Grocery Shopping in Harlem, continued

Here's the tally from our most recent trip to the store:

"Golden Puffs" cereal-in-a-bag: $2.29
"Apple Jacks" cereal-in-a-bag: $2.29
Food Town Corn Flakes: $2.19 (least expensive per-lbs cereal in the store)
Skim Milk, 1 gallon: $3.99
Frozen Peas (small-ish bag): $1.99 ($.50 off, on sale)
Frozen Peas and Carrots (small-ish bag): $1.99 ($.50 off, on sale)
Chipotle Gouda Deli Sliced Cheese (not pre-packaged), 1/4 lbs: $2.00
Peppermill Turkey Deli Sliced Meat (not pre-packaged), 1/4 lbs: $2.29
Goya Chickpeas, 1 can: $.89 ($.20 off, on sale)
Grape Tomatoes, 2 pints: $2.49/pint (on sale)
Salad Mix (Half Spinach, Half Spring Mix): $2.99
Goya Ranchero Refried Pinto Beans, 2 cans: $1.69/can
Goya Black Beans: $.89 ($.20 off, on sale)
Russet Potatoes (5 lbs bag): $2.99
Blueberries, 1 pint: $1.99 (on sale, down from $4.99)
Jell-O Instant Pudding Mix: $1.49
Split Top Wheat Bread Loaf: $2.19

TOTAL: $40.82

The sale savings might not seem like much, but they do add up to $5.40 when all is said and done. Choosing off-brand and bag cereal also helps... my grocery store includes a unit price to do an equal price comparison, and the bag cereal per-unit price hovers around $2.62, whereas the boxed cereal per-unit price is closer to $3.50. The Food Town Corn Flakes per-unti price is around $1.50, I believe, making it the best value in the store, which is definitely something worth buying when you're a cereal addict like me. Hope this helps some people out there!

Grocery shopping in NYC on a budget

I've posted my receipts from my grocery store crawl and other, more specific trips, but here's a recent receipt when we were "out of everything". We've also been on a tight budget recently, so I wanted to spend less than $40 and get food for a week or so. I'll add to this - we have a stockpile of pasta from when it went on sale for $1/box (brought home 30 boxes of pasta that week, and loving it). We also have a freezer full of meat that we got from FreshDirect with a $50 off coupon (spent $145, so $195 worth of meat; planning to post on that at some point, too). So - with that in mind - here's what I spent this week (need to go back for milk, olive oil, and beans) at my local grocery store, FoodTown:

Grape Tomatoes: 2 pints @ $2.49/pint (on sale)
Loose Carrots: 1.35 lbs (6 or so carrots) @ 1lb/$.99
28oz can of crushed tomatoes: 5 cans @ $1/can (on sale - usually $2.19/can)
Small can of tomato paste: 3 cans @ $.59/can
Vidalia Onions: 1.56 lbs (2 large onions) @ 1lb/$1.29
"Apple Jacks" in-a-bag (off-brand cereal): $2.29
"Froot Loops" in-a-bag (off-brand cereal): $2.29
Red Delicious Apples: 2.47 lbs (5 or 6 apples) @ 1lb/$1.99 (least expensive apples this week)
Strawberries: $2.99 (on sale)
Salad mix, Spring Mix/Spinach: $2.99
Blueberries: 2 pints @$1.99/pint (on sale - usually $4.99/pint)

TOTAL: $34.57

As you can see, the focus was on fresh ingredients, sale items, and stocking up to make homemade pasta sauce (way more delicious than the jar and inexpensive/easy to make). We keep a stock of 'pantry staples', like rice, flour, sugar, seasonings/spices, etc., so we just needed things to complement that. I hope this helps people out there curious about NYC or looking to move here!

Job Scam #2: Mystery Shopper/MoneyGram

I received 5000+ hits on this blog because I posted about my nanny scam experience (see: this blog post). It was linked by the NY Times, which was obviously the source of most of my traffic. Yay for me. In another round of job applications, I was subject to another scam. Here is my story.

