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Some people like to say that life has never been as good and simple as it is now. Well, they probably haven't seen what the current wealth gap is in many parts of the world. In the U.S., for example, it's the widest it has been in 30 years. As of 2025, the top 1% of American households own 31.7% of all U.S. wealth, while the bottom 50% hold only 2.5%.
That just proves that what's a basic necessity to some might seem like a luxury to others. To those who grew up in low-income households, things like Pantene shampoo or having a washing machine at home might've seemed like the fanciest things on Earth. When they grew up and rose to the middle class, they realized that those were actually pretty simple things.
At least these were the items that people mentioned when someone online asked: "People who grew up poor: what was something you considered a 'peak luxury' as a kid, only to realize later it was just a normal middle-class staple?" Read on to find out what else people considered rich people's stuff and share your answers with us in the comments!
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#1
We always went to the laundromat, which was normal for us. At age 13 or so I realized you could have a washer and dryer at home. I found old Kenmore machines behind a car wash and was told they had worn out and were free! I pulled them home with my bicycle on skateboards. I learned how to repair them over the next 6 months. Mom was thrilled and I ended up being a really good technician and ultimately worked for Sears for 20 years.
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#2
Having any snacks in the house. We had 0. Only food to cook. No chips. No cookies. Not even saltines. I remember being 5 or 7 and DYING for candy, so I stole the only bottle of sprinkles my mom had for birthday cakes.
We got a bit of cheese off the block.
One year my mom got a $500 bonus and we got to buy 2 baskets of groceries and mom cried because my sister and I jumped up and down. She felt awful.
Honestly, we were fine. Not living it up. But she made sure we had the best education, had beautiful clothes (even if she made them), had great manners, and our house was beautiful and spotless. Not bad for a single mom.
#3
Going out to eat without it being a special occasion seemed like millionaire behavior.
#4
Pantene shampoo. My sister and I would scrap together money to get mom a full set of Pantene shampoo and conditioner for Mother’s Day. She loved it so much and wouldn’t get them for herself. It was such a luxurious treat that my sister and I were proud to give her.
#5
Vienetta.
Roman Arendt 1 day ago (edited)
That reminds me: I bought two for Christmas Eve dinner, but we ended up eating only one. The long weekend may commence (it's a holiday in Germany tomorrow and Friday is off for me)!
#6
The 'In-Door' ice and water dispenser on the fridge. To me, that was the ultimate signal that you had successfully beaten the game of life.
#7
Actually ordering what you want to eat at a Restaurant - not what is cheap.
#9
Family vacations.
quentariel 1 day ago
Depends on vacation. One including flights, themeparks or hotels are truly unaffordable for poorer families. Travelling to a reasonable distance and staying with a friend or relative doesn't cost much and gives everyone wonderful memories. Or having someone visit you. Also there are free or really inexpensive things to do in every place if you just take a look.
#10
I was born in 1987 in Ukraine and my life was pretty poor.
Pizza and nutella.
#12
Store bought food
Grew up on a farm with a SAHM who worked back-breaking labor daylight-to-dark 6days a week. She grew everything from potatoes to popcorn. Fruit and nut trees. Livestock and a fish pond. Multiple gardens and truck patches. Went to a grocery store a handful of times per year for flour, salt, sugar, vinegar, tea and coffee. I’m the youngest. When my siblings went away to college on scholarships and Pell grants, she finally started backing off on canning/ freezing and other food preservation. Never any starvation, but no money either. It was a great way to grow up, in a fashion. Had no after school activities because no money and too many chores. But very satisfying and my siblings and I are all reasonably successful with strong work ethics. But mom didn’t want that life for any of her children. The first time I had cereal was a different kind of wonderful.
Glen Ellyn 1 day ago
You're lucky. You learned from the best (Mom)! Having a good work ethic is huge.
#13
Tissues. If we needed to blow our nose, we used toilet paper.
#14
Garbage can hidden in a drawer in the kitchen was PEAK luxury to me.
Big Chungus 23 hours ago
I have one now, do not recommend. They draw bugs way worse than covered trash cans.
#15
My wife is Korean and she grew up financially poor. She described herself in an elementary school survey as being "high class" because she grew up in a home filled with love and kindness, and had no frame of reference. Anyway, for her it was getting running water when her parents moved to a new home.
Cammy Mack 1 day ago
And it was high class. Better to be poor and floating on love than to be rich drowning in sorrow.
#16
Individual beds, individual rooms, bed frames.
Used to sleep with my sister in just a bunch of blankets, then we had a couch. Then we got a mattress, then another mattress.
Then when my sister turned like 12 she got her own room. Then in a couple years I got my own room and we got some lumber and my mom and I built a bed frame together.
