Anonymous wrote:He got rich by being careful and scroogy for 70 years. Now the habit is hard to break.

And then the next generation or the generation after that overreacts and then it’s all gone and the cycle repeats.

My grandfather grew up during the depression. He raised three girls in a two-bedroom house and was the cheapest man alive. When he died, his estate was worth over a million.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My multi millionaire cheap ass uncle drove a Yugo when I was a kid and also flooded out his house because he would turn the heat down really low in the winter lmao.

Weird guy and ridiculous, but I don't think this qualifies as mental illness.

I think it's mental illness, not just weirdness. When you do things that can be detrimental and damaging to yourself and your family for the sake of being frugal it beats the whole point of being frugal (which is to feel security and comfort). It's illogical. People who are frugal to the point where they create hardships (which money is supposed to solve) are mentally damaged or have some sort of personality disorder spectrum.

Being frugal is a strategy for slowly accumulating large amounts of money. It's just a behavior that's hard to change because spending money is the opposite of how you became wealthy. Now if you are constantly ranting about how the sky is falling, you probably have some type of anxiety or problem that needs to be addressed. Reducing screen time and cutting out junk cable news will probably be part of the treatment plan.

Anonymous wrote:My dad is the same way and it sucks for my mom. They are retired. She wants to travel. She wants new experiences. She wants to enjoy her last few years. My dad gloom gloom gloom gloom gloom gloom. It's disgusting. I put together a trip for them to Costa Rica and it collapsed at the last minute. He found it too expensive. They don't do anything. I wish my mother could divorce him and just enjoy her life.

Sorry OP

Your dad has a disorder - same pee my father. They love $$ more than people

My dad is the same way and it sucks for my mom. They are retired. She wants to travel. She wants new experiences. She wants to enjoy her last few years. My dad gloom gloom gloom gloom gloom gloom. It's disgusting. I put together a trip for them to Costa Rica and it collapsed at the last minute. He found it too expensive. They don't do anything. I wish my mother could divorce him and just enjoy her life.

Sorry OP

My dad is the same way, but he's a business owner in a cyclical industry and survived multiple recessions, so I understand why he's so conservative with money. My siblings and I are the same way, even though we aren't entrepreneurs. Old habits die hard, and they get passed down through generations. My siblings and I are the savers in our marriages.

I'm of a different mindset. Early 50s....worth about $8M, mostly self made (no one is 100% self made btw). Grew up dirt poor literally, like free school lunch, and low income housing, etc. Presently, there is no anxiety, fear of losing everything and becoming poor again. BTDT. Chances are that we will find a way to get back on our feet...we know how to hunt and kill. Had we simply inherited our $$, I likely would have more anxiety and fear of losing it, not feeling confident on how to get it back. As I recall, being poor was not all that bad really and you really don't need much $$ to survive here. The govt helps with housing, food, med care. More $$ more problems as they say.

My adoptive parents are like this. We are no longer in contact. They are in their 70/80s and live in a $2 million dollar home in Potomac. They never see their grandkids and continue to work. Talking to them is like a nonstop Fox channel - you can’t talk about the weather, grandkids, food without them complaining about climate scams, trans people or illegal immigrants. They use derogatory language about minorities, despite me being one. They are always worried about money despite making over $300k a year.

It's a defense mechanism. I refuse to think of myself as rich. Such negative connotations.

He got rich by being careful and scroogy for 70 years. Now the habit is hard to break.