re: The moment you realized you were poor growing up

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Memories as a child of mom and dad discussing what utility that allowed to be cut off this month so that they can pay for electricity or food.

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This is a good gauge. It never occurred to me til I was an adult that (as a child) I never knew when bills were due or how much my parents paid for them. We never had to worry about things like this as kids. I want to teach my kids how to manage money, but I also appreciate shielding them from worrying about family finances.

Nowadays everyone is “rich”. Maybe people are better off than in the 80’s and 90’s.

The “rich” kids back then also had their birthday parties at McDonald’s like working class kids.

Nowadays, birthday parties seem to be extravagant events costing thousands of dollars.

Maybe it’s the Facebook and Instagram effect

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The “rich” kids back then also had their birthday parties at McDonald’s like working class kids.

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A lot of this thread is a perfect illustration as to why some people are rich and some people are poor.

Looking at the unit price to determine the true value is a poor thing? Are y'all on crack?

I've got an uncle that's worth about 40m who lights up like a Christmas tree when he finds a good quality generic product. Our family group text is like 20% him telling everybody about cheap shite that he thinks is high quality.

When tf did being frugal and not wasting money become embarrassing and trashy?

We got by, which meant we were probably middle class. Something I think about as normal, but probably 30 year ago was a good poor tell is not having a dishwasher in your kitchen.

I remember having friends who wondered why I washed dishes by hand and put them in a rack for years as an adult, at a certain age kids became the household dishwasher, if you wanted to eat you had to clean up after.

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This is a good gauge. It never occurred to me til I was an adult that (as a child) I never knew when bills were due or how much my parents paid for them. We never had to worry about things like this as kids. I want to teach my kids how to manage money, but I also appreciate shielding them from worrying about family finances

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My wife tells me fairly often about going a few weeks without power growing up. She and I grew up pretty differently. I sincerely appreciate some of the traits she has because of her upbringing.

My dad was a mid level executive for a global O&G company. My parents were divorced and he was gone much of the time but we weren't poor. I lived with my grandparents when he was gone.

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My first bike was kind of umm... different looking. I didn't really think anything of it and had a blast on it like most kids. I didn't find out until years later that my stepdad had spent who-knows-how-long driving around town digging through dumpsters looking for bicycle parts. My mom said it took him weeks to find every part. He put it all together, painted it blue, and splurged on a new seat and streamers for the handlebars. He passed in 2013.

I went on to own several awesome and expensive BMX bikes over the years but that's the only one I really care about. I wish I still had that bike.

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One of two things happened to it. Either some other kid ended up with it and rode the frick out of it, or it was parted out to fix other bikes and several kids got to enjoy it.

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Memories as a child of mom and dad discussing what utility that allowed to be cut off this month so that they can pay for cigarettes or liquor.

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I didn't get along with my stepdad. He was a drunk with all the answers. Always wanted to grow up and be someone or something people like he couldnt be, and I did. But now, hes too pathetic for me to enjoy rubbing it in. Lost his house, business, health, family and decades of life.

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I won a go kart and that a-hole sold it while I was at school so he could have a few hundred fir himself. I had it for 1 week.

Was shite like that.

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I can always welcome a god pair of Smartwool socks.

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Well if you ever find yourself at the Vader household at Christmas I can promise you will not find a pair of these or any socks in a stocking or under the tree.