So at one point we all had our own rooms, our own beds, and we could utilize under the bed storage. If you had enough stuff that you could store it under the bed, and had a bed to store stuff under? That's Robin Leach reporting material right there. I could finally do night missions with my tiny green army men, during the day! Gotta train to keep 'em sharp.
#17
Buying a costume for Halloween.
Laura Spring 21 hours ago
Three words "Toilet paper mummy." Then my mother carefully unrolled said toilet paper from our bodies.
#19
Paper towels.
#20
Neighbors had white Wonder Bread, Jif peanut butter and Welch's grape jelly sandwiches. Tasted so much better than the off brands that we had.
#21
Having a microwave was straight-up fancy to me as a kid. thought we were living large when really it was just a regular thing for most folks.
#22
I visited my aunt in Florida and she had a cereal cabinet. A whole cabinet for cereal! We had one box of cereal at a time.
#23
Ferrero Rocher, I saw the commercials at the ambassador's reception and the gold foil and I thought it was the most sophisticated and luxurious thing in the world.
#24
I didn't grow up poor per se, but I always thought people with staircases inside that lead to the second floor (usually the kids room) was absolutely peak. Not talking apartment, I'm talking the staircase that's usually in the living room or around the front door that's carpeted.
#25
Name brand shampoo. Not salon shampoo, but just regular name brands like Pantene and Herbal Essences and Aussie. We exclusively used dollar store V05 or Suave.
#27
Dinner at Red Lobster. That was the very special occasion joint in our fam.
#28
I bought shells and cheese today. It made me realize that my child has no idea that velveeta shells meant your parents had money.
Claudia Cielensky 1 day ago
Those Lipton soup packets with the small straight noodles vs the ramen packets. My mom had me thinking those were really expensive.
#29
Light, gas AND hot water ALL on at the same time.
zovjraar me 1 hour ago
and phone! we never had a phone line. used the payphone at the 7-11 up the street.
#31
Matching dishes with bowls that weren't re-purposed generic margarine tubs.
#32
I knew we weren’t rich, but after reading these responses I’m wondering how poor we really were when I was growing up. Air conditioning only when nighttime was truly hot, like super humid and 90 degrees. We also had to all sleep in one room for AC to cut down on cost. My dad was always battling the oil company for heat in the winter. We only had one pair of sneakers for the school year, no other shoes allowed. The only time we had something other than milk to drink was when iced tea was 50% off at the supermarket. No buying drinks when out, ever.
#33
Eating at restaurants; fast food or "sit-down" restaurants alike. I loved the BOOK-IT program when I was in Elementary school. I could earn myself a free personal pan pizza. It was the only way I'd ever get a Pizza Hut pizza.
#34
Milano cookies.
Min (she/her) 22 hours ago
My grandparents always had milano cookies and I would always ask for one probably as soon as we walked through the door. We never had them at home because they were too expensive.
#35
Getting McDonald’s/any other takeout 😂 this was our celebration food I thought people only got it for special occasions now me and my bf get takeout maybe 2 or 3 times a week.
#36
Being allowed to order a drink besides water when going out to eat.
#37
Any of those crummy popular clothing stores that sell bad overpriced clothes like Gap, American Eagle or Aeropostale
We could barely afford Kmart clothing.
Geoffrey Scott 1 day ago
Gave the girls $100 each for Christmas and took them to the mall 1.5 hrs away. Study in consumerism. Oldest went to AE and Aero, came out with little bags and $40 left. Looked around for youngest, and here she came laden by large bags from Sears, Kohls, Target, and still had $50 left.
#38
Eating a snack whenever you want.
CommunityMember 18 hours ago
Our mother told us to eat white bread and sugar sandwiches. Can you imagine telling a child to do that today. But she grew up during the 1930s depression and had that frugal mindset instilled in her from her own Mother.
#39
Bought Mars bar for my friends birthday when we 16-17, we cut it into 4 pieces so that everyone could taste it for the first time
Somebody here mentioned air conditioning, forget that, even a fan was luxury and I had see it once in my grandma’s friends house.
UnclePanda 22 hours ago
I brought ghost cookies back from China for my pet sitter but there was a third person there, so I split mine with him. "We are either protected from small ghosts for the entire year or for large ghosts for the next six months. Bon appetit!"
#42
More than one bathroom in the house.
Colleen Glim 13 hours ago
When I was looking for my house I specifically told my real estate agent that it had to have at least a bath and a half. There were five of us sharing one bathroom
#43
If you had a fridge in the garage with drinks you were rich.
If you had a deep pantry you were rich.
If you had Central AC and heating you were rich.
If you had a trampoline in your backyard or a pool you were rich.
