As children, we often noticed subtle differences between our friends and class fellows, including their family backgrounds. One of the ways we could guess if a kid came from a rich family was by observing certain signs of perceived wealth.
Those People Have Money
These signs revealed their social status, indicating their family’s wealth and privilege.
Someone posed a question online “When you were a kid, what was a sign that a kid you knew came from a family that “had money?”
The thread received quite exciting comments. Let’s take a look at some of them!
1. Matching Furniture Sets
Though many people have matching furniture or corresponding interior, some kids consider it a luxury only rich people can afford.
One of the Reddit users assumed, “Matching furniture sets. Our house was decorated in functional secondhand.”
Another person commented, “My parents too were students of that school of design. They would have discussions about furniture like “Well, I think the green couch will work well because we don’t have a f****** choice.” And my mom would say, “Well ok, but then we need to augment the feng shui by getting a table that the neighbors give us for free because we don’t have a f****** choice.” They were passionate about interior design.”
Another Redditor said, “We had matching furniture once that we bought on sale after scrimping for a few years on a mixture of the way old 2nd hand and worn out. We got it on sale and it lasted for several years.”
2. Lunch Money
Strange as it seems, kids were assumed wealthy by other kids when they paid an extra amount for their friend’s lunch.
One Reddit user stated, “My friend would give me more money for lunch than my parents.”
Someone else replied, “That’s class. Not showing off the stuff you have, or pointing out what others don’t, but taking care of someone so that they don’t even realize it.”
Another user added, “That is so amazing to think about. Sharing is caring and is an important lesson for children to also think about people around them.”
Though it’s an excellent habit and may come off as a caring gesture, having some extra dollars in your pocket as a kid when you aren’t earning is surely a sign of being rich!
3. Buying Other Friends’ Lunch
Another sign that makes other kids seem wealthy is buying them lunch with your own money.
In this regard, a Reddit user commented, “He bought everyone snacks all the time and never asked that they pay him back. I swear the kid spent about 500 bucks a year on us in Cola’s.”
Someone else also said, “When I taught at a private school I had a student like that. I swear he had a crisp new $20 bill every day to buy chips and candy and whatnot for his friends at lunch. He was also picked up by his 16yo sister in her hybrid vehicle.”
To this, another user replied, “I have a friend like this. Likes to buy us stuff and sometimes pays for my food, despite my refusal.”
Would you count someone buying another friend’s lunch as rich or with a golden heart?
4. Vacationing
Maridav via DepositPhotos.com.
Remember how we used to look forward to the summer vacations back in the school days, but unfortunately, not everyone could go on a trip with family?
One user said, “Would miss weeks of school because they were always on vacations.”
Some other person replied, “There was a girl in my uni class who was the sister of a supermodel, she was barely ever there because she was usually visiting Tokyo or something with her sister. She was nice tho.”
Another Redditor said, “For me, it wasn’t just the vacations, it was specifically that they could bring a friend on vacation. That’s when I knew they were rich.”
Well, not everyone can afford a vacation. What is your thought on this?
5. Fancy Vacations
A Reddit user commented, “They had fancy vacations or even several vacations each year.”
One more user said. “I hated the first days of school when the teachers would ask everyone what they did over the summer and you have f****** Paige over there who went to Europe, and Connor who went all around the United States, and the most I did was maybe get FroYo if I was lucky.”
Some other users said, “Yeah, like literally in this past year at least 3 people in my class went to the Bahamas (before covid) and like I was the only person who didn’t go anywhere so I was just sitting there like.”
Visiting tourist attractions is a sign of wealth. Do you consider fancy vacations as a luxury only rich people could afford?
6. Lake House
Another amazing indicator of wealth is a lake house which we all must have desired to live in when we were young and our parents couldn’t afford it.
One Reddit user shared their insight, “They had a lake house.”
Someone else said, “It kills me how many people at my school and church just casually say “my lake house.”
Another comment said, “Yup, my rich childhood friend lived on a lake. If you thought it was “lucky” or whatever to get to live on a lake like back in the 90s or whatever. It’s getting more insane now cause the property values to keep going up, especially for any property with waterfronts, and especially lakes. It’s getting to the point where it’s almost exclusively for rich people. It’s ridiculous.”
Well, house location or size can tell about a family’s financial status. Kids were smart to judge that.
7. Internet Button
Pushing the internet buttons has given us many heart attacks. If a kid was using it without worrying about it, he was definitely rich!
A Redditor said, “When they were able to use the internet on their flip phone without freaking out cause you accidentally pushed the internet button.”
Someone else added, “Oh, the panic of the internet button…when you scramble to hit the back button 10 times until you just power off the phone and pray that you did it in time. You’ll have to spend another five minutes typing out that text again on the 10 key, but it is worth it to avoid the wrath of the parents when they get the cell bill.”
