My source of frugality is defnitely multivariate. I can't pinpoint a single source.
I emigrated to the US with my parents, so we were dirt poor for a good portion of my childhood. Although my parents always tried to hide our financial situation, a lot came out in late-night fights that I overheard.
The source of the conflict was in my parents' different financial philosophies.
My father has lived through hard times, both as an immigrant and back in his home country. He was all for working hard, saving, and living frugally. The only place he refused to scrimp was in me--specifically, my education.
My mother was different. She came from a much wealthier family, and she always wanted to be well-off. She was angry at my father for our lower quality of life as immigrants. She cared a lot about reputation and appearances.
I guess I took after my father. Actually, it wasn't even a fair contest. I didn't care about my frumpy, hand-me-down wardrobe so much as being able to go to the college that I wanted. My mother would have bought me a beautiful, brand-name wardrobe (because then I'd look good enough to snag a rich husband), but refused to pay for the college I chose, simply because it wasn't the highest ranked school that admitted me (but it had a much better science program BY FAR, which was what I wanted).
That had a lasting effect on me. That killed any desire in me to "keep up with the Joneses", so to speak. I learned that appearances and reputation were shallow, and worth nothing compared to what you have cultivated *inside*.
But what really inspired me financially was my SO. When we first met, he was a year out of college. A year later, he was on the market to buy a house. So when he was two years out of college, he already had enough money for a down payment and the monthly mortgage on a $250K house.
Mind you, he's not from a rich family. And he wasn't making that much, salary-wise. But he was smart, he worked hard, and he was a compulsive saver.
I thought to myself, "If he could save enough for a house two years out of college, then GOSH DARN IT, SO COULD I!"
I'll catch him one day. I'm at an advantage, because I've got you guys.
~mimi