way to save money, per say, but it's definitely a way to have more money. Isn't that like, essentially the same?
Plus, you can always use TaxHub to figure out your taxes for you. You don't have to go anywhere, you can video chat with a CPA, and you can pay half of what you'd pay an accountant.
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On TaxHub, you upload your tax documents directly to their site, schedule that call or video chat we mentioned, approve and sign your return, and then watch the money pile up.
If you're the kind of person who likes having extra cash (read: everyone) you should definitely check it out. Matter of fact, check out TaxHub right here.
8. Know the weather
How could knowing the weather save you money, you ask? Well, stick with us on this one, but if you know that it's raining, you won't wear your nicest pair of leather boots.
When you know it's snowing, you wear the rubber boots that are made for the snow, and you bring your nice shoes in your bag.
In the long-term, this saves you some bills. Since you're not trudging through ice and slush and rain in your nice shoes, you'll buy your shoes at least six extra months of life. Which means you'll have that extra cash you would've spent on shoes to buy other stuff.
The best way to know what the weather is? Well, that's obviously the adorably friendly kitty app Poncho. Download the Poncho app here.
Check out 8 Absolute Essentials for Throwing an Amazing Super Bowl Party in Your NYC Apartment.
[Feature Image Courtesy tumblr]