This painter and restaurant host makes $56,000 a year. How does she spend it?

Who: M. J. Shimaka, 25

What she does: Surrealist painter and illustrator, and restaurant host at a downtown steakhouse

What she makes: $40,000 per year from wages, plus $12,000 in tips and $4,000 from artistic projects

Where she lives: A three-bedroom apartment in Forest Hill North, shared with two roommates.

Regular Expenses

Rent: $1,180 a month. “I share 1,300 square feet with two roommates. Utilities are included, and it’s close to the Eglinton Crosstown, which—fingers crossed—will open soon.”

Internet: $25 a month with Bell. “My roomies and I split it.”

Phone: $56 a month with Chatr. “My plan has 10 gigs of data and unlimited calling and texting.”

Groceries: $263 a month. “I cook a lot—broths, curries, bread. I’m Kenyan, so I like to make traditional dishes such as cornmeal porridge and veggie stew.”

Transportation: $250 a month. “I take the TTC five days a week to get downtown for work. Occasionally I’ll get an Uber or a Lyft.”

Going out: $100 a month. “My friends and I love eating at Oretta in midtown or catching Afro-Caribbean dance nights on Queen.”

Beauty products: $80 a month. “I regularly shop for African black soap and shea butter at Tribal Eye in Kensington. Lavender soaps and fragrance oils are also musts for me”

Art supplies: $35 a month. “I work mostly in watercolour, acrylic and ink, plus I sketch. I’m applying for some grants.”

Savings: $25 a month. “It’s not much, but it’s starting to add up. It’s for a visit to Kenya. I’ve never been, but my parents were born there, and I want to connect with my roots.”

Recent Splurges

Chris Brown ticket: $256. “He’s performing at Rogers Stadium in August. I’ve never seen him live, so I’m really excited.”

Birthday dinner: $400. “My birthday was in February, right in the middle of that epic snowstorm. Instead of going out, I decorated the apartment, cooked for some close friends and made a whole night of it.”