this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

I've never known my father to bargain shop, and his mantra seems to be that if something costs more, it must be better (he's even applied that principle when buying milk at the grocery store). Yet, growing up, he was always harping on his kids to turn off the lights in a room no one was in and to close the front door if the a/c was on (but you better leave the door open if it's not - you can't cool the outside, but let the outside air cool you!). Apparently his priorities lie in cutting the electricity bill so he can allocate the money elsewhere.

A cousin of mine recently bought a beautiful new (large) house and lots of new furniture to fill it. Yet his wife told me he's too cheap to spring for a hotel room for their upcoming vacation (they'll stay with a relative who is eager to have them stay with them, but really doesn't have enough room for all of them). His priorities have nothing to do with luxury accommodations on the road, and everything to do with luxury at home.

I guess I tend to assume that once a person reaches a point in there life when they've got money to burn they spend much more freely and nothing is a concern. But obviously that's not true. I don't imagine it will be true for my family, so I'm not sure why I think it's true for anyone else - I can't imagine not making sure I'm getting the best deal or stocking up when something is a good price (clearly traits I didn't inherit from my dad) even when I reach a point where I can afford to do otherwise. Eventually I will save money in one area, so I can splurge in another. Which is the point my father and cousin are at. I'm doing that right now, it's just that most of the splurging comes in the form of paying off the mortgage or adding to our emergency fund. Everyone has different priorities, and those priorities shift as time goes on.