I often wonder if people’s financial irresponsibility is due to a parenting failure. It’s easy to blame the government for taking your last dollar if you’re unaware that you’re living like someone who makes 3x your income.

I was raised by working parents, we bought used cars, lived in the same house for 20-plus years, went on road trip vacations, ate out at a buffet once a week. We watched tv, but I was mostly confused by the lifestyles we saw there. I’m not saying it was a perfect experience, I hated my parents until I started paying my own way. Suddenly I saw my coworkers were struggling on twice my income. I have lots of problems, but money isn’t one of them.