My parents were pretty meticulous with their budget as well and I think a lot of that trickled down to me as I was growing up. Unfortunately, when you get a taste of the freedom money affords you and then you get laid off or your hours get cut it's hard to adjust on the fly. I did so many things wrong during that time, but I also managed to squeak by. I never really dug out of that, I just kept pushing it off. Then, when my wife and I got married, we finally had to address it head on. It was a lot of work, but we came through on the other side better for it.