Family Background poll

[wildcat]

Just interested to see what kind of family upbringing people have. Seems like we have a lot of people from "the rest" and middle.

 

[Danny]

We ate a jar of chipped beef on day-old bakery bread toast(SOS) for dinner with tomato juice and canned beans & peaches on a regular basis and that was Sunday dinner... We also lived in a Tree-house with an indoor outhouse and used large shoeboxes to sleep in..

 

[REWahoo]

We lived in a shoebox in the middle of the road were definitely "the rest".

REW

 

[maddythebeagle]

yes, we ate SOS quite often.  

 

[REWahoo]

yes, we ate SOS quite often.

Hey now. Let's not disparage a legendary military mess hall food.

Chipped Beef on Toast - Breakfast of Champions.

REW

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Tounge (of cow) sandwiches for lunch in grade school.

Ed

 

[sgeeeee]

I'm pretty sure we were middle class. My parents never talked much about money or how we ranked relative to others. We never felt lower class and would certainly never have been allowed to act superior to anyone else. My father was a coal miner in a mining town. We seemed to be about as well off as anyone. We got indoor plumbing about as soon as everyone else in town. We didn't always have meat to eat, but we gardened, collected berries, nuts and mushrooms, hunted and fished . . . and I don't recall ever being hungry or cold.

 

[Cal]

I like to call us "upper lower class". 

We always had a roof over our head, food on the table and clothes. My parents always paid their bills but we never had any money leftover. My parents never knew what "savings" was. An emergency went on the credit card or borrowed money from grandparents (not that they had much either). I remember my dad going to work when he was extremely ill because he didn't get paid sick time and we wouldn't be able to make bill payments if he didn't go.   

But, my childhood was pretty much a happy one. We knew we weren't one of the families that went on "vacation" but we really looked forward to the week dad took off work when we went to the beach and our big annual outing at "Great America". We usually got hand me down clothes except at the start of the school year, grandma would buy each of us a new school outfit and if needed, our winter coat.

It drives me up a wall when I hear parents talking about all the stuff they are giving their kids because "they didn't have it" when they were growing up. Their logic escapes me. If by having a little (or a lot of) deprivation as a child taught you discipline, the value of money and how to be happy with few material possessions, why would you not want to give your child the same lessons? (Obviously, I am not talking about someone withholding essentials such as decent food, clothing and shelter.)

Sorry to rant. I think one of the biggest problems we have is we are a country full of spoiled people / children who actually believe they are deprived and measure their success in life by the material things about them instead of their health, happiness and family.

 

[chris2008]

Middle class for me.
My parents started with nothing in the early 50s as both sides had lost everything during WWII. While engaged, he studied and Mom had an office job. Both saved hard to be able to marry soon.
Thereafter my dad had his university diploma and good jobs. So they were able to build a small house with 2 apartments (upstairs apartment for inlaws) in 1960.
Mom was a SAHM.
I am an only child but far away from being spoiled. We exchanged childrens clothes, toys, books, magazines with all our relatives.
Every purchase was discussed. Mom saved lots of her housekeeping allowance.

Almost all my friends and their families lived like that. Those who had more did not show off.

 

[snowbird]

Banana sandwiches and SPAM. My old man drank his money away.

 

[BUM]

Hi snowbird!

Love your timeline to margaritaville. My old man (greatgrandfather ) didnt drink his money away. He gave it away. He was a philanthropist (owned a chunck of what it now Central Park, NYC) to the bitter end. I say bitter because I always heard the story from my mother who seemed bitter about it, since we were always pretty much broke growing up. However we always had the money for what we needed.

An interesting poll might be one that looks at family fortunes over the generations.


BUM

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Solid middle class. Lots of very hard workers (some farmers).
My Dad's family was dirt poor out of the Kentucky "knobs" but
Mom's family was fairly prosperous with a lot of professionals
sprinkled in. Guess the union my my parents kind of balanced
things out.

JG

 

[wildcat]

Upper sure is a tough sell

 

[maddythebeagle]

Maybe, I should have asked what income levels we are talking about. I guess that I was thinking lower income is 20k or less, and upper is 100k or more. You are right on the money Cal on your post. I think that is probably why a lot of folks on these boards were brought up to be "strong" and have a good handle on finances and leared LBYM. Looking back, I dont remember not having as much "stuff" was all that important.

