Russell Lund can still remember the day the money landed in his account.
It was early 1982, and the 17-year-old had just received his first pay cheque - about $140 - for his first week as a cadet quantity surveyor at the Ministry of Works in Wellington.
"They had six zips and I thought I was the man."
His second purchase followed the same theme - a black and white striped shirt, which he still has to this day.
"I was quite the clothes horse back then, as you are at 17."
The year before, Mr Lund and his family had been living in Nelson when the Ministry of Works began interviewing pupils at his school for cadetships.
He was among 20 or so pupils vying for "two or three" spots that year, and was successful.
That created a small dilemma, as Mr Lund had also been accepted into Carrington College, in Dunedin, where his friends planned to study.
"That was the ultimate ... if you could get into Carrington, you had it made, socially."
He opted for Wellington, where he was paid to study quantity surveying for 15 hours, and work a further 25 hours, each week.
He was based in a "rabbit warren" of old houses and offices on Hill St, behind the Beehive, and duties included collecting the mail and making the tea.
He lived in a public service hostel on Hanson St, in Newtown, which cost about $60 a week.
"It was pretty big. It probably had 70 or 80 kids there, and it was designed for people like me - who lived in the provinces, got a job in Wellington with the government [and] left home."
He also received some "extremely good" advice from an uncle, who told him to save every pay increase he received.
But it took a while for the habit to stick - there were clothes to buy first.
