Yes! I grew up in a foster home and it was REQUIRED that my sister and I work. I mowed two huge lawns for $1.00 each up until I was 18 and moved out of the house. Most of that was spent at the Dairy Queen - LOL!

I started working for a Five and Dime store when I was 14. I walked three miles to work at the store - worked there until I was 18.

I think my money was spent in the catalogs, probably mostly Sears. I still have my pony bridle I bought way back then. I didn't get paid for my mowing. We lived about 10 miles from town, seldom went there and then only with parents.

Sue

Babysitting. I charged 35 cents an hour. The worst job I ever had was babysitting for the family next door. The parents went out every Friday night (great for me, steady customers) but they had 4 unruly boys who always acted up and wouldn't go to bed.

I received a small allowance and just asked for something and if it was ok Mom got it for me later I baby sat a bit
I really don't remember much about needing money

I grew up on a dairy farm so there were always chores to do and plenty of work through the Summer when I wasn't in school. I got an allowance. The Summer between my junior and senior year in high school I kept track of the hours I worked and my pay. It came out to 8 cents/ hour.
The first semester of college I was selected to tutor kids that were struggling in chemistry. It paid 4.50/ hour. I was rich!

Ron

We picked fruit in the summer, and also walked the wheat fields, pulling other grain plants out.

For both places we had to get to a meeting place, where we were picked up by van type buses.

In the winter I shoveled snow.

One summer my sis and I picked cherries, till we had enough money to buy one bike. We rode on it together, one of us always on the luggage rack.

Moni

My parents always told us that school was our job.

However, I was a nerdy kid before the word was coined. Starting early in grade school, i literally hung out at the local public library, which was only a couple of blocks from my home. I was a voracious reader, and the librarians knew me and let me help around the library...putting books back on shelves, pasting labels and card pockets on new books, etc. I learned the Dewey decimal system before most kids knew it existed.

When I started HS (9th grade), the head librarian offered to "formalize" my helping, and paid me something like .25/hr on Wednesday afternoons after school and Saturdays. I graduated to working the desk, checking books in and out.

That was my only paying job through my school years. I did do volunteer work in HS...was a Candy Striper at the hospital and various Girl Scout and church volunteer activities.

I babysat. By the time I was 12 I was practically a part time nanny for one family with 3 children. I went on vacations with them at times so they could go off and do adult things in the evening. I made a whopping 50 cents an hour.

I seems like a teeny wage now but when the couple divorced it took quite a chunk of her paycheck to pay me for those after school hours. When she finally started dating her boyfriends would pay and there was usually a nice tip included. I bought a lot things with that money. When I got older it was supplemented by my parents with 5 dollars per week walk around money.

Baby sitting. Then at age 14 I got a work permit and did camp counseling in the summer at a camp for underpriviledged children. I worked that job all through high school and college until I started teaching.

I just remembered two other jobs I had during school. I dried dishes at school and got my lunch free and when I was older, I totaled up all the money taken in from the lunches that day and then wrapped the coins. Got lunch free then too. My Mother let me keep my lunch money. It was not much though. Never baby sat as there were no small ones around us.

Sue

My parents bought me most anything I wanted so I didn't need to work. The summer I was 13, I wanted extra money so my mom let me put an ad in the paper for babysitting. A widow with 4 or 5 young kids hired me for the evenings she went out with her boyfriend. I charged more than the usual 50 cents since there were 5 kids (this was 1955) and I charged even more after midnight. One time they didn't come home until 7 a.m. The kids were well behaved so I didn't mind sitting with them and the boyfriend paid me and probably gave me a tip. This went on that summer until the boyfriend had a lot to drink when they came home and he drove me home. I told my dad the next day that the guy was drunk when he drove me home and that was the end of that job. I made so much money and I saved most of it. When I was 16 I worked on Sundays at a booth at the lake where we sold hamburgers and hot dogs, etc. My best friend worked with me and we made $1/hr working 5 hours. It was fun and all the guys were at the lake. I have always liked having my own money and felt very independent working.

you better believe i worked LOL and i attribute alot in my life now to the fact i did. my parents used $$ for control and by the time i was 13 i was looking for a job outside of chores which we did all day saturdays for $5. a family friend did the catering at our church which was across the street and around the block. she hired me for fri (bingo)& sat nights (weddings) and sunday afternoon (showers/luncheons/funerals) for $20 cash ea day, $60 a weekend sure beat $5 for all of sat lol. i did that till i was 16. i started working weekday nights at 15 for another family friend who owned a bridal salon, my dad would leave his office early m-f pick me up at 3:30 and drop me off there till 9:30pm and pick me back up. i started driving myself once i got my license at 16. once i started driving i quit doing the catering thing and started working retail at Foxmoor's all day sat & sun too. i made enough $$ at 16 each week to be able to afford my own place if i wanted LOL.

