20 Normal Things That People Who Grew Up Poor Think Only the Rich Can Afford

Money plays a huge part in everyone’s life, from the moment they are born until their golden years. However, not everyone is lucky enough to have money to buy everything the world takes for granted. Things like ordering takeaway food or going at the cinema can be luxuries to many who can’t afford them.

Now I’ve Seen Everything gathered 20 things that people around the globe associate with being rich, when they really are basic necessities that should be afforded by everyone.

• My parents bought some new furniture for the first time when I was around 17 and it was very, very cheap still. I’m 36 now and have been very successful in life, along with my wife, and we were able to easily afford an absurd amount of money to furnish our new home... it was honestly bizarre to do so. I didn’t have to be talked into it but it felt deeply “odd” to buy furniture like that..... extremely luxurious sorta describes it. © SMORKIN_LABBIT / Reddit
• I was poor growing up and was financially insecure until well into my 20s. I knew exactly how much money I had and how to budget it to make sure I could eat until the next paycheck came in. I managed to progress my career to a pretty high level of seniority and nowadays I don’t even know how much I earn. I have a rough idea but because of all the benefits and the way bonuses are calculated I couldn’t actually tell you a figure. And yet I still buy discounted stuff that’s going out of date at the supermarket. © fadevelocity / Reddit

• I was poor for a bit and my wife and I would have $100 for food and gas for the month. We had to balance driving too much or eating better food. The first time I was able to fill my tank and buy whatever I wanted to eat was the best feeling. © allf8ed / Reddit
• Eating pizza because you want to not because it’s $2. That, and mom eating along with us normally instead of pretending that the crust is her favorite part and that’s why she’d eat the crust we left. © DirtySingh / Reddit
• My mother used to have the heat on, but before she put it on each winter, we had to go room-to-room and tape over the ducts going to the “less important” rooms. Which is to say, every room except the living room and her bedroom. © GavinBelsonsAlexa / Reddit

• My hometown has an ice cream stand that’s pretty popular and very well-known. When I was a kid we NEVER went because it was too expensive, according to my dad. In high school, my cross country coach would take the whole team on closing day (it was open seasonally) and buy everyone ice cream. I thought that bill had to be hundreds of dollars... As an adult, I started going there and found out ice cream cones were like $1-$2. There are only 4 of us in my family. © IndecisiveFireball / Reddit
• As a kid, I always thought a deck on the back of the house meant that a family was loaded. One of my basketball teammates lived in a house where everyone had their own room, it had a deck and had hallways. I thought they were so rich. Today, I have all those things and a pool because the kids wanted one and we could afford one. I learned that this doesn’t mean we’re rich, just comfortable. Very happy my kids have had a better childhood than I did. © TallBobcat / Reddit
• Not knowing EXACTLY how much money you have at any given time. © wrongstuff / Reddit

• Hiring people to either cook, clean, mow the grass, or do snow removal in the winter. Showing my age but rich people didn’t need to layaway to afford back to school or Christmas shopping. I don’t remember ever having name-brand items, food, or clothing. It was all generic Kmart. I bought my son a pair of Nike shoes and thought I felt rich for doing so. © thatstaceygirl / Reddit
• Owning a car. My dad had the city bus schedules memorized. We eventually got to know the bus drivers. When I worked at a grocery store, the driver would wait for me at the bus stop if I was running a few minutes late. © Ron0hh / Reddit
• Hiring moving men. Especially if they’re the ones who pack all your stuff for you too. So many times, I would borrow a friend’s pickup (and buy my friend’s help with offers of pizza and beer) to move from one place to another. For my most recent move, my wife and I packed everything but hired professionals to load and unload it. I felt like a king. © KhaoticMess / Reddit

• Kids that went to summer camp. I got sent to long distant family members and worked on family farms. © Jim105/ Reddit
• There’s a line from Nick in New Girl that describes being well off as “filling your gas tank up all the way rich.” That was the rich I wanted to be. Comfortable. Also not having to do math in the grocery store to see what food you can buy. I hated that. I wanted to just go buy necessities like gas and food without worrying. Proud to say that now I usually fill my gas tank all the way and don’t do the math when buying groceries. © Awkward_Name5898 / Reddit

What do you associate with being rich, even if it’s something fairly basic?