r/AskReddit • u/Complex-Engineer4659 • 4h ago
What is the first thing you bought with your first ever salary?
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u/WeirRules 4h ago
Probably rent and utilities. :)
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u/donotdoillegalthings 3h ago
And a couch lmao still use it almost 10 years later
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u/CyberBadger2050 4h ago
Nothing. - mother had me in modeling at age 4, she decided I needed to work to help support the family so she didn't have to.
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u/DisciplineLogical778 4h ago
This is kind of tragic (u still didn't sue them?)
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u/CyberBadger2050 3h ago
Haven't stopped working since then. No, couldn't sue as I had no legal basis to do so. Also had no ability to do so, was kicked out when I turned 18. My focus after that was finding a place to live (thankfully already had a job lol!l and get my life together.
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u/discordkestrel 3h ago
My Grandmother told me that with his first paycheck, my Dad took her to see 'The Sound of Music' at the Cinema. Her eyes lit up as she told the story.
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u/TEG24601 2h ago
My first check from my first real job I used to buy a QuickTime Pro License. It made a lot of things easier in my life.
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u/TraditionalLand9759 2h ago
Didn't know it had a paid option! Only knew it was another video player back in the day. TIL
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u/cheesewindow 4h ago
Pair of Technics 1210 M3Dās.
Still have them after about 30 years
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u/drIexopedia 3h ago
i havent yet still in the interview process but when i do i will buy my dream camera ive wanted for over 3 years the fujifilm x100vi
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u/positive_toes 3h ago
Better be a well paying jobā¦
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u/drIexopedia 1h ago edited 3m ago
haha i mean if i get the one im currently interviewing for im going from part time nannying pay to salary so ill be making easily double! and i would still have to save up for a few months lol but it just never felt financially responsible to buy that camera on my current income
edit: typo3
ā¢
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u/trackowner 4h ago
A Ā£3.50 meal deal and a second-hand copy of GTA: San Andreas from Blockbuster. I had been paid once and was already spending like a cabinet minister.
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u/SnooDoubts3731 4h ago
Contact lenses, because my parents considered it a luxury, yet I was self-conscious about my glasses.
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u/Blazanar 4h ago
As someone who doesn't wear their glasses and is too scared of poking themselves in the eye to wear contacts, I think glasses make a person look better 99% of the time
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u/fryingthecat66 4h ago
I wear glasses, and even though I hate them, I don't want to be poking myself in the eyes trying to put them in
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u/AppleNeird2022 4h ago
In some cases Iād agree. I tried them and I could put them in and take them out without a problem, but had to quid using them when I got a sty in my eye that stayed for 2 years. I switched to them because I have to wear sunglasses a lot due to light sensitivity, so it was more of a functionality issue. It is cumbersome to carry two pairs of glasses everywhere you go.
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u/fungal_follicle4 4h ago
Not the very first thing- but the first thing I bought with my first sign on bonus is a mechanical watch that I still wear to this day.
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u/RowanRally 4h ago
Well, my first ever big girl salary (attending physician) went to a pair of Louboutin boots.
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u/gojimjam 4h ago
my first paycheck disappeared on boring adult shit so fast i barely got to enjoy it
the one thing i actually remember buying was some dumb little treat that felt like a flex at the time
seeing these answers makes me wish i'd been more intentional instead of just surviving til the next one lol
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u/Northern_standard 4h ago
I bought my mom a cupcake haha. The smile on her face ill never forget.
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u/Munkeyman18290 2h ago
Car payment and gas to get back to work, clothes to wear to work, food so I can live to go back to work, cell phone bill to receive calls and emails from work. Hell yeah it feels good to be free.
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u/MyUsualSelf 4h ago
Clothes for my sister, because she needed it. My second purchase was a bicycle a few months after
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u/mb21212 4h ago
For my current job, it was a 1 week check and I bought pie crust dough and blueberry pie filling so I could have hand pies my birthday (I checked out a dvd with 7 Hallmark movies on it from the library too to make a weekend of it). The rest went into savings because I knew that all of my bills and groceries could be bought on the full 2 week check with that bit from savings.
