To wonder why “new money” is so frowned upon in the UK?

[Namechanged2026]

Dh and I are what you would describe as ‘new money’. We both had very working class childhoods but have since earnt very well. We live in a big modern house, drive new cars (financed as it’s silly to put so much money into a depreciating asset - it works out cheaper to finance if you want a new car every 4 years) and enjoy a few abroad holidays per year (yes, we do like Dubai for the guarantee of weather, relatively short flight and quality of resorts (although we’re definitely not flashy Instagram types😂)). Our children go to private school and have had experiences that me and DH could only have dreamed of as kids.

We worked hard, got lucky and enjoy a lifestyle that we can afford. We don’t dress in tacky designer clothes (although we do have a few designer bags, belts, shoes between us), nor are we ‘flashy’.

But why is there so much snobbery towards this in the UK? Many people on super low incomes would talk about my situation negatively in a way that would suggest they would rather chose a lifestyle with a modest income and fewer luxuries because it’s almost embarrassing to want more than this. I see working class people use the phrase “money talks, wealth whispers” in reference to anything that looks like it might have been very obviously expensive. What do these people think that they would do if they all of a sudden had a super high income… just remain as they are as “money talks”?! Of course not. Yet they see no problem with the “old school” kind of wealth (country estates, kids at boarding school, muddy wellies etc etc).

It’s only in the UK that I think this attitude exists. In other countries it seems like such a positive thing to aim for a high flying career, to admit to wanting to earn as much money as possible, to discuss wanting to travel lavishly and experience lots of things. It’s actively encouraged. However in the UK, I think there is an attitude of mocking these kind of attitudes and suggesting people are shallow for aiming for this. I remember being at uni and telling a family friend that I wanted to buy a house in X area when I was older, only to be met with “is round here (a council estate) not good enough for you then?”.

Maybe you don’t have enough contact with the landed gentry to realise how much this is definitely a thing. They are just better at hiding It. People say it’s a leftover from the class system but the class system is still very much a thing. I’m surprised you don’t know this, it’s pretty standard.

It's the huge personalized number plated Range Rovers, branded clothes and yes definitely Dubai that makes us think eeeewwwww, it's not the actual money per se.

Maybe there is a slight feeling if you are old money and own a big house you are a steward until it is passed on. You have been brought up with certain expectations and that it is reasonable to go along with this.

Whereas buying lots of new things seems wasteful, not necessary but done so others can see your money. Less self control.

Like other posters, I haven’t heard there’s general negativity towards the newly rich. Anyone who expresses such would probably change their tune if they came by vast funds. I don’t have the means to buy a large modern house or take multiple exotic holidays a year. I don’t feel as if I really want to but if I had the money, then would I?

What do you mean by “living frugally”? A Radley or Coach bag as opposed to an LV?

You could have made your point with a lot less detail.

Your post reads like you just want to tell us about your “oh so amazing point” rather than have a proper discussion.

I think if you talk / act like this in real life, it maybe the case that that what people don’t like.

You can be rich and discreet, at the same time.

None of the people I’m talking about are my friends or acquaintances. And I’m sure you understand your friends and acquaintances aren’t an exact microcosm of society.

I’m not a bragger.

But as an example… I have turned up to a wider family event driving an expensive car before and then been told that comments have been made from distant relatives towards this (along the lines of “I suppose she’s too good for the mini she had now” type things). I hadn’t even mentioned the car to anybody there. I also barely even knew the people who were discussing it.

You again. Wasn’t last night’s thread enough for you?

How would anyone know about your flashy car or whatever unless you were bragging about it?

It’s anonymous here. I don’t care about talking in detail about money. I obviously wouldn’t talk like this in real life…

But that’s not a judgement on how wealth is accumulated, the OP seems to be saying that people look down on those who work hard and make good money. However I think you’ve hit on the truth - people look down on how money is spent rather than earned.

But by arriving in the expensive car (please tell me it was a RR) you are already making a statement

🤣🤣 that didn’t happen, you watch too much TV but I hope you’re enjoying your little Sunday morning escapism.

This. I wonder if it’s more about the vulgarness of excessive spending and poor taste with some new money which people will judge and criticise for.

I don't think what you're describing is 'looking down on new money'. Because that tends to mean when the traditional elite, the titled landed gentry, resent people having acquired a lot of wealth through business and suddenly appearing in their social circles without the right 'breeding'.
What you're describing is WC done well for themselves and ending up neither fish nor foul. You have enough money to move away from the things people you grew up with still do, the local school, the council estate, the struggle with budgeting, yet you still have similar culture to them, the holidays you choose, the clothes you wear are the sort of things they would choose, just a more expensive version. On the other side you have the 'solid MC' who'd no sooner go somewhere flashy than fly to the moon, as their interests lie in a different place.
The good news is, there's loads of WC people who've come up from council estates and have a bit of spare cash, so its just about finding your tribe.

Oooh please link!

Is there anything wrong with somebody buying a LV bag over a coach bag if they can afford it?

I think it comes down to class. I come from a line of extremely wealthy people (well known family business) and we were taught thinks like you must eat your peas off the back of your fork and all the etiquette that is considered “classy” or whatever. It’s absolutely ridiculous in my opinion and I’m not like that with my children but that’s what at one point was expected. We were taught you don’t show off wit your money in the way of a huge Louis Vuitton bag covered in logos. It’s clear we have money but it’s not “in your face”. We have a yacht and two villas in the south of France and no one apart from our immediate family know!

I think people who are new money (some) go over the top and have branded designer everything. Huge logos everywhere, post it all over instagram etc to show off

i wouldnt say you sound like that at all OP.

But your question seemed to be:

But why is there so much snobbery towards this in the UK? Many people on super low incomes would talk about my situation negatively in a way that would suggest they would rather chose a lifestyle with a modest income and fewer luxuries because it’s almost embarrassing to want more than this.

and you've clarified that it's generally not people around you with this attitude (apart from a couple of comments from family friends) but a general feeling on social media and MN etc that I’m describing.

So nothing to do with whether you, personally, are flashy.
So I don't see why you had to go into detail in your first post.
In fact, you could have just asked the question without mentioning your own circumstances if it's just "a general feeling on social media".
As I said, there's been a lot of threads just like this recently and it does make wonder what they're actually about.

Your post reveals why you are frowned upon, not new money. The lecture about depreciating assets of a car. You just couldn't help yourself, could you. That's the issue. It's the superiority attitude that some people with new money have and the way they put it all down to their exceptionally hard work, when we know plenty of people* *very hard with not the same financial rewards.

Well LV is deemed pretty tacky as per the long running thread, it's certainly not classy.

I’ve never experienced this phenomenon elsewhere.

In the USA, it would be a positive thing for a teen to say “I want to earn as much money as possible to have a great life style”. In the UK it would be considered crass.

This. The class issue applies too, but being rich is not seen as a measure of worth in the UK to the extent that it may be elsewhere. It’s often associated in people’s minds with the black economy and various nefarious activities, particularly in the first generation.
Working hard and being successful is a great thing but being paid vastly more than other workers is a separate issue. It loses its cachet when the people we read about are water company bosses, landlords and MPs with multiple additional jobs.

I think it’s how you display your wealth that’s the issue. We are quite well off from our own earned money, no family money. We are more estate car (for the dogs) and holidays in the New Forest type than Dubai and flashy car types. No designer clothes as not interested. You can only tell we’re well off if you see our house. And we ski every year. I’ve never come across any resentment. But maybe your wealth is significantly more than ours?