My experience:
1. Under 10 years old: Nothing for money except a few failed lemonade and Kool Aid stands. I had regular chores around the house, lots of them.
2. 10 to 16 years old: I was a papergirl. My route was clear across town and we lived in a rainy and snowy area – my dad took me once in his car during a bad storm – it was quicker for me to do my route on my bike. I did some babysitting, but didn’t care for it. I grabbed my dad’s mower, turned it around backwards, jumped on my bicycle and would pull the mower around backwards looking for lawns to mow in the summer. This work led to more work like clearing rocks out of land in preperation for grass being laid down. I was dependable. I could make $40 a weekend and had some regular customers mowing lawns and weeding. This was back in the 1970′s. As a result, I had my own savings account at age 16. I also planted my own garden (quite large) at my dad’s house and would grow corn, zucchini, tomato plants, etc.
3. 16 to 19 years old: I was emancipated at age 16. I was then an adult under the law. I landed a real job as a cook in a small restaurant and waited tables. At age 19 I went into the Army. I also picked vege’s and odd jobs for an old farmer. He told my mom that I was the hardest working girl he had ever seen in his entire life. I wouldn’t stop for anything and was like a machine out in the fields. I build my mom a large deck out of her own wood. I was good with a chainsaw.
4. 19 years old to 21 years old: At 21 years old, I remained debt free and had a 6 month fully funded emergency fund. I worked any job that would hire me. Sometimes I had two jobs.
5. 21 years old and up: I finished my college degree with no loans at at 37, after a failed marriage and two kids. I now make in excess of $100K per year.

I definitely think my early years had a large influence on where I am today.

Under 10 years old:
I didn’t earn much. I sold some bracelets I made for 25 cents each and walked a few dogs for $1 a walk. My parents didn’t do the allowance thing.

10-15 years old:
I received my CPR certification and started babysitting with I was 13 years old. I only babysat for one family and made $5 an hour for two young kids. I loved it.

15-17 years old:
We moved out of the country. I made $12 a week for 6 months by working “bus duty” on my Holland school bus. I simply kept the kids quiet for the driver.

I was also a volunteer English instructor in Argentina for about a year for 6 year olds.

18-22 years old:
I worked the 24 hour help desk for my dorm my freshman year for $5.15 an hour. I actually met my husband during a 12am-4am shift one night…I was bored and he seemed to have nothing to do since he kept walking by, so I asked him to keep me company. I found out much later that he thought I was cute and was trying to think of something to say.

I was a “donation collector” (telemarketer) for my college right before my sophomore year for about 3 months. I hated it and quit as soon as I scored a position at the games room on campus. I worked in that games room for my last 3 years. I loved interacting with the customers and my coworkers…that was my favorite job ever.

Since I started putting myself through college my sophomore year, I worked 3 additional part-time jobs on and off as needed. I worked in the University Center Admin Office every summer, I dealt poker and blackjack at company parties on weekends (legal since they would bet with fake money and “earn” tickets for drawings), and I was a seasonal tax office receptionist full time my last semester. That was also the semester I was planning our wedding…I think my brain nearly exploded by the summer of 2005.

My First Real Job:
I’m still at it. It doesn’t use my major, but I had just gotten married and wanted something stable with benefits. It doesn’t pay much ($35,000), but it is low stress, allows me to read and blog for 3 hours a day, never exceeds 40 hours a week, has full medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, and I’m great at what I do – the customers love me and I always get great reviews.

So I stay even though I regularly hear from my mother that “I’m not living up to my full potential”. Yeah, well, I enjoy it as much as I’d enjoy any full time job, and it allows me to have fun with the rest of my life. Sorry, Mom.

The way I see my job history is that I’ve always enjoyed hoarding money, but I never really seaked out optimal profits. I try to do what’s fun. I value my social life more than I value working and will always prioritize my life with that in mind. That sounds lazy, but I’m not…I love being the best at what I do, I just like hanging out with my husband and friends as much as possible too.

Thanks for such a fun post!!!

Oh well, you’re only young once, eh?

When I saw the light again, I’d missed a prime opportunity to put myself onto a fast track in to the financial services industry, not that I would have enjoyed it or stuck it out I think. But I might have, and the income from say fund management likely would have dwarfed my other endeavours!

Still, don’t look back – except to childhood nostalgia, which leaves you with a warm feeling…

Customer service, dealing with difficult people, time management, prioritization, how to run a good business, how to run a bad business, managing people, etc… Most working people and even engineers don’t have these critical skills.
tim

I was all ready to write a big comment about my years at school doing a paper route, and then I read LeanLifeCoach’s comments.

Seriously, I don’t know if research has been done on it, but I’d bet the correlation between early morning paper delivery and a certain kind of success in life is huge.

Just as Warren Buffett — the patron saint of paperboys! Although admittedly he did go on to own and run the route by 14, or similar…