Problem
Having just graduated from college, a student wants to feel free in the area he/she has chosen for work. The amount of salary is important, but a student should also think about other expenses, like apartment rent, car purchase, and gasoline prices. Before going to one of the chosen areas, one should carefully check the prices and salaries there. Coming out of prices, a student should negotiate a salary and create a personal budget.
This is extremely important if one wants to have a good life without being short of money too fast. To create a budget, a student should do research and conduct a careful analysis of the prices of apartments, cars, and gasoline, and check the information about salaries in different regions. New York City, NY, and Charleston, SC are chosen for analysis. The first step is going to research the salary one may count on in each of the regions mentioned above.
Other information is going to be checked to make a student informed about the prices he/she should expect. It will be possible to calculate the expenses a student is going to have by means of the cost of living comparison calculator where the prices on an apartment can be compared as well as some prices on products and other services.
Analysis
Cost of living comparison calculator
Still, to compare and contrast the level of living and salaries, some specific tools for calculating the cost of living should be used. To use a cost of living comparison calculator, the following information is necessary, the average salary (the salary of an accountant is taken) and the cities one wants to move to and from. After some operations, the following information is presented. According to the cost of living comparison calculator, if a student comes to Charleston, he/she may take a decrease on 46.23%.
Still, this amount does not influence his/her standard of living as it is possible to maintain it due to the great difference in prices. It is much cheaper to live in Charleston than in New York. For example, students save about $1,418.00 on apartment rent. Still, the salary difference is also great, about $28,000. Different services are also cheaper in Charleston, like doctor and dentist visit, veterinary services, total energy, and others.
If to change a scenario and to move from Charleston to New York, the whole situation seems more attractive, though services and products are more expensive. One is going to increase his/her standard on living on 85.96%. The main reason for such change is the increase of a salary which an accountant is going to receive in New York City (“Cost of living comparison calculator”). Thus, it should be a students’ choice where he/she wants to live. It is crucial to mention that even though it seems that to live in New York, NY is a good idea, one should understand that an initial capital should be big.
How to negotiate salary
There are a number of ways how to negotiate salary. When a student has just graduated from a college and want to apply for a job, he//she should remember that he/she should never tell about the previous salary. This question should be avoided. Furthermore, it is important to make homework, to know the average salaries for the position one wants to take up. It is also important to know what a student is worth. A student should perfectly know his/her skills and be able to show those in practice. It is also important to be self-confident, especially if one knows that his/her knowledge deserves attention and high salary (Alboher par. 1).
How to create a budget
To create a budget, one should use a budget calculator where a salary and expenses are included. Having compared the prices on food and services and New York, NY and in Charleston, SC, it can be concluded that even though the salaries are different, the prices on food and services are different as well. So, at the end of a month, one can find out that he/she is able to save about $1,000 – $2,000. At the same time, one should pay attention to the fact that he/she should take a loan to pay for rent for the first time and to buy a car. This loan will not make any opportunity to save money at first.
New York
Starting with salary analysis, it should be mentioned that the average salary New York City is about $82,000. This is 24% higher than salaries in other cities. The salaries are average. An accountant in New York, NY is paid about $76,000 (“Salary Search”). Different professions and regions of the state and of the cities are taken into account. Due to the fact that the prices on apartments for sale are too high, the idea to buy one is not even discussed. The research is conducted on the prices for renting an apartment. The cheapest apartment in New York City costs $70 a night.
Then, the average prices for renting an apartment vary from $180 to $300 a night. There is one specific requirement: a booking is possible minimum for 30 nights. Furthermore, a renter should pay about $1600 – $1700, a security deposit (“New York inspired apartments”). This measure is provided to protect an owner against some possible damages, if any. The apartments are furnished and comfortable. The price varies in a number of reasons.
First, the location – the closer an apartment is located to the center of the city, the higher the price is. Second, the number of rooms is also important. The cheapest variants have one room and one bathroom, while more expensive apartments are more luxury and may have two, three and more bedrooms with a couple of bathrooms. Third, the furniture and an apartment state are also important as well as design. There is one more thing that should be checked – the price for cars. Taking into account a fact that the budget is created for a student, the prices for used cars should be considered to save some amount of money.
Thus, one can buy a used car within the following frames, from $6,450 for Alfa Romeo to $184,166 for Lamborghini. One should remember that the prices are average and depend on the car condition, model year, and mileage. Gasoline prices are important as one is predicted to drive to workplace and home. After a thorough research, it was concluded that the average price for gas in New York, NY is $2.91 a gallon (InternetAutoguide). Thus, living in New York, graduate expenses are going to be rather high in spite of the fact that the salary is also going to be appropriate.
South Carolina
Discussing the salaries in South Carolina, the average salary there is $59,000 which is considered to be 11% lower than in other states of the USA. To be more specific, average salary of an accountant in Charleston is $48,000 (“Salary Search”). The prices for apartments are much lower here than in New York. One can rent an apartment for $400 per month. But, in this case, he/she should not count on comfort and luxury.
Those who used to live in the city centers, with 3 or 4 beds, a couple of bathrooms, and fashionable design should be ready to pay about $3000 – $4000, but this price is not the highest in Charleston, SC. The security deposits are rather low here, about $100-$200 (Apartments.com). When the prices for apartment rent have been considered, it is high time for a student to check the prices for used cars. There is no need to search for the opportunity to buy a new car as it is rather expensive and there is no need to waste money. The prices for used cars are not high. They do not vary much as well.
The cheapest car is Plymouth with average price about $2,740 and the most expensive car is Land Rover that costs about $34,591. It is also important to remember that it is possible to by a car for $10,000 – $15,000 in Charleston, SC (InternetAutoguide). The average price for gasoline in Charleston is about $2.59 a gallon. It should be mentioned that the average gas price nationwide is 2.72 a gallon (InternetAutoguide). So, it is rather cheap to live (to rent an apartment) and to drive (due to low prices for gas) in Charleston, SC.
Conclusion
Thus, after a thorough research the following conclusions can be provided. It is rather expensive to live in New York, NY as the prices for apartment rent are too high there. Still, the salaries are able to cover those expenses in some cases. Having graduated from a college, a student should not expect for a high salary at once, so it would be difficult for him/her to pay a rent and to buy a car on the first day of arrival. But, one should try to negotiate a salary. The prices for cars and gasoline are also rather expensive in New York. It is much cheaper to live in Charleston, SC where one can rent an apartment for less then $1,000 per month.
Furthermore, the prices for gasoline in Charleston, SC are cheaper, as well as the prices for cars. So, it should be concluded that if one does not have much money before getting down to work, he/she should choose Charleston, SC as the correlation of salaries and expenses for life are the best for those who have just graduated from college. At the same time, those who have some savings and are able to rent an apartment in New York should go there in a number of reasons. First, the salaries are higher there. Second, there are more perspectives in this city in the relation to work and career planning.
Works Cited
Alboher, Marci. “How to negotiate a salary without tipping your hand.” Working the New Economy. 2009. Web.
Apartments.com. 2010. Web.
“Cost of living comparison calculator.” Bankrate.com. 2010. Web.
InternetAutoguide. 2010. Web.
“New York inspired apartments for modern people.” 2010. Feel NYC. Web.
“Salary Search.” Indeed. One search. All jobs. 2010. Web.