After my last grandparent passed this spring, the final stages of dividing up the estate on my fathers side is now in full swing. As my father died around a decade ago, his share is divided equally among my siblings and I. My aunt is in charge of the estate, and last week she looked at all the accounts, and I was pleasantly surprised at what was in them.

While my grandparents weren’t rich by most standards, their generation was simply really good at saving up. Despite my share only being one third of a fourth (my dad had three siblings, I ha e two), it was enough to pay down all of my debts except the mortgage and then leave a decent rainy day fund.

The ones who claim that money can’t buy happiness obviously didn’t account for situations where lack of it is what’s keeping you from being happy. I’ve been financially stable for a while, but I’m officially no longer living paycheck to paycheck.