The budget breakdown of a 34-year-old who makes $150,000 in NYC
msn.com
msn.com
The kind of person that would be a brand consultant would be required by the internal sense of price = quality = social status. For example: "I buy a purse for $200 and I'm like, 'Where am I going to make $500 tomorrow?'"
Personality-bashing aside, looking at the numbers:
$150k annual = $12.5k / month, budget = $4,100 / month, Travel of $15k annually = $1.25k / month. Overall this leaves ~$7k / month ($84k per year) as "everything else" money.
She could easily put away 50% to fund early retirement, but she obviously prioritises differently to you and I :)
She obviously works hard and she does plenty of charity work, so she's almost unquestionably an extrovert and therefore not comfortable 'living the quiet life'. Given the fact she's run the numbers and money is obviously important to her, I'd say she's much more likely to be actively making choices rather than just passively following societal norms.
So $150k at the top, and much less than that is possible. Who knows the frequency of how often it's $80k, and how often it's $150k.
I don't think your numbers include taxes, which if you're self employed, are higher than if you are working for a company (where they pay those payroll taxes for you). So there's federal taxes, social security (both parts) and medicare, and state taxes (for NY). There's also apparently an additional income tax for working in NYC.
https://smartasset.com/taxes/new-york-tax-calculator
This says $150k might be more like $100k after taxes. Then taking out the monthly expenses (let's just say $60k), and travel ($15k) and retirement ($15k) and there's only about $10k left over on the best of years, with no unexpected expenses.
And how many companies are around you which offer interesting jobs?
KC has a tech scene, and remote work is a thing.
Living in a Kansas city superb could be cool, if those nearby forests offered parks and trails and such. shrugs
Grocery quality though is definitely a strength; Kansas and its neighbors are farm or ranching states. Hunting is [stereotypically] a big thing here, and that's about as 'natural' as your meat can get (free range, non-gmo, organic, etc)
Quality grocery nearby is more important to me for sure but that is also way closer in a big city. At least here in munich.
I can only watch movies in OV (original version in my case mostly english), go out to many different restaurants, go to many shows, congresses, using public transport etc.
And at least for me, my job opportunities are way better. My carrier would be none if i would have not moved.
I do not know how it looks in NYC And if i would not really use the citys advantages because i can't afford it, i would move out of it.
Maybe these types of budgets never factor in snacks or coffee shops?
If you add any sort of fresh meat then the prices go up even more. I would love to buy grass fed beef and pasture raised chicken but I can't justify the price when I have $70k worth of student loans to pay off.
I think I buy too much fruit.