I was applying to jobs for which I seemed qualified that were part-time and clerical/administratively-oriented, in an attempt to get out of retail hell. My standard application - a response to a craigslist ad - included a brief cover letter explaining that I am a graduate student seeking part-time employment and my attached resume (which, as all resumes do, has my phone number and address). I received a few responses (even 2 interviews) and this very interesting email:

From: assignments@evaluationsservice.com

Sent: January 29

We get hired to go to other peoples companies and act like customers in order to know how the staffs are handling their services in relation to their customers. Once we have a contract to do so, you would be directed to the company or outlet, and you would be given the funds you need to do the job(either purchase products or required services), after which you would write a comment on the staffs activities and give a detailed record of your experience.

Most companies employ our assistance when people give complains about their services, or when they feel there are needs for them to improve their customer service. your Identity would be kept confidential stored in our data as the job state (secret customer) you would be paid $200 for every duty you carry out, and bonus on your transportation allowance, and funds would be given to you as well as compensation when necessary, if you have to dine as part of the duty Your job will be to evaluate and comment on customer service in a wide variety of shops, stores, restaurant and services in your area.

You will write a report about the customer services, you will send your report back to us via Email, you will have to use the following pointers to prepare your report as listed below:

1) How long it took you to get services.

2) Ambiance/Outlook of the Shop/Outlet

3) Smartness of the attendant

4) Customer service professionalism

5) Reaction of personnel under pressure

6) Information that you think would be helpful

7) Your comments and impressions.

No commitment is made on this job, and you would have flexible hours as it suits you. If you are interested, do send in these information:

FULL NAME:

CONTACT ADDRESS (Not P.O.Box):

CITY:

STATE:

ZIP-CODE:

TELEPHONE NUMBER:

MOBILE NUMBER:

AGE:

OCCUPATION:

EMAIL:

So we can look at your distance from the locations which you have to put your service into, and your address would also be needed for your payments.

Yours Sincerely

Walter Collins

*****

*****

There are no alternations to that email. Besides the fact that there is no greeting, the entire thing sounds sketchy. But... since they weren't asking for any information that wasn't already on my resume, besides my age, I figured I'd bite.

I responded with this sentence opening my email: "I am interested, though I have heard mixed things about "mystery shopper" companies."

I received this in response:

From: assignments@evaluationsservice.com

Sent: February 18

Hello ,

         Sorry for the late response, you have been Accepted as one of our Conducting Agent. You will be evaluating MoneyGram which is at Wal-Mart Stores in your neighborhood, kindly check out for one Wal-Mart store you will like to evaluate , make sure the store you will chose is close to your area as much as possible, you will have to send the name and address of the walmart, Please note that you are to act Cool, Calm and Confident through out the period which you will be carrying out your survey at the store, in order not to arouse any suspicion. you will be shopping at Wal-Mart stores and also make a transaction at MoneyGram which is at Wal-Mart as well , you will write a report about the customer services , you will send your report back to us via Email, you will have to use the following pointers to prepare your report :

1) How long it took you to get services.

2)Ambiance/Outlook  of the Shop/Outlet

3) Smartness of the attendant

4)Customer service professionalism

5)Reaction of personnel under pressure

6)Information that you think would be helpful

7)Your comments and impre ssions.

Payments will be mailed out to you, which you will expend in carrying out all that will be required of you including your compensation and Transportation fee. All Other Instructions will be sent out to you as soon as Evaluation commences.

Please reply this Email and give us the name and address of the Wal-mart you will be evaluating so that we can mail out the payment as soon as possible.

