How can people possibly afford to live in one of the most expensive cities on the planet? It’s a question New Yorkers hear a lot, often delivered with a mix of awe, pity and confusion.

We surveyed hundreds of New Yorkers about how they spend, splurge and save. We found that many people — rich, poor or somewhere in between — live life as a series of small calculations that add up to one big question: What makes living in New York worth it?

“I’m really lucky,” Gaya Palmer said, sitting in the cheerful kitchen of the 380-square-foot studio apartment she moved into around 1972. She has had many different jobs — she even drove a cab for a year — and currently describes herself as an artist, jewelry designer, novelty product designer, voice-over artist, songwriter, short story author and children’s book writer.

Her luck comes in the form of a rent-stabilized apartment in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan. When she signed the lease, she paid around $215 a month. Now, her rent is $977.

Sure, she had to do some plastering and painting herself when she moved in, and a mouse once lived in the oven, but she’s got 11-foot ceilings, a huge window and a little patio. Her income is around $36,000 a year, with $4,000 being withdrawn annually from 401(k) accounts and the rest from Social Security.

She loves the community she has built. “I was born when I came to New York City,” she said. She knows just about everyone on her street and has friends all over town. Plus, her sister lives in the building next door. “That’s the gift of the landlord gods,” she said.

She is energized by being around other creative New Yorkers each day and acknowledges that affordable rent makes it possible.

“The invisible vitality of New York City is the creative force of artists, actors and writers,” she said. “If you take away rent-stabilized apartments, you’re going to end up with a bunch of boring suits walking around looking for where the next bank is going to open.”

A Custom Space, Decades in the Making

Ms. Palmer’s red, black and white apartment is impeccably organized, with everything in its place. “I’m a double Virgo,” she explained. Last year, she and her unique space starred in a video that was widely shared on social media.

Quite a bit of Ms. Palmer’s furniture was found on the street, although she bought the three dressers in her living room at Housing Works for $150.

She has polka-dot seating made from foam cushions that sit on plywood boxes, with storage inside. The seats were custom-built by a gentleman who is no longer in the picture, whom she referred to as “Mr. Wrong.”

The building was constructed in the 1880s, and her apartment used to be the front parlor. Ms. Palmer, 76, sleeps in a loft bed in what is technically a hallway. Her father built the wood bed about 40 years ago.

“I call it heaven because it is heavenly, it’s soft — the bed is like all foam — and comfortable,” she said. “In the winter it’s cozy, in the summer my air-conditioner is right above.” Plus, she added, “I have a library up there.”

No Need for a Dishwasher

Underneath the sleep loft is her workstation, where she creates jewelry and kinetic wall sculptures. She sells her creations on her website and keeps the business side of things running by paying for services like Google One storage for $10 and Canva for $13.

There are no laundry facilities in the building, so she carts her clothes, towels, sheets and comforters to a laundromat a few blocks away, where it’s about $45 to get everything cleaned and dried.

And Ms. Palmer doesn’t live alone. She has Betty, a 13-year-old rescue Chihuahua whom she adopted about three years ago. Betty sees the vet every couple of months, which costs about $90, and goes through a lot of kibble, at around $25 a month.

Ms. Palmer’s efficient kitchen includes a bar made from a repurposed bookcase that she found on the street and a compact, counter-height refrigerator. “Thank goodness it doesn’t hold ice cream,” she joked. It does, however, hold Boursin cheese, one of her favorite foods. “It’s $10 at Fairway,” she said, “so I go to Trader Joe’s — it’s $5.”

There’s a sign in her kitchen that reads, in all capital letters, “YOU CAN DESIGN YOUR LIFE.” She took it from the wall of a poolside bar in the Dominican Republic, years ago, and considers it her central ethos.

She doesn’t dream of having a dishwasher, a doorman or other luxury amenities. “I’m grateful, thankful, joyful that I have a roof over my head,” she said.

“My home is my mansion,” she said, “and I don’t need anything more than this.”

Out and About

Ms. Palmer has a standing monthly lunch date with a close friend; they always go to Cafe Luxembourg. “We meet at 2:30, and we leave after the candles are brought out for dinner,” she said.

Ms. Palmer usually orders a burger, a couple of cosmopolitans and a hot fudge sundae, spending around $125, including the tip. “They have the best burger in New York City,” Ms. Palmer insisted. “Even my sister-in-law from Ohio said it was the best burger she’s ever had.”

Her friends invite her to Broadway shows and events at Lincoln Center. She also loves to visit the Museum of Modern Art ($22) because creativity is central to her life. She used to work as a lead document processing operator at large law firms. “I still would come home and make art because I had to have that balance,” she said. “Once I resigned, I was able to make art all the time.”

Sometimes she stays in and reads, or watches the news, home decorating shows or detective shows. Her Spectrum cable TV bill is around $87, and she pays $83 for YouTube TV.

Every now and then, she takes a $25 cab instead of the subway or walking. She doesn’t shop much. She hasn’t traveled out of the country in a few years. But if she sold a large piece of artwork and had an extra $1,500, she would spend it on a trip, maybe to Rio, she said.

In the meantime, she often hosts friends for wine and cheese. And just the other day, her apartment was the setting for a spontaneous dance party with some Juilliard students she’d run into.

She can’t imagine living anywhere else. If she were back in Ohio, where she grew up, she said: “I’d have a husband that I’d be divorced from by now, and I’d be mowing the lawn.”

“That’s not a life I want,” she said.

“When I wake up, if I can stand up — and I’m standing up and I’m in New York City — that’s all that’s important,” she said. “I’m vertical and I’m in New York.”

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