LogFAQs > #970420965

I can relate to this a lot.

I was raised virtually the same way, broke parents but with grandparents, mostly just Grandma, who had disposable income, and it definitely screwed with me. Grandma would always buy me things. When I was four years old I got an NES, and she also bought me a tv for my own room so I could play it in there without bothering my parents. Of course, she made sure to buy me a bigger tv than the one my parents had in the front room which I'm sure made them feel amazing. Whenever something like this happened, arguments would ensue, my Grandma would usually win under the 'Grandparents Get To Spoil Grandchildren' clause and usually being privy to the arguments my childhood was mostly me knowing I was getting a bunch of things I probably shouldn't have. My parents apparently won this argument once back when I was two and she got me a drum kit. They put a stop to that right away. Probably a very smart decision.

My parents, I don't know if it was to try and compete with Grandma or not, would buy me things I knew even at a young age they probably shouldn't be buying. I had way too many video games for how much money my parents made. When I was older and Magic became a thing, they would just randomly buy me packs here or there. I don't really like to think of how much they spent on that stuff overall.

I'm 38 now but I still have some fucked up issues with money.

If something has recently been on sale, I won't buy it until it goes back on sale. It's not that I think what I want costs too much, it's just knowing that I could've feasibly had it cheaper. There's a game I want that's on sale right now for $4.50, but back in January it was on sale for $3.75. It's less than a dollar. A dollar! But I likely won't buy it, telling myself it will go on sale for the cheaper price again eventually (and my backlog is ridiculous so it's not like I don't have shit to play.)

I can't choose where to eat out if I'm with other people. I've gotten into arguments with friends before when they tried to get me to choose because they always have to choose, and I'll end up just choosing not to eat at all. The idea that they might pay more to eat at the place I picked, which makes no sense to begin with because I would inevitably choose somewhere cheap, causes me a ton of stress.

My parents, who like yours don't buy things online and ask me to do it for them if they ever have to, wanted to get my Sister some car seat covers for Christmas. My Mom tells me what she wants and gives me their credit card number to order it for them. Strangely enough, because it doesn't involve me getting anything I have no problem whatsoever paying for this myself, but if Mom found out one of her kids paid for something for her shit would hit the fan. However, because I'm not paying, once I see that they cost ~$200 I decide I need to look around. Maybe somewhere else sells it cheaper. Maybe there's some coupon available to get a discount. Maybe it will go on sale after Thanksgiving. It's literally not my money but it takes me eight days to buy it.