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"  The Creative Coder Amanda Cheung, 24, Boston Occupation: Web designer for DockYard design and software consultancyAnnual income: $57,000 Home, sweet home: &amp;quot;I share the second floor of a large three-story house in Jamaica Plain with three roommates and pay $430 a month in rent. My neighborhood has a diverse LGBT community, which I&amp;#039;m involved in.&amp;quot; Bills, bills, bills: &amp;quot;My portion of the utilities comes to about $6 for gas, $50 for electric, and $20 for cable and Internet.&amp;quot; Savings &amp;amp;amp; loans: &amp;quot;I saved nearly $50,000 while living at home after college. I&amp;#039;m a painter; someday I&amp;#039;d like to open a gallery for contemporary artists.&amp;quot; Meal plan: &amp;quot;At least twice a week I spend about $15 on rice, dumplings, eggs, and chives from a nearby Chinese market.&amp;quot; The weekender: &amp;quot;I get up at 10 a.m. and head to South Boston Yoga, where I pay $100 for a pass. At night, I&amp;#039;ll go to a house party at a friend&amp;#039;s or head to a local bar, where a few drinks go for $15.&amp;quot; My biggest splurge: &amp;quot;Last year at New York&amp;#039;s Scope Art Show, I bought Jason Snyder&amp;#039;s painting Locket for $900. It was supposed to cost around $1,500, but the frame was broken.&amp;quot; \u2014As told to Melissa Bykofsky   The Funny Girl  Megan Gailey, 28, Chicago   Occupation: Stand-up comedian and waitressAnnual income: $25,000  Home, sweet home:&amp;quot;I pay $617 in rent for my room in the apartment I share with two friends. I love having roommates\u2014we save money by sharing clothes and hanging out at home.&amp;quot; Bills, bills, bills: &amp;quot;My share of the utilities is $65. I have a $45 monthly gym bill and spend up to $100 on gas driving to shows.&amp;quot; Savings &amp;amp;amp; loans: &amp;quot;I try to save a few hundred dollars off the top of my performances and have $1,100 in an emergency fund.&amp;quot; Meal plan: &amp;quot;I make a lot of salads and spend $50 a week on groceries. I&amp;#039;ll often get a free meal at a show.&amp;quot; The weekender: &amp;quot;During the day I hang out with my friends; we usually get lunch, which costs about $30. At night, I perform.&amp;quot; My biggest splurge: &amp;quot;Three years ago, I quit the job I had at the time and spent $6,000 I had saved on a six-week trip to Europe. Traveling solo was probably the most fun I&amp;#039;ve ever had.&amp;quot; \u2014As told to Marisa Carroll   The Sensible Stylist  Amber Starks, 33, Portland, Oregon  Occupation: Owner of Conscious Coils natural-hair studioAnnual income: $45,000 Home, sweet home: &amp;quot;Last year I put down $4,000 for a $132,000 two-bedroom townhouse. I pay $800 a month for my mortgage. Friends have asked to rent my second bedroom and I&amp;#039;ve told them, &amp;#039;Sorry, this is my fortress of solitude.&amp;#039;&amp;quot; Bills, bills, bills: &amp;quot;Gas and electric are $25 to $30 each a month; wireless is $35. My garbage collection is $44 every other month; water is $150 to $200 every three months. I also rent Conscious Coils&amp;#039; down-town space for $400.&amp;quot; Savings &amp;amp;amp; loans: &amp;quot;I save for emergencies, travel, and my business. I have around $5,000 in my emergency fund and $1,000 in my vacation account.&amp;quot; Meal plan: &amp;quot;I spend $90 to $110 two to three times a month on groceries. And I eat out a lot because I&amp;#039;m exhausted from 10-hour braiding stints! So I make practical choices, like a $6 vegetarian burrito at Chipotle.&amp;quot; The weekender: &amp;quot;Braiding on the weekend boosts my client list. But after that, all I want to do is watch PBS&amp;#039;s Masterpiece Theatre.&amp;quot; My biggest splurge: &amp;quot;I wanted to study abroad in college, but my boyfriend at the time said, &amp;#039;Why would you leave me for six months?&amp;#039; So I didn&amp;#039;t go. Now I&amp;#039;m making up for lost time. Last summer, I spent around $2,000 going to Mexico. I&amp;#039;ve also been to the Florida Keys and Hawaii, both of which cost me less than $1,000 because I stayed with friends.&amp;quot; \u2014As told to Marisa Carroll   The Startup Guru  Shauna Causey, 37, Seattle  Occupation: Founder of online personal shopping startup Mysatisfy.comAnnual income: $175,000 Home, sweet home: &amp;quot;After putting down $40,000 on a $400,000 four-bedroom house in West Seattle, I now spend $2,500 on my mortgage and $300 in upkeep each month. I just got out of a live-in relationship\u2014I used to split these costs!&amp;quot; Bills, bills, bills: &amp;quot;Gas and electric combined cost $95. My cleaning service is $120. Cable and Internet are $125, and my iPhone 5 is $110.&amp;quot; Savings &amp;amp;amp; loans: &amp;quot;Five years ago I bought a two-unit duplex as an investment for $600,000. It&amp;#039;s appreciated $80,000.&amp;quot; Meal plan: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ll buy sushi for dinner or make a salad. I spend about $400 a month on vegetables.&amp;quot; The weekender &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ll take a Spin class at Flywheel, which costs $180 a month.&amp;quot; My biggest splurge: &amp;quot;In August, I went to Burning Man in Nevada, which cost $2,000. Next I went to Peru and Machu Picchu, a $3,300 trip.&amp;quot; \u2014As told to Melissa Bykofsky "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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