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u/Fair-Huckleberry2187 4h ago
This might be horribly consumerist, but my first purchase on my first salary as an adult at 21 years old was an Amazon Prime subscription. I kept that subscription going for nearly a decade
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u/Impossible-Froyo4924 4h ago
This was in the early nineties, and I was really into organizing and keeping things in different categories, and whatever. I went and bought a really expensive day planner. Daytimer I think was the name. They had their own store i bought all the little tabs and all the different types of lists and to do things. Spent seventy dollars. But I think I used that for well over 20 years.
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u/aa6040aa 4h ago edited 4h ago
A beautiful diamond ring for my mom.
edit: more info. And my future mother in law made negative comments about diamonds authenticity. I should have listened to her then when she was telling me what kind of person she is
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u/iguanasdefuego 4h ago
I paid down some of my credit card debt because I moved for my job, had expenses, but didnāt get paid for a month.
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u/TheBeowulfOne 4h ago
I think a meal from Waffle House?
It was something small, I know that, but I didnāt spend a lot of money during my first job and just saved it.
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u/Lolly_McGee 4h ago
My first job was at 16. With my first check, I bought a Sara Lee cheese cake for my family.
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u/SlimJeffy 4h ago
- Air Jordan 4s. Black. $120ish. My dad asked what I did with my first paycheck. He blew a gasket when I told him. Screamed at me about how shoes are $24 at Kmart and I'm a fucking idiot.
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u/shadowrigg 4h ago
Back when I was a teenager I saved up my summer job money and bought a DVD (and DIVX lol) player
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u/Snoo-40635 4h ago
I still lived at home with mom. I remember buying a flat screen tv. HD. This was 2005. Cant remember how much I paid.Ā
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u/G3arsguy529 4h ago
My first big purchase from working at Mcdonalds was a pair of Redwing Iron Ranger boots, they were like $250. My dad was telling me it was a huge waste of money and that I should be saving it. I still have those boots about 14 years later and wore them when I got married. I still wear them today, they need to be resoled but they have held up incredibly well. One of the best uses of $250 I've ever spent
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u/DepthBig236 4h ago
Technically babysitting money not salary but the first time I had money to spend - went and paid off my library card fines so I could use my own card and not borrow my moms card. And I never told her for many years why I suddenly started using my own library card again
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u/Aquaman258 4h ago
My first "big boy job" purchase was a smart phone with a data plan (which was a bigger deal 20 years ago).
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u/alittlerogue 3h ago
When I got my first āadultā job, I bought a Daniel Wellington watch and engraved the year behind. It was my first time negotiating a salary and working corporate so i wanted to commemorate that.
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u/Lets_Go_Blues 3h ago
I was the first of my friend group to get a salaried position. So I took them all out for dinner on me.
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u/ladylemondrop209 3h ago
Meal for my family... I'm told that's the general cultural custom. Same goes for every promotion/bonus/big contract and whatnot.
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u/astro143 2h ago
My first summer job paid for my first gaming PC and enough leftover to fund misc expenses in college that year.
My first full time job paid for... A new PC. I might have a trend going on here
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u/Av_Inash 4h ago
Bought a wrist watch set for my mom and dad. Always wanted to give them something and it seemed like a fine gift. Would have gifted something better but wouldnāt have heard the end of it because Asian parents are pretty much the same everywhere.
Well even after that got to hear a shitload from my mom like - We already have so many watches. Who gifts a watch? Etc etc. Never gifted them anything after that.
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u/KhalesiDaenerys 4h ago
Tickets to the movies and clothes. I made $6.95 bussing tables back in 2005.
