When I was 14, I was given an allowance of $5 a week and with that, I had to buy all my own clothes. I learned how to budget and save up for what I wanted. It was the best lesson my parents could have taught me.

My two nieces were very spoiled growing up. Christmas was always a nightmare for me because a) there was nothing I could get them that they didn't already have and b) anything they wanted I could not afford. Fortunately, they grew up without that "spoiled attitude" and now, at the ages of 24 and 26, they each pay their own way.

...and when I was a kid, I had to walk 10 miles to school each way, all uphill with no shoes and....oops, sorry, that was my Dad speaking...