In the early 2000s, Neopets was all the rage. You could go online, design and name your own pet, play games, earn coins to spend and explore Neopia. You could create and manage your own store as well as have your own home to decorate. Like a massive amount of other kids, I was hooked. I logged so many hours on Neopets that I still remember the location of the Hidden Tower and how to find Jelly World. I remember the correct time to approach the Snowager and where to find free food. From those countless hours spent online, I learned a few things.

1. The value of hard work.

Like real life, it’s all about the grind; work hard, spend little. But, unlike real life, the “grind” is playing games. Hey, some of those games were hard.

2. Frugality.

We all wanted those ever-elusive paintbrushes – and not just the boring solid colored ones. I’m talking about the oh-so expensive Faerie and Baby paintbrushes.

3. There's nothing wrong with "free."

I never wanted to spend money on food for my Neopets. I always had to save up for something. That’s why visits to the Giant Omelet were a must. Now, as a constantly broke college student, I’m all about free.

4. Responsibility.

Neopets required feeding and attention, often multiple times a day (unless you fed them until they were almost sick.) While they never actually died, their sad little faces when they were hungry or neglected forced me to feed them. Sadly, there are four starving Neopets on an old, abandoned account of mine.

5. Gambling = bad idea.

Nobody could resist spinning one of the many expensive wheels scattered throughout Neopia or buying an extremely overpriced scratch card. How often did you get something good from a wheel or a scratch card? Yeah, never.