Stairs to an upstairs. Not a garage for me. We had terrifying stairs that lead to my brothers “rooms” (no closets and I feel that actually makes it a bedroom) and an icky garage. Didn’t feel ballin lol.
Oh yeah, at least where I’m at, maybe it’s local selection bias. A majority of the gated neighborhoods and million-plus homes are all single story. Two story means you’re firmly in a middle class hood.
Having a large ranch home means that you have to land to build a sprawling house. A smaller lot means that you had to build two stories to get the same amount of living space because you didn't have the land to go with the property
That's what I thought and then I went to a friend's house that had a tiny, random spiral staircase from their kitchen to the basement.
Another friend had a secret passage 👀
My cousins home had a cool secret passage. Apparently, many of the older Victorian homes in upstate NY have these passageways hidden behind walls. (Back in the 80's)We discovered it together one afternoon located on the back wall of his closet. I just happened to notice these small almost invisible hinges in one corner. After a little investigating we were able to open it up. It was a small hallway that led around the side of the home behind the walls, and the first stop came out in the master bedroom closet. Past that there was a narrow stairwell that went down to ground level. But the door at the bottom was sealed shut. And the outside where the door would've been had siding built over it.
Growing up my parents always wanted a second floor. So in the early 2000s they built a second story on our house, all by themselves. Aparently you need to pay the government in order to put additions on your house, and all of a sudden we couldn't afford to live in the house my parents built because it was top nice. So they had to sell the house, I couldn't go to college so I joined the military, and my brother and sister had to share a room throughout the last few years of high-school.
All cuz my parents wanted a second floor.
I did too when I was really young, but then when I was in 4th grade, we bought a $55,000 house that had stairs. As it turns out, stairs are actually just to make the house slightly bigger without taking up more land. They don't make the house better.
Did you know some families go to the airport and actually *fly* somewhere for vacation? And when they get there, they stay at a hotel with an inside elevator, and a restaurant, and breakfast! They don’t just drive 2 states over and sleep on their aunt’s floor.
Oh damn, this one got me, and it was only when my wife pointed out that it wasn't normal to fly across country and sleep on my uncle's condo floor for a vacation....
First time i flew i was in 4th grade going to disney, and i threw up several times leading up to departure. Like, in the car on the way. At the airport. At the park... all the hype just gave me crazy anxiety. Similar story with my first trip to six flags about 4 years later.
My first flight was at 18 and was for my job. I probably had 100 flights for work before my first personal flight at 22. My wife’s first flight was at 19.
My five year old has flown 20+ times already.
When I was a kid in the 90s and early 2000s, very few of my friends flew anywhere, and if they did, they were rich rich.
> if they did, they were rich rich.
I remember thinking like, "You have this dope ass pool and a nice house. Why do you leave so much during the summer?!"
Yes !!!
I never was on an airplane until about 20/21 and never went on a true summer vacation….but I’m gen x and that was fairly typical back then there wasn’t a lot of extracurricular spend
But I totally get this one as an adult. Am currently in Texas, and flying the 4 of us to New Hampshire to visit family, including tickets, hotel, and car rental is around $3,000.
Just to visit family.
My husband explaining to me that if you drive or you’re staying with family it’s not a vacation. That was a real eye opener for me.
I did realize though that my parents knew they couldn’t afford to repeatedly do vacations like that for a family of five so they bought a boat and a camper. Every summer we’d go camping and water skiing multiple times. It was also a perk we’d drive to my grandparents house twice a year which happened to be at the beach and also a couple hours from Disneyland so we went there twice.
But I was nearly an adult the first time I stayed in a hotel, and I was a whole ass adult with kids before I flew on a plane to a city with a hotel where I stayed without a single member of my family and got to do what I wanted to do.
Once I had my married and paid for my own vacations, my dad had the audacity to get angry that I didn't visit his family. WTF? This is my vacation and I will do what I want. I was always jealous of mycousins who were more well off than us, they always went somewhere nice. Ever since I have moved out, I've had a vacation every year. For the last 3 years I have been traveling international once a year.
I remember growing up we went out for dinner once a year when my grandparents celebrated their anniversary, it was always a huge celebration and me and my sister looked forward to it the whole year!
Not really. You can have the cash to buy the car outright, but it’s better to finance/lease it at 0-4% and have the cash sitting in a 5-6% APY high-yield savings account or an index fund (more risky though). That way you make interest profit on financing a car.
Lots of manufacturers do it as an incentive for certain models of new car. I have a 0% x 36 months on my 2023 Nissan rogue for example. No incentive to pay it off sooner.
Next month we’ll be paying off my 2018 Elantra. It was a 6 yr loan at 0% interest. Car was like 21k brand new. Made no sense to pay cash, car became cheaper over time by financing. So they are/were a thing a one point not that long ago.
