My financial situation has dictated the way I play, when I play, and how I play for both tournaments and money matches over the past three years with marriage and the birth of my daughter.
I used to be a tournament soldier, entering every and anything I could regardless of level of competition. I was playing at a respectable level on the higher amateur scale here in Japan, which meant I had a good of a chance of anybody (including a few lower tier pros thrown in) to cash in. Most tournaments I entered were groups of anywhere from 32-64 people, playing race to 5 matches, and of that group, probably any of about 24 players including myself was capable of winning it all on a good day. Because of these conditions, I felt like winning one was not really a matter of having to beat so and so, or having to up my game. It honestly was like buying a lottery ticket. You're not going to win most of the time, but the more you enter, the better your chances. So, at that time, my frame of mind while entering a tournament wasn't "Look at all these chumps donating to me" or "Wow, I might play xxx". It was more of a matter of "OK, who's hitting 'em good?" and "sure hope I can catch a stroke before the nights over."
At this particular time, I was probably cashing in (best 4) about 50% of the time, and playing 3-4 nights a week. And still, unless I had actually won an event, I was probably coming away with nothing more than a little bit of pocket change considering expenses. If I could actually win two or three in a row, then I would end the week with enough money to go after a bigger fish in a bigger money match on the weekend.
Now, I don't (can't) play as much, so I consider my chances of cashing in to be slim. So, when I consider entering an event, if I've got the cash, I'll enter a larger open event with hopes of having an extremely good night. But, I'll only do this probably once a month, and usually these entries are "the major highlight in daddys monthly schedule."
Other than this, I now stick to the lower end local house tournaments with lower entry fees, lower payouts, and generally lower competition. Often times, I often use the money I can make from these tournaments to pay for entry to the larger tournaments.
So, simply said, my financial situation has clearly had an effect on the way I play tournaments now. In the past, it was like buying a lottery ticket where I felt that I had as good a chance as anybody to cash in. Whereas today, I'll still enter a big one every once in a while, but although I don't think I'm actually throwing money away, I'm entering for 'entertainment' more than anything..........................and although slim, my form of entertainment offers me the chance to come out ahead.
dave
I didn't care though I was the lowest handicap in the room and I'd won the whole shooting match, it was exciting. Aside from that I have 3 second place finishes and 2 third place. Put me in the HOF .... 
I play them for the experience, the pressure, and the thrill of competition, winning is just gravy on top. 