As kids, many of us fantasized about what we would do if we had all the money in the world. “I would fill up an entire swimming pool with chocolate!” “Well, I would buy the newest and greatest gaming system!” But some kids who grew up with a bit less money just dreamed of seeing orange juice on the table at breakfast or being able to participate in after-school activities.
Earlier this week, Reddit user Ekudar invited people who grew up broke to share the things they assumed only rich people could afford (until they got older and realized that everyone should have access to those “luxuries”). We’ve gathered some of the most thought-provoking responses down below that might hit close to home if you also grew up in a low-income household, or that might remind you to never take your privilege for granted if you had all of these things available to you as a child.
Keep reading to also find interviews I was lucky enough to receive from two people who know the experience of growing up poor all too well, Amy Saunders and Assad Abderemane. Be sure to upvote the responses that break your heart or resonate with you, and let us know in the comments what other things you considered luxuries for the rich when you were a child. Then, if you’d like to read another Bored Panda article on the same topic, check out this story next.
#1
Orange juice.
As a kid, I vowed to be able to afford as much orange juice as I wanted when I got older. Started working in high school and used my first paycheck to buy a gallon of orange juice. I drank it all in one day and got horrible diarrhea.
Image source: bspring
#2
Eating every day.
Image source: Justasimplewanker21
#3
Butter. My mother only bought margarine because we couldn’t afford butter. I only tasted it in high school when I got my first job and would occasionally go out to eat with friends.
I promised my self that I would only have real butter when I got my own place.
50 years later I have 2 GRADES of butter at all times. Kirkland to cook and bake with, and Kerry Gold to eat on bread, potatoes, etc.
It makes me feel like Mrs. Gotrocks!
Image source: czndra60
#4
A two story house. If you had stairs you were rich.
Image source: cowdog987, Sieuwert Otterloo
#5
Not entirely in line with the question, but:
Two pairs of shoes. I thought only rich kids had more than one pair of shoes. I didn’t realize we weren’t poor, and when I told my dad, “I want another pair of shoes but I know we can’t afford it” he IMMEDIATELY took me to the shoe store and bought me a pair so I could be “rich” lol
Image source: ElusoryLamb, Mick Haupt
#6
New clothes for no reason. I was so confused when I got to highschool and girls would just suddenly have the new trend piece, I didn’t understand why they were just allowed to have them.
Image source: findingemotive, Nguyen Dang Hoang Nhu
#7
Vacations. Like actually going somewhere. We’d go on car trips once in awhile.
Image source: Revolutionary-Rip-40, Sigmund
#8
Travelling by plane. As a kid I never been in an airplane, I always thought that was for extremely rich people.
Image source: Saaihead, Jue Huang
#9
There was a rich kid in highschool that complained about me wearing the same five sets of clothes every week… I said ‘if it bothers you that much, why don’t you buy some’ and he said ‘tell your parents to’ and laughed like it was a burn or something. That was when I realized Greg S. from AHHS class of ’02 was a complete piece of s**t lacking in empathy, but to answer the question: nice clothes.
Image source: throwaway9843545555, Kai Pilger
#10
Takeaway food.
My first experience of it was having a sleepover at a friends house. We were, apparently, set to have Chinese food that evening.
I was asked what I wanted. I had no clue. So the parents just recommended something. I just said OK.
I was staggered to NOT see the mother cooking. She was just mooching around the house doing *f*k all*. Where was this food? Why wasnt she preparing it?
Then a knock on the door. And some person delivered a box of food. With more boxes in it. One box was for me…
Madness.
Such wealth to get people to make and deliver your food. That display of *vast wealth* stayed with me for a very long time…
Image source: SometimesaGirl-
#11
A fridge with an ice dispenser
#12
Going out to a sit down restaurant
Image source: Confident-Annual9970, Life Of Pix
#13
Kitchen islands
Image source: flowers4charlie777, Francesca Tosolini
#14
Going to the movies
Image source: basic-fatale, Tima Miroshnichenko
#15
Having actual tissues instead of toilet paper to blow your nose.
