Everyone aims to improve their lives and live in the best and most comfortable way possible. These aspirations push people, especially the middle class, to work harder and reward themselves with the things that remind them they’ve come a long way.
This list is inspired by that sentiment and talks about all the things that the working class has in their homes that definitely mark them as middle-class folks. Some stuff mentioned on this list might be surprising because they’re subtle enough to pass under peoples’ radar.
More info: Reddit
#1
I once had a speaker tell the group that the “lower class is surviving, they don’t have money to fix things or to have things fixed, the middle class have tools and are DIYers, while upper class have no tools because they hire the work out”.
So yeah, tools.
Image source: NeverDidLearn, Pixabay
#2
Food that there isn’t a plan for. Like you can eat it whenever. I remember my rich (read: middle class) friends casually offering me a bowl of cereal or chips after school as a snack. I was floored at the luxury of this. At home everything was rationed, or spread thin enough to get us to next paycheck or at least as close as we could get to it. Every bit of food had a plan. We couldn’t just eat whatever, whenever because we felt like it.
Also, matching furniture sets and getting your hair done *professionally,* in a salon. These were rich people things to me.
Image source: 22Hairbows, Engin Akyurt
#3
Stuff gets fixed when broken .
Image source: Ewggggg, Ksenia Chernaya
#4
No noticeable damage/repairs needed… cracks/chips in walls, damage to floors or furniture, old windows, etc. (it can be clean but need repair)
Having a house and being able to afford to upkeep the house are two separate things.
Image source: Cute_Extension2152, Vecislavas Popa
#5
Actually, growing up in the 80’s-90’s I will tell you what I remember most about the middle class houses was the amount of fresh fruit and veggies they always had. Large bowl on the counter, plenty in the fridge and pantry. Not just cheap factory food.
Image source: AdorkableUtahn, Alex Green
#6
Books, shelves full of books. That was what hit me as a kid going to my posher friends houses. Now my parents didn’t read much when I was young, but I was massively into books so seeing walls of shelves with books around my friends houses made me think they were super clever and mega rich. I know, not necessarily true especially these days, but while I have never become rich myself, I guess I became middle class through education and life experiences, so my flat is filled with books I’ve read or will read one day. So, I guess I always thought that being middle class was associated with having a library of books :).
Image source: smallcoder, Ivan Mudruk
#7
They own it.
Image source: ratmoon25, Get Lost Mike
#8
Kids having their own room.
Image source: Serious-Day5968, Kindel Media
#9
I finally felt like I had “made it” when I moved into a house and found I had a room I had no idea what to do with. It’s been months and it’s still empty.
Image source: blahbabooey, Curtis Adams
#10
I remember back to school shopping in middle school. Think J C Penney and K-Mart. Mom budgeted and paid cash for everything. I would get a few new things but not much. Most of my clothes were hand me downs from relatives.
My best friend picked out all her own clothes in a nice department store and put them on hold. Her dad went by the store after work and paid for it all and brought it home to her. No dickering, no pleading or figuring out what to buy and what to put back.
Forty five years later I contributed to her go-fund-me so she wouldn’t get evicted from her apartment. I hate that for her, the childhood and teenage years were the best years of her life.
Image source: HeronCertain2577, Pixabay
#11
First thought that popped in my head was matching cutlery, cups, and dishes.
Image source: a-maizing-blue-girl, Filip Marcus Adam
#12
Kids having cute bedding. The couple of dollars difference between plain sheets and blankets and the cute stuff with dinosaurs and unicorns is a giant gulf when you’re poor.
Image source: madcats323, Cats Coming
#13
Garage or basement fridge where the drinks are stored.
Image source: jaCASTO, Erik Mclean
#14
Those fridges with the water dispenser.
Image source: europanative, thewrongwright
#15
A family room. Like a whole separate room from the living room with a tv and huge couches.
Image source: likewhaa, Ksenia Chernaya
#16
The big pantries behind an actual door that are just full of food.
Image source: Pleasant_Yoghurt3915, Kaboompics.com
#17
The door bell that goes bing bong bong bing. Bong bong bing bong.
Image source: M0T0V3L0, Kindel Media
#18
I remember when I was around 9 or 10 I went to my first sleepover. It hit me when we pulled up; absolutely no trash in the yard or weird scraggly trees growing through the fence, no peeling paint, no cracks in the windows at all, and there were no bare patches on their lawn from a fire.
Image source: a_leaf_floating_by, Max Vakhtbovycn
#19
A couch that’s not up against the wall.
Image source: Disastrous_Soup_7137, Pixabay
#20
Kids being allowed to take whatever they want out of the refrigerator.
Image source: justdisa, cottonbro studio
#21
Their houses are way brighter. Maybe it’s just me, it seems like they have more lights and newer brighter ones. And not a bunch of burnt out bulbs.
Image source: tbd_1988, Việt Anh Nguyễn
#22
Central air conditioning.
Image source: Minute_Ad3106, t Penguin
#23
Having tissue boxes vs using toilet paper to blow your nose. .
Image source: grakattackbackpack, cottonbro studio
#24
Garage, bonus for a paved driveway in rural areas.
Image source: gaycatdetective, Luis Yanez
#25
Name brand snacks. Never had handi snacks, gushers, hi-c, lunchables, etc. as a kid. I love that I can afford them now that I’m 38.
Image source: _kiss_my_grits_, RF._.studio _
#26
Flooring.
As a kid our apartment had very old and worn linoleum glued to the concrete floor. Slippery, hard, and so thin you could feel imperfections in the floor. Everything echoed off the hard surfaces, especially in the kitchen.
Even modern vinyl floors with a built-in layer of padding feels better even though it’s pretty similar.
Going to a friend’s house who had new padded carpet was magic.. it not only felt better it made the room quiet.
Image source: FitGrocery5830, Pixabay
#27
The good toilet paper. I grew up with a single mom that always bought the cheapest TP she could find. I still distinctly remember when I visited a middle class friends house and saw triple ply for the first time. My brain told me it was some sort of towel material and I was super f*****g confused for a second.
Image source: NeCede_Malis, Vie Studio
#28
Matching furniture, matching appliances, dishwasher and ice maker.
Image source: verminiusrex, Max Vakhtbovycn
#29
Having counterspace.
Everyone having a room.
Image source: VedaCicada, Curtis Adams
#30
In the city at least, dedicated dining room and/or dedicated guestroom.
Image source: WaviestMetal
#31
Mattresses not on the floor.
Image source: New-Weight-8551
#32
Multiple flavors of breakfast cereal.
Image source: BulkyOrder9, Markus Spiske
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