What makes you privileged - financially

[IknoIkno]

Name changed.
I know we are in the worst pandemic since World War 2 and all.

I talked to a childhood friend earlier and she said(in a huff) I am financially privileged because I do not have a set budget for day-to-day expenses.

Is there such a thing as financial privilege?
To think it is the go-to defence for those with poor personal finances plans

I agree - I'm sure footballers work less hard for more reward than people in jobs where they have to work in vile conditions and long anti social hours. Many TV celebs baffle us all by just how much they are paid for so little. Not all talent or skill is equally valued or rewarded in our society. The ones who may improve our lives, even save our lives or keep us safe from criminals are often the least well rewarded.

I am really hating this constant dissection of "privilege". I'm not sure what is gained by the politics of envy? Are we meant to do a mea culpa every day? You know what is healthier? Accepting that there will always be people who have more than you, are more intelligent, better looking etc and know that you don't see more than the surface of their lives. Comparison is the thief of joy.

We are financially privileged, for which we are so grateful and know a lot of it is down to luck eg not being up against a better candidate for that lucrative job or jumping from one sector to another before the first sector foundered.

It's summed up by an incident yesterday - I was doing the online supermarket order and when I'd finished DH asked, only in a making conversation sort of way., how much the total was. I realised, and said, that I had no idea as I didn't check. And he didn't bother pursuing it.

I started out with no education of merit I have 4 siblings who also didnt get to college after school but one left home to go. I was informed by my father that it was a waste of his money as I would only get married and have children. I am now divorced no children. I found it very hard and worked three jobs after the split, did without food, walked to work, kept warm with hot water bottles. I then got a job I loved which paid well ( for me ) I bought a house and loved my life. Then i got cancer and couldnt carry on in that job as was very physical. Im still working, different job but only a few hours a day. I'm constantly told how lucky I am to be alive. Yes I am but I look back at how I pulled myself up and got slammed back down. Life is hard but I have enough for Bills at the moment and thats privileged.

I feel privileged to live in a country, and time, that means despite being disabled and unable to work, I still have an income, a roof over my head, food to eat, clothes to wear. My children didn’t have to drop out of school to provide for the family. I wasn’t trapped in a bad marriage by my inability to work. It’s all relative isn’t it..?

So many people fail to see the headstarts in life they are given compared to those who have none of those things.

This x1000. Some people just don't have a clue.

The more I read this thread the more I think some people are confusing luck with privilege. Some of us are financially secure because we worked hard and were lucky in that we didn't have to navigate any of the life events that cause everything to go tits up - serious illness etc.

Those that are privileged, surely, are the ones who have had a safety net to protect them poverty should that happen? Those with wealthy parents, or who married into a wealthy family.

IMO Privilege is knowing that, no matter what happens, your family will be fed, clothed and housed using money you have not generated. Eg grandparents.

I think that you are very lucky to be in the position you are in but think you dont live in the real world. My partner and i are both on minimum wage not by choice as we live in a deprived part of the uk. We love to be financially privileged by bugeting. You need to get your head up from your arse.

Being financially privileged is a thing, and it will mean different things to different people. I grew up in a pretty badly off household so now I am in the position where I don't need to panic if the washing machine breaks, or the car needs new tires or whatever I would say I am priveledged.