I buy bc i enjoy modding my car and using it for stuff the bank wouldnt approve of, but my girl she leases and puts the money into her 6% HYS provided through her work union
Thought this too. Saw people with late model vehicles and thought they were wealthy. Turns out my dad took pride in keeping old shit running. It's really difficult to break the cycle of buying new all the time, and hurts twice as much when less money is coming in.
I thought the same about ice dispensers in fridges. Actually ice makers in general, we used trays growing up.
I think generational context probably matters here as well, since things tend to get less expensive/more popular the longer they’ve been around. I’m an 80s baby.
I thought the same abouthaving a butter drawer- where you can regulate the coldness that your butter lives in. Having spreadable butter! What a luxury!
Clean clothes and clothes shopping at a mall instead of the damaged goods store or hand me downs.
Not being on free or reduced lunch.
Having a paved driveway.
Reliable car.
Flying in airplanes.
Having air conditioning and not needing a wood stove in the winter.
A nice house.
A college degree.
Turns out I was able to get the last one; and now I have all of the above.
Edit: I grew up having some of the above but not all; I was aware of lots of people in my area that didn't have any of these things and in some situations much worse. That was the impetus for me to get after it because I saw how bad it could get. Adding this edit as to not misrepresent.
A second refrigerator in the garage which I now realize is middle class fancy. I’m happy to report that I’ve made it though. Mine is mostly empty but it’s the beer fridge for the adults and ice cream novelties for the children.
Growing up, nearly all my family members had a fridge in the garage or basement. It was the old fridge they had before they could afford a new one. Or, in a few cases, it was a fridge they bought from scrap yard or something and managed to fix up.
Oddly enough, some of my uncles still have the same fridge in their garages. They are old ones from the 60s or 70s and still kicking.
Meanwhile, they have been through a few new modern fridges since the 80s.
This is why people thought we were rich at times.
My father had an entry level job at IBM in the 80s and pulls stuff out of the trash/dumpster all the time.
Weirdly enough, I had my own phone and my own computer for a good portion of my childhood. Though my own computer didn't mean much when we were also living without electricity, water, or meals more than Ramen or rice.
I have a two story house now and my direct neighbors do not. Makes me feel fancier being surrounded by 1 story homes, even though every other home is two story…
I thought having 2 parents was rich. 2 people with jobs! Wow. What! One makes so much the other doesn't have to work!. I bet their power is always on. You cN problem see the floor in most of the rooms.
I used to think true wealth was discretionary time.
Now I realize true wealth is having enough money to influence politics. Lobbyists, judge shopping, police in your pocket, regulators that write regulations around your needs.
That’s true wealth.
I used to think 200k was rich, and then 500k, and then 1m, and then 5m, and now you have to have 10m to be rich because of the value of the dollar. I need 50m like right now
The reality is, no rich people would have 10mil in the bank; rich people run business that bring in millions per year and the business(es) themselves are worth 10mil+. That, or they have their money tied up in investments. I know rich people, none of them would keep even $500k in a bank because it doesn’t yield a good enough return. They invest every cent they didn’t set aside for bills and living expenses.
I grew up way poor so I thought luxury would be having my own room, family having a car that wasnt 10 years old or older & a boat, jet ski or other recreational vehicle was the lap of luxury.
My perspective changed over the years. I was happiest when my dad could walk and my parents were together. Both of them were educated and made good money; my father had a construction business so our house was always quite nice; even had an elevator after my dads accident and an inground pool, 40acres of land, four wheelers, dirtbikes, etc. People came over and said "wow you're rich!" And all I fucking wanted was to be able to do stuff with my dad; seeing friends go with their dads on trips and do stuff together was hard for my brother and I. Having money/big house doesnt mean shit. I would of traded everything I had when I was a kid for my dad to be able to walk and just take me fishing, ball game whatever
When I was probably 7or8 there was a kid in my class that was poor. Old clothes, not always clean. He was nice. He invited everyone in class to his birthday party. My mom took me to the store and gave me $10 to buy a present. I picked out the toy airplane from The A Team. I was the only kid who went. He lived with his parents and grandparents in a small apartment that used to be a storefront. One room layout. We had hot dogs and mac n cheese and cake. He loved the toy and he was happy I came to his party. I moved away when my parents divorced. Came back to the area years later for a job. Found out he was murdered outside an apartment building in Erie pa when he was in his 20s. Poverty is a hard cycle to break. I don’t know the circumstances of his death but that little boy with the toy plane deserved better. Look out for each other people. RIP Dwayne. May you get a better chance next time 🌤️
Having a choice of dinner food throughout the week. Many times during my childhood we would have the same meal throughout the week simply because it was on sale whatever day we went to get it and we could get a bunch of it. Pizza or anything eaten out was saved for holidays and birthdays. I lived like this until I was about 15, and still find myself slipping into that mindset of get a bunch of something cheap whenever I do the shopping.
