Industry: Biotechnology, data analytics, and strategy. I am extremely lucky to work for a company that has great perks (transportation, subsidized food, cell phone, and a gym — although I don’t use it), not to mention good health care and benefits. My monthly spending would undoubtedly be significantly higher if I switched jobs. It also helps that my office is a big campus/office-park setting where there isn’t a lot of temptation to spend money on lunch.

Age: 26

Location: San Francisco

Salary: $115,000 with $24K pre-tax bonus last year (bonus went straight into savings,minus a $150 celebratory dinner)

Paycheck Amount (2x/month): $2,638, after taxes, healthcare, HSA account contributions, and maxing out my 401(k) deductions for the year. I consider my monthly take-home pay to be $5,000 and keep the extra $138 in my checking as a cushion.

Number of roommates: 1 (my fiancé)

Monthly Expenses

Rent: $1,675, my half. We live in decent, but by no means luxurious, one-bedroom apartment (i.e., no dishwasher, no garbage disposal, bathroom with atrocious '70s tile and colors, etc.)

Loans: $0 (very fortunate to have gotten a scholarship and parents paid for room and board)

Utilities: $40, internet. We actually do have cable, because my fiancé likes to watch baseball. If it were up to me, we would just have HBO GO, so he pays the TV portion.

Cell Phone: $0, work pays for it. (I had the option of either getting a second iPhone just for work, or have work pay for my personal phone — clearly chose the latter).

House Cleaning: $100 a month. We have a housekeeper come twice a month and she charges $100 for each visit, so we take turns paying.

Netflix: $8

Future Fun: $450. At the beginning of the year, I tallied up the costs of all the trips, travel, weddings, major gifts, and expenses I knew I had to pay for, and then divided that by 12 to understand what I should be “saving” each month. That way, the big expenses don’t skew the picture of what’s really going on every month and that I don’t overspend in months where I don’t have to buy a plane ticket or gift and feel more flush than usual. As for my own wedding, we are planning on having a small, low-key ceremony at city hall followed by dinner out. Our parents will be graciously picking up the tab for that.

Transportation: $0 fixed. My company runs private shuttles from S.F. to our campus, located in South San Francisco near the airport. My fiancé also has a car (I contribute towards his car insurance, which is included in “Future Fun,” but usually not gas, unless we are taking a trip out of town).

Monthly savings for down payment: $1,500. I’ve got about $45,000 in savings so far, but the median home price in the Bay Area is like $800K, so it feels like chump change at this point.

Leftover discretionary money: ~$1,200