To ask , did you grow up rich or poor?

[SteveAs]

I would for me , in between , we weren't over the top wealthy but I still lived quite a good childhood , there was never any problems financially

Fairly well off- only my dad worked- we ate out lots, theatre shows, we had a summer holiday home and stayed away all summer, skiing at weekends and ski holidays. My parents would never buy me the latest anything- very anti fads and trends. But I really didn't want for anything, had many enriching experiences that I am entirely grateful for. Both my parents grew up poor, and my mum was raised by a single mother in a foreign country as new immigrants. Very tough.
This has helped me feel appreciative and grounded- I read this back and feel like I should feel guilty

Bit of a mix really. Grew up in a nice house in an affluent are, although most of my parents money went into the mortgage so we could live in a nice area. Not much disposable income but enough to not feel particularly poor. Parents divorced when I was 13 and that left my mum very poor and we moved to a smaller house in a not so nice area, almost no disposable income, no money for school trips, and luxuries, sometimes not even food. Her situation improved as she worked her way up in her profession and is now relatively comfortable, as am I now I am grown up.

This thread has just reminded me of phoning the free phone number (from a pay phone, we didn't have a phone) to get a copy of the Centre Parcs brochure. I read it from cover to cover and dreamed of going there!!!

Not rich by any means. Lived in a little semi, weekends spent watching dad play cricket, lots of walks, the beach, birdwatching. Later on, holidays to France (Eurocamp and I remember the excitement when mum found out the folk in the tent next door were solicitors, she got proper Hyacinth Bouquet).

But I was encouraged in all my interests, went to a great school on a assisted place and was really, really loved.

We are wealthy now, but aside from private schooling, choose not to have a wealthy lifestyle. We drive ‘normal’ cars and love our little house. Our holidays are pretty much exact replicas of my childhood holidays. But we love days out in London , exploring new places and try to encourage the children’s interests.

ducktales I remember our first visit to Center Parcs aged 11. Massively exciting for all. New cossies from Marks and Sparks. I’d never encountered a jacuzzi before, and out in a fair squirt of Fairy liquid...,

Like most people in my country at the time: middle. It was a time when the gap between poor and rich was probably as low as it has ever been in historic times. Estates weren't a thing.

We didn't spend much money on a daily basis, hardly ever ate out, no alcohol in the house, had a diet that was very much based on boiled potatoes and fish, my mother walked to town instead of taking the bus, we didn't have a car and I wore my cousins' cast-offs. But we had books and toys and even managed to travel a little. And so many good things were free: swimming in the sea, playing in the snow, picking berries, building dens.

And there was this huge belief that everybody would be all right after all, because surely nobody could want anybody else to suffer cold or hunger and if we didn't want it we would make sure it didn't happen- not to anyone! The idea that some people might think other people's children being cold and hungry a fair price to pay if they themselves could live a life of luxury would have seemed monstrous, not only to my child self but to most of the adults I knew too.

It was a good time to be a child.

I grew up poor, on benefits. My dad had severe mental health issues. I had free school meals etc. No luxuries at all.
Pretty grim actually. Luckily my son won't ever know that, so grateful for that.

Varied- ok until df left my dm and cleared their joint account
Then maybe poor -even with dm working I remember hiding from the window cleaner, using washing up liquid as shampoo etc things were tight
Then ok - comfortable when dm remarried and she got a promotion too so then we were able to have holidays and days out which didn’t happen before.

We were just over benefits level.

No holidays.
Shoes for school had to last all year, remember dad super gluing soles back on.
Free school meals, that was bloody embarrassing.
No central heating, so house was damp, cold and we had mould everywhere. My toys, carpet, even duvet used to get mould on.
Used to get chillblains all winter, which were unbearable sometimes.
Endless visits to Social Security offices about benefits.
Coming home from school and finding my mum crying because she had no money to buy food with.
The kind priest, I'm Catholic, who gave us money each week out of his allowance. We would have gone under without that.
Christ, it sounds like something from Victorian times, not 30 years ago.

Middling, we had a nice house in a good area, always enough food on the table & well cared for, holidays in the uk - but not much extravagance, hand me down clothes, never had piles of presents for birthdays/Christmas.

My parents worked hard & prioritised the important things with their money :)

Poor. Wore unisex clothes from jumble sales so they could be passed down. I did realise that we were poor when I was about 11 and everyone in the school went on a school trip but I couldn't go. We couldn't afford it and my parents wouldn't take charity from the school. I do hold a bit of a grudge as my parents always managed to buy cigs, alcohol and go out. I look back at my childhood and it actually made me. I'm now very comfortable but try not to spoil my kids.

