What were your "wow we're poor" or "wow we are well off" moments when you were a kid?

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Reply 440

Tyrion_Lannister

Original post by chukster97

You must be uber smart with a fancy degree then

I didn't go to Uni.

Reply 441

username1114381

Original post by Moosferatu

That's pretty epic.

What is? The price of my house given its fairly big size and central location in a nice city? Does £650,000 seem expensive or not? I really don't know anymore.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 442

Moosferatu

Original post by JamesTheCool

What is? The price of my house given its fairly big size and central location in a nice city? Does £650,000 seem expensive or not? I really don't know anymore.

Just sounds like life gave you a ladder which is always good.

Reply 443

Beenaa

I had a bit of both in my life. When I was in primary school, we could barely afford anything, uniform was second hand, no crisps or chocolates like my classmates, we had the same furniture since before I was born, and I was always really upset because we never had sky like all my friends but overall life was okay because I was young. I didn't really realise how puny and dingy our inner city terraced house was, or how the crime in the area was pretty bad. I hated inviting people over. Then when I was 10, we moved back to our home country and there we had a big house with a pool and big garden, cars and started going to private boarding school (which isn't really special as that's what all the secondary schools are like) so the lightbulb didn't really click then. It was when i moved school to come back to the UK and start boarding school here that it clicked when I saw how much the school fees were. I started taking long haul business class flights with BA, going shopping for designer clothes (outlets mind you, I'm not that stupid), horse riding, drama, yearly holidays abroad. I'm really grateful that I experienced both sides of the coin, and it has really made me appreciate the value of money but yeah, it has motivated me even more to work harder :smile:

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Reply 444

username1114381

Original post by Moosferatu

Just sounds like life gave you a ladder which is always good.

Even once we get our inheritance we won't be terribly well-off or rich or anything. We'll have a similar quality of life to what we have now, just not in some grit-under-the-fingernails suburban chamber.

Reply 445

username1114381

Original post by Beenaa

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How did you get from being poor to suddenly being able to go to private boarding school, out of interest?

Reply 446

Beenaa

Original post by JamesTheCool

How did you get from being poor to suddenly being able to go to private boarding school, out of interest?

Both my parents were students. My dad got his phd then got a cushy job, while my mum studied to become a lawyer then she worked in the UN then got a cushy job

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Reply 447

Per

Original post by Fullofsurprises

Were you not entitled to free school meals out of interest? Or did your parents not apply for them?

Your post is interesting, because many people say there are 'no real poor' any more, eg, that even poor people have flatscreen TVs, mobile phones, decent food, etc. A number of posts in the thread challenge this assumption.

I was raised in Middleabrough which is probably one of the most poverty stricken towns in the UK. I'm not sure if I was entitled to free meals, it was the '90s and my mother had me very young during her law degree and had to go straight into work in a call centre after she graduated to help support us. My father was a window cleaner and I doubt that between them they made £12k. We lived in a (tiny) house which was not subsidised by the council so my parents didn't receive benefits except probably child benefit which was likely spent on cigarettes. They didn't have a lot of money to start with but they probably could have spent it better to be honest. Now that I'm an adult. studying near London, looking back, I would rather have been given clean air to breathe and adequate nutrition so that I didn't now have health problems associated with maternal smoking and second hand smoke, than have gotten toys and sweets now and then. But what can you do, no one's perfect and the benefits system isn't either, but it's probably the best we can do and I don't think it needs changing like a lot of people seem to believe. In regards to the poor owning expensive things these days I think that a lot of that is down to the finance options available in which companies exploit the wants of the poor and charge them about 3 times as much for something over so many years, or acquired through dishonest means. "From the back of a lorry", as it were.

Reply 448

username851717

A big indicator was probably when I applied for Student Finance. Sat with my parents looking at their payslips feeling awful for them, after how demanding me and my brothers had been at various stages of life.

Reply 449

LostGear

2 or three holidays per year and that's when I realised something was not quite right...

Or the that time when I overheard dad say on the phone to mum "we really ought to send the boys to private school abroad?"

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 450

Stacks

I don't think I ever considered my family poor or well off when I was a child.
We lived in a rural area where the size of the primary school was about 30 children and our family was the only one to have Sky television at the time so all of the other children thought we must be rich.
At the same time I'd get my older cousin's old clothes and bikes when he outgrew his. Apparentley my mum had seen a bag of clothes dumped at the side of the road once and rummaged though it to see if there was anything salvagable.

Hand me downs and stuff like that was just 'normal' in my eyes. Pretty much everyone where I lived would be considered poor now in hindsight.
We ended up moving and being fairly well off though.