Thank you

Walter Collins

*****

*****

An even sketchier-sounding email... and the fact that they wanted me to evaluate a Wal-Mart was sketchiest of all. This blog is mostly devoted to the fact that I live in NYC, and if you follow the Wal-Mart happenings, you know that they have tried to open a location here but never succeeded. So... there's not one here. Since I had to respond with a Wal-Mart location, I did... the Wal-Mart from hometown, a small town in Texas. I didn't write anything in the email beside the address.

I received this response: 

From: assignments@evaluationsservice.com

Sent: February 27

Top of the days to you. The Pay check for your first MoneyGram evaluation assignment as been mailed and it will be delivered to you today via Fedex. .. . The Tracking No. for the package is ( 802276620952 ) you can confirm it at www . fedex . com to make sure..

So, once you got the check I want you to go ahead deposit the check at your bank so that the fund can be released to you within 24hrs as the issuer bank instructed, then deduct your payment which is $200 Please remember that you are to act Cool, Calm and Confident throughout the period in which you will be carrying out the survey... You will proceed to any Wal-mart store in your Neighborhood and send Funds to another Secret Customer via MoneyGram In order not to arouse any suspicion. After which you will write a report and send back to us via Email using the following pointers:

1) How long it took you to get services.

2) Ambiance/Outlook of the Shop/Outlet

3) Smartness of the attendant

4) Customer service professionalism

5) Reaction of personnel under pressure

6) Information that you think would be helpful

7) Your comments and impressions.

8) The address and location of the outlet you evaluate

Here is the information for the new secret customer you are to send

the money to:

Thomas Yrlas

1700 Washington Ave

Port Huron, MI 48060

Once you completed the assignment you need to get back to me with the MoneyGram details such as;

Sender Name and Address

Amount sent (After deducting Transfer Charges)

Reference Number (Money transfer Code)

Detailed Survey Report in English

*Notice : You are to take cash to the MoneyGram 

*Notice : You must make sure you complete this first assignment asap, this can be done after 2hr you received the check.

*Notice : You are to deduct any charges for the wiring MoneyGram from the rest money you're sending .

I will be looking forward to read from you soon .

Thanks

*****

*****

How funny that the English gets worse as the emails progress. The tracking number is not a FedEx number, by the way - not enough digits, I believe. And did I mention that the Wal-Mart address I sent him was in Texas? I didn't respond to this email, and I thought that would be the end of the whole thing.

Then, I received a text from (872) 216-6879. This is transcribed verbatim:

Good morning Walter Collins i'm contacting you concerning the wal-mart assignment. The check for your first assignment has been delivered to your address and i have also emailed you with the instruction, kindly check because the assignment need to be carried out today

That's odd. I replied with, "Do not text me. This is spam."

The response? "This not spam"

So I responded (I learned this line from a manager in my past, who used it on callers with non-American accents): "Your number has been blocked. If I received any more attempted texts from this number, I will be reporting it to the authorities to begin an investigation. Do not contact me."

I did not receive any more texts or email.

And, for the record, I had not received anything from FedEx. In case you're not familiar with this particular scam, that's how it works. They say they've FedEx'd you a package and that you MUST carry out the assignment TODAY, even if you haven't received the money. So, if you fall for it, you transfer the $200 and then you never get reimbursed.

I hope this helps any potential scammed people out there. If you're doing a search for (872) 216-6879, Walter Collins, or assignments@evaluationsservice.com, please know that they are associated with the MoneyGram scam.

Cost of (Grocery) Food in NYC

Living in NYC has been quite the experience for me, coming from a small town in Texas. Of all the things I knew would be different when I moved here (laundry, transportation, getting to school in another state, going to the library, walking everywhere, having to go up 5 flights of stairs to get home, etc), I guess I never really thought about grocery shopping that much.

I mean, in Texas, it was pretty simple - there is HEB and Wal-Mart. Take your pick. Sure, there was a farmer's market every Tuesday and Saturday, and Austin has a Whole Food's, and there's a specialty "health food" store, but 98.5% of grocery shopping was done at HEB, and I was 100% ok with that. The produce section was 1/4 of the store, the meat and dairy took up the entire back wall (and the beef was quite expansive), and the aisles, stacked high with variety, were wide and inviting.

