Millennial Money: Living On $75K A Year In NYC

Emma Sadler, 29, earns $75,000 per year as a UX designer and a shipping coordinator. She currently lives in New York City alongside her daughter and mother.

Sadler was born in an orphanage in Russia when she was adopted by her current parents at the age of one. Her family moved to New York City where they stayed ever since.

In college, she went to the Fashion Institute of Technology for graphic design, but her dad passed away in her second year. She chose to drop out and pursue other careers.

However, when she lost her job due to the pandemic, she chose to spend her free time learning how to budget.”

“I decided that once my unemployment started to kick in, I was gonna take all of that savings, and throw it down onto my debt.” She used that money to pay off her $15,000 of credit debt.

Sadler’s monthly budget is $2,349, and she spends $400 per month on rent. She has inexpensive rent because it is rent-stabilized. Not only that, but her family has lived in the house since the 1970s.

Now that she is debt free, she currently saves $425 per month, and hopes to increase that by $1,000 per month in the near future.