[Ocean's Edge]

my ex was frugal....very frugal

some men used their fists to beat up their wives, some use their cheque books
He did very very well with the money he had - later as a single mom, I envied him those skills, and I'd hear his words ringing in my ears "If I let you have access to the money, we'd be broke inside of six months!"

It took me a while, but I finally figured out that to be like him - I'd have to be like him... a skinflint, tight ass, cheap bastard who resented every dime he had to spend on his wife and kids....

I didn't want to be like him

Him and I are now largely like a pair of 5 yr olds with credit cards, when we have money we tend to spend it, when we don't we do without - neither one of us has the 'proper respect' for money - we have a tendency to view it as a tool - a means to an end - rather than the goal itself. I know I know - crazy talk ... but we know that's what we are, and we're both completely content to send the last $25 we've got to help some poor dog's surgery in Nashville, or some cheery thing we've always wanted *shrug*

(all that said we don't deliberately throw money away either - and we tend to at least make a reasonable effort to buy wisely while we're busy spending)