Without our furniture and the mementos of our life together, the apartment didn't feel as romantic as it once had. Skip navigation! Story from Dedicated Feature. Anna LAne. August 14, , PM. Modern Money Matters is Refinery29 and Chase 's exploration of what the modern American family really looks like — from starting a family to moving — and what it actually costs to make it all happen.
In , a record 4. To find out more about how women are taking control of their financial power, click here. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single person in possession of an affordable two-bedroom apartment in New York City would be a fool to give it up. At the time, I was an undergrad whose primary housing requirement was something that would get me away from my university-assigned roommate that I didn't get along with. It became my home for my final years of college, and I ended up staying after I graduated, as there weren't many apartments that I could afford on my bartending salary alone.
I actually made great money as a bartender, yet in typical twentysomething fashion, I also found lots of ways to spend that money. Temptations abound when one is only 22 years old and living in Manhattan — that's how I found myself with no savings and no backup plan when my roommate announced that she was moving out. I determined that my spending habits, combined with the annual rental increase of 1.
Once again, I found myself in the unenviable position of having to find a new roommate. I considered moving to a studio in order to live alone, but the only studios with rent similar to my half of the Soho abode were in Hoboken.
Smack dab in the middle of my apartment drama I started dating David, who was in the middle of a messy divorce. Maybe it was the wine — or a very youthful decision to ignore the potential consequences of my actions — but despite not knowing his last name or his favorite color, I said yes. When David moved in, he brought a few boxes and a freshly signed divorce agreement. Somehow, we managed to cram all his stuff into the apartment.