I remember having to save up all of the money I got for my birthday and Christmas to be able to buy myself a PS2 when it was released. Now though my younger sister gets given an iPad as one present from my parents.

My younger siblings have absolutely no value of anything since they just get handed it. Even though we were well off at the time, I was 'encouraged' to find a part time job whilst at school. My brother has no work experience, doesn't do anything outside of school except play computer games yet expects to be able to walk in to a part time job straight away when he goes to university. :rolleyes:

Gonna be a reality check for him since he's been told repeatedly that when he goes to university he's expected to support himself.

Reply 451

Jebedee

I always wanted roller blades. My best friend had a brand new pair of Bauer in line roller blades so I asked my parents. They always went to boot sales and never really had any kind of realisation of quality so they got me these odd looking roller skates, the graphic design was like the saved by the bell background (out of fashion even in the mid nineties). They had plastic wheels so when we went down the hill my friend had a great time. On the other hand I would go 1/3 of the speed and the vibrations made my legs completely numb by the time I got to the bottom.

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Reply 452

Fact

I never really had a "wow we're well off moment" to be honest. I had always known because my parents made a point of never buying furniture from mediocre stores for common people which was bizarre to me initially. We always had everything imported, from Alberto Vignatelli to Persian carpets and marble tiles; only the best quality was satisfactory. Then there is the designer stuff like Antigona Givenchy bags and Hermes crocodiles which are commonplace around my house. The crocodiles run for about £80K each, which is not that much for a bag but apparently it is for working class people. Working class people love designer stuff on the lower end of the scale like £1k-20k which is stupid if you ask me. I had my 'true' enlightening when we went yachting in St Tropez and our boat was possibly among the five largest docked at the port. We could see the poverty on the faces of those with the smaller yachts. The economic contrasts were stark between us. Aside from generally owning a fleet of S class Mercedes and a few properties in prime London locations such as Sloane street, Grosvenor sq, Mayfair and Belgravia alongside several businesses stationed internationally and large investments in globally acclaimed brands I wouldn't say we are that rich really.

Spoiler

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 453

printergirl

Original post by nixonsjellybeans

Same for me. Applying for student finance made me realise just how poor my parents were, the sum of their wages wasn't even double figures, i couldn't believe it.

I always knew my parents weren't well off, there were a few years i went without birthday and holiday presents. I remember having a child savings account (about 10 and i recall it having four figures) and it mysteriously disappearing. One of the worst ones was me saving cash for a summer holiday (about two hundreds pound) and one day it just disappears, my parents dont even mention it :frown:

I never minded being poor it just sucked that it wasn't even the reason for a rubbish childhood.

Reply 454

DougieMcpuggy

My parents had me in there early twenties and I was a complete "surprise" A.K.A accident, so without a proper job, or house or anything, I guess from the off it was always a bit of a struggle.
However, in my living memory I can only think of a few instances where I can look back and see it was because we were poor. A woman came every week with a big booklet and looked and wrote in my parents booklet, that kinda looked the same but smaller. The Provvy woman she was called...
There was a point were my grandma (who lived separately from my Granddad but were still married, just "estranged") had to move in with my grandad and we lived in her one roomed flat on top of a shop for a little while. I guess it was so we didn't go homeless.
But other than that, I think my parents always tried to build their way up. I guess my parents never made it obvious to us. Until a few years ago where I had to help a lot financially to help tide everybody over 'till the next pay-check. I haven't been able to help them recently, because my finances are short too. So right now they are living payday to payday. And the heating is NEVER on.

Reply 455

getjob5

When people saw me get dropped off too school in bmws and Audi, I think state school really shows different backgrounds which is a good thing.

Reply 456

SophieSmall

Original post by DougieMcpuggy

Sorry to hear you've not had the best of times financially growing up and even now :frown:

hope it looks up for you and your family soon.

Reply 457

SophieSmall

Original post by printergirl

I never minded being poor it just sucked that it wasn't even the reason for a rubbish childhood.

Oh wow I would have been crushed to find my savings gone :/ I wouldn't have minded so much if I were asked but it seems they just didn't like to talk about?

Reply 458

printergirl

Original post by SophieSmall

Oh wow I would have been crushed to find my savings gone :/ I wouldn't have minded so much if I were asked but it seems they just didn't like to talk about?

That was the biggest amount, and the only time i really got annoyed as i understood my parents needed the money. Usually it's just £10 or so that i get given by grans/aunts etc (who are all very well off) that my parents take off me

I got the student loan now so i finally have some money