REVEALED: Grew up poor habits | Rare Historical Photos

These days, no matter where you live, it’s probably pretty hard to find someone who isn’t at least a little worried about money (thanks, inflation). In the U.S. alone, the American Psychological Association’s 2025 Stress in America report found that money ranked fifth among the nation’s “significant stressors”: 66% of Americans reported feeling stressed about money, while 75% said they were concerned about the economy at large.

But this isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. Sheiresa McRae Ngo, writing for Bankrate, describes financial stress—a feeling of worry or anxiety over money, debt and various expenses— as “one of the most prevalent and enduring types of stress.” And it can have a significant impact on our mental health, too. In fact, 47% of U.S. adults reported that money impacted their mental health, a 2024 Bankrate survey found, with 59% of respondents saying “difficulty paying for everyday expenses” had a “major impact” on their mental health.

Considering this impact, it perhaps makes sense that some of the habits we develop when money is tight might stick around even after we can loosen our belts (and wallets) a little. Knowing you can afford something now doesn’t necessarily erase the memory of when you couldn’t, and a childhood or period of financial hardship can change the way you look at waste, spending and security long after the pressure has eased.

When money is genuinely tight, saving, reusing and stretching what you have can be a necessity—there may simply not be another option. But when your circumstances improve, those same behaviors can take on a different meaning. They may have simply become second nature. It’s less about scarcity and more about frugality.

You might be able to buy something new but decide to make the old one last. You might be able to order takeout but still prefer to rustle up whatever leftovers you have instead. You might be able to throw something away, but if it still has a use, why would you? After all, when you’ve spent years learning not to waste what you have, “perfectly good” can be a surprisingly broad category.

In other words, what started out of necessity can become a conscious choice. And that’s where these “poverty habits” get interesting. Not everyone holding onto them still depends on them to get by. Some have simply learned that they like saving money, dislike waste or feel more comfortable knowing they have a little extra something tucked away in case they need it. Their circumstances may have changed, but the lessons they learned haven’t necessarily disappeared with them.

And maybe that’s why so many of these habits feel less like deprivation and more like resourcefulness—less restriction than intention. Learning to use something until it genuinely needs replacing, squeezing out every last drop, saving leftovers, comparing prices or thinking twice before making a purchase are hardly behaviors that need to change simply because you can now afford not to do them. So perhaps the real question isn’t why these habits stick around, but why you’d ever want to get rid of them.