bookshelf

Replies to today's questions at

thefridayfive

1. Did you get an allowance as a kid, and if so, how much was it?

I did. I don’t remember the amounts because it increased as I grew older. First it was a weekly allowance, and then later on I got a monthly allowance. I usually spent it on candy, comic books and if my friend and I went to see a movie, the price of the ticket came from my (monthly) allowance too. This was in 1980 -> 1990.

I never got money for good school grades or for doing chores at home. Things like that were and are considered things you do for yourself (learning), or need to know and nobody’s gonna be paying you to do them when you’re living on your own (home chores).

2. How old were you when you had your first job, and what was it?

I think I was probably 14? My Mom’s work hired their worker’s teenagers (if any were interested) to wrap the Company’s Christmas presents for their employees and business partners etc. This was for 4 nights during one week after school in November, and each night I worked wrapping gifts for 4 or 5 hours. I did this for two years. It was fun, I was familiar with Mom workplace and many coworkers already because she’d been there like 20 years, and Dad and me would pick her up with the car whenever there was something we had to go do right after work together. And during the summer vacations, I (often with my best friend) would often bike to Mom’s work for her lunch hour and we’d all have lunch together.

3. Which do you do better: save money or spend money?

I don’t know. I’ve never been freely able to do either. My monthly income is just too small and/or uncertain. Back when my father had died and I got my portion of his inheritance, I was able pay all my education with it and the free public education benefits (taking a loan wasn’t that common back then, unless you went to university which I didn’t), to buy a small apartment upon graduating and then to stretch it out for many years using it to supplement unemployment benefit which was and still is unlivable. But because work was few and far between, I had to keep dipping in to my savings simply to pay rent and eat until it all run out.

4. Are people more likely to borrow money from you, or are you more likely to borrow from them?

Neither.

5. What's the most expensive thing you've ever bought?

My apartment.