Okay I know this may be pedantic. But how do the characters in Buffy and Angel finance themselves?
How could Faith afford that apartment in series 3? Is she getting some financial help from the Watchers Council? And Angel, where does his money come from to buy clothing, blood etc. Does he steal it?
Faith gets her flat courtesy of Mayor Wilkins. Once she starts working for him, he provides for her - we see him giving her a games console and a nasty knife on screen, but it seems sensible to assume that the flat is also part of the package. For the earlier part of the season, when she's living off her own limited resources, we see her in a very low rent motel.
Angel's source of income during his time on Buffy is never revealed. In "Becoming", we find out that Angel is recruited by the demon Whistler on behalf of the Powers That Be to look after Buffy. We can probably assume therefore that it is Whistler who is bankrolling him at this point.
According to this fan-review from Aintitcool news, Whedon addresses this issue at a comic-con Q&A session. In short, in 'Buffy' Angel gets his money by stealing it. He might be a hero, but he's evidently not above simply robbing people when he needs cash.
If it helps, he probably justifies it by pointing at the good works that he does.
An audience member asked where Angel got all his money. Whedon joked, “He robs. We’re not going to SHOW that.” When the same person asked where Angel gets his clothes, Whedon shot back, “Clearly at one shop!”
For part of the first season of 'Angel', our eponymous hero seems to receive some funding from Whistler (note that he was homeless when he met him) and in later episodes he runs a detective investigation agency with Cordelia in charge of debt collection as well as recovering some cash that he left stashed in the Hyperion hotel in the 1950s.
After they move to Wolfram and Hart, he seems to draw a sizeable salary as Managing Director of the local Division.
