I stuck out at senior prom wearing my weird hippie thrift shop dress, not so much by choice but because it was all I could afford. Other girls sported pastel tulle in the latest style. Now, I’m not a follower nor do I like cookie-cutter solutions, but I really did stick out in a way that was awkward. My free government-provided lunch tickets were a different color from everyone else’s tickets and the utilities at home were often on the verge of being shut off. My family’s financial circumstances did not present an easy life for an awkward teen. Happily, the career path that sprang from those “have not” years provided me with a wealth of opportunities to explore my angst around money. Curious about the intersection between culture, society and money, I traveled to Nigeria for my master’s thesis research. I wanted to answer the question “How on earth do women run thriving businesses when they aren’t ever allowed to leave their homes?!” It turns out these women felt sorry for me that I had to work outside the home and contribute to general household expenses. They, on the other hand, could not hold bank accounts in their names but did completely control their income. They created informal savings groups to help support each other’s business ventures and spent the profits almost exclusively on furthering their children’s education.