She Spends $18,000 Renting Two Apartments In New York City Every Month For Her Family
Many Americans wouldn’t be able to fathom spending $12,000 a month on a mortgage. Yet, one New York City couple is paying that tall amount in rent each month for their primary apartment, in addition to renting a $6,000-a-month apartment right across the hall for extra space.
Kristi, a mom with a TikTok following of over 370,000 people, shares what her life is like in the Big Apple on her account @kristiipartyof6.
She’s originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, and she and her husband, David, have a blended family of five kids in total. They each have one child from their previous relationships and share three kids together.
Kristi detailed why her family of seven decided to expand their living space with a second apartment.
She and David already own a large home in Utah, where they spend their summers. But they moved to New York City four years ago and fell in love with their primary apartment, which is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom unit located on a high floor in a luxury doorman building.
“We really loved how family-friendly it was and how safe it felt. There were so many parks in the area. We loved the area, and we loved the apartment we found,” Kristi explained.
Then, this past summer, she realized their growing family was going to need more space. Kristi and her husband already rented the largest apartment unit in their building, though, meaning an upgrade wasn’t possible.
So, the couple set out on an apartment search, and nothing really caught their eye. It wasn’t until Kristi opened up her primary apartment’s door one day and learned her neighbor across the hall was actually moving out that she found a solution to their space issue.
“It literally felt like God opened a door. It was right there, right across the hall. It’s a one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit with laundry in the unit, a kitchen, and multiple closets,” she said.
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Kristi quickly texted David about the idea of renting both neighboring apartments, and initially, they were met with some pushback from building management. One resident technically couldn’t have two apartment leases under their name.
In the end, Kristi and her husband were able to work around this. David was listed on the lease for their main apartment; meanwhile, Kristi took the lease for their secondary apartment across the hall.
In a recent TikTok video, she showed off their additional unit, which costs $6,000 in rent per month. That, coupled with their primary apartment’s rent of $12,000 a month, brings their total monthly rent bill to $18,000.
The secondary unit has been mostly used for storage. Kristi and her husband took everything out of their master bedroom closet and turned it into a nursery for their daughter, who they welcomed this past summer. So, their clothes are stored in the secondary apartment, along with their kids’ strollers, scooters, and winter coats.
The single bedroom in the unit has a bed for visitors, like Kristi’s mom and sister. As for the living room, that space has been transformed into a playroom for their children.
According to Kristi, it’s great having a second refrigerator to keep food for their large family and another separate space to host friends and family.
“David said it’s a very expensive storage unit,” she said at the end of her video.
But despite many people appreciating Kristi’s transparency on her TikTok account, others criticized her, calling the second apartment “wasteful.”
“I barely make $20,000 in a year. I couldn’t imagine paying that a month,” commented one user. Kristi acknowledges that, for most families, her living arrangement wouldn’t be feasible.
Nonetheless, she feels incredibly grateful to have remained in her beloved apartment building and solved their space problem with the secondary apartment.
“I think people that don’t live in the city don’t quite get it, but also, I understand that it’s a huge luxury,” she stated.
“This is not a necessity. We definitely could make it work in one apartment, and we would be totally fine, but this is a luxury, and we are extremely fortunate to have this second apartment, and that’s not lost on me. I fully understand that.”
Now, you’re probably wondering how Kristi and David can afford such a high cost of living while raising a big family. In a different TikTok, they shared what they do for work.
“We started from McDonald’s. Now we have a successful career in tech sales,” David revealed.
In a caption written over the video, Kristi clarified that David began his career by working at McDonald’s and was now a Chief Sales Officer at a financial technology company.
“It’s been an absolute dream of ours for years to live in New York City, and we really feel very blessed that we were able to make that happen,” she added.
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