I learned to be frugal and resourceful from my mother. I kept it up all my life because it makes perfect sense- spend less and have more. We were very poor most of my childhood, but many people might not have guessed the extent of it, because somehow we usually managed to have what we needed. This was a lesson I learned in a most profound way as a young girl. In north Texas, my mother had met and married Charles. It was the worst mistake of her life; she had missed all the warning signs. After they were married, his family controlled every aspect of our lives. When my…