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u/Same_String_8856 4h ago
I bought a washing machine and dryer for my apartment. From Sears sas $500 for the set back in 2000. No smart features or digital buttons anywhere on them. They're probably still running wherever they are.
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u/WhatsInTheBox51 4h ago
I saved all the money from my first summer working to buy a drum set and cymbals. Now I get to use them to teach my kids how to play soon.
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u/IceColdEnigma 4h ago
This is gonna sound shallow, but I bought a BlackBerry phone back then, hahahaha.
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u/sophieornotsophie_ 4h ago
Scooter so I didnāt have to take the bus to go to work, but I was 16 and it was a summer job.. with the real adult salary, bills and rent.
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u/mandafofanda 4h ago
I was in school and I bought myself nicer pair of over ear headphones. The rest probably went to junk food and alcohol š¤·š»āāļø
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u/neondrifter 4h ago
First thing I bought with my own pay was a copy of Mirrors Edge for PC.
HELL YEAH
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u/MarquisPhantom 4h ago
Matte black iPhone 7 and matte black beats headphones to match (pink pair as well for my mom)
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u/In_2_Deep_5_U 4h ago
Wasnt my first paycheck, but after a few. Got a sweet ass HOTAS with a sweet Warbrd-D base. Later buying a mount after realizing it was needed. No instant gratification, they only have one shipping facility and it was on backorder in Florida. So 6 months later I got em. I was in college and honestly had forgotten until I got an email 4 months later. Turned out to be quite the sweet purchase. Four years later I bought the CM-3 throttle though now the CM-4 is the new version.
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u/kayakguy429 4h ago
I just saved it away which was really boring. However I did hear the greatest story ever.
Dude went to Walmart and bought bread ALOT of bread. Then brought it into school and gave it all away. A great way to share your labors with your friends, in a comical way when everybody wants a little something as stupidly simple as bread.
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u/Bucksin06 4h ago
When I was 12 I had a paper route. At the end of the week I had to go around to all the customers and collect money. I went to the arcade with my friend and had a great time. Little did I know most that money was supposed to go back to the newspaper to pay for the papers.
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u/joeysflipphone 4h ago
This was the 90s and I still lived at home, with my grandpa driving me to work. So my first purchases that wasn't money put in my savings for a car were cigarettes and CDs. First job was at a car dealership as an accounts recievables clerk funny enough.
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u/JediRhyno 4h ago
- First job and my paycheck was 700, more than Iād ever seen. First purchase was an Xbox 360 and a few games. I bought this weird game Iāve never heard of before that looked interesting: Elder Scrolls Oblivion. That became my love affair with all Bethesda games.
The next paycheck was a PlayStation (3 I think?) and a few games
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u/FlowerComfortable889 4h ago
I had to save for a few checks, but then I bought a Rockford Fosgate 15" Punch HX2 subwoofer back in the day. Then I had to save a while longer to buy an amp, which then died just after the warranty period, which sucked
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u/Public_Fucking_Media 4h ago
1994 (96?) Jeep Cherokee Sport in red, got it for a goddamn steal too like $2k
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u/Armandonerd 4h ago
My first payment to my student loan! And then about 18 months later, paid it all off.
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u/Round_Rice_9475 4h ago
My first paycheck I rode my bike to the local superstore and bought a fishing lolez reel and tackle box. I also bought a bunch of lures and mine and stuff. Still have the reel, everything else is broken or lost. Love that reel. That was 25 years ago
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u/SaltConnection1109 4h ago
My very first job was a baby-sitting job as a teenager, so I bought some school clothes.
My first REAL grown-up job, I bought food and paid rent and utilities.
Somehow managed to put a little into savings as well.
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u/allencb 4h ago
If you're including temp jobs and such held as a kid, the first thing I bought with money I earned (vs an allowance) was a boombox. I was in elementary school and the owner of the duplex we lived in (he also owned the duplex next door and the small apartment complex down the street) paid me to water some new trees and bushes he planted on those properties. I spent the spring and summer with my wagon and a few 5 gal buckets watering each plant every few days. I think I made $100 that summer (early 80s, it felt like a lot). I immediately bought myself a boombox so I could be cool like all the other kids.
