How to live on 500K in that town

Here's my response to this New York Times article:

So, you and all of your finance cohorts have brought the financial world to its knees and now you're faced with the possibility of a reduction in pay. To 500K. How can you live on that salary? It's called SACRIFICE. It's what the rest of the folks in the U.S. have been doing since the economy started tanking.

These are the first cuts.
1. Summer home: $240K a year
2. Car and driver: $75K-$125K a year (added bonus - get rid of this and you also save yourself about $700 a month in garage fees)
3. Formal gowns for charity galas: approx. $35K

And then, look at axing these things from the budget:
4. Personal trainer: $12K a year
5. Nanny: $45K a year
6. Two vacations (winter trip to the sun, spring trip to the slopes): $16K

And finally:
7. Private school for the kid(s): $32K a year

I think this is my favorite excerpt:

Sure, the solution may seem simple: move to Brooklyn or Hoboken, put the children in public schools and buy a MetroCard. But more than a few of the New York-based financial executives who would have their pay limited are men (and they are almost invariably men) whose identities are entwined with living a certain way in a certain neighborhood west of Third Avenue: a life of private schools, summer houses and charity galas that only a seven-figure income can stretch to cover.

As if the solution isn't really simple given that these men have appearances of success to maintain. Whatever.

Here are some suggestions for replacing your exorbitant expenditures with what you'll be able to afford on your restricted salary.

1. Forgo buying a summer house, rent one instead and use it for your yearly vacation: $5,000 a week (not including a $250 cleaning fee and a $1000 refundable security deposit)

2. Goodbye personal trainer, hello Windsor Pilates DVDs: $59.80 (plus S&H)

3. For when you absolutely have to attend the galas, go ABS by Allen Schwartz: $310 (simple, elegant, lovely)

4. Need a car? Zipcar: $50 annual fee/$25 application fee + weekday rates ($11 hour/$77 day) or weekend rates ($13 hourly/$115 day)