that start in the working world has been the basis for all of my success in college, work, finance and life in general. i have never spent a single week of my life since age 13 not working and since the age of 18 i've been employed full-time non-stop (worked full time thru part-time college), i am 42 now. since age 18 when i moved out, i have always been the person in control of the $$ :-) i will never ever be dependent on anyone or the govt for $$ ~ liz

I babysat. Made $1.00 hour watching kids for 2 different families. The one family had a boy and a girl and I didn't mind watching them. The second family had 4 girls and the parents always left right after dinner leaving me to clean up and do dishes. I'm hoping they felt a twinge of guilt at the least.

Later I spent a summer detasseling corn. I was made supervisor over a bunch of boys on the first day. Didn't have a clue what I was doing. I was making about $5.00 an hour which was really good for a high school student back in the mid 70's.

My Dad gave me a weekly allowance, plus he gave me lunch money each day. I hated the cafeteria food so I usually had a coke and candy bar and pocketed the rest of the money. My Dad always wore long sleeved white dress shirts that needed to be ironed. So he hired me to iron his shirts. So I had money to buy little extra things that I wanted.

I already answered on your "Were your parents strict" post. But I didn't proofread very well. There were 3 boys, not 2!

We were very poor. I remember my first job in 1970 as a kid (age 10 or 11 maybe) was cleaning a neighbors house with my sis and making $3.00 each visit/person for doing it which took 2+ hours - laundry, floors, sometimes windows, and all. Geez, she sure got a lot for a little back then. She was a VERY huge woman who could not move much so she hired out alot.

Than, babysitting, working at a donut shop in high school.

Babysitting, and I did not like it. My first "real" job was at age 16 for a company that manufactured artificial legs.

We didn't get an allowance, ever. Our Saturdays were spent cleaning the house...from top to bottom and it was like a spring clean every Saturday.

I started out babysitting. I watch a lot of the teacher's kids when they went out on the weekends. I worked in fast food, as a waitress, at a popcorn stand on the town square. (Most Iowa towns have town squares.) I always had a full time job and went to school.

Like many, I baby sat until I was 16 and old enough to get a real job.

The first Christmas season I worked as a perfume counter girl at a defunct DC area department store. That was major fun until Christmas Eve, when about ten million harried men came in to buy their girlfriend's and wives last minute gifts. The store was supposed to close at 6pm, but at 6, I had about 20 customers lined up at my register, most of whom were in extraordinarily bad moods and screaming at me because they were in a big hurry to get home. The last guy called me a $%###$ idiot when I told him that, no, I couldn't gift wrap his purchase and that he would have to take it downstairs to the gift wrap department, and yes, sir, that was an extra charge. I remember leaving the store in tears that night.

When I was about 12 I did babysetting, and picked strawberries in the summer,I remember my girlfriend and I would get up before sun rise, and our Moms would take turns to drive us to the farm, then pick us up in the afternoon
I"m sure now days they don"t allow kids that young to work in the strawberry fields.
I also took in ironing,a family friend paid me 25cents a piece to iron, mostly her nice ruffly blouses, and table linens.She was very picky, but she liked my work, and I took pride in pleasing her.
When I was 16 I worked at a local motel cleaning rooms, during the summer.
I still had chores at home to do, my parents did not belive in an allowance,you shared responibilities as you we part of he family.
I used the money I earned to buy school clothes, I liked nicer clothes , and parents were on a budget, the things I wanted did not fit into that budget, so I earned enough to my what I wanted.

I only workd in locally owned dept stores Christmas holidays, after I reached the age to work.

I guess I made money a lot of different ways. From the time I could walk and be outside we always watched for coins on the street. Not a fortune by any means but would find something occasionally. One neighbor was quite generous and frugal at the same time. He would hire the neighbor kids to help him with projects. Far cheaper than regular labor, but we enjoyed it. He was a fun guy, and treated us right. Yes we would work hard sometimes, but always there were frequent breaks and his wife would always have cold drinks and snacks for us, then he'd pay us and it could be, I don't remember for sure but sometimes $5-$10 each plus he usually would take us to Bridgeman's for ice cream or something like that. One time he took us to the "Slippery Seal" slide set up at a local shopping center. And it wasn't just a ticket or two for us each. He bought a bunch and we had a great time. Plus probably the most fun would be riding in the back of his pickup to and from wherever we went!

