My first salary wasn't very much to be absolutely honest. I had joined TCS as an Assistant System Engineer Trainee at Trivandrum, Kerala in September 2018 and received my first salary on 31st October. My first salary was Rs 27,350 equivalent to USD $ 370.
I have the payslip for my first month's salary. This was the net amount that I received in hand after all deductions including some arrears.
I vividly remember that day when we all received our first salary. The excitement started building up one day before itself. I was the second person to arrive at the office on 31st at 8 AM and we didn't get our salaries yet at that time. People started coming in with excited faces, nobody was in a mood to start working since we all were eagerly waiting for the message from the bank. One colleague informed that we had received the payslip in the mail and we all checked at the same time and there was an aura of excitement inside the room. It was the first earning for most of us if not all and very soon the salary got credited into our accounts too.
This amount was slightly bigger than my actual salary since I got one week's salary of September added in this which I didn't receive last month. From the next month onwards, I used to get around Rs 23,000 on an average after deductions.
My first salary wasn't enough but we all have to start somewhere in our lives. Even though it was small, it was still sufficient to meet my daily needs including lodging and food, go out on trips with friends, occasionally hang out with them at restaurants and still was able to save a good chunk of my salary. Life was simple and life was good back then.