He cared about being frugal because that was the Sweden he grew up in. I think this video, where he's buying lunch at an Ikea store in Poland, says a lot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbUE3O03h_s

(For those who cannot/will not view it, he gets a bit upset when the cashier tries to charge him for the coffee, despite that it should be included in the lunch.)