I grew up being told by my Asian parents that we were poor. So I lived frugally and assumed we were. Around high school, I finally made friends (lol) and went over to friends' homes (hint: white) and they labeled themselves as "middle-class." But it baffled me because it made no sense. Our lifestyles were the same. Our homes looked the same. We lived within the same neighborhood, went to the same school. They were either raised by single parents or had jobs that weren't too far off from my parents' level (server/nanny) or both. Either I was middle class or they were poor. Now that I'm 23 and handling my parents' health insurance, peeking at their finances, etc.--the truth is, my parents are not even lower middle class. So I sure as hell bet my friends weren't.