If you had a bunch of video games in your house you were rich.
If you had fancy ice cream in your house you were rich.
If you had a playroom full of just toys you were rich.
#44
Lunch meat that you got sliced at the deli just for you. I was blown away by this when I learned about it in high school.
#46
Air conditioning set to 'Comfortable' instead of 'Is it 100 degrees in here yet?' Having a house that was consistently 72 degrees felt like living in a luxury hotel.
#48
Allowance.
PrettyJoyBird 1 day ago
Allowance + trust funds. not having to work at 15 to afford cheap new or thrifted clothes instead of hand me downa from cousins.
#49
For me it was getting to go to a restaurant and order anything off the menu. thought it was like this huge treat but turns out a lot of people just do that regularly. wild how perspective shifts like that.
#50
Shoes that werent on sale
Having parents together,
Having some type of mentor or father
Any fast food, and if so, no drinks!
Anything brand name: food medicine clothes etc.
Food that wasn't frozen or in a can
Not being hurt.
I grew up in complete dysfunction and anything normal seemed alien or too rich.
Beady El 20 hours ago
And these are all things that (a) are neither money nor race yet (b) have been shown to have a major impact on the trajectory of one’s life. When more affluent people try to imagine growing up poor, they often imagine a life nearly-identical to their own but in a smaller house, or something - and spuriously conclude they’d have been equally successful if they’d grown up that way. That is how poor people get wrongly branded as lazy - and I have no patience for it.
#51
Neighbor got every new videogame console for Christmases or birthdays growing up. I assumed his parents must just be loaded as hell. Turns out a $200 Nintendo really isn't peak luxury, but it sure seemed like it then.
StrangeOne 1 day ago (edited)
$200 for a Nintendo was actually a lot of money for a lot of families back then.
#53
Dishwashers and ice dispenser fridges.
#54
Buying new clothes. We bought all our clothes secondhand.
#55
My upper middle class friend had a freezer full of foods stocked by the Schwann’s delivery guy. I thought it was so fancy. Reality being that it was better than average frozen food designed for the convenience of housewives.
TheRightToArmBears (riff/tone) 17 hours ago
Growing up I always thought Schwann's was such a luxury! Then I got older and realized it was just better tasting processed food. Still loved those individual pizzas though
#56
Olive Garden level restaurants. The thought of spending $10 on a bowl of pasta was outrageous to me.
When I got to college (and had lots of scholarship money), my friends and I would go to places like Olive Garden, Applebee's, and similarly priced things maybe once a month. It was culture shock at first for me. I thought only wealthy people were able to afford those places.
No. At this 20 years ago, it was only poor people who thought those places were high class.
#57
Breakfast included at the motel during family vacation. I thought going down to the breakfast area and being able to make your own waffle was awesome.
#58
For us it was staycations at the local Marriott and it’s still one of my favorite set of memories. I didn’t realize my parents were making broke lemons into lemonade….
#59
Wasn’t really “poor” but mom was irrationally cheap. I couldn’t turn on the A/C in the car because it used gas. My first time riding a friend’s car in college, he turned on the A/C and I said “NO YOU DON’T HAVE TO FOR MY SAKE, IT USES UP GAS.” This guy had grown up in abject poverty and he lauGHED IN MY FACE GOD I WANT TO D*E FROM EMBARRASSMENT.
#60
Having a TV in my room felt like straight-up royalty, but turns out most people had them in the living room all along. wild.
PrettyJoyBird 1 day ago
We didnt have a tv till i was about 13yrs old. Antenna, aprox 5 local channels.
#61
Working deadbolt. We had the butter knife system and if you didn't shove it right, the wind might rattle the door open and a racoon could get in and eat the store brand puffed wheat!
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Auntriarch 1 day ago
I had no idea we weren't well off at the time. I just thought my mother preferred making clothes etc. She was very good at hiding things from me, or I might have just been a dim child. I do remember being jealous of children whose mothers bought orange juice in bottles, I had to squeeze oranges every morning to get juice, yeah I know, I said I was a dim child.
Julie S 1 day ago
Same I thought it was really cool that I got second hand clothes from my older cousins or the daughters of my mum's friends, I didn't realise it was because we couldn't afford new clothes.
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Auntriarch 1 day ago
I had no idea we weren't well off at the time. I just thought my mother preferred making clothes etc. She was very good at hiding things from me, or I might have just been a dim child. I do remember being jealous of children whose mothers bought orange juice in bottles, I had to squeeze oranges every morning to get juice, yeah I know, I said I was a dim child.
Julie S 1 day ago
Same I thought it was really cool that I got second hand clothes from my older cousins or the daughters of my mum's friends, I didn't realise it was because we couldn't afford new clothes.
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