美国年轻人独立且节俭

当22岁的女儿玛丽安娜(Mariana)告诉我们她打算从家里搬出去、独自在纽约市生活的时候，我们告诉她日子会很艰难。
When our then-22-year-old daughter told us in the fall of 2008 that she intended to move out of our house and live in New York City on her own, we told her it would be tough.

她不相信我们的劝告。
She didn't believe us.

女儿最终证明我们错了。她不仅凭着她那份年薪不到三万美元的出版工作在纽约生存了下来，而且在短短一年内还攒下了5,000美元。此外，她还为自己的401(k)退休金帐户存入了约1,000美元。
Mariana proved us wrong. She not only lived in New York on a salary of less than $30,000 from a publishing-industry job, she managed to save $5,000 over the course of a year. On top of that, she stashed about $1,000 in her 401(k) account.

在全球生活成本最高的城市之一纽约，她是如何办到的？
How was that possible in one of the most expensive cities in the world?

她和另外三个年轻人合租一套公寓，主要交通花费是每个月89美元的地铁乘车卡，她的三餐以豆子和米饭为主。
She shared an apartment with three other youths, her main transportation expense was an $89-a-month subway card, and she ate a lot of beans and rice.

此外，她还冒过几次小险，比如把一瓶葡萄酒偷偷带进夜店，没花多少钱就和朋友们一起狂欢了一晚。都是些现在的孩子们在大学里学到的东西。
Oh, and she pulled a few stunts like smuggling a bottle of wine into a nightclub to enjoy a cheap night out with her friends. The things kids learn in college these days.

勤俭持家的能力是项非常宝贵的才能，我很高兴女儿年纪轻轻就在这方面显示出了一定的功夫，即使并非她所有的做法我都赞同。玛丽安娜把攒钱看作是一种游戏而不是沉重的负担。
The ability to live cheaply is a very valuable skill, and I'm glad my daughter has shown some mastery of it at a young age, even if I can't endorse all her tactics. Mariana views saving money 'as a sort of game' instead of something oppressive.

节俭度日总是要从限制大的开销开始。对我们大多数人来说，最大的开销是住。在房地产危机期间，玛丽安娜和她的三个朋友得以用每月3,100美元的租金租下了布鲁克林高档公园坡区的一套四居室公寓。然后玛丽安娜自愿住进了最小的一间卧室（还有一个小工作室，这样她就可以画画了），这样她每个月的房租只有750美元。
Cheap living always starts with keeping the big expenses small. For most of us, that means housing. Amid the real-estate crisis, Mariana and three friends were able to lease a four-bedroom apartment in the upscale Park Slope section of Brooklyn for $3,100 a month. Mariana then volunteered to take the tiniest bedroom (plus a small studio so she could paint), so her share came to only $750 a month.

她的第二大开销是吃。她加入了附近的一个食品合作社，以便减少食品开销。当她出去吃饭时，会选择便宜的饭馆。有一次，她在当地一家以份量大、价格低出名的烧铐连锁店点了一整只鸡，只要9.99美元。然后她把鸡骨头打包回家，做成了汤。
Her next biggest expense was food. She joined a nearby food cooperative to slash her bill. When she did go out, she'd hit cheap restaurants. Once she ordered a $9.99 whole chicken at a local BBQ chain renowned for its big portions and cheap prices. She then took the chicken bones home and made soup out of them.

玛丽安娜说，有那么几次，她发现当地一家市场正在扔掉包装很好的大袋面包，她还把面包拣了回去。不过大部分时间，她的省钱之道都是从食品合作社买大量全麦、豆子、小扁豆、花生酱和新鲜蔬菜来吃。她每周会吃几次肉。
A couple of times, Mariana says, she did some Dumpster-diving when she spotted a local market throwing out 'big bags of bread perfectly packaged.' But for the most part, she saved money by eating lots of whole grains, beans, lentils, peanut butter and fresh vegetables from the food co-op. She ate meat a couple of times a week
　
年轻人常常在娱乐上花很多钱。与此相反，玛丽安娜说她在纽约的大部分时间都是去享受免费的东西。她会去建议参观者捐款的博物馆，而不是有固定门票价格的博物馆。
Young people often spend big bucks on entertainment. By contrast, Mariana says she spent most of her time in New York doing things that were free. She went to museums that have suggested donations, not a fixed admission price.