How a Web Developer Lives on $45,000 in Far Rockaway

How can people possibly afford to live in one of the most expensive cities on the planet? It’s a question New Yorkers hear a lot, often delivered with a mix of awe, pity and confusion.

We surveyed hundreds of New Yorkers about how they spend, splurge and save. We found that many people — rich, poor or somewhere in between — live life as a series of small calculations that add up to one big question: What makes living in New York worth it?

Karen Jeanne Radley has experienced the highs and lows of securing affordable housing in New York City, changing apartments more than once before finding her current home in a senior living community in Far Rockaway.

“It’s all about being able to survive,” she said. “And what I’ve come to learn through this is that I’m a much stronger person than I thought I was, having to adapt.”

Ms. Radley, a 51-year-old freelance website developer and consultant, lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for almost 20 years before a rent increase in 2020 forced her out.

She moved in with her mother, who lived in a one-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side. When the rent increased on that unit, they downsized to another apartment in the same building. Then came another rent increase, and another search for a place to live.

“It presented us with the opportunity to find a new neighborhood, explore new things,” Ms. Radley said. “We started saying, ‘OK, these boroughs that we’ve never considered, why don’t we start considering Queens? Why don’t we start looking in the Bronx?’”

The mother-daughter duo moved to Far Rockaway, a Queens beachfront neighborhood, last year with their two dogs — Alistair, a Havanese, and Winston, a Portuguese water dog.

Living in a building for older adults is far from ideal for Ms. Radley, who made about $45,000 last year. She said she has limited social opportunities because her neighbors are much older than her, but a bigger apartment by the beach with reasonable rent is a win. For $941 per month, she shares a one-bedroom apartment with her mother, who is 83 and secured their current arrangement through the Jewish Association Serving the Aging.

Ms. Radley created a makeshift bedroom for herself in the living area. The dining room table doubles as her desk, where she works on websites and digital ad campaigns.

“It doesn’t really bother me,” Ms. Radley said. “Right after you’re done watching TV at night, you don’t have to go far to go to bed.”

Looking Outside New York

Ms. Radley started her career in marketing after graduating from Bard College in 1997, and shifted to consulting about 10 years ago when she lost her job. Her income and clientele grew during her first few years as a consultant, but when the pandemic hit, she started earning less.

She thought about leaving New York for better employment opportunities and sought jobs in Boston, Atlanta and San Francisco, but nothing worked out. So Ms. Radley stayed in the city, where she still has clients — some of whom trade their services for hers. For example, Ms. Radley does web design and maintenance for a salon in exchange for getting her hair done.

Time and again, the city she describes as “a place of discovery” has compelled her to adjust to the high cost of living, but she has found ways to enjoy life without straining her finances.

She uses her IDNYC card for discounts or free tickets to the theater, museums and the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden. A tennis fanatic, she also attends the free U.S. Open Fan Week. “We’ve learned in a way that you can enjoy without spending a lot,” she said.

Instead of paying $30 to see a movie, she looks for discounts or waits for the movie to come to a streaming service. Rather than buying books, she visits the public library or finds free e-books on Amazon.

She budgets about $100 per week for groceries and joins a monthly trip through her building’s community center to Trader Joe’s, Walmart or Costco. If there’s extra cash, Ms. Radley takes the bus to the Long Island Rail Road and rides it to Grand Central Market in Manhattan, where she indulges in baked goods and visits the butcher.

Ms. Radley has also cut back on eating out. Instead, she opts to make dinner from online recipes and freezes the leftovers.

“We have really found ways to adapt,” she said.

Buckeye Blitz Ice Cream

Ms. Radley has never thought about moving to Ohio, where her mother is from, but once or twice a year she purchases six pints of Graeter’s ice cream for $120, to be shipped from Cincinnati. She always buys her two favorite flavors, Buckeye Blitz and Black Raspberry Chip.

Ms. Radley saw “Hamilton” for the first time last year when her mother, who spent years entering the digital ticket lottery, finally won. They paid $10 for each ticket and enjoyed dinner at Ms. Radley’s favorite steakhouse, The Palm, after.

She budgets $64 per month for her membership at the Rockaway Y.M.C.A., where she uses the gym and indoor pool and sits in on lectures. Another $50 is set aside each month for toys, food and preventive medication for Alistair and Winston.

Ms. Radley reserves anywhere between $400 to $500 per month to cover expenses for her consulting business. Of that money, $270 goes toward internet and phone bills. The balance is allocated toward website charges, software maintenance and learning subscriptions.

A Strong Support System

Ms. Radley’s parents taught her that being a New Yorker has real value. She grew up on the Upper West Side and remembers going to sporting events and taking trips with her father to the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park.

Last year, when a family member was in the hospital, Ms. Radley leaned on friends in Manhattan for support and somewhere to sleep so that she wouldn’t have to make the three-hour round-trip commute from Far Rockaway every day. “Had I been elsewhere, I wouldn’t have had that support system,” she said.

“It’s been a story of staying in New York, and maintaining the life we love has been important,” Ms. Radley said. “But we’re willing to continue searching for housing and experience and new things.”