My children are all adults now (31, 29 and 27) and obviously I must have started learning when they were young because they're all very good with money.

My parents were odd. On the one hand, they bought me all the toys and crap I could handle and then some. On the other hand I remember being 14 and begging for a pair of red tab Levi's. it was 1985 and they were "in". They refused, fussed and went on about how $49.99 for a pair of pants was "highway robbery," preferring to buy me 7 pairs of $11 jeans that lasted about 3 months each. I did eventually get my way on the Levi's. Those jeans outlasted both my parents. They're gone now. The jeans, which I cut off into shorts after the knees finally wore out about 10 years ago, are still part of my summer wardrobe (although it's getting harder to fit into them). I'd say I got my $50 worth. :)