When outfitting your first abode, you can leave the bean bag at home – but remember to bring along/buy these important items. This bit of extra planning will make your life wayyy easier later on as there are a few scrapes everyone finds themselves in. Actually, on second thought, keep the bean bag - too many chairs are never a bad thing (hey, house party!)

10) Strainer
First years out money can be tough. Pasta(and macaroni & cheese) is a great dinner option that you can flavor tons of different ways. But – wait – you need a…strainer first.

9) Extension cords, a bunch of ‘em
It doesn’t seeeem like your bedside lamp should need an extension cord, and yet, it and your plug-in alarm clock very much do.

8)Thick curtains for your bedroom
Not only will these shield you from creepy neighbors, but you’ll be thanking yourself come day break.

7)Trash cans for kitchen, bathroom, etc
Trash cans are not the prettiest or funniest apt accoutrement, but without them you’ll be living with tons of garbage bags on the floor. ‘nough said.

6)Spare set of keys
I know, you’re responsible. You won’t lose your keys. So, pretend it’s just for the future houseguests you’ll be having!

5)Flashlight
Sometimes circuits blow. When you need to climb down three flights of stairs to the basement to turn the electric back on, you’ll be glad you can see.

4)Emergency $20 bucks
Next time you’re sick and want to order in food caus you can’t get off the couch, you’ll be super /psyched that you have that extra dough under your pillow. Most places take cards these days, but not all.

3)Sickie Supplies
Speaking of when you get sick, make sure to keep the medicine cabinet stocked. Advil, Sudafed, Cough drops, Cough Syrup…you’ll be glad you’re so well prepared!

2) ICE (in case of emergency) contacts on the fridge for all roommates(and in your phones) AND landlord info
Especially if you met your roommate on Craigslist, be sure to swap info. Should you need to reach him/her outside the apt or reach their family, you’ll be totally set. Also, having the landlord’s info handy is always a good bet

1) A sense of adventure
Living on your own is a big deal. Whoa! Deep breath, chica/chico. Sometimes things are gonna break. Sometimes there will be natural disasters happening within your four walls. As long as you take it in stride, and have a sense of humor. . . you’ll look back on your first apt as one of the best times of your life – promise!

PS. For a more extensive lists of all the basic furniture and supplies you'll need, check out our handy checklists page.

Last week we shared some good evergreen NYC neighborhood guides. After a quick read of one, or all, you should have a pretty good idea of the main New York hoods in addition to some outside charmers.

Once you've decided where you think you want to live, though, it'd be a good idea to get to know your proposed neighborhood even better. Doing a thorough walk-around is always the best choice, but if you're currently living elsewhere and can't make the trip -- might I suggest some neighborhood-focused blogs?

Curbed NY has a Manhattan and specific neighborhood editions like Long Island City, Williamsburg, and beyond. It can be somewhat real estate based, but also has helpful rental tips.

Gothamist has more general NYC stories but you can search by neigborhood. Today there's a story about pizza soon-to-be-served in cone form! Unfortunately, there's also an article about how unemployment is now at 10.6%...the highest rate in 33 years.

If you're looking into avoiding the Manhattan scene, Brooklyn Based will help you find all of Brooklyn's secrets. The email-based free service provides a weekly tip-sheet in addition to longer editorial pieces. They profile both hot and lesser known neighborhoods to give really well balanced perspective.

Finally, if the above aren't enough to satisfy your thirst for info and you have some time on your hands check out www.nycbloggers.com/ It provides access to 6,204 blogs -- though only a few of the blogs are still current. It's kinda like a blog museum...one of the ones I clicked on had its last post title as Can Kerry Carry in '04.


If you know of any other good NYC neighborhood blogs, let me know!

One of our readers wrote in last week letting us know that one of our links was broken (thanks!). Alas, the link was to a great source of info about NYC neighborhoods and so now she feels rather left in the lurch.

Well, let me first do a bit of self-advertising and let you all know that My First Apartment actually has our own NYC guide. But, if you need more, here are good places to look:

New York Magazine did a real estate profile back in 2003 which, one could argue, is out of date. It is -- and yet -- not entirely. Looking at their prices for my neighborhood, Park Slope, the low end is still too low (decent two bedrooms run closer to 2,000 +) but the neighborhood profile is accurate.

Beyond that, many of the key neighborhood elements haven't changed and if you're not sure where a neighborhood in NY is, the map is uber-helpful. Additionally, you should probably assume that neighborhoods "on the brink" of popularity, such as Long Island City and Astoria have now broke and while still cheaper than Manhattan are not exactly a Midwestern.

In terms of editorial, they have a separate 2006 article detailing how neighborhoods that used to epitomize the NYC dream...and how times have changed significantly. It's kind of a sad article, but one you should read if you're moving here based on the Sex and the City version you think you know...(bubble:pop)

Curbed NY has a very stat-friendly report talking about the rental market this year. The 2009 market for average 1 bedrooms, 2 bedrooms, etc is summarized by price point in a neat lil chart. It's not by neighborhood, but the prices are a good average for Manhattan.

Yelpers also get in on the neighborhood opinion action, as there's a page devoted to NYC neighborhood advice with yelpers giving their own take on where to live.

Finally, About.com has a decent guide, though its a cross in that its both for tourists and nyc residents. Still, it has the key basics: subway stops and good restaurants. The rest you can find out by exploration -- which every good apartment hunter knows is the secret weapon of the neighborhood search.

If any of you know of good nyc neighborhood guides, do leave a comment below!

With the end of the holiday season comes the end of free, well-prepared food. No more well-balanced, homemade meals or three-course dinners that you pretty much just have to show up to. Nope, we'll just have to make it be our New Year's resolution to treat ourselves better and eat more healthily. We'll actually have to try to, erm, cook?

Do yourself a favor, discover NoTakeOut.com?

NoTakeOut.com takes out all the scariness inherent in cooking, at least for those novices amongst us who would rather microwave a frozen dinner than tango with the oven or stove. Each day, the site offers a new menu complete with shopping list, game plan and recipe. It pretty much takes all the guesswork out of "how to prepare a grown-up meal."

If you're not thrilled with the menu of the day, you can also view past recipes and choose the meals that look the best to your particular taste buds. Budding foodies will likely also enjoy the extra articles housed in their "Food for Thought" section.

Those looking to cook sustainable foods can also check out the Eat Local link, which can tell you what's in season for your region by season.

Want to know who's in the kitchen creating all this delicious content? Two cooking dads and a French ex-journalist turned professional chef. Nifty, eh?

If you try a recipe, let us know how it goes!