Completely different POV here. Of course, I was playing the game long before Pete invented it, because...I'm old, lol. And tricky. My skill was always to look like I was wealthier than I actually was. Thrift store clothes, consignment store furniture, garage/yard/estate sale deals, a company car, roommates, good DIY skills, home cooking, and more belied the fact that I was saving my ass off. It was a fun game. Now, my spending doesn't matter, but I still do these things for fun. Well, except the company car is no longer. Nowadays, no company, ergo, no company car. Sweet!
One brother was wise to me. His hunch was proved correct when his loan on his new house fell through at the last minute. I transferred the entire purchase amount into his account the next day. The deal closed, he got his mortgage (after firing the mortgage broker), and I got my money back, all in less than two weeks.