People Who Grew Up Poor Share Things They Used To Consider "Luxuries" That Only The Rich Could Enjoy

"Travelling by plane. As a kid I never been in an airplane, I always thought that was for extremely rich people."

Ayoub

• Published in Interesting
• December 3, 2022

Being a kid is a weird phase you have to go through until you can take care of yourself. At that age, you cannot possibly explain everything you experienced and witnessed in the short time you have been in this world. 

Most kids build up their theories around things that stay stuck in their minds until they grow up and realize how wrong they were. It never fails to surprise you when you discover how mistaken you were about some things as a kid. 

Growing up poor also means you won't have access to many aspects other kids enjoy. Kids will notice when their friends and schoolmates have things they don't have. 

The only logical thought after that is that only "rich people" get to enjoy those privileges. You can't attempt to do those things as a kid and discover for yourself that they are not that expensive. 

A Redditor who goes by the username u/Ekudar made a post on the r/AskReddit subReddit with the following question: "What did you think only rich people could afford until you realized you were just broke growing up?" The user received a lot of interesting replies to their question; scroll down to check them out!

Here's the original post by Reddit user u/Ekudar:

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.

--bspring

2. "Eating every day."

--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!

--czndra60

4. "A two story house. If you had stairs you were rich."

--cowdog987

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

--ElusoryLamb

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.

--findingemotive

7. "Vacations. Like actually going somewhere. We'd go on car trips once in awhile."

--Revolutionary-Rip-40

8. "Travelling by plane. As a kid I never been in an airplane, I always thought that was for extremely rich people."

--Saaihead

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.

--throwaway9843545555

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...

--SometimesaGirl-

11. "A fridge with an ice dispenser"

--Bento_Fox

12. "Going out to a sit down restaurant"

--Confident-Annual9970

13. "Kitchen islands"

--flowers4charlie777

14. "Going to the movies"

--basic-fatale

15. "Having actual tissues instead of toilet paper to blow your nose."

--whatcolorismyshirt

16. "Crayola, you knew if you were a RoseArt kid."

--banhbohap

17. "My husband thinks it's really strange that I ask for new clothes for Christmas."

Not even fancy clothes, just stuff like pajamas. 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.

--arturobear

18. "Things at the book fair."

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.

--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.

--haydawg8

20. "Air conditioning."

--New-Watcher

21. "Retirement savings"

--pupi-face

It's always interesting to see the realizations people have after becoming adults. We always think a lot of things are expensive for whatever reason, but they end up being quite common and normal.

It is so sad that so many kids grow up in poverty. If you enjoyed reading this, make sure to check out similar content on our platform.

Ayoub