I know what you mean and agree with you in principle, if we are really affluent middle-to-late career parents and have a relatively high living standard (we are not.) As an example, as far as I can remember, for the last half a dozen times we ate out, we ate out at a fast food joint. We also very rarely take a vacation and rarely eat out at a mid-priced (or even lower priced) restaurant where the customers are served. We just do not want our kid to live at a living standard lower than this. I think our son has been most likely more frugal than the most of his classmates already.