what was your first big* purchase with your own money that you were proud to make? *define big however you would like
when I was 17 on my senior class trip in London and spent $500 saved from working all semester to buy a Burberry bag and umbrella I had seen in a magazine. Stolen 10 years later from a bar in the Venice boardwalk, lol where all good things go to die.
Tempur pedic Lux breeze pro and an oura. Doubling down on sleep efficiency and mental health so I can get to the next purchase ;)
15 year old Toyota RAV4. Drove it to death and loved it to bits
MacBook Air late 2010, the first purchase I did with my salary working as a developer professionally
Worked all summer sweeping tennis courts to buy one of these
I was a freelancer before college. My first big purchase was the first year of college education. A grand sum of ~$1000 then. My freelancing proceeds paid for four years of college, a fancy Nokia N82 phone and I also chipped in for my sisters wedding. Those were the best days of my life.
A 1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson rookie card (originally traded for this card at 8 years old and sold it to fund my first start-up in college; finally bought a nicer version back)
Definitely my first new car that I negotiated and paid for on my own. Felt like a milestone at the time and it was.
I was 14. I busted my ass at KFC (my first job!) for like 9 months to save up the 1100$. Don't play as much as I used to but it is literally my prized possession.
Worked weekends at a McDonald's suring high-school. Saved up enough to buy me a decent laptop and my first electric guitar + amp. Still use both to this day.
paying for a music festival when i was 16 yo. had to work for a month in a construction company where i woke up everyday at 4:30 a.m. to get through the whole city to start my work at 7:00 a.m. i was never so proud of myself
Panasonic DVX100b + SG Pro 35mm adapter. Sweet sweet standard definition 3ccd mini dv video camera.
A weekend in Amsterdam. I was the only person on the trip who didn't have to concoct some absurd story to get the money from their parents.
My PC. I spent so many hours trying to get the best bang for buck gaming PC, ended up costing ~800$. Facebook paid the bill because 2 months earlier I found a security vulnerability and they paid me for it
Bought myself the components to build my first “high performance” desktop as a reward for getting through my deployment overseas Best $2500 I ever spent.
When I bought my parents dinner at a restaurant for the first time. Hard to top that one.
I bought a flight to London and return from Rome and a nice hiking backpack for my first solo adventure through Europe.
My first car! 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee from the original owners, perfect condition! Negotiated price down by agreeing to do the owners yard work for the summer
Chrome and gold Schwinn BMX for $400 when I was 12. Paper route money was 🔥
Guess Jeans. Freshman year of high school. Mowed lawns for a month to save the money.
When first business started taking off, I bought a used BMW 128i in cash because I had always wanted one in college. Very dumb financial decision, but I have no regrets. Loved that car, and have some great memories driving it around the bay in my early 20s
3rd generation iPod Touch. I remember I saved the clear hard plastic packaging for years.
Very late to this one. But it was a Intel 286 running MS-DOS. My sister and I pooled summer allowances to buy it together.
i bought a motorcycle and crashed it the same day, fortunately nothing was damaged but the motorcycle i was 16 i am not proud of this now but it was like FREEDOM for while it lasted lol since then i have gone through a motorcycle school and did a lot of kms in early 20s, all safely
i booked a ticket to SF with my first salary to see what this silicon valley thing was all about
Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition for Super NES. My friend and I split the cost after doing a ton of yard work around the neighborhood. First money I ever earned and it was so worth it.
A) a mac laptop b) a flat - only the 2nd person I know to buy property totally solo, without parental or partner help. So proud I did that.
Backpacking trip post HS paid for with proceeds from coaching 12-13 year Olds and relief teaching English and current affairs. Slept in hostels, ate roast chicken and baguettes and rode trains all over Europe. It was glorious.
Honestly? I bought 6 different kinds of "fancy" ice cream and had them for dinner. 'Cause I could and it felt big at the time.
Felt really cool to buy my own plane ticket for the first time with internship money for a trip in college
The North Face -tadpole tent -blue kazoo sleeping bag -Inca trail backpack …in 1991 (excluding airline tickets, my camping set-up) Left home for good after my last final exam in high school and never looked back.