Wearing hand-me-downs teaches you early that a thing’s value isn’t its price tag.

Clothes that arrive free make the gap between cost and usefulness obvious early. A jacket somebody else wore keeps you exactly as warm as a new one, and once you notice that, a price stops looking like a measure of quality. That lesson is awkward at fifteen and valuable for the next sixty years.

Price one thing you want and work out how many hours it is, then look for the version that does the same job. Thrift, borrow, or ask around the family. Notice how often the cheaper thing is fine, and keep a list of the few times it genuinely was not.