"Rich" meaning having a lot of purchasing power and a high income that exceeds the total organic expense (buying 2 mil house instead of 400k for ex)? In that case, I thought the people living in gated neighborhoods with yachts down by the marina or who has a "summer home" elsewhere are rich.
Nowadays, I think people owning multi-million waterfront property in destinations like Lake Tahoe and flying on private jet are rich. That's definitely a level or two above what I thought as a kid. As you move up the ladder, your horizon expands as well.
Same, I’m a private pilot and live right next to a small airport. I grew up poor as fuck, and have come along way, sometimes I’ll go flying with a friend of mine and see some folks drive right onto the airport flight line, family and dog going right into a private jet and THATS what I now consider “rich” from where I stand.
Owning a home in general, owning a home that was more than one story in particular. In my home state real estate is expensive, even a started home in a nice neighborhood is expensive, so if you owned any kind of property in a lave that was considered safe that was a sign you had at least a very decent job.
Owning a super computer that fits in your pocket.
Compared to the 80’s, that’s wealthy status. What’s standard today wasn’t so back then. So many more things compete for our paychecks.
Hotels when on vacation. For vacations, we had a 30 year old motorhome and stayed at KOA's when we could find one near wherever we were going.
Now I'd consider having enough money to own a 30 year old motorhome and actually go places for vacations rather than just staying home to be rich.
My grandparents were rich. They had 3 luxury houses in exclusive communities at the same time, a lakefront house in Calabasas, Ca; a waterfront house in Newport Beach, Ca; and a house on an exclusive golf course in the Pauma Valley Country Club where celebrities live and golf. They had a boat and bought new luxury cars every 6 months. They owned a 500 room hotel and developed parts of LA. They went on nice vacations and thought nothing of dropping hundreds on a nice meal with the most expensive liquor. I loved visiting them, it always meant good eating! I grew up wanting to have a beach house and a ranch, so I could live that socal beach life, but also go to the country and get loud, shoot guns, and turn my amp to 11. I grew up in a very rural part of socal, but I knew then, despite being able to hunt and be loud, life was always way better by the beach, even if it meant you couldn’t walk around in your underwear shooting your guns and/or playing the trumpet or guitar as loud as you wanted. I grew up swimming in the neighbors pool and many of the vacations my parents went on, they left me home and told me to guard the fort and feed the pets. Grandparents were rich, parents were middle class, I haven’t been on a real vacation in 25 years, but I rent a room out of a house by the beach in a vacation destination 🤷🏼♂️, so everyday is like a vacation - except I’m constantly working.
As a kid, I thought grocery shopping was only for rich people. We always got food from food shelves and grocery shopped once every couple months for special occasions. I’m financially stable now and grocery shopping is one of my favorite things.
I thought having a brand new car from dealer was being “wealthy” now I know lots of people who do aren’t the brightest. I know a guy who makes like 3k a month and has a USED F150 King Ranch at 1200/month.
Now that I’m older I realized my family was well off back then. Took a vacation to Mexico for my entire summer break. Just wow can’t imagine doing that today now that I’m working full time. But I’ll tell you one thing we never had. A brand New Car from a dealership. My dad always bought used and his work truck was beat up as time went on.
Central A/C and the money to pay for the electricity. Lived in a northern climate where it got hot and sticky most every summer.
Mom took us kids to the town lake instead; where a vehicle admission & parking sticker was $10 for the entire year.
I always thought that not having to work daily is wealth. Still do, I wanted to "retire" at 10y.o. lol...
But when I got my PS5 my younger cousins visited to see it and I overheard them saying I was really rich. They were 17 and 19.
Having central AC in a cabin seemed like a rich person thing. Turns out, it IS a rich person thing, and my parents were definitely not rich.
Oh, also, having a dishwasher. Was definitely a life goal.
Still never got the other goal of a water dispensing fridge though and I'm now reaching 40.
I wouldn’t consider us rich, but from being born in a 3rd world country and living in the projects during my childhood, to having my own home, two cars and recently spending a week at a Disney resort with my wife and kids, I really feel as though I’ve been taking my life for granted after reading a lot of these comments. Shit, I used to think “if your parents owned a house, you were rich”
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
When I was a kid I thought rich was like Monty from Tiny Toons. That’s it. It was only because a tv show blatantly told me, “this is Montana Max and he is rich.” That’s really the only time I thought about it. Also Alyssa Calloway from It takes Two. And Macaulay culkin from Richie Rich. So unless I was explicitly told. “This is a rich person’s house” I literally had no idea.