I had visited a friend in Brooklyn before moving here. I knew his local grocery store had narrow aisles and no meat section. I guess I expected my new neighborhood - Sugar Hill, a subsection of Harlem - to be different? It's not, really. Our "local"-ist place, Food Town, has 4 aisles: produce/meat, cereal/homegoods, canned goods/spices/pasta/coffee/tea, and frozen/beverages. Dairy is along the back wall, and that's all there is to it, besides the tiny deli/prepared foods counter and the 2"x2" fresh bread box. It's a sad and depressing place, but it is INCREDIBLY conveniently located store, being between my subway station and apartment; I pass it at least twice a day. It's great for picking something up on the way home, and it's all we've been using for the past 6 months (aside from PathMark, which is a joke not even worth mentioning, though you can read about it here, where it is named THE worst grocery store in America).

Today, I went on a grocery store crawl. I found amazing variety of oases dotting the Upper West Side along Broadway. Rather than ramble on about their amazingness, I'm posting links to their websites and the tally of my receipts. I can't wait to go grocery shopping again.

Garden of Eden Gourmet Market and Specialty Foods (my second favorite of all visited today)
Simple Margarita Mix: $7.99
Carrots (1.79lbs@$0.79/lb): $1.41
Pint o' Blueberries: $2.99
String Beans (1.10lbs@$2.99/lb): $3.29
Eggplant (1.30lbs@$1.99/lb): $2.59
TOTAL: $18.98

Westside Market NYC (my favorite of all today)
3 Progresso soups, on sale: $2.00 each
Pork Loin Filets, 4, boneless: $5.80
Ground Pork (almost a pound): $3.91
Beef Chuck Roast (almost 3 pounds): $12.52
Kosher Dill Pickles (made locally): $2.99
Assorted Cheese Bits: $4.09
TOTAL: $35.31

Zabar's
NY Mild Cheddar (about half a pound): $5.13

Fairway Market (the most similar to HEB in Texas)
5 chorizo links: $4.69 (way more expensive at Food Town - same package!!)
2 large cans of crushed tomatoes: $1.67 each
1 large can of peeled tomatoes: $1.50
2 cans of refried black beans: $1.59 each
2 cans of tomato paste: $0.89 each
Sugar Snap Peas (1.52lbs@$2.99/lb): $4.54
TOTAL: $19.03

I think I'll stick to Trader Joe's for staples like peanut butter, cereal, and frozen vegetables. Food Town is fine for chicken/poultry, eggs, milk, non-specialty bread, and things I don't want to lug 80 blocks home. As for the other places - I'm so excited to have new stores to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, canned goods, gourmet items, and beef products!!

Setting Goals

I studied flute with Dr. Jones at Texas State University for 11 semesters, and I began studying with her my sophomore year of high school... this works out to a solid 10 years with this amazing woman, with a few semester off here and there. One of the most important lessons she taught me was to set goals.

She had us (the students of her ever-growing flute studio) keep a notebook each semester, which included a lot of things I waited until the last minute to assemble... notes from my lessons, concert programs, handouts and notes from lectures and events, historical information on music I was learning in my lessons and in flute ensemble, projects related to our flute studies, and more, depending on where we were in our course of study. This itself was a valuable practice that I hope to keep up with as I continue collegiate studies (the procrastination is still there, for sure, but I am good about keeping materials - it's just a matter of organizing now), but one thing we had to include in the notebook every semester, in addition to all that I've already listed, was our goals. She had a "Goals" Sheet we had to complete that looked something like this:

Goals

This semester:

This year:

Before Upper Level (first half of music degree; 'pre-music'):

Before Senior Recital:

After Graduation:

