Not necessarily saying that you were both rich and poor (but if this was you going from one lifestyle to the other in either direction please share) but you simply had a close perspective on both lifestyles. How did this shape your outlook on life and the different classes? Did you feel closer to one side more than the other? How did it effect your friendships with people if you were poor with rich friends or vice versa?

Here to read rich people stories, can’t wait

nigga im fin to 🧗🏿‍♂️

my family has always been working class but we have a business that exists in an ultra-rich community, and thus i went to school nearby to access the education there.

it was truly shocking. these were kids who didn't have to worry about losing their house in the financial crisis. they casually had cell phones, video game systems, things like that. S*** i didnt have. Kids were saying rude things about my name, my skin, my accent, my clothes, things i never heard from kids i knew near home

its just a terrible environment to raise kids

yrp it made me understand that everyone has struggles no matter what the salary.... and the struggles dont always mean financial

For me, I’ve been at/below the poverty line my entire life. However I did have a rare privilege of attending the nicest public elementary school in the city because of integration despite living in the trenches. During the day I’m in class with rich ass white kids who’s parents were all doctors, lawyers, politicians, dentists, etc. In the evening I was surrounded by violence, gangs, addicts, & poverty. In elementary school it never really was something I processed or was jealous of despite living a completely different life from those rich kids. In the moment it was fun. Getting to go to sleepovers at big ass houses that had every game system, huge TVs, etc. I understood that wasn’t my life, and I just enjoyed it for what it was.

When I got to middle school is probably when the difference became more blatantly clear. About 80% of the friends I considered close all went off to private school. Didn’t have classes with the friends I ended up at the same middle school with. They all cliqued together, I was on my own to make an entire new group of friends. Wasn’t necessarily a race thing, I cliqued up with a variety. Our common theme was the hood even if we came from different ones. 7th grade I chopped it up with one of my close homies that went off to private school and got invited to another one his birthday parties. Never felt more apart and embarrassed in my life honestly. That really showed me that the difference in class really created a divide that I just couldn’t be friends with them anymore and never saw them again after that. I appreciate being able to take advantage of experiencing rich lifestyles and seeing how people with money move, but I’ve never been comfortable around them. Being around people just like me class wise has never felt wrong though. Honestly a lot of my resentment towards rich people are a lot of things I started piecing together in older age that make a lot more sense to me now why it always felt off

Also another thing I realized I didn’t mention in my ling txt. Majority of them came from really f***ed up homes despite being rich as hell.

Yep. I’ve seen my parents (mom and stepdad) grind from nothing to middle class (pushing upper-middle). I used to have to sleep on the floor at one point but as a kid I thought it was kind of cool so at least I had a good perspective on it. Also my real dad used to stay in the slums of the Bronx so I’ve seen some s***

I feel this, while not to that extreme, the older you get around rich kids when you aren’t rich yourself the more they start to point it out you’re not one of them. The racism I had to deal with was more so subtle with a couple cases of eyebrow raisers. But when it came to the flex of actually having money they made sure they talked their s***

My Dad had a well paying job up until I was in high school then he got laid off

So he took out like two mortgages to start a business which was risky asf and it didn't really gain traction for like 3 years as he was still learning how to operate

those 3 years were pretty much my university years (he had saved up an RESP for me) crazy thing is Business started booming once covid hit

but my lifestyle never changed as my parents lived frugal all throughout those periods like we never bought an excess of anything, no snacks at my house, my parents were cheap asf never spoiled me

But growing up my friends thought we were rich as we had a brand new house in a new neighbourhood

this is one of the commonalities I see between a lot of the wealthy families I knew growing up.. when I was like 11/12, a close family friend of mine (same age) asked me if I’d rather be poor but happy, or miserable and rich. s*** still is somewhat heartbreaking to think of ten years later tbh

You're a homeless to the riches if you're not living in a mansion and you're a rich person to the homeless if you have some food to eat and a bed to sleep tonight.

Went to a private school for middle and half of high school

Waaaaaay different than when I was at a public school

This is a good thread

One of the richest families I know is also the most f***ed by far

Was def poor when I was younger but parents got better jobs as I grew older and we in the upper middle class rn

Honestly never felt like I was poor when I was younger. Always felt like I got everything I’ve wanted and that my parents never made it feel like we didn’t have much

Yeah we went from poor working class to middle class when I was 7 and then upper middle class when I was 16. We still lived near low income neighborhoods so I went to public school in those areas.

It's interesting because I never felt "rich" growing up even though almost everyone in my middle and high school was really poor, mainly because my parents were still really frugal and didn't buy me the newest s***.

What kind of business if you don’t mind sharing

Just curious to know since you mentioned it took off during Covid

once my mom finished med school and residency difference in lifestyle got super wild, but childhood was still really nice even though money wasn't there

Parents went from homeless in a third world country to suburbs in cali

I dont ever wanna be that poor again, some days we disnt even have electricity when i was young lmao ate just plain rice all the time.

Being poor in america as a kid i didnt care bro even days we were broke as s*** we could go get a f***ing lil ceasers pizza for $5 that was a luxury in my eyes lmao.

Eating good now tho.

if ur family owns a house can you even be considered poor bruh

in a first world country ofc

Yeah. I had friends that lived in trailers and i had friends that moved mansions every few years

I’m I guess middle class now. Was lower middle class growing up with my mom and grandma m. But I saw both sides due to public schools. Which I think public schools prepares you the most for the reality of the world. I had rich friends and I had poor friends who where in trailers or the projects and barely affording to where 3 different shirts and I would always spend the night at these guys houses so I got the experience of there everyday life first hand

Grew up a few years as what i now realize to be pretty well off in a developing country, multiple houses, private schools etc

Moved to North America as a kid only to become literally dirt poor, like lights off poor

But funny enough couple years out were rising up slowly again as my siblings finish their degrees and get good jobs, my big bro makes like 80k/yr and he helps out a lot. My mom makes around half that, sis is starting a salaried position soon as well. Ig now we’re lower middle class and rising. so the plan kinda worked cus my family literally invested all our liquid wealth to immigrate with the hopes we’d go to good schools and get good jobs, but the early years were tough