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Across the Fence:  Your very first purchase!  |
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Mollie
True Blue Farmgirl
88 Posts
88 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 18 2006 : 5:48:11 PM
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| When I was a teenager my very first job was as a nurse's aide at our county hospital. I think I made very little money. I don't remember the hourly wage. I went and opened a saving account at a local savings and loan. The very first thing I bought was a topaz and white gold ring. I was about 15 yrs old and my cousin who was a lot older had a ring like that and I thought nothing could ever be that expensive or nice. I don't even remember what it cost. I still have that ring after all these years. I worked at that job (which was awful) for the next 4 yrs. and made enough money to pay for 2 yrs of college. I worked in college and finally graduated. I remember my first purchase, do you remember yours? |
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sunshine
True Blue Farmgirl
4877 Posts
Wendy
Utah
USA
4877 Posts |
Posted - Jun 18 2006 : 10:24:10 PM
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I bought a few tapes and 45's( and of course the nickel and quarter candy when I was a toddler and little kid but that isn't a real purchase that you earn) first but my first real big purchase was a leather jacket at 15 ( ok here is the shocker as a teenager I was a punker ok not a shocker I was an art person (mohawk and all and pink purple and blue hair)) And to think I lived on a cotton and corn ranch pretty funny in retrospect especiallay since I don't look like that now people change and grow up don't they) But I still have the leather jacket my older sister was smart and told me not to buy the biker one but one that was a little more sophisticated it is taylored and fits nicely and looks good even formal) and it still fits that hasn't changed much I can still wear my eigth grade graduation dress and my high school senior prom dress( the later I could wear but my modesty has changed and I wouldn't wear it but I still think it is pretty just to much of a plunging neck line)
have a lovely day |
Edited by - sunshine on Jun 20 2006 12:00:10 PM |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 03:48:02 AM
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o lordy chile .. that's been so long ago .. who remembers .. but remembering me back then .. it would be a safe bet to say: MAKE-UP or CLOTHES!
True Friends, Frannie
My KENTUCKY RAMBLINGS 'blog':
http://cabincreekfarm-kentucky.blogspot.com/ |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 04:14:17 AM
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| Don't remember my 'first' purchase, but I do remember buying a wicker rocking chair when I was in high school working at a drapery factory. Still have it and still love it. |
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LisaBee
True Blue Farmgirl
149 Posts
Lisa
Sparta
TN
USA
149 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 09:39:21 AM
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I bought a little Smith Corona Electric Typewriter. Of course, I never became the famous writer I had planned on being. I remember going to Sears and buying it and then walking out of Sears, into the mall, with my mom and sisters. We walked right into the pet shop next to Sears (remember when they were in the malls?) and bought a little Shetland Sheepdog puppy, which we named Duncan. Duncan is long gone now, but I still have the typewriter and it still works.
"There is no teacup too large, nor book too long."
BLOG http://lisa222.blogspot.com WEBSITE http://alittlepartasparta.com |
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serenity1652
True Blue Farmgirl
140 Posts
Fawn
Elkins
WV
USA
140 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 11:16:11 AM
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My very first purchase on my own was fabric paint and tracing pencils and material..I was 13 and my neighbor was teaching me how to quilt and I took a Dagwood and Blondie coloring book and traced them with the pencil and we ironed the paterns on to the material and I colored them with fabric paint and she taught me how to sew and quilt. I must have spent $100 (back then..tons of money) but I gave that quilt to my dad to put in his rig with him. He still has it to this day...it is quite worn out and tattered but he will not part with it.
Fawn
"May all of your farm girl dreams come true...as mine has"
http://shallowcreekfarm.blogspot.com/ |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 1:07:04 PM
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fabric to make a dress (babysitting money) and I bought all my own clothes from the time I was 14 so I spent most of my money on that. I had my first job at 14 and always worked after that.
I got my first car at 16 for $150. It was a '63 plymouth belvedere. Pretty ugly but I was sure proud of it. It was the cleanest junker in town.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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santa_gertrudis_gal
True Blue Farmgirl
198 Posts
Kim
Groesbeck
Texas
USA
198 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 2:21:36 PM
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Sounds as if by age I have ya'll beat. My parents gave me an allowance of 10 cents a week starting when I was seven. I remember going every week to the grocery store with Mom and I would spend my ten cents on a Three Musketeers Bar. I remember feeling so grown up when Mom would have the cashier ring my candy bar up separately. We did the same for our kids, but they received more then just 10 cents a week, agh the cost of inflation.