In my first few years, I was quite lazy in setting my goals. I would write similar things from semester to semester and I wouldn't look at the sheet after I wrote it (therefore not accomplishing my goals unless it was something that I already knew/had to accomplish anyway). As my seven years as an undergraduate continued, I began to think more and more about my goals - as I passed my Upper Level, completed my first Senior Recital, and neared Graduation. Real Life was creeping up on me, and I needed to start thinking about where I was going and what I wanted to do. With each passing semester, the thought of "post-graduation" became a nearer reality, and those seemingly far-off goals at the bottom of the page became something I would actually have to face. They included things like: apply to grad school, get accepted, complete grad school, find a real job in music/education, etc.

And now, here I am. I've passed my Upper Level, two Senior Recitals, and I've graduated from Texas State. I'm in graduate school, and somewhat in real life (I've completed 3.5 of these milestones: Am I an adult yet??) And as I am upon the eve of a week before school starts, I sat down to write down my goals for the semester - WITHOUT EVEN THINKING ABOUT IT. Obviously, in 10 years, Dr. Jones had some effect on me.

I was literally writing down my goals when I realized that posting them on the internet would seem a little more solid, more committing. So, here they are - professional/school and personal goals for the semester...
- complete all assignments (reading and written) before midnight the day before they are due
- keep up with Historiography II listening assignments and my listening journal WEEKLY
- spend at least one day/week working on my thesis at home or at the IJS
- create a practice and exercise schedule (each, minimum 2x/week; ideally 3-5x/week)
- keep a journal of practice and exercise
(April: weight loss benchmark 1: Megan and Travis' wedding)
(June: weight loss benchmark 2: Amy and Mike's wedding)
- explore NYC with Ryan (ideally-weekly; at least-monthly)
- investigate the process of teacher certification in the tri-state area
- maintain my awesome sleep schedule (7-8 hrs/night)
- keep one jazz-related book on me at all times for reading on public transit

This summer...
- put my all into teaching my first collegiate class, if it makes (I need 10+ students)
- find another part-time job (if my class doesn't make)
- continue 1 day/week work on thesis
- create personal listening list to complete (classical and jazz classics, mostly)
- maintain practice and exercise schedules and journal
- seek musical performance and live music opportunities

That's all I have for now. I intend to consult this list each time I check on my blog (which just passed 5000 views - woo hoo!) and stay motivated to keep on them.

Thanks for everything, Dr. Jones.

Moving to New York City

I was born in Small Town, Texas, in the newly built hospital. I was raised in the same house my entire life, and when I picked a university, I only applied to the one in my hometown, which just happened to have 30,000+ students and amazing programs of interest to me. I lived in the dorms my first 2 years, as required (and funded) by my scholarship, and after that, I moved on to apartment-hopping (for 3.5 years), and then back to parents' houses for the last 1.5 years. I would have saved a lot of money if I had lived in my mom's house, but what I spent in money I gained in life experience, and I don't regret that decision.

This past summer, I finally moved from Small Town to New York City. Obviously, this is a big step, especially having never lived anywhere besides ST. I couldn't find too many resources on the internet about moving to New York (I didn't look all that hard), but most of them just talked about how stressful it is and made a big commotion of the whole ordeal. I'm here to say - it wasn't that different than moving <5 miles away from my mom's house, which is the furthest away I ever had a permanent residence, before my move to NYC. You have to go through a lot of the same steps.

1. Find a place to live.
For my first apartment in ST, my roommate Nick picked the place (in agreement with me, roommate Matt, and roommate Joel). I was fine with their choice and the place was great. For the second place with Mike, I picked the apartment. It was probably my favorite apartment I ever lived in, but that's probably a psychological thing, since I picked it. For the third apartment, roommate Donna picked it. Again, I was totally satisfied. And finally, in moving to NYC, roommate Henry picked the apartment.

