Did/does your upbringing affect your attitude to money?

[Puppymonkeybaby1]

I'm having a disagreement with DH on this.

We're comfortable, but not flush. We're not checking our bank accounts every five minutes but nor can we spend willy nilly.

I'll freely admit I'm quite bad with money. I like to buy stuff, and with DS's first Christmas coming up I have gone a bit over the top. DH mentioned today that we need to reign it in a bit which sparked a longer chat (we were in the car, stuck in traffic).

I explained that I thought it was down to growing up with very little, I make up for it now and get a bit spendy. DH grew up with money, and is in fact a lot more careful than me. He argued that if I grew up with very little, surely I'd be more inclined to be careful now in case I end up spending too much/get into debt/have to go without.

So did or does your upbringing have an effect your approach to money now?

My parents were comfortable but not spendthrift, and I'm about the same. Never been poor, but never had money to throw around either.

I’m sure it must affect it to an extent... always having something means you surely can’t appreciate it properly?

However, my DB and I are only 1 year apart, grew up exactly the same (bugger all money), but are at opposite ends of the money-attitude spectrum. I save and worry and budget, and he, as you described, is very “spendy”.

Yes, definitely!

Tell your OH that both my parents were brought up very very poor - barely enough to eat, lots of cold nights with no money for coal to heat the house and lots of pressure to leave school at 15/16 to get out and earn.
It left them both with the attitude that they know how to survive on almost nothing so they want to enjoy the good times while they're here.
As a result, my childhood was quite lavish compared to people around me (lots of holiday, big presents, Christmas was huge and they regularly bailed out family members who were stuck to the tune of thousands), however, they're struggling now and they're in their 50s.

Me and dsis have come out of our childhoods with very different attitudes. She is like them, spends everything she has and can go from booking a holiday to selling something to pay a bill in a week.
I am very risk averse, have worked a lot to get to a place where mine and DHs earnings leave us comfortable and value stability. I stress just watching dsis sometimes but I know she thinks we're mad for not going on extra holidays or having more treats and putting money in to savings.