Mariah Carey refuses to buy her children expensive gifts so they learn the value of money.
The pop diva is worth a reported $300 million (£247 million) and is known for her lavish lifestyle, but grew up in financial hardship as her mother was cut off by her family for entering into a mixed-race marriage with her father.
Although she is determined to give her eight-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan a more secure childhood, she still wants them to know what it was like for her to not be able to buy anything she wanted.
"It's hard, but I try to keep them grounded so they don't think everything is just handed to them," the Heartbreaker singer told People magazine. "Right now it's like, 'I want this,' and I'm like, 'You're asking me for something that costs $20.' I can't even imagine having, like, one dollar as a kid because we didn't have money going around. So they have to appreciate those things."
Carey also recently took her two kids, whose father is TV host Nick Cannon, to Camp Mariah, the summer camp for low-income children from New York, which she visited to mark its 25th anniversary.
The star believes she and Nick have done a good job bringing up Moroccan and Monroe, adding: "They're a lot, but they give me so much love in return. I wouldn't be the same person without them. I think Nick and I have done pretty well in co-parenting, staying friends with each other so that we can talk."
Last year the star opened up about her tough childhood to People and revealed how it had influenced her as a parent.
"The most important thing I can do for my children is give them what I didn't really have: a chance to live in a safe and secure home surrounded by people who love and support them unconditionally," she stated.
Mariah and Nick's divorce was finalised in 2016.
