That's a hell of a story there about your past. I'm the first kid and when I was young my parents were dirt poor. That would change as dad found success with his job, but being forced to live a very frugal childhood shaped how I view money to this day. At various points in my life I have had extra money, and at various points I have had none. Both were kind of ok. Now I have enough to survive, but I rarely spend anything on myself. I think that lean childhood and those lean episodes in my adult years taught me that I don't need a lot.

It's funny, when I was a kid and I would see stories about someone who became rich later in life but continued to live very frugally and so no one, not even his extended family, knew that he had money. I'd shake my head and wonder how someone who become rich and not enjoy it. But now I know, and now I would be the same way, just continuing to live like I always have.