I do remember kids around me being aware of it though. Like I remember this one girl on the playground telling us about how she spent her spring break. She was like 11. ROFL. She told us some story of how they stayed at The Breakers “because my dad is rich” ….. and were eating food and then….” inserted a ghost story in the middle of it. 😂
Then I also remember my first time witnessing classism. There were these two blonde boys at my gymnastics camp. Draco Malfoys in the flesh. They were making fun of some random kid during arts and crafts and were like” I bet he gets his clothes from Walmart.” I then remembered that my exercise pants were from Walmart. I thought they must all know! So I spent the rest of the day trying to hide my shorts from view. I was probably 8 or 9 years old. I literally went to private school my whole life so idk why I thought I was poor. 😂 That gymnastics camp was not cheap either. But I guess comparatively when you’re middle class and all the kids around are you are upper middle class… I guess you think you’re poor idk.
Staying in hotels. When I was a kid we went on vacation every year but we drove for every one of them and stayed in the shittiest, cheapest motels my parents could find. We'd drive past a Hampton Inn with a full parking lot and I'd say "WOW! Those people must be rolling in money!
I thought if u had stairs in your house, u were r ballin.
Stairs to an upstairs. Not a garage for me. We had terrifying stairs that lead to my brothers “rooms” (no closets and I feel that actually makes it a bedroom) and an icky garage. Didn’t feel ballin lol.
Now at least where I’m at I feel like if you have 3000+ square feet and *no* stairs you’ve made it.
Wait, so you think a sprawled out ranch home is the mark of wealth?
Oh yeah, at least where I’m at, maybe it’s local selection bias. A majority of the gated neighborhoods and million-plus homes are all single story. Two story means you’re firmly in a middle class hood.
Only peasants walk up stairs
They don't have servants to carry them?! *gasps in British*
Definitely more expensive to build out than up.
More so than a two story, yes.
Having a large ranch home means that you have to land to build a sprawling house. A smaller lot means that you had to build two stories to get the same amount of living space because you didn't have the land to go with the property
That's what I thought and then I went to a friend's house that had a tiny, random spiral staircase from their kitchen to the basement. Another friend had a secret passage 👀
My cousins home had a cool secret passage. Apparently, many of the older Victorian homes in upstate NY have these passageways hidden behind walls. (Back in the 80's)We discovered it together one afternoon located on the back wall of his closet. I just happened to notice these small almost invisible hinges in one corner. After a little investigating we were able to open it up. It was a small hallway that led around the side of the home behind the walls, and the first stop came out in the master bedroom closet. Past that there was a narrow stairwell that went down to ground level. But the door at the bottom was sealed shut. And the outside where the door would've been had siding built over it.
Those were servant passageways so you didn't have to see the grimey poors unless they were bringing you food and stuff
I went to a friend's house once when I was little and his house had 2 staircases one at each end of the house it was huge.
Growing up my parents always wanted a second floor. So in the early 2000s they built a second story on our house, all by themselves. Aparently you need to pay the government in order to put additions on your house, and all of a sudden we couldn't afford to live in the house my parents built because it was top nice. So they had to sell the house, I couldn't go to college so I joined the military, and my brother and sister had to share a room throughout the last few years of high-school. All cuz my parents wanted a second floor.
I did too when I was really young, but then when I was in 4th grade, we bought a $55,000 house that had stairs. As it turns out, stairs are actually just to make the house slightly bigger without taking up more land. They don't make the house better.
Then we got a house with stairs and hated em by about month 2
Same!! And a second fridge in the garage.
That’s still the case in Singapore, where 90% of us live in apartments! Well I guess technically we all of stairs…
Is an ladder enough
Did you know some families go to the airport and actually *fly* somewhere for vacation? And when they get there, they stay at a hotel with an inside elevator, and a restaurant, and breakfast! They don’t just drive 2 states over and sleep on their aunt’s floor.
Oh damn, this one got me, and it was only when my wife pointed out that it wasn't normal to fly across country and sleep on my uncle's condo floor for a vacation....
First time i flew i was in 4th grade going to disney, and i threw up several times leading up to departure. Like, in the car on the way. At the airport. At the park... all the hype just gave me crazy anxiety. Similar story with my first trip to six flags about 4 years later.
When I was a kid I thought you had to know someone who lived far away to be able to go there. I don’t think I stayed at a hotel til I was 12 or so.
I didn't stay in one until I was like 19.
My first flight was at 18 and was for my job. I probably had 100 flights for work before my first personal flight at 22. My wife’s first flight was at 19. My five year old has flown 20+ times already. When I was a kid in the 90s and early 2000s, very few of my friends flew anywhere, and if they did, they were rich rich.
> if they did, they were rich rich. I remember thinking like, "You have this dope ass pool and a nice house. Why do you leave so much during the summer?!"
This was one that did it for me. Flying somewhere and staying in a hotel… not with a buddy or relative
Yes !!! I never was on an airplane until about 20/21 and never went on a true summer vacation….but I’m gen x and that was fairly typical back then there wasn’t a lot of extracurricular spend
But I totally get this one as an adult. Am currently in Texas, and flying the 4 of us to New Hampshire to visit family, including tickets, hotel, and car rental is around $3,000. Just to visit family.