Very seldom was I paid for work at home. I do recall one time I got $10 from my dad for making the honor roll. Not sure what happened that time, it wasn't the first or last time. I usually was on there, just a question of which one. But he said if I made it again next quarter, he'd double it. Well, I did, but he didn't! LOL

In high school my electronics teacher recommended me to work in the A/V department so I started working there repairing the equipment. Did that for many years. Never made much money but it was fun, was a reference and no car costs. Did it before, during study hall or after school as I chose to do it.

Worked at a couple furniture stores for a while, a restaurant and I don't recall what other odd jobs I did. Seems like there were some others though.

After Vo-tech I got my first "real" job but occasionally worked some part time one-time jobs too. I was used to working and enjoyed the income. Saved up so I almost paid for my first new vehicle in cash, but decided to borrow a small amount so I wouldn't be stretched too thin, just in case. I think it was 6 months of payments! But that got me conditioned for rent/utility payments when I moved out.

I'm really glad I worked as I was growing up. It gave me responsibility and a good work ethic. And really gave me a diverse background! When I'd apply for future jobs, I had experience in a LOT of fields!

My dad paid me 5 cents per bushel to pick up apples that had fell on the ground from his trees. Then he would come along withthe tractor and trailor and pick the bushels up and feed to the hogs. I couldn't drive the tractor then or I probably would have made more. When I was 12 I got to handle two cottages my parents owned and rent them out to tourist. I cleaned them, signed people in and did all the work. That only was for one summer of the Jamestown festival.Don't remember how much my parents paid me for that. Then when I was 13 thru high school & business school, I worked in my Dads grocery store/service station (country store) on weekends and in the summers. I got paid 50 centers per hour and thought I was making big money! Only thing was I ate half my salary in sodas and sweets. :o) I also worked at the local 5 & 10 store during Christmas and Easter vacation when I was in business school So I know what working was and worked till I retired from Civil Service with 34 1/2 years. But glad I was taught how to work by my parents.

I lived in the country. There wasn't much opportunity to work. I babysat sometimes for something like $1/hour. My friends who lived in town made $3/hour and wouldn't change diapers. My parents wouldn't allow me to charge more.

My boys have been asking to get a job. One wants to work in a nursery with plants. The other just wants to work anywhere that isn't home. I think think they have to be at least 14 before they can legally be hired. We may just plant some extra veggies in the back yard and let them sell them if they want.

I was given an allowance each week. It seems like a pittance now (a whopping big $2.00/week!) but I was expected to do certain chores - keep my room clean and tidy, help with the dishes, and when I was old enough, iron my own blouses for school, etc.. If I didn't do the house chores, then money was deducted from my allowance. If I didn't iron the blouses, then I went to school in wrinkly blouses and the teachers gave me heck for that because my uniform was not up to the school standards. LOL!

The summer I graduated from high school I got my first job at Parkdale Pharmacy and earned $26.75 a week. Most of that went for admission to the stadium for roller skating and a plate of french fries several times a week. Now that I think of it, that was the summer my weight problems began and it has been a major battle ever since. ;(

During university I worked for my dad at his service station/carwash during the summer, again for pocket money.

I didn't have a "real job" earning "real money" until I graduated from university and got my first teaching job. I earned $6600 a year and bought my first car, a mustard-coloured Ford Maverick, $2850 on the road!

When I was about 12 I boys my age made a little money delivering groceries. People would shop at the local A & P and their stuff would go into brown paper bags (no plastic then) with the address and number of bags written on them by the cashier. I'd take my wagon, load up and off I'd go. I'd get maybe 25 - 50 cents, the occasional dollar. One Fri, Sat, Sun around Christmas I made $10 total. I thought I was rich!

My mother gave me a little money, and when I wanted something, I saved my lunch money. That was just 35 cents a day, but I saved enough to buy a horse. I also sold pop...we called it soda water...bottles. When I was in high school, I worked at a nearby restaurant, starting in the kitchen, and then on the grill and as cashier.

I baby sat mostly.
I wanted to get a summer job at the packing sheds and my Dad said no way was I going to do that. I also wanted to pick beans when I visited my Grandpa and he wouldn't let me, either.
I loved baby sitting but think I would have learned a lot doing hard labor.

Oh, I did babysit for my civic's teacher.

I got an allowance of $1 a week if I did my chores, which included keeping my room clean, dusting and vacuuming the living room and dining room three times a week, and take out the garbage once a week. I could earn an extra dollar by washing the kitchen floor.

