Cheapskate

Lots of folks my age were children of parents who suffered through The Great Depression.  We grew up on the cheap.  I grew up on a farm.  The Depression didn't impact farmers as much as city dwellers.  We grew or raised most of our own food, preserved it by canning and freezing.  We never went hungry.

Farm kids worked hard and darned few were compensated for it, other than food, shelter and clothing.  Allowance?  Uh, uh.  I doubt my Dad even knew the word.  My Mom and us 8 siblings had to beg a few bucks from Dad for Christmas shopping, personal items, anything and everything.  I suspect other farm families were the same, but I never asked my school friends if they got an allowance.   

Now, we are senior adults, and most of us don't need to live on the cheap.  But - no matter how successful we are, how much our net worth, how much we don't have to be frugal - we still are.  Case in point: me.  Although comfortable financially, I'm still a cheapskate.  Yes, I could afford to buy top-of-the-line groceries (I even use coupons), clothing, furnishings, do high-end travel, you name it, mostly I don't.  

Funny thing is, I've donated hundreds of thousands of $ to a favorite cause.  But that doesn't change my day-to-day behavior, my spending habits.  Kinda weird.