Stuff I Learned Yesterday

One of the things that my dad always taught me is to live within your means.  He told me to never use a credit card unless I could pay off the full balance when the bill came in.  He told me to save for the things that I wanted and buy them after I had saved the money.  He told me to be content with what I had and not be jealous of things other people had.  These are are all very sound financial principles. I’m pretty conservative with my purchases, but money does burn a hole in my pocket faster than it will my wife.  She is very frugal.  She hates to shop, will wear clothes that are terribly out of style if they still fit and aren’t worn out, and she will talk herself out of buying just about anything that isn’t absolutely necessary.  When we first got married I would buy her gift cards to clothing stores for Christmas or her birthday so she could go buy something she liked.  She never spent them.  On the rare occasion she did spend them, it was when MY birthday had rolled around and she’d use it to buy me s