I haven’t had less than $1000 in savings since I was 16 years old, that is over 50 years ago.
I've told this story before but I had a Steve Martin (The Jerk) moment when I first got my paper route in 1976. After nearly a year of bugging the Boston Herald American to let me have a route in my neighborhood, they finally gave me a route of 23 daily papers (and 30 Sunday papers). I was 14 years old.
When I first collected the weekly money from my customers, I assumed that the newspaper made a mistake. I was to collect something like $46 from my customers but only give the newspaper man $37. So when he came around, I gave him the $46 and he immediately handed $9 back to me and told me it was my portion. Now I had already collected about $15 in tips so my first payday was $24.
I couldn't believe it. Not only was I getting tips but I was getting paid by the newspaper as well! And I would get around that amount every single week. Now back in 1976 for a 14-year old, this was big money. I put half of it in the bank each week and had over $1,000 about a year and a half later.