For my NYC apartment hunt, I scoured the internet via CraigsList, WalkScore, and various other apartment hunting sites. I found brokers in the neighborhoods we were interested in, and I made phone calls and sent emails. Henry visited 4 or 5 apartments that we thought would work, and he ultimately made the final decision, since he was the only one that actually saw anything before I signed a lease. (If you don't want to sign a lease, subletting is also an option. Henry did that for 2-3 months earlier this year. Maybe he'll write a guest post on his adventures in subletting.)

Just as with any apartment, do your research on the neighborhood (we wanted northern Manhattan), know what amenities you're after (we were looking for a 600+ sq ft 2 bedroom, but ended up settling for 436), and be comfortable with the lease before you sign it. I read that thing cover to cover multiple times and had our broker make changes before we signed. I was able to get Henry and Ryan on the lease without having to do background checks on either of them (not that they wouldn't have checked out, but we would have had to pay another $100/person), which was great. And signing the lease was something I did 2 weeks before moving, all via email and FedEx. To this day, I've never met our brokers, but I've had tons of interaction with them online. It's possible to get an apartment in New York without even seeing the place first (not that I fully support that idea) and have it all set to go before you get here.

2. Get yourself and your stuff there.
This is the biggest difference between moving <5 miles and moving 2,100 miles. To move <5 miles, we'd load up my brother's truck 15 times and drive back and forth and back and forth. We'd spend an hour eating lunch and still be done by 3PM. To move to NYC, my husband and I took a scenic route, from Texas to Louisiana to Florida to Virginia to New Jersey to our new apartment, departing on Monday and arriving on Saturday (the places listed are the places we stopped to sleep along the way, in the homes of family and friends). It was a wonderful trip and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but I'll be the first to admit that driving across the country with all your worldly possessions on 10 wheels is a little unnerving.

Other friends that I have that have moved to New York have chosen different methods. One drove a smaller moving truck with his roommate, but took the direct route. Another flew up with his father and brought only the minimal number of things to survive, opting to live in a pre-furnished apartment and leave most of his belongings at his parent's house. All are viable options - just keep in mind that moving yourself and your things to New York is a HUGE expense. Well, unless you take roommate Henry's approach; he bought a one-way plane ticket and arrived with a suitcase full of clothes and all his musical instruments... and that was it. He sublet apartments until Ryan and I arrived here, and he's just been collecting things along the way. Most of his belongings are in storage at his parent's house in Texas. If you take that route, it's much less expensive, but most people would have a difficult time taking such a minimalist approach.

3. Set up utilities and update billing information.
This is a given no matter where you move. There are just some... unique aspects about it living in New York. (I say unique, but I really just mean different from ST. I suppose these things could actually be normal everywhere else and unique in ST, but this is just from my perspective.)

We had to set up our internet in New York. We called Verizon and ordered the modem, and waited. Then, it arrived and we went to plug it in. But... there was no phone jack. No phone jack. Anywhere. In the entire apartment. I didn't know that was still possible. Did the previous inhabitants not have a phone line or internet? Doesn't that seem just wild?? Anyway, we had to call Verizon again and have them come install a phone jack so that we could hook up our modem. Installing the phone jack was a sizable expense we had not budgeted for, but the cost of internet per month is comparable to ST.

The electric company was as easy as a phone call (the previous tenants had electricity, at least). Apparently, it had never been shut off, so it was just a matter of putting a start date on our billing cycle. Easy enough, and the cost is comparable to ST - we have a LOT of electronic equipment in our apartment, so I knew it wasn't going to be cheap.

No water bill. There's no water bill in New York - is this the case in other cities? In ST, they would sometimes make customers put down a $300 deposit to have water set up, but here, we don't even pay for it. I take longer showers just because I can.

We also had to update our address with our banks and cell phone bill. This was easy enough, but if you forget, you could find yourself without a functioning ATM card, under suspicion of theft.

