Poll: How did you spend the first payment you received from a client? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How did you spend the first payment you received from a client?".
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| I can't remember | Apr 24, 2023 |
It was so long ago, that I can’t remember exactly, though it must have gone to my household (bills/rent/food). By then I had a full-time job and I was translating part-time to complement my income…
[Edited at 2023-04-24 10:03 GMT]
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Marek Tulipan 
Poland
Local time: 20:49
Member (2023)
English to Polish
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| Ahh, sweet & stupid times of youth... | Apr 24, 2023 |
When I was 18 (3rd or 4th year of high school), my mother was asked by her friend (against a payment of course) to translate ca. 12 pages from a book on the ancient history of Egypt. She was a bit reluctant as she always worked overtime to make ends meet, and she asked me if I could do it and she would proofread that. I don't remember exactly how much I earned, but I think it was like 5 or 6 times my monthly pocket money. Of course I blew the money on arcade games, fast foods, drinking beer with... See more When I was 18 (3rd or 4th year of high school), my mother was asked by her friend (against a payment of course) to translate ca. 12 pages from a book on the ancient history of Egypt. She was a bit reluctant as she always worked overtime to make ends meet, and she asked me if I could do it and she would proofread that. I don't remember exactly how much I earned, but I think it was like 5 or 6 times my monthly pocket money. Of course I blew the money on arcade games, fast foods, drinking beer with my classmates etc... :/
[Edited at 2023-04-24 10:27 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Liena Vijupe
Latvia
Local time: 21:49
Member (2014)
French to Latvian
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| I don't remember | Apr 24, 2023 |
I don't know anymore who my first client was or how much they paid, but it likely was spent on my daily needs or on something I had been saving for.
Growing up poor, I've always been careful with money and it took me a long time to get used to the idea that it is ok to spend my own money on something that isn't strictly necessary or pay more when cheaper alternatives are available.
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IrinaN
United States
Local time: 13:49
English to Russian
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It was a chocolate bar. I was 12.
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Nikolay Novitskiy
Russian Federation
Local time: 23:49
Member (2018)
English to Russian
I made a donation to help the whales of my home Urals region who suffer from bad environment.
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| I don't remember ... | Apr 24, 2023 |
... but I bought expensive jeans when my first 4-digit invoice was paid. Nowadays, I buy my jeans at the thrift store and invest that kind of money in stocks 
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Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 14:49
German to English
| I went on a date | Apr 24, 2023 |
It was 1969 and I was a university undergraduate. The job was providing a summary of an article on the flora and fauna of the Lake Titicaca basin. The twenty dollars I received for the job paid for a simple dinner for myself and my girlfriend at the time. Until I started translating full time in the mid 1980s I spent the money earned from that endeavor on frivolities.
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 20:49
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Bought a dictionary | Apr 24, 2023 |
I bought a dictionary that I then used extensively on the second job.
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| As Confucius said | Apr 24, 2023 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
I bought a dictionary that I then used extensively on the second job.
Give a translator a fish and he will look at you oddly. Buy a translator a dictionary and he will never go hungry. Or something like that.
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Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 20:49
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
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| Nothing fancy | Apr 24, 2023 |
I probably spent it only on 'cost of living', because I was very careful during those very insecure first months.
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Mónica Algazi
Uruguay
Local time: 15:49
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
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Gitte Hovedskov (X)
Denmark
Local time: 20:49
English to Danish
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| It went towards bills, but... | Apr 25, 2023 |
...When I sold my first short story to a magazine, I bought myself a nice set of earrings, so that I would always have something to remember that glorious moment by.
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