Name: Will Leitch
Age: 34
Location: New York, NY
Why we care: One of the founding editors of Deadspin and author of, most recently, God Save the Fan, Leitch gets paid to watch sports, and from the seats we only wish we could afford.

What was your first job? How much did it pay?

I worked in a movie theater called "Cinema 1-2-3" in Mattoon, IL. I was an usher, which in Mattoon made me a projectionist as well. They were really savvy about this. In Chicago, projectionists were unionized and made union money. I made minimum wage, $4.25/hr.

Was it cool?

My job was watching movies and after the last movie of the night, I had to screen the new movies to make sure that I put them together properly. And when I was an usher, I was basically handing out favors to my friends. "Here, a little more popcorn." "Is that your girlfriend? How about some nachos?" I was the Artie Bucco of Mattoon.

What did you spend your first paycheck on?

Gas money. I had this crappy used Ford Escort. But there was something about filling up my car with gas using money that I earned, rather than having to slink over to my parents. A car is freedom. I could go to Arby's and throw the sandwich wrapper on the floor. Who cared? It was my car.

Now that you can get into sporting events for free, what's the one sporting event that you would actually pay for?

Honestly, I pay for every game that I can. It's a different world out in the stands. In the press box, you're surrounded by a lot of people who don't enjoy sports anymore. And there's no cheering. It's worth it to pay for the game and have fun.

Did you collect baseball cards as a kid? What was your most valuable card?

It never seemed like collecting to me; I just wanted them all. In the late 1980s, the market for memorabilia took off, but collecting baseball cards for their worth seemed so against what my dad and I thought and loved about baseball. So we set all my baseball cards on fire. Burning trash is legal in Mattoon, so we put them all in a pile and lit `em up. At the time, they were probably worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Has success changed your spending habits?

I pay for drinks now. I love to pay for drinks. I haven't developed a notion of the finer things. When I was really broke, my friends would always buy me my first couple of drinks. Now, my friends love to let me pay. They appreciate what it means to me.

Did anyone teach you to be responsible with your money? If not, how did you learn?

I was really bad with it for a long time. When I first moved to the city, I was making $63,000 a year with Novix media. And I felt like I was on top of the world. But I overpaid for everything because I didn't know any better. I was living in New York City paying tourist prices for everything. But I didn't have any credit cards, so I couldn't rack up debt. When you only have $500 in the bank, you can't spend more than $500. Being broke taught me how to be good and budget. It required me to be responsible. My parents weren't good about teaching me this stuff and I think they regret it.