When I got my first paycheck, I was astounded by the amount of money I had had. I've never had an allowance, and I very rarely got money for my birthday or Christmas. I am not bitter about that fact, I'm actually in agreement. I don't plan on giving my kids an allowance, regardless of my personal income at that point in my life. what I did get, though, was basically the occasional large thing that I asked for. For my thirteenth(?) birthday I got an iPod Nano. I still use it (mostly for sleeping. I posted about it a few days ago). When I turned eighteen, I got a new laptop. About a month ago, I got my first smartphone. I had resigned that I would pay the monthly cost on my own (because that's a thing that I can do now) but as it turned out I've already paid some fees in advance for various reasons, so my parents are kind of still paying for it, albeit begrudgingly on my part.
You see now that I have money I want to spend it so my parents won't have to. My belt snapped during work the other day, so I just bought a new one without having to consult them about it. I'm eating a lot more (which sounds bad but I didn't eat much in the past) and I'm doing it with my money. It feels great, but working minimum wage also means that that money I am spending equates to zero in the bank. After taxes I don't even get a thousand monthly, and I work really hard. I don't plan on being in this position very long, though I admit I don't like confrontation. I want to buy new parts for my computer. I want to save money for a car even though I don't even have a license and we already own too many cars. I want to buy cool swords and posters.
Sadly I have the funds for exactly zero of those things. But that's okay. Today I'm making money not because I need to, but because I should as a technical adult. I want to give myself the best chances of not living with my parents in four years via college or whatever. In any case, I don't want to be here. It isn't as though I don't like it home, as I'm not vacant to the fact that living with your parents has a lot of perks people don't see until they lose, but at the same time they've had to pay for me and my older siblings long enough, and I'd say its about time they can start looking out for themselves. Best I can do to help with that is start saving money and biding my time while I become a real adult with a real job, education, and place to live. Even if the average apartment rent in California is literally over twice the money I make on a monthly basis. One day. I'm not worried. Sometimes.