It certainly isn't easy and unfortunately, not many are lucky enough to break the cycle on a personal level. I may have financial security to an extent, but in my head, I feel as though I have a long way to go to not count every penny, meticulously budget everything, look for financial shortcuts, buy the cheapest of everything, etc. In a way I think that those are just basic, smart financial moves, but it's the stress of feeling like you "HAVE TO," because you don't have a choice is what I want to get away from.