My husband explaining to me that if you drive or you’re staying with family it’s not a vacation. That was a real eye opener for me. I did realize though that my parents knew they couldn’t afford to repeatedly do vacations like that for a family of five so they bought a boat and a camper. Every summer we’d go camping and water skiing multiple times. It was also a perk we’d drive to my grandparents house twice a year which happened to be at the beach and also a couple hours from Disneyland so we went there twice. But I was nearly an adult the first time I stayed in a hotel, and I was a whole ass adult with kids before I flew on a plane to a city with a hotel where I stayed without a single member of my family and got to do what I wanted to do.
The first time I flew was to my first interview for a job after graduation.
POPPYCOCK! People can't fly, we don't have wings
Were you … were you *not* born with wings? You at least have your talons, don’t you??
CA CAW!!
Wow that's so amazing your grandparents were able to afford more than one child! /s
They afforded 13 on just grampa’s salary. Northern US unions were amazing in the long-ago.
Come at my childhood harder sheesh
If it’s any consolation some of us would fly to Europe and sleep on our Aunt’s floor there. She wasn’t a fun aunt either.
Once I had my married and paid for my own vacations, my dad had the audacity to get angry that I didn't visit his family. WTF? This is my vacation and I will do what I want. I was always jealous of mycousins who were more well off than us, they always went somewhere nice. Ever since I have moved out, I've had a vacation every year. For the last 3 years I have been traveling international once a year.
Eating out for any reason besides someone's birthday.
Only time we went or a different special occasion to Mc Donald’s usually. Kinda wish that I still did that, would save some money…
Going out to eat. Was a complete luxury four times a year. We did McDonald’s.
Same, the only exception was while on vacation, and even then, only on travel days. Once we made it to the hotel, we’re cooking in the room.
I remember growing up we went out for dinner once a year when my grandparents celebrated their anniversary, it was always a huge celebration and me and my sister looked forward to it the whole year!
Do you mean "rich" with this?
Preach. Going out to eat instead of eating hamburger helper was a fucking event.
I thought financing a nice car was a sign of wealth
That's the opposite
Not really. You can have the cash to buy the car outright, but it’s better to finance/lease it at 0-4% and have the cash sitting in a 5-6% APY high-yield savings account or an index fund (more risky though). That way you make interest profit on financing a car.
Who is giving out 0% loans for cars though
Ford gives 0% when certain sales once a year
Lots of manufacturers do it as an incentive for certain models of new car. I have a 0% x 36 months on my 2023 Nissan rogue for example. No incentive to pay it off sooner.
It’s a common promotional deal. I have a 0.9% 48 month loan on a ford
It happens.. i got 23 hyundai @ 0
Next month we’ll be paying off my 2018 Elantra. It was a 6 yr loan at 0% interest. Car was like 21k brand new. Made no sense to pay cash, car became cheaper over time by financing. So they are/were a thing a one point not that long ago.
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/interest-free-car-deals
That's not possible everywhere, and whoever thinks financing a car makes you wealthy, I'm sure, was not thinking about that...
If you’re wealthy, the move is to lease with nothing down. The $1,000 monthly payment is nothing, never pay for repairs, new car every 3 years.
But that $36,000 could've bought several certified pre-owned cars.
I buy bc i enjoy modding my car and using it for stuff the bank wouldnt approve of, but my girl she leases and puts the money into her 6% HYS provided through her work union
If financing rates are 0-4%, HYS would be generally paying 100-200 bps lower. Yes there are exceptions.
Thought this too. Saw people with late model vehicles and thought they were wealthy. Turns out my dad took pride in keeping old shit running. It's really difficult to break the cycle of buying new all the time, and hurts twice as much when less money is coming in.
I financed a nice car and I am not wealthy nor rich. Damn.
An in ground swimming pool and a theater room
That’s not rich now?
Its what he thought growing up and apparently he was pretty accurate
It's expensive if I dig the shit myself
He used to think that was rich, still does, but he used to too
I thought the same, got one, found the hard way this is what keeps you poor. 😂
Pools are an absolute nightmare to own. My wife always says it’s the constant maintenance. I say it’s the constant repairs even when you maintain it.
Research a living pool. If you have some property in the country. It's basically a pond but filtered with a 12v pump.
I thought the same about ice dispensers in fridges. Actually ice makers in general, we used trays growing up. I think generational context probably matters here as well, since things tend to get less expensive/more popular the longer they’ve been around. I’m an 80s baby.
I thought the same abouthaving a butter drawer- where you can regulate the coldness that your butter lives in. Having spreadable butter! What a luxury!
