I didn’t get an allowance. Mom couldn’t afford it – we grew up on welfare and food stamps. When dinner is ramen or potatoes, you can’t afford to pay a kid for chores she should be doing anyway. ;) However, that growing up in poverty does affect my money habits today. I left the trailer park as soon as I graduated high school. I went to college, but was too poor to finish – had to get a job. But to this day i’m pretty conservative with my money, because I know what it’s like to not have enough. I never want to be there again. I stock up on sales, because I like to have a pantry full of food. It makes me feel rich in a way that money in the bank doesn’t, because I can look at it and plan and know that I’m not going to have to eat ramen soup for dinner. I shop (and find amazing deals!) at the thrift store for clothes I can alter or repurpose, because I had to be crafty as a kid. (I still can’t stomach paying what they ask for clothes in normal stores unless it’s a clearance, since I envision it as a chunk of rent.) I pay off credit cards every month, because who knows when I’ll be laid off and be unable to do so, or need that money for food? I may never have much – but I’ve been lucky, ever since leaving home, to have enough. And that’s what counts.