To think less money makes you actually better with money?

[Thegrassroots26]

I was pondering this and wondered do people agree or have experience that having less money actually makes you better with money. Having more can often mean you waste it or don’t appreciate the value of it.

Obviously.

Of course

My parents didn't have much but my DM was fantastic at budgeting and making what little she had go a long way.

I grew up seeing how she managed money, having a check list every week of how much to put away so all the bills would be covered and having other money put aside for luxuries or emergencies, so when I grew up it was second nature to me to do the same.

Admittedly, now I have far, far more than my parents ever did and certainly don't have to worry about where every penny is going. Nevertheless I always have a pretty good grip on the state of our finances and check the bank statement every month.

Ime it comes down to having a financial education, rather than how much money you have.

Yanbu. I can make £1 do fbs work of £10. Also you don't waste money on things you don't need. However it's awful penny pinching. More day I dream of buying food and not worrying about the budget

when I was broke, I was certainly more frugal, if that's what you mean. Now I am comfortably off, I don't much worry about day to day prices. However, I have always kept a record of credit cards, utility bills, bank accounts, etc. Nowadays, it's all electronic, of course.

Yes I think so. I grew up quite poor and as a result I’ve always been frugal, but never mean with money. I generally always buy second hand, use eBay, Vinted. This all came from watching my mother struggle and how far she could make her money go. I’m so used to it now that I can’t imagine living any differently, I’m frugal in every area of my life. For example I would never really buy a coffee or lunch out unless I was meeting friends or family for coffee. If I want or need something doing around the house I would consider doing it myself first. I tend to mend most of my clothes. It also helps that I get a lot of satisfaction from doing these jobs.

I think having less money often makes you more careful with it and you understand the value of it.

Overall, as a general observation, you're not wrong. But for me personally, I am on a limited income and I'm still absolutely shocking with money. It's actually quite embarrassing. I am paying off my debt and I'm 2027 should be completely debt free but there is a strong possibility that I will very quickly end up in debt again.

It does seem obvious, but I think just as important is your mindset towards the type of lifestyle you think you should have. I am now extremely comfortable but still look after money in the same way as I did when I was virtually penniless. My friends who have had similar financial trajectories are the same.

It's the ones who grew up in well-to-do circumstances who struggled when they set out on their own and found themselves worse off than their parents.

Disagree.

because there are people out there who have lots of money BECAUSE they’ve been good with money.

Of course those without much money can also be good with money management too but remain poor.

Up to a point, yes, it certainly makes people better at being frugal and budgeting.

But it can work the other way: people who have never had much money can be scared to take any financial risk (understandably). You have to spend some money to make serious money, whether that be through starting a business, buying a house or investing. If you approach everything with the mentality that spending the least money in any given situation you can lose out long term.

My DP is a case in point; he grew up on the breadline and is super thrifty and careful but when we were house hunting before buying our joint place he was always drawn to literally the cheapest place he could find and couldn’t see that a nicer or better appointed but slightly more expensive place would appreciate more quickly.

A “poverty mindset” can limit your ability to take those calculated risks.

I don’t think so.

I grew up in a family with very little money, but DPs were terrible with it. Debt up to our eyeballs, weeks on end living on donated tins of soup before spending every penny we got next ‘payday’ on an all-out day out, and repeating the cycle.

When I started earning, I was pretty much the same - it was only after I started earning enough to get me off the breadline (and all my colleagues were talking about buying houses and pensions!) I started figuring out money and budgets. Now I’d consider myself fairly financially responsible, despite spending more than I did when I was younger!

There are people both ends of the spectrum - with less money but great with it, and more money and terrible with it. The stakes are higher in different ways - obviously on the less money end you have impending starvation if you don’t manage money correctly, on the flipside I have friends up to their eyeballs in credit card debt because it’s easy to spend it if you have access to it. But I don’t think one side is inherently better than the other.

I can relate to this. I have never grown out of frugal habits such was wearing my clothes out as I want to make the most of them Not just from a saving money perspective, I believe things deserved to be used fully. I don't buy fast fashion for that reason, I like my clothes to last, which means in many cases buying second hand.

Well I did live within my means only because I had no choice. But it didn't make me better with money in the long term

I only learnt the value of money when I was in debt and had no money. Now I am in a better place financially and the habit have stuck and still quite sensible in some areas.