I didn't really earn any other than an allowance until we moved out of the country and into the city. Then I babysat - sometimes fulltime in the summer - until I could get a real job.

Carol, I wanted to pick cotton. My mom had a fit and said we weren't cotton pickers. She should have just let me try it, I know I wouldn't have lasted long.

I didn't read all the post,but i grew up in the country,and was # 10 of 12 kids.We also weren't given an allowance,we were however expected to go to the spring to get water,help gather wood for the furnace.In the summer we'd go into the woods and pick blackberries,blueberries,red caps and several other berries and sell them to the folks traveling Route 17 and caught in the traffic snarls there.

We lived right along route 17 and it was at that time the only route that the city folks could take up to the catskills for their vacations.So in the summer we made quite a bit of money selling them water for their overheated cars.

I went to our old house when i was back home(N.Y. state) in 2004.Route 17 is hardly even used now except for kids to ride their bikes,skateboards etc.We stood out in the middle of it taking pictures of our old homstead and we didn't see any cars as far as the eye could see.Only the people that still live along it use it,unless there is a majpr accident on the thruway.
Lots of good memories from those times.
Kathi

I babysat for my younger brother starting when I was 12. Mom worked several afternoons a week, and decided that she would pay me instead of the slightly older girl down the street. It was a good deal for all involved - I got 25¢ an hour and my mom didn't have to pay the neighbor girl 50¢ an hour (the going rate). I also made dinner most nights when she was at work. (My choice, as I've always liked to cook.)

When I was 15, I got my first job, at the local library. It was wonderful. They hired a bunch of high school kids, and gave us very limited hours - each week, we worked one afternoon, one evening, and all day Saturday.

Except for my first year of college and my first year of law school, I've always had a paying job since I was 15.

First job was when I was 16 and in High School. JCPenneys had just opened up and I was hired to work Friday nights and Saturdays. Pay was 35¢ an hour. Working there was a lot of fun, and I made friends with a lot of the other young part-timers. I remember my first pay day was $4 and change. I could hardly believe I had that much money. I spent most of my pay on clothes. I worked there until I graduated, and then went to work for the Government in D.C. Pay was around $25 a week I think. Now I was RICH!

My parents had always gotten me anything I needed, or wanted, as well as they could. When I started the government job I was 18 and felt like I should help with the household finances, so I gave Mama money each payday.

Working experiences are a great foundation for a young person.

Sue

I, too, was raised in a rural setting. My money management began during WW2. I got $0.25 per week allowance and whatever else I cound earn. I walked 1.5 miles (one way), once per week to cut one and sometimes 2 lawns with a push, reel mower. That was work. I also hjelped my mother hang paper. Those old farm houses with a heating stove in the living room generated several papering jobs each year.

My next gig for 2 years was driving a tractor for a farmer who had access to more land than he could handle alone. Adding me to the plowing team about doubled the acreage that could be prepared for planting. I got $4.00 per day, noon meal, and transportation to and from the job. (I did not have a car, nor wasn't old enough to own one.) I worked long hours, but it was one of the better paying jobs I had for a youth.

For a couple of years while in highschool, I worked 3 hours after school at a full service filling station and closed the station at night. I also worked an 8 hr Saturday at the same station. Besides selling gasoline and oil, we did oil changes, lubrication, tire changes and repair, changed thermostats, radiator flush and refills, car washes, and minor tune-ups. We'd clean out, wash, and service a couple of school buses each Saturday. That was a lot of area to wash. It was a dirty job and was cold in winter.

After that job, I worked at grocery store as a carry out and stock boy. My feet were tired by the end of the day and that was my last odd job before leaving home for college.

I had one other odd job. The highschool principal hired mt to run a push mop over the basketball floor before the game on game nights, and to sweep the trash out of the bleachers. On those nights, I did not go home after school since home was 10 miles away. As soon as everyone cleared out after school, I began cleaning the gym. After cleaning, I'd grab a bite at the local eatry and be back for the game. I got in free because I also played in the school band at games.

It was a hard scrable life, but in some ways, it was better for the youth than today. Even during hard times, there was work for a kid if he was honest, trustworthy, and willing to work. The pay was low, but other prices were not high. Labor laws and liability was not a big factor.

At the begining of my work career, comic books sold for 10 cents in 1943 and rose to 25 cents by 1953. I sold gasoline at 22 cents per gallon and that rose to 25 cents per gallon by 1954.

New cars were priced roughly at $1 per pound. You could buy a new Ford 5 passenger sedan with stick shift for less than $2500. Buicks and Oldsmobiles weighed more and sold for $3000 or more.