Another user shared, “This internet button thing was in my blood. Never somebody said to me that it was expensive but every time I pushed it I was freaking out.”
8. They Owned a Boat
Another comment spoke highly of luxury as when one Reddit user stated, “Not a kid but I’m working at a summer camp at a club nearby. People who are members of this club are pretty rich and sometimes I hear kids talking about how much fun they had on their grandpa’s boat over the weekend. In just there thinking, “Wow, these guys got a boat.”
Some other user said, “Real talk tho having a boat is a b**** unless you’ve got the money to pay someone else to take care of it 100%.”
Another comment popped up, “My grandad owns a small rowing boat. Am I rich now?”
9. Checkbook
What an amazing example of showing off your riches and wealth! We are sure the whole class must be thinking that the kid belonged to an extremely rich family.
A Reddit user commented, “It was the last day and my class was in second place. This one kid asked how far behind we were and the teacher said something like 15 dollars as of the beginning of the day. This kid pulled out his checkbook and wrote a check for 50 dollars to go in the jar just to cover all bases regarding the other class. I mean, for fifty bucks that kid could have just thrown us a pizza party but in 5th grade, it seemed pretty cool.”
Someone else added in disbelief, “I didn’t have my own checkbook until college and this kid had one in fifth grade?!?”
Another comment stated, “My initial thought: wow a 5th graded knew how to write a check?!”
10. Cars
Cars are a necessity, but driving the latest models from reputed manufacturers when you are too young to buy one yourself is a luxury only the rich can afford.
One Redditor stated, “There were different cues for levels of wealth. I thought I was pretty well off as I could ask for and got the big box of Crayola crayons with a sharpener and my shoes were bought new. When I got a scholarship to a prep school, I learned that wealthier families traveled during school breaks. The most ridiculously wealthy kids got brand-new cars for passing their driving test. The cars were replaced once damaged.”
Following this, the post received a reply, “That reminded me of a kid who totaled his car twice and still got a new car. He once said in front of our high school teacher “I don’t know of any cars under 75K”. This was more than what the teacher was making in an entire year.”
One more user recorded the comment, “Those cars always got damaged too. There’s one town near me where all the rich kids come from and they all have a story about totaling their brand new car right after getting their license.”
Someone else posted, “Yes, this. The wealthier kids always got a brand-new Mustang or BMW on their 16th birthday. The rest of them got hand-me-downs or used cars. Also, the kids that could afford to play most sports generally had wealth in their family, that s*** ain’t cheap.”
Quick question, which car did you get after driving clearance?
11. Branded Shoes
Another sign of considering other kids wealthy was to spot them wearing the most expensive, high-quality shoe brand.
A user said, “They weren’t wearing 4-stripe Adidas.”
Another guy stated, “Oh god, that just brought flashbacks. I was wearing a pair of “Bike” brand shoes and never thought anything of it until this kid informed me they were cheap ripoffs of Nikes. They were shoes, man, just let me wear ’em.”
Someone else stated, “I remember one time 4 of us took a picture of the yearbook with one foot in, everyone had Adidas but me. I had black Payless shoes on, recently my kid bought 50-dollar shoes that looked just like those Payless shoes I hated so much.”
12. Housekeeper
Hiring a housekeeper is often considered a luxury and a sign of wealth because it requires a handful of disposable income.
A Reddit user commented, “When she told me her family was down-to-earth because they only had the housekeeper come once a week.”
One more person added, “Never had a housekeeper personally but looked into it when it was me and my roommate living together because we were lazy AF. It’s actually not crazy expensive to have someone come for a few hours to clean once a week, not rich money anyways. We still didn’t do it, ’cause we were not only lazy but cheap too.”
13. Extravagant Gifts
The quality of gifts represents your financial status, whether it’s the cheapest or the most excellent gift you’ve presented to your friend.
Someone shared, “The quality of the gifts they gave at birthday parties, and the contents of the goodie bags at their own.”
One more user stated, “This. I was always embarrassed by the crappy gifts I (read: my parents) gave to other kids for bday. On the other hand, I remember a kid from a really poor family giving me an old, used book for a birthday, using pages from old Donald Duck comics as wrapping paper – that made me feel sorry for him and I realized there’s always gonna be some richer and some poorer than you.”
Another man responded, “Yep, this is it. One boy in my elementary school had the best birthday parties every year with amazing goodie bags. I’m talking blankets, hats, and whatever is professionally embroidered with every party guest’s name. I always struggled to find a gift that he didn’t already have.”
14. Trendy Apparel
Who isn’t attracted to stylish attires you carry to the party or flair up in the ballroom?
A Reddit user commented, “Clean, fashionable clothes. For my generation, that meant pookah shells or whatever they’re called and anything Abercrombie and Fitch/Hollister.”