4. Explore your neighborhood and become familiar with the places you will frequent.
This will happen on its own eventually, but it's nice to make a day of seeking these things. Our laundromat is directly across the street and open 24 hours, which is about as convenient as it gets. The grocery store, subway stop, dry cleaners, and nearest Chinese restaurant are 3.5 blocks south of us, which is also very convenient. I quickly discovered that a cold grocery store produce section is one of the best places to be on a hot August day. Starbucks, the supermarket, and a few more fast food places are 5.5 blocks south and 2 blocks east. This is a bit more of a hike (especially considering that coming home is all uphill), but I'm glad to know that they're there when I need them (like right now, since I'm out of shampoo).

Take some time to get to know where the things you need are located, and keep in mind it might be in a direction you hadn't considered. Even though we live in Harlem, which is in Manhattan, the nearest mall (including the nearest Target) is in the Bronx, one D train stop northeast of us. Knowing facts like this about your neighborhood could also affect where you choose to live (see item #1). The fact that the laundromat was right across from our front door and open 24 hours was a BIG plus to me. Also, living near an express stop vs. a local stop can make a big difference in New York. I've only lived in one apartment in my 1.5 months here, but express stops are amazing.

(I didn't have to explore in ST since I lived there my entire life, but living in different parts of the city did open my eyes to different amenities and places to visit.)

5. Set up a budget and find a job.
These are both major things that must be done, but I group them together because one will affect the other. Once I set up a budget for me and Ryan (estimating food costs since we didn't know what they'd be - more on that later), I knew that we needed to be making a combined income of at least $35,000/year (pre-taxes) just to pay our bills each month. This showed us where to set the bar as far as requesting salaries for "real" jobs, and knowing how minimal we could go on wages for "survival" jobs. Our monthly bills include: health insurance, internet, cell phones, electricity, transit, rent, food, a monthly medical bill I have from surgery last year, laundry, and credit cards (we're carrying a small, <$500 balance that we're chipping away on and not adding to). We will soon add renters insurance and student loans to the list.

Transit is a bill you may overlook when first arriving in New York, but it's one to keep in mind. A monthly, unlimited MetroCard is $104. We each have one of those. I also ride the PATH at least 16 times a month for school (16x$2=$32) and Ryan takes the train to National Guard drill one weekend each month ($22). All this combined (~$252) is obviously less expensive than car insurance, oil changes, maintenance, parking, gas, etc. that come with owning a car, but it must be accounted for nonetheless.

Laundry is a bit more expensive than I anticipated. We spend ~$60/month on laundry-related expenses, including restocking the soap and dryer sheets.

Food was an expense I did not expect to skyrocket the way it did, especially considering that we eat at home for nearly every meal - every breakfast, at least 6 lunches/week, and at least 5 dinners/week (which was quite the opposite in ST). When living in ST, we spent about $200 for food each per month, or $400 total. I estimated this in moving to New York and budgeted accordingly. As it turns about, based on our September numbers, we actually spend ~$800 a month on food... double the original estimate! This expense really jumped out at me, and if you're on a tight budget when you move, this is definitely an area to exercise frugality.

For job hunting in New York, I highly recommend CraigsList. It got me 1 temp job, 4 interviews, and 2 job offers. In the end, I got an interview through Henry for another job and we both, along with Ryan, earned positions with the company. Ryan also found restaurant employment through CraigList, and is working with a staffing agency to find more permanent/degree-related employment. Other ways to find work include: looking for "Help Wanted" signs in your neighborhood or neighborhoods you'd like to work in (this can be effective but very time-consuming) and telling friends you're looking for a job (Henry got his catering position through a friend and is happy there).

Mine and Ryan's experiences in the job market really helped our job hunt move quickly. I have ~4 years of retail experience at the mall in ST and 2 years food experience delivering pizzas for Dominos. Ryan worked in restaurants for summer jobs during college and in retail during his final year. It was only with this background that we were able to find employment within 15 days of arriving in New York. We have friends with more degrees than us in less competitive job markets that are struggling to find employment. So, if I can make one recommendation - work some menial jobs. The experience will help you later, especially if you can't find employment in your field, at your dream job, etc.