Poor - my DM was a single parent who had me when she was 17. No family support. She worked every hour possible when she could. We once spent Christmas in a one room bedside in Rhyl. Had fish fingers and beans for Christmas dinner and had a walk on the beach. Another Christmas, the local church left a hamper of food on the doorstep. She never found out who nominated her but she's never forgotten.

Can remember never having any wellies and getting some for my only birthday present aged about 8.
Always lived in a flat with lp dm without any heating. Never had a hot meal except Sunday at dgm house. Dm didn't drive and can remember cold bus stops after school as all my class mates drove past. My df never paid a penny for my upkeep ever. He won the pools when I was an adult and never gave me a penny then either.
I work PT and claim some benefits but my dc never think of us as skint /deprived.

Probably middling..., Mum had 10 years off with my siblings and I. Dad worked a lot of shifts. Sometimes the car was off the road as we couldn’t afford to get it fixed. Mum made a lot of our clothes and she very rarely got anything new for herself. We did always have enough food and we did get a week in a caravan somewhere, which I think my GF helped out with, as he usually came with us (widowed young).

Mum went back to work and we got nicer things, and went abroad to France or the like (never flew tho) every second year. I was made fun of because I didn’t have Nike trainers, or a Pringle jumper, but we got stuff from mum’s catalogue. I think we had plenty love, attention and support. My siblings and I were geeky and studious so were less popular and were encouraged to do our best, so didn't always notice we didn’t have the same as others.

I grew up poor, had 5 siblings. My mum and dad worked hard all their lives but never really got anywhere. Had a happy childhood because everyone I knew was in the same place. Had DD very young and struggled financially to bring her up.
Married now had have a very different lifestyle but I'm still very much working class and can still remember what its like to be poor.

Poor until I was 10, when my dad got a much better paid job, then middling until I was 15, when he went to work abroad and was earning really good money.

My early years sound like something from Monty Python: outdoor lav, no bathroom, no running hot water, no telly, my mum used to cut her own hair because she couldn't afford the hairdresser. We didn't even have a fridge until I was nearly 10. They bought their first fridge with the £25 maternity grant they got when my mum was expecting my

brother.

Rich I’d say. Not massive house/flash car rich, but money-never-being-an-issue rich. No worries about bills, never cold or hungry.

And, wonderfully, we were so loved. I had a deeply happy childhood- I felt cherished, I got on with my siblings, we’d regularly cry with laughter at the dinner table. I still feel just stupidly lucky thinking back on it.

I hope my DC can say the same years from now.

Poor-ish? No central heating till I was 12 (I remember being very excited about this!), no double glazing, no holidays abroad (sometimes no holidays), no car.

That said my parents gave me and my sibling a lovely childhood and I don't feel hard done by in the slightest.

One thing i do remember is overhearing my parents talk about struggling with mortgage payments so I hid a letter from school about a trip abroad. My dad was ever so angry (not at me really) when he found out as they always made sure we never missed out. They found the money for the trip from somewhere.

Pretty well off. Land owning grandparents, flat in SW1, high earning parents, holidays in US and South of France, pony, etc.

OTH my parents hated each other, both married three times, my mother is a narcissist and I have still never pleased her. I have almost no memories of a happy life with my parents. My grandparents were brilliant though.

Gosh that last memory made me tear up a bit!

Pretty comfortable.

Always warm, always well fed, new clothes whenever I needed and I was lucky enough to go on a long haul holiday per year. We had s bog standard 3 bed terrace (typical round here) but I was in line with my peers.

My parents were both poor growing up, it made them work hard and get on.

I've worked since I was 14 and supported myself through uni and haven't taken a penny off my parents since I left home so I think despite my pretty lucky upbringing, I have a decent work ethic.

Wow Turnocks34 what an inspirational story. Hats off to your mum and dad for turning things around for themselves and their kids like that.

Bit of both. Day to day things were pretty basic as my mum was a single parent on a low wage - shopped for clothes on the cheap market stalls, lots of family camping/caravan holidays, lived in a terraced house in a dodgy area etc.
My dad never paid as much maintenance as he should especially as his career took off but he would splash out on Disney World holidays, sailing trips and had a big house in a posh street. His son from his second marriage definitely has a posher upbringing than us but I don't remember feeling particularly resentful.
I definitely inherited my dad's work ethic and my kids are currently getting a pretty privileged upbringing which actually makes me feel a bit odd as I feel growing up without much money made me appreciate it more than many of my friends who always had loads of money and now don't seem to have much clue that there are people out there struggling to pay bills and put food on the table

Very poor but always felt loved and wanted
Brought up on free school dinners, jam and bread or bread n margarine in the evening - all 3 would’ve been a luxury
Chips n gravy with the fried bits of batter on Saturday
Sunday lunch with grandparents