How old were you when you got your first "real" paycheck?

[creditcardfree]

Age 16, working at a movie theater. I met my husband there! I did babysit prior to my first W2 job!

[dawnwes]

I worked as a waitress through college. I got paychecks then. I think the first time was when I was 18. I can't remember if I started at 18 or 19.

But my real-real paycheck (as in supporting myself fully) was at 22. It felt so good to get a paycheck that I could live on all by myself.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I worked as a waitress through college. I got paychecks then. I think the first time was when I was 18. I can't remember if I started at 18 or 19.

But my real-real paycheck (as in supporting myself fully) was at 22. It felt so good to get a paycheck that I could live on all by myself.

Yep, it's a great feeling, you're in charge of your life 100%. And you make the decisions and take on the responsibilities of those decisions. And not all decisions will be the right ones, but that's life.

[phantom]

I was 16. As a member of the swim team, I was asked to stick around for an hour after practice two days a week to teach swim lessons. I was unreasonably proud of myself for making more than minimum wage in my first job. (Minimum wage was $5.15 and I made $5.50.) At two hours of work a week, I didn't earn much. But, once I knew a system for teaching kids to swim, I was able to pick up some private lessons at the homes of people with pools, where I believe I made $20/hour under the table. I only had two clients, so I still didn't work many hours, but I still felt pretty good about it.

[Fishindude77]

13. Worked for my dad's company cutting grass, washing trucks and cars, cleaning, etc. He never "gave" us money, but always gave us opportunity to earn some.

[ua_guy]

18. A friend's mom hooked me and my buddy up to a job at a hospital where we did temp admin work for the medical records department. I think it paid something like $12/hr, and that was serious money for a high school kid back in the year 2000. Both of us worked full time all summer long. The job was hideously boring, but we had fun with it. We carpooled to save money since the job was in the city and we lived out in the burbs.

That was my first "real" paycheck, but I had a long history since I was ~10 or so of doing yardwork, mowing lawns, watering and basic yard clean-up, washing cars, watching houses and pets while people went on vacation, etc. Our family lived in a brand new (middle-upper) subdivision so I'd go around and put flyers I printed up in mailboxes (USPS called me on that one, a big no-no). Word of mouth got around and I was pretty much on a weekly schedule with a lot of houses at $10-$20 per yard...those suckers had big lawns.

The car-wash was $5 inside and $5 outside...inside included wiping stuff down, cleaning windows, vacuuming. Outside was a wash, plus wheels, guaranteed to get all the brake dust off of even the most fancy wheel designs (most kids couldn't touch my level of service...lol). I came with wash stuff, a vacuum, and extension cord. You supply the hose and a place to plug-in.

The pet stuff...most people would pay me to watch cats. $5/day to feed and clean out the litter boxes and give the cats some attention while I was there, bring in the mail, plus the added bonus of someone being in/around their house while they were gone on vacation. I also got about $5/day to water people's lawns while they were away in the summer, that was a total loser though...took too much time, having to move sprinklers, etc.

When I had my license my neighbors would use me for airport service sometimes so they didn't have to pay for parking. I'd ride down with them, drop them off, then take their car home and put it in the garage. Usually they'd take a car service for the trip home with the money they saved. I was very well trusted and always took the shortest route home, no shenanigans.

I'd also fill in as a sub on paper routes which was awesome because my dad would help out by driving me around in the family minivan. We'd leave the side door open and I was able to throw from the open door or hop out real quick. Much better than huffing it on a bike

In the summer when I could drive, my dad would pay me to courier stuff. He worked out of the house and would sometimes need me to drop off samples and demos, or pick stuff up for him. Usually it was a $10 spot so I could get lunch for myself while I was out. The big sell, though, was being able to drive his newer S10 Blazer around town...god I thought that thing was cool.

Come to think of it, I was quite the hustler when I was a kid. Great topic, thanks for posting, this was a fun one!

[MonkeyMama]

I completely forgot all the house sitting and pet sitting I used to do. The last post reminded me.

[scfr]

I remember wondering what FICA was, and why it took so much money out of my check.

Me too! What a shock it was.

[MelanyAurson]

16 years...If only I started coding at that time.... Oh....

[SandraGenJobs]

19 (kinda late I can see). Although it was a really big paycheck that I got from freelancing for a big client (the best client I've ever had to be fair). I had enough money to go to a vacation and a music festival so I' not complaining.

[FelicitaHarper]

Well I got my paycheck when i was 24! might be a bit late but was definitely worth the wait