Scarcity mindset is real. I studied abroad in France, and the government promised up and down that they would cover my housing only to reneg a few days before my trip (long after I had secured my student loan money, bought my flight, etc) and saddled me with a $600/month payment and no income. I was counting individual bus trips into town and skipping meals (I went from 160 to 140 pounds in a few months) to save up 60 euros for a RyanAir flight to visit my then-girlfriend-now-wife who was studying in Austria at the time (and I broke down when I was forced to miss it because I put my luggage in a train station locker that advertised "24 hours" but the room housing the lockers was only available during the day, and this was not advertised).
Even after I graduated and got a series of increasingly high-paying engineering jobs, I couldn't shake the scarcity mindset, and I would scrimp and save (although I didn't skip meals any longer!). In time (with a whole lot of help and encouragement with my wife), I was able to largely overcome it. We're still very conservative with our money--we're probably in the top 10% of Americans with respect to income, but we spend like we're median (or lower) Americans and save the difference. However, now it's because we want to retire early or pursue other loftier goals (some combination of traveling the world, buying a hobby farm, and/or starting a small business) rather than my debilitating anxiety.
(Since we're getting a little political) It also makes it hard to sympathize with my peers who didn't work, skipped class, lived in the dorms, paid for meal plans and still went out to eat several times a week, bought daily $7 lattes, and majored in some art history or leisure services or (non-teaching) English Literature when they insist that the government should forgive their enormous student loan debt (I'm fine with universal education, but no one should be surprised that they have to repay the debt that financed their unsustainable lifestyle or demand that society foot the bill).
Even after I graduated and got a series of increasingly high-paying engineering jobs, I couldn't shake the scarcity mindset, and I would scrimp and save (although I didn't skip meals any longer!). In time (with a whole lot of help and encouragement with my wife), I was able to largely overcome it. We're still very conservative with our money--we're probably in the top 10% of Americans with respect to income, but we spend like we're median (or lower) Americans and save the difference. However, now it's because we want to retire early or pursue other loftier goals (some combination of traveling the world, buying a hobby farm, and/or starting a small business) rather than my debilitating anxiety.
(Since we're getting a little political) It also makes it hard to sympathize with my peers who didn't work, skipped class, lived in the dorms, paid for meal plans and still went out to eat several times a week, bought daily $7 lattes, and majored in some art history or leisure services or (non-teaching) English Literature when they insist that the government should forgive their enormous student loan debt (I'm fine with universal education, but no one should be surprised that they have to repay the debt that financed their unsustainable lifestyle or demand that society foot the bill).