So you’ve done all the hard work and finally said goodbye to application forms and pre-interview nerves. You’ve got the job and you’ve even survived the first month. We’re at the end of the month and surprise, surprise, your bank account gets a healthy top up! If you’ve had a student loan at university then this is no big deal as three times a year you’d find big lumps of money just appearing in your account – but here lies the difference. This money, you first month’s salary isn’t a loan you’ll spend the next 10 years paying back – it’s all yours. Yours, yours, yours!

         For me it didn’t settle in for a while, for others they cotton on to this monumental day – the only day in your entire life when this money seems like an unexpected gift. Especially for anyone who’s ever done an unpaid internship, this is a big day. So now to the crunch – how will you spend it?

         Aside from your rent, bills, etc. you have a decision to make: what is that one thing that you want to splash out on to celebrate your triumph? After all, you’ve spent 18/19 years in education just to get to this very point!

         Many girls choose a classic handbag, which currently tends to be a Mulberry. Others choose an item of expensive jewellery. Some of my friends say they’d buy a present for their parents as a thank you for helping fund their studies. Others start saving immediately to then buy something bigger later, like a car for example. Others go out and spend it on a big night out.  I haven’t yet decided and as I near my second month’s pay slip and as more and more people ask me “what I did with my first month’s salary”, I’m realising that I’m going to have to decide pretty soon.

         I’m tempted to splash out on a holiday, but holidays are now precious (see my post on ‘Coming to Terms with the concept of Annual Leave’) so I need to think carefully about this! What shall I do?

What did you do, or what will you do, with your first month’s salary?

Update 8th December 2012:

          Sometimes the best way to find something is to stop looking for it. While trying to decide what I wanted to buy myself with my first month’s salary, I was having no luck reaching a decision. As soon as I stopped thinking about it, I stumbled upon a vintage stall on Portobello Road (near the famous Notting Hill for those who don’t know London). And voilà!