In the past 30 or 60 days, the amount I charged and then immediately paid off on the company’s American Express card for small costs like office supplies, software, and hosting fees was more than the current market value of the house where I grew up as a child … and it is the slowest month of our fiscal year.
Even though I love being rich and all the perks that come with it, in all honesty, I would not change anything about my life because those experiences combined turned me into who I am today. When I go into a store and spend thousands of dollars on French cologne or adjust the equity portfolios at the companies, I am so much more appreciative because none of it was handed to me. I had to earn it. All of that frugality was worth it.
And even though, God willing, I still have a long way to go before I end up where I want (think: Empire), I have to say: God bless America. I mean that as sincerely as any man can, from the very depths of my soul. It is this gratitude that is one of the reasons my family insists on trying to source as many products as possible within the United States, as a way to give back to the economy that blessed us so much.
This is the house where we lived from the time I was 8 until I was 14 years old. After that, when my parent's business started to do well, they bought a much larger house but, as they taught us, the business must always come first. All of the family's savings went into the company, even if it meant driving old cars and living well below what we could afford. It was a vital life lesson and it is sad that the youngest of my siblings has no idea how difficult things were - for the older group, this was our childhood and helps us appreciate so much more of the lifestyle we have now. By the time I was in college, from my own savings, investments and Internet projects, I was able to afford a great apartment that was something like $1,435 per month on the East Coast, dress well, eat well, go to concerts, buy the newest video games, go to movies with friends and travel, and I was still in school, while still saving virtually all of my after-tax income!
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I'm a private investor who loves architecture, furniture, clothes, history, philosophy, books, cooking, and music as much as I do finance. 