My first major purchase. I remember rebelling against my parents wishes and my junior year in high school did the unthinkable, I signed up to take Ag I and become a member of FFA my senior year. I had begged every year before that. When my mother said she was going to the school to take me out, I threatened to quit school. Thus, I got to stay in the class. I was working and saving every penny minus gas money to get to work, which was at Six Flags Astroworld in Houston (32 miles away). I received a whopping $2.00 an hour the first year and $2.30 the second year. The first week of school my senior year, we were told we had to choose an animal project or we couldn't be members of FFA. I had two weeks to decide. I figured out real quick, that the top of the social ladder was to show cattle. We would be showing at Galveston County Fair or Houston. A Houston Steer in 1977 would have a purchase cost of between $750 and $1500 which I didn't have and then be able to pay for his feed and housing. So unknown to my parents or what I was thinking, I did my homework. Some number crunching and talked with our boarding stable manager about keeping a steer there (we had horses). I presented the idea and she was excited for me, and promised not to say anything until I had talked to my parents. I formulated a plan, and decided it needed to be perfect in order to persuade my Dad. I presented it at the dinner table one night. Both my parents had this stunned silent look, which I had expected. They both listened, and to my surprise my mother was the first to speak after I had presented the plan. She was strongly against it. I'll never forget what my father then said, 'If she wants the steer she can have the steer.' Again, another stunned silence and this time, both my Mom's and my face should have been captured on film. The only time my Dad ever approved of an animal so quickly. By the way my Mom gave me one week to have the steer halter broke and in a trailer to bring from the school farm to the boarding stable.
One week later I was off with sixteen other students and two of our Ag teachers to purchase our steers. I wouldn't let Mom go, she wanted to so badly. I wanted her to understand, I needed to do this alone, because in less then a year I would be in college, having to make my own decisions. Bless her heart I know now how hard it was for her to let go and let me fly with wings of my own. I paid $431 dollars for a club calf (Angus, Hereford, Maine Anjou cross) and he weighed in at 431 lbs. when he was loaded to come home. And as Mom wished I had him halter broke in a week, faster then any of the other steers in our FFA. Many bumps and bruises, too. I named him Set (after the Egyptian God of Evil) since he always had a little evil streak. As big a baby as he was, he loved to cow kick if he could get away with it. The experience of this first major purchase in my life was a gift. It taught me more responsiblity with money and hard work, then any other as a teenager. I showed at Galveston County Fair. Placed dead center in the middle weight class. I didn't make sale and refused my market sale bid. With my parents help we had lined up four families to purchase him and they guaranteed me a $100.00 profit. It was hard to let my friend go, but it was what he was bred for. There just isn't a greater memory of my years in high school then my senior year in FFA.
Out of this rebel teenager, my horses and steer kept me tempered. The best part was my mother telling me, 'If I'd only known what FFA did for you, I would have made you be in it all four years.' I'm so very greatful to have had two wonderful parents, who took the time and energy to give me a chance with understanding money. I'm also greatful for the wonderful support and encouragement when I did have my steer Set. It doesn't get any better then that.
Kim
Heaven is a day at the ranch with my Santa Gertrudis! |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 2:53:05 PM
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My first real grown-up purchase was a 1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88- brown with a cream top, when I was 20. I loved that car!! I drove it all over Florida and then back to Mass. and had the best time. The transmission went out just before I moved to Georgia, so it got sold for $400.  The best trip I ever took in that car? To the North End of Boston for canolis. Worth every drop of gas!!
Karin |
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Nancy Gartenman
True Blue Farmgirl
9093 Posts
Nancy
West Seneca
New York
USA
9093 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 3:00:18 PM
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Hi girls,
my first job was a waitress job in our small town, I saved up and bought a maple rocking chair and a steeple clock. Still have them and its been 46 years. Always wanted home type things. On the farm I had three playhouses growing up and kept them all running. HA.
NANCY JO |
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akcowgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
296 Posts
Valerie
Homer
Alaska
USA
296 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 3:24:38 PM
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my first job was deck handing on my dad's commercial fishing boat and i made enough in one summer to by a 1983 subaru hatchback. at the time it was like 15 years old but I loved that car. it had heart, it went places that my friends would only take trucks and a couple time when they got stuck it pulled them out. it would still be running today if we had not gotten rear-ended in it and the insurance totaled it out. I cried when they took it away.
Valerie
Yes, I live in my own little world. But that's ok they know me here.
Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.
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KJD
True Blue Farmgirl
402 Posts
402 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 3:28:54 PM
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| I was probably around 10, but the first purchase I can recall was a 45 of Sammy Davis, Jr. - Candyman... |
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Kathigene
True Blue Farmgirl
160 Posts
Kathy
New York
160 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 3:30:02 PM
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My first purchase was undoubtedly a book. I used to get a 50 cent allowance and I remember that Trixie Beldon books were 50 cents and I usually bought one every week. If I wanted a Nancy Drew book it took two weeks. I think they were 59 cents. I'm sure I sometimes talked my Mom into helping me pay for a Nancy Drew. No matter what else my Mom did right or wrong in raising me, I thank God that she instilled in me a love for books and reading that is still with me.
