"Dad, Why Are You Being So Stingy??"

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My father is a manager at a very reputable company here in Egypt, and since I was very young I couldn't help but realize that I get the least pocket money out of all my friends and peers and that my father never bought me expensive and branded clothes like all my other friends, also my father drove a very humble car when I knew he can easily buy a Mercedes or a BMW, and I always thought to myself: "Dad, Why are you being so stingy??"

Fast forward to where I am now, I knew exactly why my father did everything he did, and it turned out to be brilliant the mindset he had, and I'll explain exactly why.

Back then, one United States Dollar was worth 6 Egyptian pounds, but can you guess how much it is worth now? 50!!!

What happened was; Egypt went through a series of economic declines, the prices of everything skyrocketed, and what you used to buy for a pound you will now buy for 10 pounds, and before I can tell you what happened to us through all these unfortunate financial events, I'll tell you what happened to everyone else.

Everyone else found themselves living a life they couldn't afford, they had to downgrade their lifestyle multiple times, they had to cut back spending on essential things like food and education, and many of them had to sell their hard-earned assets to survive. Most importantly they all lived in fear; the fear of not being able to provide for their families, and not being able to secure their children's future.

But what happened to us amidst this thunder of fear? Absolutely nothing...

We never had to downgrade our lifestyle because we've already been living below our means, and we never had to cut back spending on anything because we never overspent in the first place, we weren't in debt, and we had emergency funds to get through any unfortunate event.

I'm almost 24 years old now and I'm in tears, knowing that my father has done his best throughout his entire life to raise us well, we never needed anything that we didn't have, and we never were stressed or worried over money, we always felt safe and secure inside of this house.

I'm so lucky to have had the best father ever, who taught me a lot of valuable lessons, including "Always live below your means"

When you live below your means; you have enough money to save, invest, get through unfortunate events, and most importantly; you live a financially secure life, which is essential for a happy life!