Actress Debra Messing remembers her big break distinctly. After all, before her career took off, she was a broke grad student whose only regular splurge was a $3.99 soy burger. She indulged in that meal once a week.

So, when the TV star got a substantial check for the first time, her first purchase felt like a big deal.

“I went to a store and bought a gold ring with a garnet in it. It was $235,” Messing tells CNBC Make It, adding: “I kind of gulped and couldn’t believe I was doing that, but I decided that I'd work really hard.”

Messing, who graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1993, made a splash with the NBC sitcom “Will & Grace.” It first aired in 1998 and Messing’s role as Grace Adler earned her up to $600,000 per episode, The Richest estimates. Today, the star is worth an estimated $20 million. She's still acting and recently partnered with T.J. Maxx to work on The Maxx You Project.