In this edition of My First Pay Cheque, former Mamelodi Sundowns and Hellenic defender Craig Bianchi reveals to KickOff how he finished his first-ever football salary in one week.
Bianchi is one of the lucky few players from his generation who received their first salaries before they even turned professional.
Who did you sign for?
"Look, when I first played, we were lucky at Hellenic; when we were under-19 already, we were one of the first academy players who were earning money while we were still at school.
"I think that was about in 1994 or 1995. I think I was doing Matric at that time, so I was in Grade 12.
"Imagine earning money I haven't heard of, it felt nice."
How much was it?
"It was R500."
How did you celebrate?
"Look, that time we needed to travel to training from where we were staying.
"So most of us bought stuff like shoes and takkies, and we went to a cinema with the extra money.
"I remember it was myself, Jason Jacobs, Peter Philander, Shaheem Bobbs, I think all of us did more or less the same thing that time.
"We bought clothes, lunch, and went to the cinema."
Did it last you the whole month?
"No chance. You know us footballers, we want to use everything in one time. We only used that little money the first week, and after that, it was done."
So you guys didn't leave anything for girlfriends?
"No, no girlfriend allowance, my brother.
"I was clever with the money that I earned, especially when I moved to Sundowns. We needed to be more clever than the guys who were earning silly money.
"I needed to think about how long that money will last for life after football. I needed to make clever decisions for that money to work for me later."