[jrgifford]

I paid for it after I got paid for writing code for the first time. Seemed like the decent thing to do. I was also considering starting a screencast series, and having an editor that wouldn't nag me for a license in the middle of a video seemed important.

[securityfreak]

Same here. Used it for free while studying and open source projects. Bought it as soon as I got a paying job, coincidentally coding in sublime. Fantastic tool. Fantastic community.