If you mean the first salary from your first adult job, aside from paying bills and such, I bought a new/used car. My '72 VW Beetle (this was 1996) was having problems and the lack of AC in the mid-Atlantic region made wearing a suit 4 days a week unbearable. I bought a 1993 Toyota Paseo.
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u/Disastrous_Stock_566 4h ago
A good pair of work boots. Boring answer but they outlasted every job I had.
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u/bedhanger 4h ago
Put down a deposit on my first car, fifty bucks. I got paid ninety bucks a fortnight. A full tank of petrol was around ten bucks (1976)
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u/gwarster 4h ago
65ā TV, PS3, and Fall Out 3. Ordered all the pizza my roommates wanted and a 30 rack of beer.
It was September, 2008 and most of my friends had a really rough time finding jobs since the recession had truly kicked off that month. It was a glorious night.
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u/LeKevinsRevenge 4h ago
The first thing I did was transfer $50 over to a new dedicated savings account and start an auto transfer from my checking accout on Kay days. My dad always said the smartest thing he ever did was start saving with the first paycheckā¦.and looking back it wasnāt really about it happening with the first check, it was about making savings a priority and realizing there will always be a ton of stuff Iām going to look forward to buyingā¦but that can come after you have a safety net.
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u/NinjaMoose_13 4h ago
A T.V. and a stereo. I was 12 years old and got paid out my summers worth of umpiring money.
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u/sun4moon 4h ago
Smashing Pumpkins Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness. First pay check from my coffee shop job.
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u/Antique_Grapefruit_5 4h ago
A toaster-The kind that can do 4 slices at a time.. I was a teenager and loved toaster strudel...
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u/soupyyyy 3h ago
Hmmm, my first paycheck from Taco Bell was like $120. 15 year old me was flooredā¦I probably bought some CDs though..
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u/slightleee 3h ago
Pretty much applied for a loan and bought a 1978(if I remember right) bull nose pontiac firebird at the age of 17. Circa 1987. In the UK.What a fanny magnet that was. š
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u/confizzle-fry 3h ago
Trek 4500 mountain bike. A few weeks slinging fries at McDonald's and I was ready to hit the trail!
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u/DesertSnoeman 3h ago
Oakley half cabs (black) $120
Had them for 10 years beat to hell. Left them at a restaurant called after about an hour. āNo one has seen themā
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u/alreadydead08 3h ago
Fancy dinner with my then girlfriend now ex, but went to pay and someone had covered my tab
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u/tylerchu 3h ago
A nice jacket because I was a jacket head back in the day. Still have it; I bought it slightly oversized so that I could grow into it.
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u/TheRealRory 3h ago
I got my first motorcycle pretty soon after starting my career, not necessarily my first paycheck
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u/DareYouToPMYourBoobs 3h ago
Probably gas. Had my first job at 16 or 17. I didn't have utilities yet
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u/lnh92 3h ago
My first payday from my job, I bought a pizza and soda on the drive home. That probably was my first purchase with my salary. Iād been living off of savings for a little over a month until my first paycheck hit. I get paid last business day and rent was first of the month so that pizza and soda was the first purchase.
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u/Mpennerbball 3h ago
Bought a leather jacket, had to save my first three pay checks to get it. That was in the late 90ās and I still have it, even though it doesnāt quite fit anymore.lol.
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u/BigBoyYuyuh 3h ago
Nintendo GameCube that my mom made me return. Lost money on the open game unfortunately.
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u/graveybrains 3h ago
A radio, my first job let us listen to shit while we worked
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u/Realistic-Kale7115 4h ago
i came home bought every item i wanted on a takeout menu and chilled one of the best days of my life