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A Week In NYC On A $55,000 Salary

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Photo: Courtesy of The Icelandic Milk and Skyr Co
Welcome to Money Diaries, where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking millennial women how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're tracking every last dollar. (Thanks, New York mag, for the inspiration.)

Today, a creative renting out her apartment on Airbnb.
Industry: Retail. I work full-time in a creative role at a corporate office, but I freelance, too, and host my apartment on Airbnb.
Age: 22
Location: Hoboken, NJ
Salary: $55,000
Paycheck amount (Weekly): $843 after state taxes and deductions
AirBnB Revenue (Monthly): ~$1,550. In April, I'll get a 1099 for Airbnb revenue and then tally up deductions (rent, cleaning, rental commissions, etc.) and then my accountant reports this income with the income from my job and from freelancing. Then, we calculate the tax and pay it with the return. Fortunately, I've had a big refundable tax credit from being in school the past four years, so I've received a lot of returns, but haven't paid a lot of taxes. I'll still have a tax credit in 2016 for education, so I expect that I won't owe a substantial amount of tax this year, even on the Airbnb revenue.
Number of roommates: One boyfriend in college, a kitten, and dozens of Airbnb guests.
Monthly Expenses
Rent (2-Bedroom): $2,200 total, but we apply the previous month's Airbnb revenue and then split it. Because my boyfriend is still in college, I pay 75% of the rent, after we deduct what we earn per month from Airbnb. So this month, we made $1,850 through Airbnb, so my share of the remaining $350 is $262.50 and my boyfriend pays the remainder: $87. This was a good month, but we usually make a little less, roughly $1,550. When it's an average month, I would have to pay ~$487.50 to be exact out-of-pocket and my boyfriend would have to pay ~$173.
Utilities: $40
Internet: $60
Spotify: $9.99
Netflix: $9.99
HBO: $0, been using my ex-boyfriend's login and password for six years
Health insurance: $0, on my parents' plan.
Pet health insurance: $19
Pet wellness plan: $35
NY Times: $7.50
Transportation: $205 (train and subway) and an extra $50 or so on UberPool (which is calculated daily here)
Debt payments (credit cards): $500
Monthly Savings
Emergency fund: $240
Roth IRA: $180
401(k): $50
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