The Shredder, at 24
I once worked as a shredder to pay for my first Louis Vuitton bag. That was in a big company in southern Germany — they had a lot of paperwork to shred. If things went well, I filled an entire garbage can in a day. I earned 500 euros a month doing this, which covered the 800 euros for my Louis Vuitton “Alma” bag.
The grandchild stunt, 22
I earn around 150 euros by visiting my own grandmother. Unfortunately, she is unbearable and very negative, so no one else in the family will voluntarily visit her.
I drive to her about once a week and talk to her for a few hours. The first time she slipped me money, I thought it was just a classic granny move. You know, sometimes they just give you money. But now she does it every time — she calls it "visit money".
I feel kind of bad for her, but I also need the money, and I know that she really values my visits. I invest the money in crypto — of course she has no idea what that is.
The garage attendant, at 20
I worked for a few hours a week as a watchman at a large garage earning 20 euros an hour — that's a lot of money! The strange thing about the job was that I actually just sat around and studied for university.
I have no idea why, but at some point I was “promoted” and had two employees under me. With the promotion I earned 25 euros an hour, even though I didn’t really do anything. I squandered the money on partying, partying and partying.
The asparagus cutter, at 16
On the weekends I cut asparagus and picked strawberries in our neighboring town. There was no minimum wage back then – I was paid 6 euros an hour. I'm a tall person, so bending down was extra exhausting for me – it was extremely physical work. Worst of all, asparagus grows back so quickly that I could start all over again when I had reached the end of the field.
I worked with many Polish workers in the field. It was the first time that I was in an international work environment so it was quite an exciting experience for me. The working conditions were terrible though.
The plasma donor, 22
I like to boost my income, especially when it comes to weekend plans and going out. That's why I go donate plasma just before the weekend. Basically, if you are under 60 kg you get 23 euros to lie there for half an hour with a needle in your arm.
Theoretically, you can donate twice a week, but all your blood values have to be right. I actually find needles awful and you get small scars from donating plasma, but if you're broke it's a good side income. It also makes me happy that I’m doing something good for other people. I get the money in cash and happily spend it on drinks and clubbing on the weekend.
The sugar baby, at 25
I earned 200 euros in 30 seconds and spent it all that same day. I signed up for a sugar daddy site with my roomie for fun — knowing that I wasn’t prepared to do anything sexual.
I landed up chatting to a 66-year-old man who gets turned on when others have power over his money. I told him to put 200 euros in an envelope and meet me at a bridge. He was already there when I arrived. I just said: “Give me the envelope”, and he did it. I took it and drove away. That's what we had agreed on. I spent the money eating oysters with my friends.