You don't need to give me a diamond necklace, because I'm going to look at it and immediately think, "Wow, this is beautiful, but I don't want to wear it more than every once in a great, great while or else I might lose it. Too much money at risk." By the way, this actually happened. And the necklace broke twice. Once when I was jumping rope in elementary school. I almost had a heart-attack. Then, I went home and put it away in my jewelry box for another couple years. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend—until I learned how much diamonds cost.

I learned at a young age to buy the inexpensive but reasonably good quality products at a store. It’s made me come to terms with that side of adulthood a lot faster than normal kids. I don't need your brand-name pantie-liners if they work just the same as any other pantie-liner, right?

I love thrift shopping, because of all the treasures, but also because I love the satisfaction of leaving a store with two huge bags filled, having only spent $30. I’ll go to Forever 21 and almost immediately go to the clearance section. $9 beautiful dress? Yes, please. Best kind of satisfaction.

I always got (and still occasionally get) the hand-me-downs from my New Jersey cousins, who bought all the brand names. Need I say more? (Don’t get me wrong if you’re reading this, cousins- please continue to send me stuff. I’m just making a point.)

Today at CVS, I stared at my choices of tissues and toothpaste for a while (because, math). I bought three $1.87 knock-off Kleenex tissue boxes (70 pack)- buy two, get one free, and three knock-off of Sensodyne toothpastes, again buy two, get one free. All of which don't make me feel like the fanciest person (although, each toothpaste had something different written on them, still being the same brand, which was fancy, in my opinion).

It's not that my family is poor. We just never had much in the way of pocket money. Even so, even if I did have a bunch of pocket money, why not? Why not save that extra dollar? That extra dollar adds up.

Some friends I'd had from high school weren't taught the same values, so when we went out places, I would occasionally get uncomfortable and I'd start feeling like I was the mom of the group (in more ways than one). It was like they never even bothered to look at the prices or they were frivolous with their money (that they had been given from their parents, usually). They lived on the wild side. Honestly, I was jealous I couldn’t bring myself to do that.

My freshman year of high school, I lost my mother's $40 that I was supposed to give to someone. All I remember is being in math class, realizing I’d lost it, freaking out, running to the bathroom, having an anxiety attack, calling my mother to apologize, her saying that it was okay, that it's $40 but it's okay, "somebody must have had a great day today," she'd said. Thinking back, anybody who heard about this probably thought I was completely overreacting.

I always wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn't been taught to not be frivolous at a young age. I know that I wouldn’t be as anxious about money. That’s one thing. And yes, of course, it's been great being well-aware of this while in college, and not having to realize many mistakes when my bank account reads a crazy low number after each week.

The summer before I attended college, I had a job paying minimum wage, and I spent my own money on about whatever I desired at any given moment (still keeping in mind that I didn't need to spend $10 on toothpaste when there was a knock-off at $4.49). I was still living with my parents, may I add. I called it my "spontaneous summer." I felt on top of the world.

But now, I’m not working every week, so I can’t do that.

Maybe one day I’ll experience that again. Feeling young and free – no pun intended. (Just kidding. I totally intended that pun.)