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65 People Who Grew Up Poor Share What They Thought Were Signs Of Luxury But Were Actually Simple Things
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
Family vacations.
StrangeOne 2 hours ago
Disneyland vacations. Apparently every kid in my class had gone to Disneyland or Disneyworld by Grade 5 and they all laughed at me when they found out I've never been. It's not like we live in the States.
#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.
#10
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 3 hours ago
You're lucky. You learned from the best (Mom)! Having a good work ethic is huge.
#11
Tissues. If we needed to blow our nose, we used toilet paper.
#12
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.
#15
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.
#16
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.
#19
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.
#21
Actually ordering what you want to eat at a Restaurant - not what is cheap.
#23
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.
#24
I bought shells and cheese today. It made me realize that my child has no idea that velveeta shells meant your parents had money.
#25
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 hour ago (edited)
$200 for a Nintendo was actually a lot of money for a lot of families back then.
#26
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.
#27
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.
#28
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 3 hours ago
And it was high class. Better to be poor and floating on love than to be rich drowning in sorrow.
#29
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.
#30
Being allowed to order a drink besides water when going out to eat.
#32
Any of those crummy popular clothing stores that sell bad overpriced clothes like Gap, American Eagle or Aeropostale
We could barely afford Kmart clothing.
#33
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.
#36
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.
#37
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.
#38
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.
#39
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.
#40
Two phone lines at home.
#46
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.
#48
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.
#49
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.
#50
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!
#54
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.
#59
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.
#60
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.
#61
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.
#62
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….
#63
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.
#65
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.
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Rose the Cook 1 hour ago
When I was a child it was having a tap in the house. My father was incredibly mean with money and very selfish. We lived in what I learned later was a condemned house rented illegally.
Rose the Cook 1 hour ago
When I was a child it was having a tap in the house. My father was incredibly mean with money and very selfish. We lived in what I learned later was a condemned house rented illegally.
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