***
My intent was to show that moving to New York should not be too intimidating - it's not that different from moving anywhere else in the country, as near or far as it may be from where you currently reside. When you move, make sure to keep in touch with old friends to keep your sanity. Work and school are great places to make friends and meet people, but if you arrive in the city without a job and you're not in school, it can be an incredibly lonely place (actually, it can be lonely even when you have a job, school, a husband, and a roommate, but it's definitely not as bad as those who come alone). Make an effort to reach out to people you love - they will want to hear about your adventures in the big city and you will want that human connection, so just give them a call.

How To Gain Weight And Waste Money

In case you have any doubts, this is written in pure jest. I do not have any sort of medical background and I am not giving advice. What I do have is experience in weight loss (and gain), and a desire to do the former. Unfortunately, with my current habits, I have been very unsuccessful. I write simply to highlight my poor choices and motivate myself to try harder.

(I have lost about 5 lbs since I've moved to the city, but given the amount that I need to lose to be in the normal/healthy weight range, I have a lot of work to do.)

1. Limit physical activity.
I've tried to set up goals for myself (walking/running 15 miles/week, walking/running on days I don't have school, etc) but I haven't met any of those goals (which, at one time in my life, were quite reasonable and easily accomplished). I have meager strength training goals, and I haven't been keeping up with those in any way either. I'm lucky I live in Manhattan and have to walk to get places, and I go to school in Newark, which is a 1-mile walk from the train station to the campus. Without those built-in safeguards, I probably wouldn't fit in my tiny little apartment (which is a 5th-floor walk-up... another minor source of movement).

2. Consume Starbucks every day. ($)
Though some people are capable of losing weight with this methodology (see: The Starbucks Diet), I have a special place in my belly for things like the White Chocolate Mocha and the seasonal Salted Caramel Mocha. Even though I order them with skim milk, small or medium, with extra shots of espresso and no whipped cream, it's an additional 150-300 calories that I don't need. To make matters worse, my new job is in Times Square. There are at least 3 Starbucks in a 2-minute radius.

3. Cook at home and eat too much.
We eat dinner at home almost every night - at least 6 nights a week. I make things like pasta, nachos, shepherd's pie, tacos, steak, baked potatoes, eggplant parmesan, chicken, etc., usually with a salad or vegetable-based side. These things sound great, cut costs, and keep our diets varied, but when I eat 2-3 servings, I'm consuming too much food. Period.

4. Drink diet sodas and sweet tea. ($)
Just because it's diet doesn't mean it's doing me any favors (see: Obesity Epidemic and Diet Sodas). Sweet tea, a staple drink of the South, is full of sugar - at least it's the real stuff instead of the chemical subs. Either way I slurp it, these drinks increase weight.

5. Eat out for lunch during work. ($)
I recently started a new job with my husband and our roommate, and unfortunately, in the transition from lazy bum to gainfully-employed citizen, I haven't bought anything to take for lunch (and since I scarf it all down at dinner, it's not like we have leftovers from last night). This has resulted in: burgers, fries, pizza, gyros, etc.

6. Keep an irregular sleep schedule.
Being a student, a newlywed, and living in a different city for the first time in my life (never mind the fact that it's New York City), sometimes I have things that come up that prevent me from going to bed at the same time every night. And, given the irregularity of my day-to-day activities over the past month, I don't always find it necessary to wake at the same time each day. I can't explain how or why, but the type of sleep schedule I keep stresses the body and prevents weight loss... in fact, I think it encourages weight gain.


In conclusion - these are the 6 main areas I seek to improve to have a healthier lifestyle. They are manageable goals that I hope to accomplish and maintain in my weight loss journey.