Another user stated, “Yep, Abercrombie was the first thing that came to my mind. And (real) Birkenstocks and coach purses.”
Another one added in agreement, “Lol we had a polo shirts and khakis/the like dress code. All the richer kids had Aeropostale shirts, Abercrombie/Hollister was the next town over, so they were even richer. 😂”
15. Top-Notch Stationery
Best-in-class stationery was a subject of discussion, too. Many of us drooled over fancy stationery items our class fellow carried. It was simply assumed kids having the finest stationery were the richest among all!
A random Reddit user posted, “Better pens and pencils. Ahh yes….the pencil pecking order.
Top of the heap was always the kid with a Staedtler mechanical pencil, Staedtler-Mars eraser, and HB lead so they had very crisp handwriting and lines – not the cheap one, no they had the fancy one that retracted the entire point into the pencil.
Then there were kids with the cool gimmick pencils that sucked as writing instruments, like the ones that could bend into a pretzel, or the dual-eraser “hammers”, or the ones that had really awesome designs printed on them. They were always cooler unused; after they got sharpened the first time, they lost 100% of the cool factor.”
Someone else said, “Nothing too extreme in my case. but you could see that kids with money had everything a bit nicer than normal. Better clothes, better pens, and pencils, better-looking books, better..well..everything.”
16. General Appearance
General appearance plays a primary role in determining financial status. If a kid’s not coming with good items such as clothes, lunch, etc. means they weren’t well financially. At school, most of us used to eye kids who had good lunch, didn’t we?
A Reddit user stated, “As a young kid, it was their clothes, lunches, and general appearance. They kind of stood out from our legions of poorer kids at the school. We ate the hot lunch at a reduced or free rate, they brought in neat sandwiches, individual bags of chips, Hi C, and Little Debbie or Hostess desserts. There was a girl in my elementary school I don’t think I ever saw wear the same outfit twice, and they were nice clothes, not hand-me-downs from Mom, which put our yard sale and homemade clothes to shame.”
One more person replied, “I don’t think there were any actual “rich” kids in my elementary school, but to me, the kids that “came from money” were the ones that actually paid for school lunches lmao. Now I realize that they were probably just barely middle class.”
Well, many of us used to judge general appearance. While a great saying says, “Never judge a book by its cover.”
17. Lunchables
A user on Reddit commented, “They had Lunchables in addition to a normal lunch.”
One more guy supported, “Sometimes I would get Lunchables as my lunch, but only once in a while and when they were on sale. I definitely didn’t get anything else along with them.”
Some random user stated, “I got 3 Lunchables a year. I got one each on the first day of school, my birthday, and my last day of school.”
18. Flawless Skin and Healthy Hair
One more sign of wealth is supposed to be healthy hair and spotless, clean skin. Maybe someone has naturally healthy hair and flawless skin, while others may need fancy cosmetics or doctor visit to keep them.
Someone on Reddit left a comment which said, “Good hair and good skin. The girls always had flawless skin and never wore makeup (or at least did it so well it looked like they didn’t) and could afford hair products, treatments, and maintenance.
I was over there with too much eyeliner and winter frizz. Lol.”
Another commentator stated, “I feel this. I remember in high school my one friend had to leave school early one day for a dermatologist appointment and I had literally never heard of a dermatologist before.
When I got older, I realized lots of girls had been seeing professionals to care for their hair and skin for years. Blew my mind, made me a little resentful, but also sort of weirdly boosted my confidence because I realized a lot of what I had thought was “natural” beauty is actually the result of lots of time and money spent.”
19. Personal Space
A Redditor said, “When I was a kid I grouped people based on how much space they had dedicated to them in their homes.
Super poor kids shared a room with other people, which was also used for other purposes.
Regular poor kids (like myself) shared a room with their siblings, but the room was used only for that purpose.
Normal wealthy kids each got their own room.
Fantastically wealthy kids had several rooms.”
Another user replied, “Where I grew up the rich families had rooms with no purpose. Sometimes rooms were absolutely empty. There were so many rooms in their houses that they couldn’t figure out what to do with them.”
20. Fridge and Dishwasher
One of the users of Reddit posted. “Fridge with ice on the door and a dishwasher.”
Someone else replied, “The fridge one is one of mine too. Bonus points if they could get ice cubes AND crushed ice at the push of a button.
My poor a** could only have ice if I had the foresight to put water in an ice cube tray 4-5 hours before I wanted it. So basically never.”
Another random girl said, “Oh YES the fridge with water and ice on the door!!!! Not having to fill up ice cube trays would have been magical.”
Rich People
With that stated above, kids were smart in judging if other kids were from wealthy backgrounds. Most signs reflect that kids with such bounties lived a privileged life and belonged to wealthy families.
We’re sure you must have labeled someone depending on these few signs, and years later, down the lane, you must be smiling over your thoughts and judgment!
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