I had a completely different reaction (I related to this article very well. http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/ http

I had a completely different reaction (I related to this article very well. http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/ http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-devel...). My family didn't just have a lack of money we also had regularity problems with it. Short cycles (6 months on and off) of being employed or unemployed and it causes me issues with relating to money to this day. I learned that when you get money you spend it as quickly as you can on the nice-to-haves or mostly-nessicary stuff because money will literally disappear from under your fingers on paying bills and buying food. My favorite holidays growing up were Christmas and Tax-refund day. That's how my family got our first, second and third computers. When my dad was employed he used to give me a generous (for the 80's) allowance of $20/week, but it rarely lasted more than a couple weeks. I'm only now getting my finances straight because I can afford to and I'm spending countless hours reading personal finance books and articles and I've had a friend that grew up learning the value of money and he showed me it's power.