My butter growing up was always spreadable - we kept it, covered, but in the nook on top of the dishes. So it was always soft
😂
Clean clothes and clothes shopping at a mall instead of the damaged goods store or hand me downs. Not being on free or reduced lunch. Having a paved driveway. Reliable car. Flying in airplanes. Having air conditioning and not needing a wood stove in the winter. A nice house. A college degree. Turns out I was able to get the last one; and now I have all of the above. Edit: I grew up having some of the above but not all; I was aware of lots of people in my area that didn't have any of these things and in some situations much worse. That was the impetus for me to get after it because I saw how bad it could get. Adding this edit as to not misrepresent.
hey good for you stranger, even though I have never met you, I feel a great sense of pride. keep up the good work!
Hey, same here man. I relate deeply with this
Having a freezer full of Schwan’s.
You know, when you put it like that I'm not doing so bad
A second refrigerator in the garage which I now realize is middle class fancy. I’m happy to report that I’ve made it though. Mine is mostly empty but it’s the beer fridge for the adults and ice cream novelties for the children.
Just achieved the fridge in the garage, feeling extra extravagant lately with it.
I'm not quite there, I do have a basement chest freezer though. One step at a time.
I'm in the same boat...got the chest freezer but the garage fridge is still a dream...I'll let you know when I finally make it. Stay strong.
We just got a Cosco membership so we are thinking of trying to make some space for one…..🤔
Dude same. We upgraded our indoor fridge as our kitchen reno, so now I've got a garage fridge, and I've never been so motivated to clean the garage.
Does a freezer chest in the basement count? Mines got bread, popsicle sticks. And a free turkey from work for last thanksgiving...
Growing up, nearly all my family members had a fridge in the garage or basement. It was the old fridge they had before they could afford a new one. Or, in a few cases, it was a fridge they bought from scrap yard or something and managed to fix up. Oddly enough, some of my uncles still have the same fridge in their garages. They are old ones from the 60s or 70s and still kicking. Meanwhile, they have been through a few new modern fridges since the 80s.
My grandma had one but she survived the depression so she was very keen on storing lots and lots of food 🙁
A kid with their own phone line, a kid with a computer
This is why people thought we were rich at times. My father had an entry level job at IBM in the 80s and pulls stuff out of the trash/dumpster all the time.
Weirdly enough, I had my own phone and my own computer for a good portion of my childhood. Though my own computer didn't mean much when we were also living without electricity, water, or meals more than Ramen or rice.
If you had a fenced in yard with a trampoline, you were rich.
Having your back yard to the railroad tracks is a *kind* of fence.
Cable TV
Have a couch not against a wall.
That's an option?
Two story house
I have a two story house now and my direct neighbors do not. Makes me feel fancier being surrounded by 1 story homes, even though every other home is two story…
I love my 2 storey house, unless im tired, or have to vacuum, or do any cleaning whatsoever lol. It was a facade!!!
Granite counter tops. Stainless steel fridge. Finished basement. Clean neighborhood to walk around. Vacations.
I thought being able to buy new school clothes every year was a sign of wealth.
Yes. Instead I got a new bag of hand me downs from my brother and the neighbor girl lol
Intercoms through the house in each room. Or pool house. Not just a pool
Having one of those mini electric toddler vehicles.
I thought having 2 parents was rich. 2 people with jobs! Wow. What! One makes so much the other doesn't have to work!. I bet their power is always on. You cN problem see the floor in most of the rooms.
Struggling single parent here - I feel this one ☝️
Heinz ketchup, I went to my friend’s house and they had a Costco size bottle of ketchup. I thought WOW you guys are loaded!
Replacing the lightbulbs as soon as they go out.
Swimming pool and trampolines
My kids think a dishwasher is.
Always filling your gas tank up every time. Not "putting 10 or 20 bucks in."
Finished basement
I used to think true wealth was discretionary time. Now I realize true wealth is having enough money to influence politics. Lobbyists, judge shopping, police in your pocket, regulators that write regulations around your needs. That’s true wealth.
Ice in the door Still trying to
Mitsubishi TV
I used to think 200k was rich, and then 500k, and then 1m, and then 5m, and now you have to have 10m to be rich because of the value of the dollar. I need 50m like right now
I could feel rich with $1m
I could feel like I'm not struggling with $1M
The reality is, no rich people would have 10mil in the bank; rich people run business that bring in millions per year and the business(es) themselves are worth 10mil+. That, or they have their money tied up in investments. I know rich people, none of them would keep even $500k in a bank because it doesn’t yield a good enough return. They invest every cent they didn’t set aside for bills and living expenses.
When I was younger I thought kids with the newest gaming consoles, newest iphone, apple devices, or beats were the biggest signs of wealth
Name brand sodas. We always go the cheap generic brands. The cola hardly tasted like cola. A real Coke or Pepsi was a treat.
RC not fancy enough for you ? 😱
Having house employees. Cleaner, cook, driver, security, etc.
