I have got 4 siblings (one is a young child so I won’t count her) but we are all very different in our approach with money.
Me: the oldest one, I am a saver by nature and very financially aware. Had my own mini business at 13 and would always save my pocket money to buy bigger items.
As an adult now I am nearing on 30 on a high salary with my own home (paid off) + some savings. I have always managed to have a good time (ironically more than my siblings) but always with finance in mind. Which means traveling by bus abroad vs flying even if it meant 24 hours on a bus, staying at an hostel vs hotel, drinking the cheapest alcohol and buying the cheapest clothes/ version of what I want.
My view was shaped by the fact I grew dirt poor with a mom who has no financial awareness and continuously needs to be bailed out. It made me very wary of depending on others for my own finances and I have always wanted to do well and gift myself the life I wanted vs going for the life people felt I was predestined for based on the context I was born.
DB1: a year and half younger than me and he is the TOTAL opposite of me. Hard work just doesn’t exist in his world, working in fact is not something that interest him. And he is the biggest freeloader I know. Continuously endebted and looking for any and every “quick cash” money scheme so as not to have to work. He spends like he is a millionaire despite living in my mom’s garage.
if you give him a 1000€ he will spend it buying a branded item + taking a girl to a fancy hotel to “show off” and pretend he is someone he isn’t.
I honestly don’t understand why he would rather live a pretend life he can’t afford instead of working at getting that life if that’s what attracts him.
We are from the exact same background but it seems like scarcity and our humble background has created that need for him to live in a fantasy world in which he lives a life that’s not truly is.
DB2: 6 years younger than me (early 20’s). He is the most alike to me when it comes to finances and the most responsible one. He is less financially/career driven than I am (he likes a quiet life so he has rejected promotions so as not to add stress to his plate) and likes branded items so spend more than I ever would on the things he does. BUT he never spends above his means and has been doing a good job at savings. In fact we are working on a buying a place together so he can get on the housing ladder and both have a small passive income. He is the only sibling I would feel confident doing that with and tying my finances with.
(I believe his approach to finances is based on his “don’t want to ever have to stress about anything” personality which means he tends to avoid debt so enjoy himself within reason)
DB3: late teens, so it’s hard to count him in but he is maybe a mix of DB2 and DB1. He is a harder worker than DB1 and is a bit more financially aware and focused like DB2 but he is also a bigger spender and I can see him going either way (either more like DB1 though less extreme) or DB2. I hope he will go for the latter personally.
It always fascinates me how siblings can turn out so different in most topics and especially in finances and how two siblings can have two completely different approaches to the same issue as well as be impacted completely differently by the same events they have been through during childhood.