 

[kz]

Solid middle class although most people in the town we lived in would say upper class. Very small town and dad (small business owner) made really good money and definitely shared with his family and others.

Mom came from a very poor family and was a SAHM. She kept everything in check...including dad.

 

[justin]

Maybe, I should have asked what income levels we are talking about. I guess that I was thinking lower income is 20k or less, and upper is 100k or more. You are right on the money Cal on your post. I think that is probably why a lot of folks on these boards were brought up to be "strong" and have a good handle on finances and leared LBYM. Looking back, I dont remember not having as much "stuff" was all that important.

I think the sociological definition of upper class is usually a good bit higher than 100k/yr. It also has many other factors than simply income.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

I think I bounced around the middle-class spectrum. Never worried for food or shelter, but after parents divorced I realized I had it really good before they were divorced. I think noticing how much "poorer" we were has made me appreciate money more, but I still got into debt trouble for 10 or so years.

I say we never worried for food or shelter, but we did have lots of family help for shelter and were eating much cheaper than before the divorce.

 

[SteveR]

Not sure where to draw the line here but if family income less than $100k is 'The Rest" then that is where I came from...way less.

Both parents worked and were educated but their chosen professions did not pay much. My mother was a grade school teacher in the deep south; my dad worked in a boiler company. They were far far better off than their siblings or their parents. We were seen as the "rich" wing of the family yet I never felt that way growing up. We were taught to save for what you want and to only pay cash. Don't trust banks and never lend out money except to family. We live a decent life and never wanted for food or shelter so I consider myself lucky in many ways.

I am far better off than the rest of my family but we are all very happy with where we are in life. It is not the amount that matters, it is being happy with what you have.

 

[shiny]

I picked middle since there were lots of people below us in our southern town, but we walked the fine line between middle and "the rest"

 

[Mountain_Mike]

Middle class. My dad was manager of a local branch of a finance company, and I remember his stories about what people would do.

He personally knew that many locals who appeared to be "rich" (toys, fancy clothes, etc.)--people who had good jobs-- who would come to him and "need" to borrow $100 to make it to the next paycheck.

I learned about living below or at least within your means.

 

[yakers]

We lived in a shoebox in the middle of the road were definitely "the rest".

REW

You had a shoebox? You were lucky!

....continuing the Monty Python skit.......

 

[Arif]

I knew the value of a dollar very early on. We ate Mac and cheese alot, but to a kid that was heaven. One time (at band camp...) my Mom worked a second job just to get me a bike for my birthday. Eventually she remarried and life got a lot better. Funny thing is she recently asked me what was the fondest time I had growing up and I said when it was just me and her buying dented cans at a discount store. She thought it was funny but I was serious. Learned a lot about finances and the freedom that it brings. So much so that I started working summer jobs at 13 and she never had to buy my school clothes again or my first car.
Know if I could just replicate that feeling with my son without all the Mac and cheese and dented cans

 

[MJ]

I grow up on the poow side of town (Paris) in a walkup tenement apartment with no bathroom. Our building had one public toilet and we went to the public bathhouse for our weekly bath or shower. It didn't feel like we were poor but what would an 8 year old know.
By the time I was 18, we finally graduated to lower middle class status by moving into a small house.

 

[unclemick]

As I recall - by age 8 - the outhouse and handpump in the kitchen were gone(1951) - we had indoor plumbing.

And sometimes once a week -  my Dad would spend the money to drive to West Kelso and we went to the public Sauna. The fourth step up the bleachers was for the tough guys. Only heard of - the 200 degree club decades later.

Scarred by the Great Depression - my parents went through post WWII prosperity waiting for the other shoe to drop. Dad retired as a log train mechanic.

I was a poster child for Happy Days - the movie. Except I used the family 1955 Pontiac Chieftain for the Drive-ins.

 

[Danny]

And sometimes once a week - my Dad would spend the money to drive to West Kelso and we went to the public Sauna. The fourth step up the bleachers was for the tough guys. Only heard of - the 200 degree club decades later.

I'm on the third step 195 club at the Y. I'm only part swede so don't have fully developed sauna heebie jeebies.