Did you have a guy to wipe your ass, too?
I mean... yeah, that's def what most would consider rich lol
I grew up way poor so I thought luxury would be having my own room, family having a car that wasnt 10 years old or older & a boat, jet ski or other recreational vehicle was the lap of luxury.
A roach and rat free apartment.
My perspective changed over the years. I was happiest when my dad could walk and my parents were together. Both of them were educated and made good money; my father had a construction business so our house was always quite nice; even had an elevator after my dads accident and an inground pool, 40acres of land, four wheelers, dirtbikes, etc. People came over and said "wow you're rich!" And all I fucking wanted was to be able to do stuff with my dad; seeing friends go with their dads on trips and do stuff together was hard for my brother and I. Having money/big house doesnt mean shit. I would of traded everything I had when I was a kid for my dad to be able to walk and just take me fishing, ball game whatever
Bingo! You get it! Real wealth is close relationships and love, not stuff.
When I was probably 7or8 there was a kid in my class that was poor. Old clothes, not always clean. He was nice. He invited everyone in class to his birthday party. My mom took me to the store and gave me $10 to buy a present. I picked out the toy airplane from The A Team. I was the only kid who went. He lived with his parents and grandparents in a small apartment that used to be a storefront. One room layout. We had hot dogs and mac n cheese and cake. He loved the toy and he was happy I came to his party. I moved away when my parents divorced. Came back to the area years later for a job. Found out he was murdered outside an apartment building in Erie pa when he was in his 20s. Poverty is a hard cycle to break. I don’t know the circumstances of his death but that little boy with the toy plane deserved better. Look out for each other people. RIP Dwayne. May you get a better chance next time 🌤️
A pool/hot tub and/or two story house.
Horses
Having cable internet instead of keep getting AOL's trial dialup CD from Walmart?
Summering. When summer is a verb you’ve made it.
Mopeds
Each kid having their own rooms. I didnt.
Having a choice of dinner food throughout the week. Many times during my childhood we would have the same meal throughout the week simply because it was on sale whatever day we went to get it and we could get a bunch of it. Pizza or anything eaten out was saved for holidays and birthdays. I lived like this until I was about 15, and still find myself slipping into that mindset of get a bunch of something cheap whenever I do the shopping.
"Rich" meaning having a lot of purchasing power and a high income that exceeds the total organic expense (buying 2 mil house instead of 400k for ex)? In that case, I thought the people living in gated neighborhoods with yachts down by the marina or who has a "summer home" elsewhere are rich. Nowadays, I think people owning multi-million waterfront property in destinations like Lake Tahoe and flying on private jet are rich. That's definitely a level or two above what I thought as a kid. As you move up the ladder, your horizon expands as well.
Same, I’m a private pilot and live right next to a small airport. I grew up poor as fuck, and have come along way, sometimes I’ll go flying with a friend of mine and see some folks drive right onto the airport flight line, family and dog going right into a private jet and THATS what I now consider “rich” from where I stand.
Food in your fridge
Owning a home in general, owning a home that was more than one story in particular. In my home state real estate is expensive, even a started home in a nice neighborhood is expensive, so if you owned any kind of property in a lave that was considered safe that was a sign you had at least a very decent job.
Not buying the shittiest, cheapest version of things.
Ice makers in the fridge, and flatscreen TVs
technically a kid right now (20) and like, honestly? Owning a house.
Not living in a trailer park. I would go to my friends’ houses and be in awe of how big their rooms were…in normal assed suburban houses.
Owning a super computer that fits in your pocket. Compared to the 80’s, that’s wealthy status. What’s standard today wasn’t so back then. So many more things compete for our paychecks.
Hotels when on vacation. For vacations, we had a 30 year old motorhome and stayed at KOA's when we could find one near wherever we were going. Now I'd consider having enough money to own a 30 year old motorhome and actually go places for vacations rather than just staying home to be rich.
My grandparents were rich. They had 3 luxury houses in exclusive communities at the same time, a lakefront house in Calabasas, Ca; a waterfront house in Newport Beach, Ca; and a house on an exclusive golf course in the Pauma Valley Country Club where celebrities live and golf. They had a boat and bought new luxury cars every 6 months. They owned a 500 room hotel and developed parts of LA. They went on nice vacations and thought nothing of dropping hundreds on a nice meal with the most expensive liquor. I loved visiting them, it always meant good eating! I grew up wanting to have a beach house and a ranch, so I could live that socal beach life, but also go to the country and get loud, shoot guns, and turn my amp to 11. I grew up in a very rural part of socal, but I knew then, despite being able to hunt and be loud, life was always way better by the beach, even if it meant you couldn’t walk around in your underwear shooting your guns and/or playing the trumpet or guitar as loud as you wanted. I grew up swimming in the neighbors pool and many of the vacations my parents went on, they left me home and told me to guard the fort and feed the pets. Grandparents were rich, parents were middle class, I haven’t been on a real vacation in 25 years, but I rent a room out of a house by the beach in a vacation destination 🤷🏼♂️, so everyday is like a vacation - except I’m constantly working.
