Hi! I'm not really sure how to do this, but I think this is the right forum, so I'll try my best.
I just got my first job at my state's big fair a few weeks ago. It was only for two weeks, so now I don't have any other employment. Actually, that's technically not true. When I'm feeling lucky, I'll go out busking with my guitar and harmonica. I almost never make more than a few dollars an hour, so that's close to negligible. It will be a few months at least until I can find another, longer-lasting, job.
Anyways, I got my first paycheck in the mail a few days ago. 630 dollars! I put it into my bank account immediately, but took out 60 dollars (after having none at all for so long, I like to just keep some around). The first thing I used any of it for was to loan some to my little brother. He needed 30 dollars for paintball or something along those lines. I trust my brother, and I know I'll be paid back (I would never charge interest for family). But he's a few years younger than me, so it may be a long time until he gets a job himself. So that's 30 dollars out of the picture.
Now, I have 600 dollars, and everything in the world to spend it on. I know I should invest it, but I don't like the prospect of how little 600 dollars invested would earn me. The value of having it to spend right away feels larger than the value of it plus 7*% interest in 5 years. My family has been in really hard times for the past 6-7 years, but I remember the time in my childhood when we weren't so poor. I've basically gotten used to the feeling of not getting the things I want. But now that I have purchasing power at my fingertips, I can hardly resist blowing it in a week.
So, I need help from you all. If I don't get this squared away soon, I'll drop it all on a new guitar and before I know it I'll be SOL. How can I invest this money while not feeling like I'm depriving myself?
Hopefully that was all coherent and not stupid-sounding.
EDIT: It might help to mention that my long-term goals are to work furiously until I have enough money invested to live a life as a sort of wandering folk minstrel. Sort of like Into The Wild but with less dying in Alaska, and more bluegrass and folk music. Sort of like Bob Dylan, but with less selling out, and more dedication to the causes of workers rights and peace. It's a long shot, sure, but it's my dream. And it would cost a whole lot less than living in a house, paying rent/mortgage, driving a car to work every day to sit down at a desk and dying slowly. Call it youthful passion, but this is the life I want to achieve. It's just the short term is so hard to ignore.