Lemonade stands 3/4 of the year on our front lawn. Dad was unemployed for almost a year when I was in 4th grade and my family did everything & every odd job we could all find. I worked at age 14 clearing out over grown sections/locks of the Erie Canal...no bathrooms or water to drink all day. Babysat twice, kid threw up- no more babysitting for me. Then worked in local drugstore as cashier in high school. Allowances were for doctors' kids...no one I knew had an allowance in the 70's.

I grew up on a dairy and crop farm. I was the fourth oldest. Oldest one a boy and then 3 girls. We never got an allowance. We had to mild 20 to 30 cows morning and night. In the summer there was always hay to put up and then when the crops were ripe we had to shock the fields. This consisted of walking around big fields many times and standing bundles of grain up so they werent laying on the ground and would stay dry until they came to separate the grain from the stalks, if they stayed laying on the ground they would start growing again or get moldy. When I was a freshman in high school my dad finally got a combine so that was the end of stacking bundles. I remember I babysat for a neighbor who played in a band. I would go to their house at about 5:30 amd babysit until sometimes 2 or 3 in the morning and get 2.50. That was for 6 kids and plus doing the dishes and other things and the oldest was about 2 years younger than me but he had fallen off of the bed when he was young and they were scared he would have a seizure so they had to have someone watch him. Of course we lived 18 miles from town and never hardly got to town except for church and church related activities so we didnt need money. In fact I think most of that money probably went in the collection plate. I graduated from high school in 1970. I remember the first job I had was a live in babysitter and I never got paid much for that job either. Then I started waitressing and the first few tips I got I went in the bathroom and counted them, and I thought I was rich. Im sure it was only a couple of dollars. I was never meant to be a waitress though so that didnt last long. One of the problems was I was so shy I couldnt think of anything to say, and part of that I blame on never going any place and I went to a one room country school so I was never out among strange people. When I started high school I had the same problem so I never had hardly any friends there either.

Great stories!

When I was really young (8 or 9), my brother and I would comb the country side and ditches for beer bottles. We'd clean them then get my Dad to take them to the beer store for the refunds and split the $.

I also babysat rotten, unruly children, a LOT! lol.

When I was 12/13 I worked for a caterer. I helped served the food and did the clean up. Hard work, but I loved it.

At 14 I worked at a drug store (2 years).

At 16 I was a waitress. I thought I was really raking it in with the tips!

I always found work to be a social thing, (still do).
BJ

None of us 7 kids ever got an allowance and as soon as any of us made any money we were expected to buy any extra clothes and shoes we wanted that were not necessary to keep us warm and dry.

I started babysitting at 7 years old. I know that is young but someone was always near if I needed help. After my baby brother died my best friend's Mom across the street had a baby girl within days of my Mom. The loss of my brother devestated me and I was encouraged to go across the street to help with the new baby which led me to babysitting. The older girl next door to me never liked me because I got the babysitting job she coveted. Gosh to think I took that baby everywhere with me - once even on the bus downtown to see Herman's Hermits at a local radio station. I was all of 8 years old.

Everyone wanted me to babysit for them. From far and wide across the city I would get calls. At 50 cents an hour I was making really good money. I babysat for many "well to do" families in the community and sometimes made more.

Saving up for college I became a "nanny" working everyday taking care of the kids and the house. I worked for one family in the summer and another in the winter months.

I also sold dog tags for the City for a few weeks every summer. I hated that job with a passion and don't know why I did it for 3 years. LOL

During college I made money by typing for other students. I also started to work in returning offices whenever there was an election - started out ennumerating, then typing lists and then mailing labels. I have been working in election returning offices ever since. LOL

Also during college I would work at Canada Post the months leading up to Christmas on the midnight shift sorting mail. I loved that job!

I was born to be a mother which was why I loved taking care of kids. I even had calls from new mothers who wanted me to come and show them how to take care of their babies which I used to think was strange but I did it anyway. Unfortunately for me I wasn't blessed with having kids but I can say I had a hand in raising quite a few kids across this city.

Anne

To make extra money, I drove the school bus. Back in the 50's, students could drive the buses. It was sort of expected that the kids that lived the farthest out in the county would drive the buses in to school.. We lived 9 miles out in the country so that qualified me to drive the bus. Being 5 feet tall didn't stop me from driving. They placed special controls so my feet would reach the pedals. Never had an accident. You received your lunch free, it was a dollar a week back then, and 25.00 pay each month for driving the bus. That was almost 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. So a hundred hours, the pay was 25.00 total. No complaints, I was happy to get the free food, and the 25.00 went into a college fund for me.