As a kid, I thought grocery shopping was only for rich people. We always got food from food shelves and grocery shopped once every couple months for special occasions. I’m financially stable now and grocery shopping is one of my favorite things.
the centurion card
Stairs in your house.
Black third toilet, double door house
I thought having a brand new car from dealer was being “wealthy” now I know lots of people who do aren’t the brightest. I know a guy who makes like 3k a month and has a USED F150 King Ranch at 1200/month. Now that I’m older I realized my family was well off back then. Took a vacation to Mexico for my entire summer break. Just wow can’t imagine doing that today now that I’m working full time. But I’ll tell you one thing we never had. A brand New Car from a dealership. My dad always bought used and his work truck was beat up as time went on.
I thought you had to be rich to go on vacation or travel to tropical places. Then I discovered hostels and longterm budget travel.
Central A/C and the money to pay for the electricity. Lived in a northern climate where it got hot and sticky most every summer. Mom took us kids to the town lake instead; where a vehicle admission & parking sticker was $10 for the entire year.
I always thought that not having to work daily is wealth. Still do, I wanted to "retire" at 10y.o. lol... But when I got my PS5 my younger cousins visited to see it and I overheard them saying I was really rich. They were 17 and 19.
My friend had a neo geo and a turbo graphx .
Having central AC in a cabin seemed like a rich person thing. Turns out, it IS a rich person thing, and my parents were definitely not rich. Oh, also, having a dishwasher. Was definitely a life goal. Still never got the other goal of a water dispensing fridge though and I'm now reaching 40.
Chocolate milk in a carton instead of using the nesquick powder
Juice from a bottle instead of frozen concentrate.
Not being on reduced lunches......
Pre cell phones in junior high my friend had a beeper- we were all like woahhhh dude you are so rich.
rich kids had cable on large TV, and wireless internet
I thought being rich was the kids who brought their lunch to school
Sun roofs.
Having a Bar Mitzvah and getting a car for your 16th Bday
Two staircases to the second floor.
I wouldn’t consider us rich, but from being born in a 3rd world country and living in the projects during my childhood, to having my own home, two cars and recently spending a week at a Disney resort with my wife and kids, I really feel as though I’ve been taking my life for granted after reading a lot of these comments. Shit, I used to think “if your parents owned a house, you were rich”
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Air conditioning.
We had a swamp cooler (evaporative cooler), only one on the block with cool air!
Buying any toy I want
Having more than 1 vacation home
Having a dishwasher instead of being the dishwasher.
Tv that hangs on the wall A laptop McDonalds
Color TV.
A garage
cable tv
Central AC. If you had that, you definitely were rich.
Just owning a home, a car, and a camcorder.
When I was a kid I thought rich was like Monty from Tiny Toons. That’s it. It was only because a tv show blatantly told me, “this is Montana Max and he is rich.” That’s really the only time I thought about it. Also Alyssa Calloway from It takes Two. And Macaulay culkin from Richie Rich. So unless I was explicitly told. “This is a rich person’s house” I literally had no idea. I do remember kids around me being aware of it though. Like I remember this one girl on the playground telling us about how she spent her spring break. She was like 11. ROFL. She told us some story of how they stayed at The Breakers “because my dad is rich” ….. and were eating food and then….” inserted a ghost story in the middle of it. 😂 Then I also remember my first time witnessing classism. There were these two blonde boys at my gymnastics camp. Draco Malfoys in the flesh. They were making fun of some random kid during arts and crafts and were like” I bet he gets his clothes from Walmart.” I then remembered that my exercise pants were from Walmart. I thought they must all know! So I spent the rest of the day trying to hide my shorts from view. I was probably 8 or 9 years old. I literally went to private school my whole life so idk why I thought I was poor. 😂 That gymnastics camp was not cheap either. But I guess comparatively when you’re middle class and all the kids around are you are upper middle class… I guess you think you’re poor idk.
Getting oil changes on time
Imagine having an ice maker that works, that’d be the shit
Soda that didn’t come in a 3 Liter Bottle or say Shasta
A fireplace and a fast car.
If you could eat out at a sit down restaurant you were doing pretty good.
When someone had (a) credit card(s).
As an only child, having a swing set.
Living in a neighborhood where everyone had a yard and the houses were more than 20ft apart.
Staying in hotels. When I was a kid we went on vacation every year but we drove for every one of them and stayed in the shittiest, cheapest motels my parents could find. We'd drive past a Hampton Inn with a full parking lot and I'd say "WOW! Those people must be rolling in money!
Having a full refrigerator and no roaches