[sufiyan]

My parents would talk about their struggles growing up without any money.

My mother who was orphaned at a very young age and was raised by her grand mother would tell us about how she would have to erase their books and turn over their school uniforms and restitch them when they got faded when a new school year began because they couldn’t afford new clothes or books. My uncle who was all of 8 months when my grand parents passed away, had to struggle to make his school fees. Yet they have done well simply because of their perseverance and hard work. When I think about it, luck must have played a role but they still worked very hard to make their lives and their kids lives better.

My father would tell me about the time when they couldn’t afford to buy milk for me as a kid. And his cousin who was many years his senior asked him if he had any savings and when they answered in the negative, implored him to start.

These 2 things have always been my guiding lights. Very recently I have started losing interest in everything that is happening around me due to life circumstances. And writing these things has truly helped me understand where I’m from and what I need to do. Thank you OP

[jkestner]

Agreed, thanks OP for the prompt, for myself.

My father was really stingy with money and wouldn’t gift me anything. All my friends drove cars in high school. I didn’t feel jealous (rides everywhere!) but it felt good when I earned my first car (and, uh, learned stick shift on the drive home). My mother didn’t spend a lot but never worried about money while working exactly the job she wanted how she wanted (including taking the risk of starting her own business to run her way).

You can guess they had slightly different upbringings. I had a solid middle-class experience growing up, never was spoilt but there wasn’t much I wanted, either. Supported by the privileges of socioeconomic class, between them I got a healthy balance of fiscal responsibility and freedom from letting that dictate my life.