I’m a firm believer that those who were born with very little wealth and few luxuries have a distinct advantage over everybody else in one aspect—they know how to survive and be happy with less.

You have described me. Even though I can now afford to buy new clothes, I only buy from thrift stores or yard sales, it is how I have lived my entire adult life.

While working as a waitress and going to school to learn a trade, I was so poor that all I could afford to buy to eat was a bag of flour and a jar of jelly. I mixed flour and water to make whole cakes to fry, and put the jelly on them. I ate this for months. It was tough times, but I was never unhappy with my struggles.

Being a fisherman and raising 5 kids was also a struggle, they did not have much, but they never went hungry.

I have found that no matter how bad things are, I can and will survive. I appreciate what I now have.