Dogs make such good friends because they wag their tails rather then their tongues. |
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KJD
True Blue Farmgirl
402 Posts
402 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 3:41:29 PM
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| Ha! I recently had a garage sale and sold some books along with the other stuff. My sister asked - "You didn't sell the Trixie Belden, did you??!!". I assured her I did not! |
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Whimsy_girl
True Blue Farmgirl
576 Posts
USA
576 Posts |
Posted - Jun 20 2006 : 10:51:47 AM
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My first purchase was a pound puppy when I was in 3rd grade. I used to weed the gardens of the duplex next door then I'd buy stuffed animals for my animal net.
you can be oh so smart, or you can be oh so positive. I wasted a lot of time being smart I prefer being positive. |
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blueroses
True Blue Farmgirl
1323 Posts
Debbie
in the Pandhandle of
Idaho
USA
1323 Posts |
Posted - Jun 20 2006 : 11:30:19 AM
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My first major purchase was probably when I was in the 8th grade. I was working part time off the books arranging files in my Aunt's office. I bought a 45 record (can't remember what), very shiny pale pink lipstick, and a pair of "painter's pants" at the army-navy store. Remember when we had to buy guys blue jeans? They never fit right, but we all bought them at the army-navy store. Oh - and a slice of pizza and a small coke. Plus paid for the bus trip to town and back.
Debbie
"You cannot find peace...by avoiding life."
Virginia Woolfe |
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sillyfoulks
True Blue Farmgirl
164 Posts
Elizabeth
Illinois
USA
164 Posts |
Posted - Jun 20 2006 : 11:53:03 AM
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I really can't remember what my first major purchase was. However, I can tell you all about my first job. I was tour guide in a cave. Yes, you read right, A CAVE. http://www.mercercaverns.com/index.html It was alot of fun and it was sort of a family tradition with us sisters. I started there when I was 15. I remember my parents driving me back and forth until I got my drivers liscense. I worked there every weekend during the school year, and 40 hrs a week during summer. I made minimum wage, until I graduated from High School. After graduation I made a whole $6.00 an hour for the next 2 weeks, when I left home to attend college. As long as my grades were descent, and I stayed out of trouble my parents let me use one of their cars, and took care of insurance. But only sometimes, like for work, or extra stuff at school. I always had to pay for things like my own gas, so alot of times I just road the bus. My parents always sent limits on how much they would pay for something. If I wanted something that cost more then I would have to come up with it on my own. So I am sure my money pretty much got used for Clothes, make-up, music, and all those other things teenage girls think they need. I do remember buying my Lettermen Jacket, my class ring, my yearbooks, and the extra senior portraits I wanted to give my friends. They always required that 10% of all money earned went into a savings account, even when we where little and just getting a small allowance. I remember when I was 27 my parents called me to tell me they where going to give me my money, But they wanted me to use it on something I felt was important. I ended up asking them to send me a small portion that I used to buy a new sewing machine. I had them take the rest and buy bonds for my children. So I guess in reality I have been saving that money for 20 years now. How funny, I never thought of it that way before. I wonder what my kids will do with it someday?
Elizabeth
Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.
http://livingcountrystyle.blogspot.com/ |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Jun 21 2006 : 06:50:23 AM
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My first significant purchase, made with the proceeds from my first part-time job was a portable Sony CD/cassette player. It was 1992, and the transition from cassettes to CDs was really taking hold. I had actually bought my first CDs during the previous winter and I had to find someone who had a CD player to copy them onto cassette for me.
My CD player cost $125 dollars, and I picked it out very carefully. It had a program feature that would let me play or record only certain tracks on the CD. I made so many mix tapes!
I used that CD player right up through college and beyond. I never bought another one until my husband and I used all our wedding gift money to buy a real stereo for our new apartment. Since my cars are always old and never come with CD players (sometimes they don't even come with radios)I continued to take my old portable on car trips, holding it in my lap while my husband drove.
When my car was stolen in 2004, my first big purchase was under the seat. We had just come back from a trip. I missed the CD player a lot more than I missed the crappy car! In fact, out of the whole miserable experience of going to court and not being re-imbursed by the insurance company, losing that milestone from my teen years was what hurt the most.
Guess what my husband got me for my birthday this winter? A 1992-era Sony portable CD/cassette player, with program feature. He found it on Ebay. I keep it in my kitchen now, and as far as I'm concerned, it's the same CD player. It's like I never lost it. |
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Across the Fence: Your very first purchase! |
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Your very first purchase!
