I want to move to Brooklyn

It's not new that I've wanted to move to NYC for years.  As I get older the dream gets less and less likely and the fact that we now own a house we'd need to sell or rent to move doesn't help either.  Last night, my husband mentioned moving to NYC again and of course that got me daydreaming.  I did a search for Brooklyn apartments and came across The Brooklyner and decided I need to live there.  Never mind that the rent is like 3 times the cost of my mortgage.

Rooftop deck

A little tiny, but I think I can deal.

Living room

Bedroom

Bathroom

Um, I could definitely write a book from that desk with that view.

Who needs a gym membership when there's a gym in your building?

Perfect tan, here I come!

Isn't it amazing?  Seriously, I don't think I'd ever move if I lived here.  Now I just need to find a job in NYC where I make about 5 times what I currently make so I can afford it.  A girl can dream.

Finances

Okay, I admit it, I'm bad with money.  I'm not awful, but I could certainly do better.  And recently, my husband has been working less overtime and we're starting to feel it.  So, I thought it would be a good time to start cutting back on our Whole Foods visits, cutting coupons and packing lunches (Brown Bag Challenge anyone?).  We also got rid of cable tv and our house phone.  We have cell phones, Apple tv, and Netflix, so we should be fine.  We watch too much tv anyway.
I've definitely never had money to burn, even growing up and I just don't want to spend my life broke and in debt.  So, before it gets too out of hand, I want to get rid of the debt and stop living paycheck to paycheck (living off credit cards in college, may not have been the best idea), I long for the day when I have one credit card that I never carry a balance on!  I applied for the Citi Simplicity card to transfer all my balances to a 0% interest for 21 months.  Citi card was my first ever credit card, I applied for it on campus just to get the free t-shirt for my now husband, BIG MISTAKE!  If only I knew then, what I know now.  But, I was hoping since I've been a customer of theirs for so long and I always pay my card on time, they'll approve me for this new card.  We'll see.  It would definitely help me get my finances in order.
In the meantime, I also got a second job to help get back on track quicker.  It actually sounds pretty good and I'll be doing some writing and editing, as well as editing video.  Which I've never really done but am excited to learn.
I realize that at my age and with the idea of starting a family on the horizon, it's time get things under control!
I was inspired by this blog post as well.  And I even put The Total Money Makeover on hold at the library.  We are also in the process of switching to an ING electric orange checking account.  I've actually had the savings and checking accounts for years, but I never used the checking account.  So, I ordered a new card with my new last name and added my husband to my account.  There are no fees, unlike our current bank that charges us to use our debit card and take our money out of the bank and the overdraft charge is substantially lower than the other banks.  When you're not rolling in it, sometimes you overdraft your account and most banks like to just kill you with fees if that happens.  Basically, banks steal from the poor.  It's no secret.  For now, my ING account still needs to be linked to a regular checking account to deposit checks, but I'm hoping they figure out a way around that very soon because quite frankly, I hate my bank.  And when I do finally start making some real money, I'll be sticking with the bank that didn't try to steal from me when I was broke!