Image source: whatcolorismyshirt, Pixel Rich
#16
Crayola, you knew if you were a RoseArt kid.
Image source: banhbohap, Leisy Vidal
#17
My husband thinks it’s really strange that I ask for new clothes for Christmas. Not even fancy clothes, just stuff like pyjamas. He thinks that’s an everyday expense. I see it as kind of special as that is the only time I ever got a new piece of clothing as a child. Any other time I had to sew and patch up old clothes or receive hand me down clothes. Also I just learned to wear oversized hand-me-down clothes and shoes until I grew into them.
Image source: arturobear
#18
Not me but my parents.
They quite literally had a rags to riches story, they lived in the most run-down house available in the Philippines.
After years of gaining money, my grandpa and grandma managed to move the entire family into a condo. And that’s where my mum and dad come in, once they had me they gave me a life that they didn’t have. Toys, proper food and generally a better life then what they had. I’m forever thankful.
Image source: mushroomconsumerr34
#19
Things at the book fair. You could probably buy a good hoard of stuff from the book fair for 30-50 dollars looking back. I was given $7 one year to buy something and I couldn’t afford a book.
Image source: haydawg8, Kate Bezzubets
#20
Air conditioning.
Image source: New-Watcher, Vladislav Nikonov
#21
Retirement savings
Image source: pupi-face, Pixabay
#22
Anything that required money at school. If anything required bringing money to school I just took it as something I’ll have no part of. Thankfully, I had friends that were much the same, so we got through it well.
Image source: Anxiouswalnuts, Allef Vinicius
#23
Target clothes. Apparently clothes from Target are considered cheap? I grew up thinking that’s where my rich classmates got clothes.
Image source: Maxinala, wikimedia.commons
#24
Filling up the whole gas tank
Image source: UtopiaPlea
#25
Jam/Nutella spread all over your bread. I grow up with a spread that can only cover half of my bread and is very thin in an undeveloped country. After I move to a developed country and got my first paycheck, I legit buy 5 nutella jars and spread it like a madman on my bread.
Image source: caikimsin
#26
Participation in school activities.
I wanted to be part of color guard so badly.
Image source: leannmanderson, wikimedia.commons
#27
Enough bedrooms for all the kids.
Image source: refinnej78
#28
Dishwasher
Image source: EvenHair4706
#29
Clothes that didn’t come from the thrift store or cousins.
Image source: wixkedwitxh, Noémie Roussel
#30
Fast food. A lot of the food we ate growing up came from our garden or hunting. We did a lot of canning.
My dad inherited a house from his step father and it came with this pantry full of canned green beans. We ate green beans for dinner 5 days a week for probably about 4 years straight. I still won’t eat green beans.
Image source: kristheweird
#31
A pool.
Image source: zoeey_isaqueen
#32
Ordering an appetizer with your entree for dinner or ordering take out regularly
Image source: potatowithsourcream, Adrien Olichon
#33
I will just say that I still feel really guilty buying new clothes or going out to eat.
Image source: Much_Beautiful_7156, Artem Beliaikin
#34
Name brand cereal! I was looked at crazy in first grade when I said an off brand name cereal was my favorite.
Image source: cowdog987, Phil Aicken
#35
Grapes and Doritos. I was 16 and in my first apartment. Lived off of Craft Mac & Cheese made with margarine and no milk cause it was all I could afford at 28 cents a box. My neighbor was 13 years older than me and would invite me over and feed me treats. It was heaven and she was a true angel!
Image source: B0327008, Quinn Dombrowski
#36
Soda. We never had it in our house. Over at my best friend’s house they had cases of it in their garage. You could drink it like water when you were over there.
Image source: ripper4444, Alexandra Nosova
#37
Remember those electric car things kids use to have ? Anybody know what I’m talking about
Image source: societycontributer
#38
Name brand anything.
Image source: Elbowdunk13, Franki Chamaki
#39
Caprisuns. Lunchables.
Image source: Enough_Squirrel8032
#40
Mechanical pencils
Image source: SFXS-, Tima Miroshnichenko
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